Television The Sopranos

I'm just watching s3 e2 and what they've done with Tony's mum looks ridiculous! Suppose they had no other choice what with her dying in real life and that but they could've at least got an impressionist in rather than rehashing old phrases in.

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Then the sudden death too! It's like a soap opera :lol:
 
Duffy said:
Just reading back thorough the thread and this post stood out. That ending with Tony on the hotel bed and the lighthouse off in the distance, is probably my favourite scene in any television programme ever. Stunning how much a great actor can say without words.
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Same man. I watch that clip all the time or put When I'm Cold I'd like to Die on. Just outstanding. The picking up the phone and then hanging up gets to me aswel.
 
LennonNL said:
I'm just watching s3 e2 and what they've done with Tony's mum looks ridiculous! Suppose they had no other choice what with her dying in real life and that but they could've at least got an impressionist in rather than rehashing old phrases in.

Edit:
Then the sudden death too! It's like a soap opera :lol:
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They'd already written most of the series before she died and had to do a rush job to change the whole season. It was poor but excusable under the circumstances I'd say.
 
acnumber9 said:
They'd already written most of the series before she died and had to do a rush job to change the whole season. It was poor but excusable under the circumstances I'd say.
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Oh yeah it's completely understandable, but it looked shit. So is the whole of series 3 a bit shit then? So far it's boring as feck and I'm nearly done with the second episode.

They did a whole episode wiring the basement for feck sake.
 
LennonNL said:
Oh yeah it's completely understandable, but it looked shit. So is the whole of series 3 a bit shit then? So far it's boring as feck and I'm nearly done with the second episode.

They did a whole episode wiring the basement for feck sake.
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That's a brilliant episode!
 
JustAFan said:
Just recently finished my 2nd time through the series and I am not ashamed to admit that I certainly hope that when Tony got his, the gunman/men managed to put a few rounds into Carm also. AJ and Meadow, not their fault they were born into that shit. Tony was also I guess, but then he stayed when he became an adult and Carm certainly was happy to play the Mob Queen and beg for more and more, her swing from "oh poor me, my husband cheats on me, or won't let me have more money" to "oh look at the nice shiny new things my husband has gotten for me, I am so happy" knowing full well where it all came from.

And fecking Paulie, luckiest bastard in the show, surviving everything and will probably end up being the boss in NJ. Turned informant on Tony, annoyed the feck out of everyone in the crew, always seemed to be saying or doing the wrong thing to cause more problems for Tony. Tony should have killed him out on the boat when he had the chance.
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I don't know which of these scenarios I would like to play out. Either the entire family got clipped or the rest of them watching as Tony gets one in the head. Either way it would be brutal on us viewers.
 
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LennonNL said:
Yeah yeah I know, I've been looking stuff up.
The part where Paulie goes to see a medium and he starts talking about Sonny Pagano, he's been briefly mentioned before and I was thinking who the feck is he? Turns out he was Paulie's first kill when I googled it but why didn't they just say that some how?
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That's actually one of the things that makes this show great. It's not written for the viewers - with every little thing explained on the way with the unlikely dialogue (like when the genius scientist asks "but how will this work" with the following explanation on the Flash for example), it's really like looking at their lives over their shoulder and slowly understanding what's going on with them
 
Tarrou said:
Anyone see The Leftovers homage/rip-off of the Kevin Finnerty concept? Was decent, but needless to say not a patch on the original.
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I didn't see it as a rip off at all, it was done very differently. Can a show not do a dream like episode without copying The Sopranos :confused:

Assuming you're referring to 'International Assassin', it's one of the best damn episodes of TV I've ever seen.
 
Cina said:
I didn't see it as a rip off at all, it was done very differently. Can a show not do a dream like episode without copying The Sopranos :confused:

Assuming you're referring to 'International Assassin', it's one of the best damn episodes of TV I've ever seen.
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It was a nod towards those Sopranos episodes in my book. Lead character caught between life and death, the overall tone/feel of the episode, and the indifference the character felt towards his surroundings. It all felt very Kevin Finnerty-esque to me, but I would call it more 'homage' than 'rip-off.
 
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Revan said:
I would put The Wire higher, and Breaking Bad at least in the same level.
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I certainly hold The Wire in high regard, slightly lower than The Sopranos but great nonetheless.

Breaking bad is a level below though for me, as fantastic as it is it falls short of an all time great.

Again all my opinions.
 
