The Sopranos 3x02 Reaction

Damn that was crazy timing before the episode started. Ye mentioned my comment from a week ago about her being based on David Chases mom and me comparing her to my parents. I've never cried watching this episode before but Lola crying half the episode eventually got me 😭 I must've watched this episode 4 times too and never knew their last scene together was CGI till ye immediately mentioned it lol

🔴 Comment copied from last episode* I’ve been worried about this for a while now, but it’s clear that the version the girls are watching does not include the subtitles for non-English dialogue. This has already been problematic for the Italy episode, Furios dialogue, Tony’s Russian girlfriend, last episode with the calling card conversation, and now the Polish husband and wife. All of this dialogue is supposed to be understood by the viewer. I would recommend the girls sort this quickly, as entire scenes are in different languages in the future and it appears none of it will be translated with this version.

Proshai, Livushka. I have wondered for like two seasons by this point if your Russian would be good enough to be spoiled from the title. Apparently not lol. The CGI Livia scene is infamously terrible, and cost $250,000 to make. Definitely a misstep in the show for me but a small one in the grand scheme of things. All the empty platitudes are great this episode “At least she didn’t suffer” “Whaddya gonna do?” etc. Livia kept Tony’s high school football patch as we see from the basement scene, yet another highlight of Tony’s football history. Unfortunately you girls didn’t see Pussys ghost in the mirror, but I’m guessing whilst editing you caught it. One of the most overt supernatural moments in the show. The supernatural is one of my favourite elements in the show. I love Livias best friend is the woman she ran over, and her happy memory of Livia is that she would tell her when people died and if a funeral was on. Truly a black hole of a woman in every way. The remembrance is an all-timer Sopranos scene. Hugh’s outburst is great followed by Toms little “here here”. Tony looks ready to explode the entire time. Artie had a moment of nearly revealing the fire at the old Vesuvio’s. Some lingering anger and resentment still under the surface it seems. The ending is one of the more emotional moments in the show for me. Your girls said it best, mourning the mother he never had through this movie. BTW: that was not Janice’s son she was with, it’s her brand new fiancée. The explanation is that Janice is a mess lol. Her son is homeless in Montreal as she says in this episode.

I can't wait to see how you react to Ralphie when he's properly introduced. He's one of the most interesting and memorable characters in the show by far. You're going to have a lot of fun dissecting him.

What are you gonna do? You know... What are you gonna do? At least she didn't suffa' ("What are you gonna do" could've been the alternative title for this episode lol) I love that you gals are really emotional invested. I didn't expect you to cry or get teary eyed at this phase already. The ending scene of Tony watching that movie and crying not for his own mother's passing but for the loving, caring mother that he never had always gets me.. Also Nancy Merchand was a legend, RIP.

I remember the actress playing Livia (Nancy Marchand), once went up to David Chase and said something along the lines of, "I trust the monster I am portraying is no longer with us." What a performance by her over the first few seasons.

I think what Christopher meant to say was

Christopher's high rambling is probably a top 3 funniest moment in the series for me. "Maybe not with the same fears or paranoia..."

"His brother was worse!" is a classic Jewish joke. Living memory is an important part of Jewish funerary services. Instead of "Rest in peace" the most common comforting statement is "May their memory be a blessing". You're supposed to reminisce and keep their legacy alive, which by necessity includes remembering ALL of them, not just the good stuff only. It was public knowledge that Nancy Marchand had died between the seasons, so everybody thought the character would die in the first episode of this season. Specifically, when Tony and Carmela began rushing home in the middle of the day a lot of people said "They're going to announce her death here". Instead they revealed that it was the water heater that "died", and the audience didn't know what to expect next. David Chase has since said that he regrets using the CGI for this episode. Not just because the effects themselves are sub-par (and they are), but because it just wasn't necessary for the story. He's said he wishes they had just announced it without trying to have 'one last scene'. The man who was revealed to be an informant and offered to wear a wire is Ray Curto. He's a "capo" (Captain) in the Family, but he hasn't exactly had a huge role in the show so far so it's understandable that you didn't recognize him. His biggest contribution was probably back in season one after Jackie Aprile died and everybody was talking about who would replace him. Tony said it should be Ray, but Ray said that he was planning to take on less work since he has a sick child. He then says that Tony should be the Boss, before Tony decided to let Junior have the title while he manipulated behind-the-scenes. This reveal that Ray is an informant helps put the lie to the common complaint that it's the new generation of criminals that can't live up to the old generation. They always talk about how people used to have honor and upheld the code of silence, and it's the lazy and cowardly youth that are destroying the organization, but here's an old-timer who worked with Johnny Boy and Junior Soprano and hails from the "golden age" and he's just as ready to turn on his associates as anyone. He doesn't even seem to have the guilt that Pussy has. That young man/old kid we saw with Janice was her fiance (According to her), not her son. Her son lives in Montreal, Canada, and here Janice claims that he now lives on the street and she can't contact him. Keep in mind that we only have Janice's word on this, so whether it's true or not....I dunno. It may just be that he's cut her off and it's easier for her to say he's homeless than admit that.

