The Sopranos 6x19 Reaction

Yes, that study is real.

My only issue with Sopranos is that they never bring up Phil’s ability to turn into a house again.

Loved when Phil turns into a house at the end.

I want to leave a comment about the song choice at the end of the episode. The information comes from the fantastic blog SopranosAutopsy that contains detailed reviews of each episode of the entire show. “ The scene is scored to “Ninna Ninna,” a lo-fi but haunting Old World song composed of just guitar and vocals, and it takes us through the end-credits. It provides a powerful end to a powerful episode. HBO did not list very much information about the song in 2007, so fans buzzed after the episode originally aired: what was this unforgettable, eerie thing we had just listened to? A resourceful viewer figured out it was a folksong that was released through the Smithsonian’s “Folkways Records” label in 1955. If the song itself doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, the synopsis of the track on the album’s liner notes certainly might: Lullaby from Sardinia. The mother sings to her little boy. His father, a brigand, escaped to the mountains and is being followed. She sings “Antoneddu, little Anton, I’d rather see you dead than a bandit in the mountains.” So that she will not have to disclose her husband’s whereabouts, she too will go into the mountains. Her son sings “Mama, mama, when I live in the mountains, I won’t fall into dishonor.” In the third stanza, the ghost-like voice of the father is heard: “Sing o beautiful, sing o beautiful, all around me it’s quiet and I only hear you singing.””

As awful as Carmela is this episode, I think she’s right that AJ is either consciously or subconsciously using depression as an excuse to justify his laziness and avoid responsibility. When Meadow asks him about his classes and potentially moving out, he plays up his illness, medication, and even that he needs Carmela’s cooking or it could affect his “blood chemistry”. On a lighter note, I found it amusing that right after he said he needed his Moms cooking Carmela makes these really nasty looking sandwiches, split hot dogs slathered in cream cheese.

People are already chastising and nitpicking the study Elliot brings up, not to say it doesn’t have its flaws because clearly it does. It’s also evidently used as nothing more than a convenient plot tool. But are we completely disregarding the fact that after 7 years of therapy, Tony still calls himself a good guy basically. As a hypothetical therapist, like most of us try to be, what are you even supposed to do with that assertion? We don’t even have to cite all six seasons, just the previous episode is enough to say hey maybe you’re not a “good guy” Can anyone say with any real confidence that Tony has significantly gotten better as a person due to therapy? Melfi as early as the third season was ready to throw the towel in and recommend Tony to a behavioural something…. The study isn’t perfect and perhaps cannot be applied to every single sociopath or criminal but with Tony, I think it’s worth serious consideration. I was waiting for the punchline when he said I’m a good guy basically. If he still says that and somewhat believes it, after 7 years, clearly talk therapy is not enough for him.

Obligatory random trivia: The actor who plays Phil missed a flight or something and couldn't make it to shoot the scene at his house, that's why he isn't seen and we only hear his voice calling from the window. Also the surveyor guy who is beaten up at the construction site is the same guy who sells Chris/Matt/Sean the fish in s2 who didn't put his finger on no fuckin scale.

Another amusing example of Tony’s hypocrisy when he takes offense at Carmela for accusing him of playing the “depression card,” even though earlier in the season he chastised Christopher for using the “Adriana card.” Interesting contrast between Melfi and Meadow in this episode. Unlike Melfi, Meadow allows herself to do exactly what she wouldn’t, which is to use mob violence for her own good. As Tony once told her, Meadow is much more similar to him than Carmela.

“how bout i bury yours in that fuckin wall instead” god damn this show is pure comedy

Bold of you to use 🥳 and not 💀 for monster episode 1

Mad Men S01E01 Tuesday June 10th??👀

Phil was fine with Tony after his heart attack and hospital visit. They made a lot of deals with one another and they were cordial with each other. It wasn't until his brother's birthday that he was reminded about his family's "weakness" and that Tony's cousin killed his brother which made him start taking a hard line with everything re Jersey.

It was the perfect opportunity for Monster Mondays :(

Andor?

🎉 THURSDAY 🎉

Just wanted to say, even in a heavy episode like this, the show still injects a lot of humor, especially with the malapropisms. “Ying and Yang”. “This alteration you had with him; you’re at the precipice, of an enormous crossroads”. Paulie’s pronunciation of Baja Fresh.

Thursday will be the happiest day of my year.