If The Sopranos was more mafia-oriented, I would have liked it more. At some point I was fed up with all the scenes involving the psychiatrist, AJ/Carm, all of Tony's goomars, couldn't care about that stuff.
 
By the way, can anyone PM me a decent website where I can watch this for free. Completely legal of course*
I usually watch it on Sky on demand but the tele's currently occupied and I'm bored as feck.

*nope
 
VorZakone said:
If The Sopranos was more mafia-oriented, I would have liked it more. At some point I was fed up with all the scenes involving the psychiatrist, AJ/Carm, all of Tony's goomars, couldn't care about that stuff.
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Those scenes might not be the most exciting, but imho they are a big part of what makes this show special and stand out from all the watch once and then forget thriler/action shows.
 
I dont get why Tony killed Chris ?? Cause he was druged again and Tony was fed up with the incompetence followed of being an addict or something? But they were so close together, i dont get it.
 
slig said:
I dont get why Tony killed Chris ?? Cause he was druged again and Tony was fed up with the incompetence followed of being an addict or something? But they were so close together, i dont get it.
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He even mentioned it to his psychiatrist I think. Basically he felt Chris was a time-bomb because of his addiction and the already damaged relationship between the 2.
 
slig said:
I dont get why Tony killed Chris ?? Cause he was druged again and Tony was fed up with the incompetence followed of being an addict or something? But they were so close together, i dont get it.
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Because he was falling apart due to the addiction and knew way too much. You cant rely on someone like that.
 
slig said:
I dont get why Tony killed Chris ?? Cause he was druged again and Tony was fed up with the incompetence followed of being an addict or something? But they were so close together, i dont get it.
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From what i can remember it's because he never felt he could trust him not to rat them out in the future considering he was s drug addict. Tony didn't really like drug addicts, and Christopher couldn't help himself.
 
Look how helpful we all are!
 
slig said:
I dont get why Tony killed Chris ?? Cause he was druged again and Tony was fed up with the incompetence followed of being an addict or something? But they were so close together, i dont get it.
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Also, when you look at the baby seat in the car there was a branch that had pierced it. If the baby had of been in the car then he would have died. Its a sobering moment for tony and that's why he does it. He's always on drugs and almost killed tony because of it aswell so enough was enough. He had enough chances. Imo it wasn't because of him being succeptible to being a rat, although tony never trusts anyone 100%.
 
Thanks a lot!

Ok, so it was what i was thinking. You think it was this accident which was enough, "the ice on the cake" on Chris faults of the past? Like the things sums themself up (you know what i mean?) to a point where Tony thinks "i have to get rid of him, and here is the chance". But i always felt that Tony really likes Chris, thatswhy i was suprised when this happened. But maybe this has been shown to show us the kind of ruthlessness Tony has to have?

On the other side: Chris often tried to solve his problem, and getting bad feeback from the others for that. I mean Tony says he have to get rid of his addiction, and then told him to drink..
 
Obviously it was an opportunistic move to put an end to the burden Chris had become.

Here's a lengthy piece on how on another level, it was Tony taking revenge on his own father for whom he had repressed feelings of rage and hatred - http://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=2503
 
Excellent series as a whole, although some episodes were quite repetitive.

One beef I do have is
Why the sudden change of heart from Phil? It felt like a rash decision from the producers to spice things up a bit. I know he felt anger towards The Soprano family about the killing of his brother, and what Vito did to his wife, but why after swallowing the brother killing and dealing with the Vito thing himself did he decide to go on an all out massacre of another family just because Tony battered that guy for creeping on his daughter? Why was it that that pushed him over the edge? Killing made men in that lifestyle is hugely frowned upon too, isn't it? So it would've been a major decision by Phil to do that.

I thought the ending was annoying but after reading a couple of things about how we saw the constant life perspective of Tony, always being wary, I've decided it was well done. I think it's obvious Tony died, but who killed him and why?
 
Amar__ said:
From what i can remember it's because he never felt he could trust him not to rat them out in the future considering he was s drug addict. Tony didn't really like drug addicts, and Christopher couldn't help himself.
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Almost getting Tony killed because he was high probably did not help Chris's case, plus the perfect opportunity to not have it look like murder.
 
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LennonNL said:
Excellent series as a whole, although some episodes were quite repetitive.

One beef I do have is
Why the sudden change of heart from Phil? It felt like a rash decision from the producers to spice things up a bit. I know he felt anger towards The Soprano family about the killing of his brother, and what Vito did to his wife, but why after swallowing the brother killing and dealing with the Vito thing himself did he decide to go on an all out massacre of another family just because Tony battered that guy for creeping on his daughter? Why was it that that pushed him over the edge? Killing made men in that lifestyle is hugely frowned upon too, isn't it? So it would've been a major decision by Phil to do that.