Technically, "Proshai" is farewell in Russian, not Goodbye.

I really enjoyed this reaction. This season is my favorite so its only going to get better.

Check out 20:22, the mirror on the door. 20:49, the stairs behind Tony.

The multitude of ways that the dead haunt the living is well done in the episode. It realistically showed the full range of reactions from different sorts of characters. The ghosts with Pussy and maybe(?) the man on the stairs were a nice supplement to the idea. The man looked like a young Junior. He's obviously still alive but Tony's relationship with him isn't the same, maybe linked to the idea of Tony mourning for a different mother? Both of them colluding to kill him were explicitly mentioned in the episode and Tony's reactions and rationalization for each of them is very interesting. The CGI was legitimately terrible though, even for the time. Narratively it didn't really feel necessary as well. Given their relationship, they didn't really need a clean or noteworthy last interaction. As is often the case in life you never know when the last interaction you have with someone will be. But Livia was a very personal character for Chase so I understand if it was the case that he didn't want their last interaction on screen to be a short phone call.

lol fun fact when they visit Livia in the hospital in season one and she’s reading a newspaper she’s reading the obituaries

The movie shown at the end of the episode is an epic one called Public Enemy starring James Cagney. It was one of the old school mafia movies of the 30s and was a pathbreaking film in it's time. Also AJ thought black was death. Remember that for future reference.

hal i believe is the name, may also be nicknamed harpo is janice's astranged son who is a street person (likely meaning homeless and drug addicted living in the streets). More common in washington/oregon in the pacific north west where Janice lived most her time.

It seems you guys missed a haunting reflection in the hallway door mirror when Tony opens the door.

Losing a bad parent is like Becker.

Man, Lola is one of the most empathic reactors I've seen.

Rest in peace Nancy Marchand. I always found the story of the big bad mob boss who's afraid of his own mother an interesting story, and it's sad to see that storyline come to an end. Livia was supposed to be a constant presence in the series, and the planned storyline for her in season 3 is her testifying against her own son (can you imagine how amazing that would be?). Marchand's passing forced the writers to rewrite season 3 in short notice, but what comes out of it is probably my favorite season of the show. We'll see what the show blooms into once it moves on from the mother-son conflict. I think you girls nailed it on the head with your interpretation of the AJ scene. Livia will always haunt our characters despite her passing. To me she's similar to Chuck from Better Call Saul. A central character whose death still shows its mark on our protagonist and the people they interact with.

I do wonder if we would’ve got a better show if the actress didn’t die. Apparently she was supposed to have a big role in this season but I think it was changed due to her passing..I still like this show but if one of those things I would always wonder.. rip Nancy Marchand, her performance was such a highlight on these 3 seasons.

The good news is the show only gets better from here on. The bad news is, unfortunately, you're gonna have to do a lot more crying. P.S. Someone already pointed that out, but there will be multiple instances going forward with scenes fully in Italian, hopefully you can fix the issue with subtitles by then.

Loving the earlier uploads. Great episode and a great reaction and commentary.

These onions !

I just don't know how you guys are going to survive until the last episode of this show

She was a saint..

How ironic is it that a character's Funeral makes for the funniest episoded untill now, really shows how little those characters actually missed her. At least she didn't suffer (Also, i wonder if Livia kept Tony's stuff because he reminded her of his father, who she both loved and resented)

After a blender of drinking yesterday.. this is a welcome surprise since it’s early lol

I think Nancy had aged quite a lot in recent episodes. I believe her husband had died recently which can affect elderly people's health greatly.

Nancy Marchand, the actress for Livia, was battling lung cancer at the time of filming season 1. It was very recently revealed that Tony was going to smother his mother to death with a pillow in the season 1 finale, but Nancy really wanted to keep working while she was alive, and creator David Chase obliged. She passed away between season 2 and 3 and the plot of season 3 was heavily altered due to this. The weird CGI head scene in this episode is a result of that. It was old footage/outtakes that they were able to fit with the dialogue of the scene. Her real life death was written into the plot, and the rest is history.

In the scene where Furio and Paulie are talking, did you notice the reflection in the mirror on the cabinet door that Tony opens?

well, i have ep 1 and this one to watch but i still have ep 6 of arcane to watch tonight. i'll probably watch this monday on the airport, will i need tissues or watch it in private? they tend to cry a lot, so the thumbnail doesn't really give much 😂

poor girls are already crying from season 3. this is gonna be brutal

I really hope you girls react to the Penguin someday! I feel like you would love it. Such an incredible show. Especially of you love shows like the sopranos!

Lola/Milena, your Sopranos version doesn't include subtitles for other languages. We'd suspected for a while, but weren't sure. This'll be a problem down the road. You should test other versions with Season 3 Episode 1. You should be able to understand the Polish couple

Such an amazing episode, even factoring in the pretty silly CGI.

Rest in Peace Nancy Marchand. An unforgettable performance.

Early upload, I don’t know who is the editor this time but thank you

Hurry, someone explain the thing.

2 early uploads in a row, thank you