Another great episode. I love how everyone's reaching out for community, from Tony to Adrianna, to Tony B., and feeling the stress of the fact that it's hard to grasp.
I liked the parallel of Tony getting mad that his cousin called him fat or made fun of him, but then his tipoff that his buddy is in with the Feds is the fact that he says Tony's lost weight, and only after that does Tony call his cousin and apologize in that halfway sense that Tony does so well. It was a subtle way to show how the cousin is something different and apart from his usual mob guys; that he's not a yes man.
To that point, I liked Steve Buscemi a lot in the role. He brings a believability and credibility to a character who is both plausible as someone who was very much a part of the mob, and someone who doesn't want to go back. Again, it was some great work by the writers to have Tony watch the WWII documentary about the soldier still clearly very shaken and regretful about the comrade who took a bullet so he didn't have to, in order to show Tony's guilt for his cousin going to prison rather than him.
In many ways, Tony B. is the inverse of Tony Soprano. Sure, on a superficial level he's skinny while Soprano is fat, he's short while Soprano is tall, but there's a real sense of what might have been in the moments between the two of them. That deal gone wrong is positioned as something of a turning point. Tony B. went to jail, lost his family through not being able to be there, and comes out as a guy who wants to go straight. Tony S. stayed out, rose to the top of the crew, lost his wife through action rather than interaction, and perhaps, subconsciously, wants to get out as well, but can't confront that fact. There's a clear sense not only of Tony Soprano's guilt for what happened to Tony B., but also of the sense that if their positions were reversed -- if Tony S. had gone on that run and Tony B. had stayed home, that the results of their lives might be flipped as well. There's a lot of meat there, and I'm interested to see them explore it.
Same for Adrianna. I have to admit, this storyline has tried my patience at times, but while I initially felt like this story was a retread of Big Pussy's storyline, I think the differences between him and Adrianna make it worthwhile. I like the fact that she is, to the extent anyone is in this world, an innocent -- someone who knows what's going on, but doesn't participate in it like Pussy did or even have the same level of knowledge about it that Carmella does. I really felt for her here. Adrianna isn't dumb, but she isn't as sharp as someone like Carmela, and that makes it feel different in terms of the position the FBI puts her in -- like its taking advantage of someone not sharp enough to go toe-to-toe with them on something like this. I felt very sorry for her, and the contrast of her guilt with the mob wives club and the expressions of support and trust there compared to how she has to drag something personal out of her FBI caseworker is telling.
"The Rat Pack" or the idea that there's a group of people you can be buddies with and trust is an interesting idea that this episode plays around with, whether it's Tony S. and Tony B. feeling out their relationship after 15 years, Adrianna and the rest of the mob wives. (Whose Citizen Kane discussion turned standard gossip session I loved), or the already budding enmity between Carmine Jr. and Johnny Sack who are ostensibly brothers. it's an episode about how that type of camaraderie is difficult to find, or recognize, when it's something you may already have.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-07-27T01:57:31Z
Another great episode. I love how everyone's reaching out for community, from Tony to Adrianna, to Tony B., and feeling the stress of the fact that it's hard to grasp.
I liked the parallel of Tony getting mad that his cousin called him fat or made fun of him, but then his tipoff that his buddy is in with the Feds is the fact that he says Tony's lost weight, and only after that does Tony call his cousin and apologize in that halfway sense that Tony does so well. It was a subtle way to show how the cousin is something different and apart from his usual mob guys; that he's not a yes man.
To that point, I liked Steve Buscemi a lot in the role. He brings a believability and credibility to a character who is both plausible as someone who was very much a part of the mob, and someone who doesn't want to go back. Again, it was some great work by the writers to have Tony watch the WWII documentary about the soldier still clearly very shaken and regretful about the comrade who took a bullet so he didn't have to, in order to show Tony's guilt for his cousin going to prison rather than him.
In many ways, Tony B. is the inverse of Tony Soprano. Sure, on a superficial level he's skinny while Soprano is fat, he's short while Soprano is tall, but there's a real sense of what might have been in the moments between the two of them. That deal gone wrong is positioned as something of a turning point. Tony B. went to jail, lost his family through not being able to be there, and comes out as a guy who wants to go straight. Tony S. stayed out, rose to the top of the crew, lost his wife through action rather than interaction, and perhaps, subconsciously, wants to get out as well, but can't confront that fact. There's a clear sense not only of Tony Soprano's guilt for what happened to Tony B., but also of the sense that if their positions were reversed -- if Tony S. had gone on that run and Tony B. had stayed home, that the results of their lives might be flipped as well. There's a lot of meat there, and I'm interested to see them explore it.
Same for Adrianna. I have to admit, this storyline has tried my patience at times, but while I initially felt like this story was a retread of Big Pussy's storyline, I think the differences between him and Adrianna make it worthwhile. I like the fact that she is, to the extent anyone is in this world, an innocent -- someone who knows what's going on, but doesn't participate in it like Pussy did or even have the same level of knowledge about it that Carmella does. I really felt for her here. Adrianna isn't dumb, but she isn't as sharp as someone like Carmela, and that makes it feel different in terms of the position the FBI puts her in -- like its taking advantage of someone not sharp enough to go toe-to-toe with them on something like this. I felt very sorry for her, and the contrast of her guilt with the mob wives club and the expressions of support and trust there compared to how she has to drag something personal out of her FBI caseworker is telling.
"The Rat Pack" or the idea that there's a group of people you can be buddies with and trust is an interesting idea that this episode plays around with, whether it's Tony S. and Tony B. feeling out their relationship after 15 years, Adrianna and the rest of the mob wives. (Whose Citizen Kane discussion turned standard gossip session I loved), or the already budding enmity between Carmine Jr. and Johnny Sack who are ostensibly brothers. it's an episode about how that type of camaraderie is difficult to find, or recognize, when it's something you may already have.