I thought the ending was annoying but after reading a couple of things about how we saw the constant life perspective of Tony, always being wary, I've decided it was well done. I think it's obvious Tony died, but who killed him and why?
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Phil NEVER accepted the murder of his brother, it was a constant open wound, not just his murder but that fact that Tony never turned his cousin over for Phil to deal with, plus Phil never being convinced that Tony was not in on it all along. Killing Vito was never closure to the whole Vito is gay issue, instead Phil saw the entire situation as Tony showing more disrespect towards Phil and his family by Tony not letting Phil know where Vito was when he returned to town. From the start Phil had been pushing towards a situation where the NJ crew (Soprano's) would either be forced to fall in line under Phil or would have to react to provocations, which Phil then could use to push the tension level up. The guy Sil killed at the Bing, then the guy creeping on Meadow and Tony's response were all part of an escalating situation. At least that is how I saw it. Even the supposed reconciliation between Tony and Phil when Phil had his heart attack, was never something Phil took seriously.
 
JustAFan said:
Phil NEVER accepted the murder of his brother, it was a constant open wound, not just his murder but that fact that Tony never turned his cousin over for Phil to deal with, plus Phil never being convinced that Tony was not in on it all along. Killing Vito was never closure to the whole Vito is gay issue, instead Phil saw the entire situation as Tony showing more disrespect towards Phil and his family by Tony not letting Phil know where Vito was when he returned to town. From the start Phil had been pushing towards a situation where the NJ crew (Soprano's) would either be forced to fall in line under Phil or would have to react to provocations, which Phil then could use to push the tension level up. The guy Sil killed at the Bing, then the guy creeping on Meadow and Tony's response were all part of an escalating situation. At least that is how I saw it. Even the supposed reconciliation between Tony and Phil when Phil had his heart attack, was never something Phil took seriously.
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That's all plausible, I just thought it was a slightly weak storyline after such strong ones, such as Chris' fight with addiction or Tony's outlook on life. There's obviously nothing wrong with your theory but such an explosive ending should've really had more of a solid back story - but I suppose that's what is great about The Sopranos. The arcs are long lasting, you'd see stuff from series 1 cropping back up in series 6.

Still confused about who would've killed Tony at the end though. My mate said he read a theory it was one of Tony's victim's brother, but again it's all up in the air.
 
LennonNL said:
That's all plausible, I just thought it was a slightly weak storyline after such strong ones, such as Chris' fight with addiction or Tony's outlook on life. There's obviously nothing wrong with your theory but such an explosive ending should've really had more of a solid back story - but I suppose that's what is great about The Sopranos. The arcs are long lasting, you'd see stuff from series 1 cropping back up in series 6.

Still confused about who would've killed Tony at the end though. My mate said he read a theory it was one of Tony's victim's brother, but again it's all up in the air.
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At one point some members of the NYC crew, without Phil around I think, mentioned taking out the leadership of the NJ crew and then making peace with whoever was left. Some different possibilities out there including the carrying out of a hit already ordered by Phil before he died or the remainder of the NYC crew deciding the only way everything can really work out is if both Phil and Tony are out of the picture, Tony's crew having already killed Phil there was only one loose end. Other theories I have read include Paulie wacking Tony so he could be boss, the Russians from earlier seasons, little Carmine, even Hesh, Furio coming back for Carm, the big boss (the hot woman) in Italy not being happy with the war, or have heard any number of enemies Tony made in seasons 1 thru 5.
 
JustAFan said:
At one point some members of the NYC crew, without Phil around I think, mentioned taking out the leadership of the NJ crew and then making peace with whoever was left. Some different possibilities out there including the carrying out of a hit already ordered by Phil before he died or the remainder of the NYC crew deciding the only way everything can really work out is if both Phil and Tony are out of the picture, Tony's crew having already killed Phil there was only one loose end. Other theories I have read include Paulie wacking Tony so he could be boss, the Russians from earlier seasons, little Carmine, even Hesh, Furio coming back for Carm, the big boss (the hot woman) in Italy not being happy with the war, or have heard any number of enemies Tony made in seasons 1 thru 5.
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You seem well read on the matter!! Cheers mate.
 
"I stick motherfecking provolone in my socks at night so they smell like your sister's crotch in the morning!"

Silvio Dante
 
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