Salute.
As always, if you have any questions about the show (background, history, etc.), or wish to share your opinions of a specific episode/character/plotline/etc, or if you vehemently disagree with one of my conclusions or opinions — please email me by clicking my name in the column title at the top of page. I’ll answer everything here in the column the next week.
First things first: if you aren’t familiar with The Sopranos, or if you need a refresher course on the history of the show (since it has been 21 months since the last episode), please read my column on the background of Tony Soprano. It concentrated on Tony’s character, but touches just about every large storyline that we’ve seen over the first 5 seasons. Then, read my review of last’s week show.
Previously on The Sopranos:
- Tony and Carmela at dinner at their new favorite Sushi place. Tony:”We should count our blessings the year I just had.” Carmela: “Yes, we’re very lucky.”
- Tony and Christopher discuss how Phil Leotardo has been taking care of Johnny Sack’s business while John is in the slammer (“real old school”)
- Phil tells Johnny he’s buried with the hatchet with Tony out of respect for John
- A review of Eugene’s situation: inheriting $2 million, being denied a chance to retire by Tony, the FBI asking him to take a bigger role, and eventually hanging himself
- Ray Curto has a heart attack in the midst of handing over evidence to the FBI
- Janice suggests assisted living for Uncle Junior, but Tony refuses
- Tony confronts Janice and Bobby about why they can’t help out with Junior
- Junior shoots Tony while calling him “Malanga”
- Tony dials 911 just before passing out
Episode 67: Join the Club:
We start with Tony lying in a bed in a random hotel room. So, is this a flashback or a dream? Apparently a dream, since his strong Jersey accent is gone (no “dese” and “dose” from him at all – he’s actually enunciating). Looks like we’re in Costa Mesa, and Tony is attending some sort of convention for military contractors. Unfortunately, he picked up the wrong wallet and briefcase last night, and the license he has is for someone named Kevin Finnerty, from Kingman, AZ. (Our first bit of irony, since Tony is always using fake ID’s to check into hotels and such.) Without a valid picture ID, Tony is good and screwed – he can’t get into the convention, he can’t get a room in the hotel he was staying in (that he checked out of this morning), and he can’t even get on a plane anymore (post-9/11). He explains the situation to his wife over his cell phone – a wife that is noticeably not Carmela. (Though we never do find out her name – my guess is it’s Charmaine.)
The symbolism and foreshadowing comes hard and heavy throughout this whole dream sequence, starting with the wrong ID:
- A helicopter flies over Tony and shines a spotlight on him. For just a flash, we see the image of a doctor shining a flashlight into the camera.
- While sitting at the bar where he had first lost his wallet, he asks the bartender: “Tell me about Costa Mesa. Nice place to live?” The response: “Around here, it’s dead.”
- While talking with some fellow businessmen at dinner, Tony says, “I’m 46 years old. Who am I? Where am I going?”
- While walking out of a bar, Tony sees the following on a TV: “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?”
- Out in the parking lot, another helicopter shines a spotlight on him. The woman standing next to him say, “They’re looking for a perp!”
And with that, we segue into the ICU room where Tony is being held. He goes into convulsions, and pulls out his breathing tube (ouch). Carmela (with no make-up and looking very haggard) and Meadow are in the room, and try to talk to Tony, who mumbles “Who am I? Where am I going?” (The same lines he said earlier in this dream while at dinner.) After Carmela and Meadow are asked to leave the ICU, AJ finally shows up, blaming his delay on car trouble. Out in the waiting room, we see Christopher, Silvio, Paulie and Vito. Chris lets us know that Tony’s been here at least 2 days, and Carmela has spent the last two nights in room with him (and Meadow was here last night too). After getting a quick update on Tony’s condition, Vito says quite simply: “Goddamn Junior.” AJ follows up with: “Anthony Soprano is not going to die. I don’t know what everyone is talking about.” (I had to rewind this scene twice to make sure I heard him right – “Anthony Soprano”? What’s up with that? And yes, Carmela does mention this later in the episode.)
The doctor walks up and explains the situation: the bullet damaged both his pancreas and gall bladder, and their biggest concern now is sepsis, an infection in the blood. Carmela: “Does he know that he’s dying?” Doctor: “We don’t know.” After the doctor walks away, Carmela completely breaks down in the middle of the waiting room, and Christopher (very awkwardly) tries to comfort her.
And we go back to the dream: Dream-Tony has been able to check into the Omni Hotel, which was where Mr. Finnerty had been staying (and who appears to have disappeared with Tony’s stuff). Gee, how ironic that even Dream Tony the non-mobster is resorting to fraud. On the way up to his room, he’s confronted by two Tibetan monks who are looking for Kevin Finnerty. Apparently, the solar heating panels that Mr. Finnerty has been selling don’t work so well. Tony attempts to explain that he’s not really Finnerty, but the monks don’t listen to him. And, in one of the least expected scenes in the history of the show, one of the monks tells Tony, “Lose your arrogance”, and actually slaps him right across the mouth. Dream-Tony’s reaction is hilarious: he’s in total shock, and just starts yelling “He hit me!”