"but in the end, you die in your own arms. … It’s all a big nothing." - Livia “You’re okay, baby.” - Tony, while AJ is literally in his arms. - From the AV club breakdown of the episode. Tony has become his mother but hasn't COMPLETELY become her but he's too myopic to see the big picture. This particular episode review on AV Club is the most profound breakdown of it I've read and is key to understanding an important through-line of the show. David Chase has talked before about the idea of generational change. This is also balanced by generational stagnation as well. Tony is ultimately there for AJ and indirectly balks against Livia's nihilism, but then still parrots the same things Livia says and can't take that final step into truly empathizing with AJ, despite Melfi's attempts. Other scenes in the episode that ties into these ideas: - The opening shot starts with a close up of asbestos taking up the entire screen. Then it transitions into a farther shot that shows while it's still there and polluting, it hasn't taken up as much of the environment as the initial close up may suggest. It's a cancer that's there but hasn't completely spread yet. - The ending shot is literally framed through a hospital door window, putting Tony and AJ in a box. Two scarred generations walking side by side. Tony's father, great grandfather and most of the past generation are also mentioned in an earlier scene. - Tony's cagey final monologue ends with him saying that sometimes he almost grabs holds of ideas, and then they vanish. He's on the precipice of gaining some sort of awareness but ultimately steps back. That's his therapy in a nutshell. That's this show in a nutshell for a lot of the characters. This episode is so rich that there's even more to unpack. Like the title and the poem it references, which can be heavily dissected and ties into a number of other episodes and scenes (a number from other seasons) as well.

So jazzed for monster. Y'all will love it. Also, what language are you all watching it in?

the way LM cares emotionally about children is really special, caring so much about AJ has always directly influenced how they feel about Tony, 90% of the Sopranos audience doesn't give a fuck about AJ and loves Tony above all else

Great reaction I’m glad I get to watch these with you two. Great channel and probably the smartest reactors I’ve ever seen grateful I stumbled on this channel.

I guess I get to say the obvious thing: AJ tied something heavy to himself then dropped into a body of water, the same way Tony + friends disposed of dozens of bodies.

What a lot of people don't realize is Phil wanted to do thirty years in the can, but they kicked him out. That's why he's always so angry, especially at Vito.

So who do I have to fight so you can drop Monster episode 1 and 2 together?

When you two were saying that you specifically thought this episode wouldn't have anything happen to AJ, I knew this would hit you even harder than normal. The psychiatric study mentioned is a real study, but it came out in 1977 so it's not like this would be new information for anybody in the medical field. I think -- don't quote me on this one -- that after the following episode aired one of the doctors who authored the study said that they disagreed with how the characters in the show interpreted their results. Tony has definitely become his mother by this point. Carmela may not be as completely subsumed into her parents as Tony is, but she's also completely blind to her own role here. They are both just...awful. I've said it all along, but AJ never had a chance.

I feel like the meadow thing is also a highlight of his emotional unavailability. He "knows how" to take care of that problem while, when it comes to AJ, he cant just beat someone up.

WB Yeats wrote "The Second Coming" in the ashes of post-war Europe and at the height of the 1918 flu pandemic. He had been developing ideas about two-thousand-year "cycles" for humanity, and thought that they were approaching the *end* of a cycle which began with the birth of Christ. The poem is an apocalyptic vision of the future, wherein an anti-Christ "slouches towards Bethlehem" to signal the end of humanity as he knew it. Basically, Yeats looked around Europe, saw that things had gone to shit -- "Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" -- and decided that those were End Times. The Sopranos has referenced the poem before -- in "Cold Cuts", Melfi quotes: "The falcon cannot hear the falconer... the centre cannot hold" -- and I think it speaks to Chase's similar vision for the new millennium, and his preoccupation with the decline and decay of the American Dream. The show is firmly in it post-9/11 years here, and you can imagine Chase looking at the American Empire sending its children to fight in the Middle East (on false pretences) and having a similarly nihilistic outlook as Yeats did in 1918. (It's no coincidence that AJ is fixated on the Israel/Palestine conflict, fought in the same holy lands that are the subject of the poem.) The end of the American Dream, the end of the humanity, the end of the classical, Godfather-style myth of the Mafia... The show is tying all of these ideas together here in an absolutely brilliant episode. But to me, it all loops back to Tony's feelings at the beginning of the series: "Lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over." He sounds exactly like Yeats.

20 years as a LM subscriber I wanted Deadwood. I compromised, and suffered through Mid Men instead.

The Second Coming -> The Blue Comet -> Made in America just an absolutely iconic run of last episodes, even the episode titles are epic lol

Phil Leotardo transforming himself into a house was an unexpectedly effective tactical move.

June/July will feel like a complete new channel. Monster, The Last of Us, Mad Men and hopefully A Place Further Than The Universe :D

its so fascinating for me to see how much emotional impact kids have on these girls literally everyone of the sopranos fans hates aj

It's really crazy they gave AJ so little plot wise the first 5 seasons then stuffed all of this story for him in the second half of the final season, lol. It's a really interesting choice narrative wise. A lot of fans HATED it, during the shows initial run. I'm ambivalent. It's good stuff and Robert Iler handles it well, but it does seem rushed.

Just a tip for LM for the season finale - do a little research about it after the episode but before you film the review. People have had 20 years to process and analyse it. Reading more about it would probably be beneficial for your own opinion of the events that happen. It's a pity you won't be able to respond to our comments about it but you'll find loads of stuff online about it.

Oh my god I had no idea you were starting Monster, I’m so excited! Such a beautiful show.