So let me say up front that I tired of the Gloria storyline quickly. I'm sure that Lila's character on 'Dexter' was an imitation of this, but still, having seen her arc and any number of other "crazy chick" characters on television, I just didn't have much interest here. I get that Tony realizes he's attracted to her because she has the same kind of insanity as his mother, but it just gets hammered a little too hard for my taste. The scene where Tony flips out at her was all kinds of tense and disturbing and well done, and there was a similar intensity in the scene where Gloria drives her home, but I don't know if the perfunctory build of the storyline was worth it just for that scene.
Speaking of intense, the scene with Jackie Jr. and friends holding up the card game had me on the edge of my seat. Jackie Jr. hasn't been the most interesting character on the show, but things do reach a compelling end point where he takes Ralphie's advice and it blows up in his face. Plus, it creates some interesting scenes for Tony and Ralphie where Tony figures out that he can weaken Ralphie by putting the decision of what to do with Jackie Jr. in Ralphie's hands and he'll look bad whether he kills his almost stepson or gives him a pass.
The Carmella stuff, outside of the two intense scenes, provides the best material in the episode, and the comparison to Hilary Clinton was an interesting one. I like the story of her trying to come to terms with where her lifestyle comes from in parallel with Tony, and her conversation with the new priest is an interesting midpoint between Father Phil and the psychiatrist who told her not to accept blood money. I'll be interested to see how she puts "live on the good side" into practice.
As an aside, I thought Tony's scene with Melfi where she tells him he'll never leave Carmella was kind of weird. It wasn't bad exactly, but Melfi is rarely very direct (which I often find frustrating). She may poke or prod Tony in one direction or another, but rarely does any straightforward analysis or offers suggestion. But here, she was very direct, almost uncharacteristically so. Maybe it's her frustrations with her patients boiling over, but I almost wondered if it was a dream.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-07-15T15:37:22Z
So let me say up front that I tired of the Gloria storyline quickly. I'm sure that Lila's character on 'Dexter' was an imitation of this, but still, having seen her arc and any number of other "crazy chick" characters on television, I just didn't have much interest here. I get that Tony realizes he's attracted to her because she has the same kind of insanity as his mother, but it just gets hammered a little too hard for my taste. The scene where Tony flips out at her was all kinds of tense and disturbing and well done, and there was a similar intensity in the scene where Gloria drives her home, but I don't know if the perfunctory build of the storyline was worth it just for that scene.
Speaking of intense, the scene with Jackie Jr. and friends holding up the card game had me on the edge of my seat. Jackie Jr. hasn't been the most interesting character on the show, but things do reach a compelling end point where he takes Ralphie's advice and it blows up in his face. Plus, it creates some interesting scenes for Tony and Ralphie where Tony figures out that he can weaken Ralphie by putting the decision of what to do with Jackie Jr. in Ralphie's hands and he'll look bad whether he kills his almost stepson or gives him a pass.
The Carmella stuff, outside of the two intense scenes, provides the best material in the episode, and the comparison to Hilary Clinton was an interesting one. I like the story of her trying to come to terms with where her lifestyle comes from in parallel with Tony, and her conversation with the new priest is an interesting midpoint between Father Phil and the psychiatrist who told her not to accept blood money. I'll be interested to see how she puts "live on the good side" into practice.
As an aside, I thought Tony's scene with Melfi where she tells him he'll never leave Carmella was kind of weird. It wasn't bad exactly, but Melfi is rarely very direct (which I often find frustrating). She may poke or prod Tony in one direction or another, but rarely does any straightforward analysis or offers suggestion. But here, she was very direct, almost uncharacteristically so. Maybe it's her frustrations with her patients boiling over, but I almost wondered if it was a dream.