The Sopranos Season 1, Episode 12, 13 - Isabella, I Dream Of Jeannie Cusamano

It's been a while since I watched these episodes, but I feel like I owe it to this project to stick it out here.  Isabella is a difficult episode of television to write about without either becoming depressed or being cliche (or more likely both).  So I've combined these all into one and am just going to throw out some things based on what I remember from 2 weeks ago.

It's disappointing how much the Sopranos leans on Freudian bullshit in the last two episodes here.  That said, this is compelling television, so I can overlook it a bit.  Tony runs into an Italian smokeshow in his backyard, a 'mother figure' who listens to him without judging.  Melfi claims this is because his brain is trying to scream at him that his mother is trying to have him killed - that his hallucinations are sort of day-dreams getting him to realize things.  I think he also flips over a glass table and threatens Melfi during these episodes.  He might not. 

Livia, meanwhile, is forgetting everything - she doesn't recognize Meadow, and she's wandering around after dark calling out for her dead sister.  This is meant to imply she's had some sort of psychic break after recommending that her son be murdered, but Livia's mental state is almost impenetrable - unless she's angry or otherwise making herself the center of attention, it's difficult to ascribe motives to her.   I'm curious to see how characters' mental states and physical states reflect one another as the series progresses - we've already seen Pussy's back injury used as a pretext to assume that he's an informant.  Tony's depression is, according to Melfi, a signal that something is amiss in his life.

Random observations -

Mikey Palmice actually uses his track suit to go jogging.  Jimmy Altieri doesn't.  They both die in it, as prophesized by Junior in the tailor's.

Tony's demeanor when he talks to the Feds is so different from when he talks to anyone else. 

It's hard to remember stuff from episodes of television you watched several weeks ago, even if you had seen them already.