The next morning, the elevator in the Omni is out of order, and Tony needs to take the stairs down 6 floors. He only makes down two flights of stairs before slipping, falling, and cracking his head on the floor.
Back to reality: Meadow notices that her father’s temperature has gone down, but it’s still over 102. The doctor that operated on Tony shows up to check on him, and informs Carmela that, in addition to the “obvious negative outcome”, there’s also a concern about brain damage if Tony lives through it. (Great, just what she needed to hear, doc. You’re a real humanitarian.) While the nurses are changing the dressing, we see that there is huge gaping hole in the center of Tony’s torso – seriously, this thing has about a 6 inch diameter.
(A side note: I have to admit here that the scenes in the ICU here really got to me on a personal level. My father had quadruple-bypass surgery on Christmas Eve, and I went in to the ICU to see him right after the operation. He looked disturbingly like Tony did here, up to and including the breathing tube. I had to forcibly yank myself out of the show every so often to remind myself that this was scripted, and these were actors, and none of this was real. The unspeakably outstanding acting being done by Edie Falco (who plays Carmela) did not help me out here at all.)
Janice comes to visit, and tells Carmela: “I came by to help – anything.” They go in to see Tony, and of course Janice breaks down into hysterics as soon as she sees him: weeping, wailing, pulling fifteen tissues out of her purse — her typical melodramatics. Lord, I hate her – the woman feels the need to be the center of attention at all times, even when her own brother is in a freaking coma. (It doesn’t help that she reminds me too much of an old girlfriend. Or two.)
We finally see Junior, who’s going through a competency exam. He claims to have no knowledge of the shooting, and is confused about his new lawyer: apparently, he fired his previous lawyer because he had a paralyzed hand (resulting from the stroke last season). Junior: “If anyone shot my nephew, it was himself! He’s a depression case.”
We switch to Eugene’s funeral, with the boys in the back taking care of business. Silvio, as consilgiere, will be handling things in Tony’s absence, and will be collecting the boss’s usual cuts (some of it will be funneled over to Carmela to handle household costs and such). There’s some talk concerning what to do about Junior, and Paulie is adamant that the decision is up to Tony. And in a rather brazen move, Vito (“no disrespect intended”) asks Bobby why he wasn’t taking of Junior that night. Bobby claims he had other family duties: “Ask my wife!” (I sense some eye-rolling from other guys in the little circle.)
A short discussion ensues about why Eugene would have committed suicide (no one seems to know he was a rat): Silvio suggests “inoperable cancer”; Hesh talks about how suicide runs in families; Janice mentions that his son was doing some heavy drugs; and Vito proposes that maybe he was gay and didn’t feel he had anyone he could talk to about it. Vito: “That happens too.” HA! Okay, not very subtle, but thanks for letting us know that storyline isn’t going to fade away and be forgotten about (like the Russian that’s apparently still running around the Pine Barrens).
Outside the hospital, AJ is talking to an attractive female member of the local media. Carmela finds out and is furious (“Everyone here is pulling their weight but you!”), and sends him off to buy some bagels for everyone. She then goes back to Tony’s room, and finds a radio that Christopher brought over, and plays one of the CDs from her car that Tony likes. The first song that comes out is “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple — well now, if I had gone through a list of songs I had expected there, that one wouldn’t have made it into the top 300.
Christopher pulls up to Satriale’s in his new sports car (couldn’t make out what it was – if anybody recognized it, email me) [UPDATE: Thanks to readers Matt Hellen and Alex Gutierrez, who pointed out that it’s Johnny Sack’s old Maseratti, which Christopher paid cash for], only to find FBI Agents Harris and Goddard there. They do a bit of talk about the terrorism business, with Goddard suggesting Christopher could “do some good” if he could find out about any illegal activity by Middle Eastern criminals in the area. Chris: “And call you?” Goddard: “It’s your country too, isn’t it?” Actually, that’s a good point, but I really don’t think Chris is going to “get it” — a point driven home shortly thereafter by his friendly conversation with Achmed and Mohammed (no, seriously – those were their names), two regular patrons at the Bada Bing.
Back at the hospital, the radio is now playing “American Girl” by Tom Petty (his first single from 1976, in case you were curious), which reminds Carmela of a trip she and Tony took with Artie and Charmaine to Long Beach Island back in the day. This light-hearted topic leads Carmela to telling Tony that she knows he’s going to make it through, because he’s “strong as a bull”. She also confesses that she knows it was a sin when she told Tony that he was going to hell when he died back when he had his MRI (back in Season 1), and she knows she’s going to be judged for it. (Good to see her Catholic guilt still flaring up.) She also gets out the “Wait – did she really say that?” line of the night: “You’re a good father, and you care about your friends.”
Okay, I know I already mentioned this above, but you really need to see this episode just for the performance that Edie Falco is pulling off here. She spends the entire episode make-up free and in sweats – which is a pretty brave move for her in and of itself. (Yes, I know, it’s not “brave” compared to soldier under-fire in Iraq, but c’mon – work with me here.) And the range of emotions she hits, without ever going over the top, is just outstanding.
Back in the dream, Tony wakes up in a hospital, and discovers that he had an MRI recently. Disturbingly, the doctor found some “black spots” in his brain, which are indicative of Alzheimer’s disease. (Trying to identify with his Uncle’s problem? His own fear of catching it himself?) The doctor tries to convince Tony that Alzheimer’s isn’t as bad as it used to be, but Tony is having none of it:”It’s a death sentence. You’re a Smurf for 10 or 15 years, then you die – shitting in your pajamas. I know people with Alzheimer’s.” Tony then informs the doctor that, contrary to what the insurance card in his wallet says, he’s not Kevin Finnerty. Doc: “Well, what is your name?” Tony: “What does it matter? I’m not going to know myself soon.”
Meadow is by herself in Tony’s room, and explains that AJ was supposed to be there, but got food poisoning from a burrito. However, AJ doesn’t support this theory very well in the next scene, where we see him loading a pile of food onto his plate at home (“Hey, I took some Pepto Bismol!”). He and Meadow argue upstairs, with AJ asking if she finds this whole situation as “embarrassing” as he does (“Our Dad gets shot by our goober uncle?”)
Carmela is talking with Rosalie Aprile in the hospital cafeteria about AJ, with Carmela trying to make some excuse for AJ’s obviously inexcusable behavior throughout this ordeal (honestly – I know he’s only 19 or so, but the kid needs a serious crack in the head). Rosalie, however, lets loose with both barrels: “Well, maybe it’s just that AJ is a selfish boy that just doesn’t give a shit.” Carmela doesn’t hold back in response: “I’m sorry your son is no longer with us, but don’t use mine as a guinea pig for your ideas on parenting. I never saw you take a hard line.” Rosalie: “Well, why do you think I’m talking to you like this?”
Not too surprisingly, the Soprano house is crawling with TV cameras and reporters, including a couple who get too close for Paulie’s liking. Inside, the police are questioning Carmela about her husband’s relationship with his uncle, and Carmela is not very forthcoming (I know, I’m as shocked as you).
AJ finally goes to the hospital solo, and spends some time in Tony’s room. Carmela sees him talking (although she can’t hear what he’s talking about), and quietly slips away. We take a peek inside and find out that AJ is talking about… what kind of car he’d like to buy. (Oh, this kid’s hopeless.) But the next morning, AJ’s conversation takes a decidedly more serious tone, and he promises to make Uncle Junior pay for what he’s done. “I’m gonna put a bullet in his f*ckin’ mummy head.” (Wow – I really did not think Robert Iler was capable of pulling off a scene like this – I’m impressed.) Meadow shows up, and AJ runs into his mother out in the hallway, who tells him how proud she is of him, and what a good thing he’s done for his family. And of course, he reacts in a typical AJ way, choosing this moment to inform his mother that he’s flunked out of school.
Carmela comes in to the ICU room and asks, “Tony, can you hear us?” We then switch back to the dream one last time, with Tony retiring to his hotel room, sitting on the bed, alone. How cyclical.
Next week on the Sopranos:
- Tony’s condition seems to get worse (we see the words “WEAK PULSE” on his monitor)
- Silvio and Paulie seem to have an issue over business matters
- Vito is talking about what would happen if Tony didn’t make it. And apparently, he’s doing his talking to Phil Leotardo.
- Christopher’s writer friend, who went through AA with him, makes another appearance. He seems to have gotten back into trouble with gambling debts.
- Carmela is losing all patience with AJ: “You are a cross to bear! That’s all you are!”
- Vito makes an all-too-friendly caress on Finn’s shoulder
Now, these “dream sequence” episodes are always tough – the symbolism, word-play, and foreshadowing come from so many directions that it’s nearly impossible to figure everything out the first time (I watched the episode twice Sunday and once more on Monday in order to get all of my notes together). Combine that with the fact that Tony was not able to interact with anybody in the “real world” for the entire episode, and it’s inevitable that some people will really, really hate this episode. I’ve already heard the usual complaints from people who go nuts when not enough people are getting whacked (guess they forgot about the murder, suicide, heart attack and maiming in the last episode). And I’ve heard people complaining that they’re afraid Tony will be out of action for the next 6 episodes. And to all of these people I say: Relax. This show has enough history behind it to earn the benefit of the doubt. Take each episode for what it is, and never ever assume that you “know” what’s going to come next week. Sit back, enjoy the storyline as it unfolds (and the superb acting this season – wow)… oh yeah, and read my stuff every week.
See ya next Monday. (Or so.)
