The Sopranos: The Fleshy Part of the Thigh

Craig you could be right. The show began with the ducks in the pool and I'm sure will end with the ducks and Tony flying away.

Paulie's reaction to the aunt/mom news had the stinging
reality of truth to it. It made him feel unrelated to all his past history; and could possibly make him even more violent in getting his way. I got the impression that Carm is noting her importance to Tony's realm, and I can see her exercising that role. This episode also showed some basic differences in Tony and Chris,
who now thinks Tony "owes him" for Adriane. There is going to be some serious re-evaluations, and I can't wait.

tony is too big a fish for the gov't to protect ........he will either go to prison or he has to die ............or he could go right on being the boss turning more and more over to christopher....and eventually (boy what a movie a la the godfather it would be as we watch tony and carm come to grips with aj going into the family business) aj......all of this is leading up to the end of the series not necessarily the end of the family...........

This episode was indeed a great one, I really enjoy reading all comments here.
Tony really seems to have weakened during his coma time, first promising not to hurt the Barone kid and then in front of his crew refusing to take the 2K from the ambulance guy, holding Janice's hand telling everyday is going to be a gift from now on, definately no mobboss behavior.
Hypocrit Carmella will make sure her level of wealth is kept intact, I would love to see Meadow and AJ
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/ilermug1.html
get involved!

As someone heavily in favor of the witness protection theory, I noticed a quick scene that seemed to support the theory. When Carm hands him the book on dinosaurs, they show a huge one flying away. They then cut to birds flying away. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but it sure jarred me. Remember, he had Alzheimer's in his "dream" for a reason. He is forgetting his past.

About the briefcase. I think it is important to understand the Buddhist element behind Tony's dream and his meditations in and out of the hospital.
The entire idea of the universe not having the boundary of consciousness and the "external" world goes against the very nature of having a briefcase at all. It doesn't matter if the briefcase is Tony's or his parents or anyone elese for that matter. Carrying a suitcase at all and identifying ourselves with it misses the point of our very existence.
Think of it this way, every cell in your body is replaced 3 of 4 times over the span of an average lifetime. And yet you are still you. You are made up of entirely new material yet you are still you. Our moods, our emotions, our thoughts, our relationships, our identity can all change but ultimately at the core you are still you.
Tony, like every single one of us, has learned to identity himself to the mental aspects of creation and has lost himself. But coming near his own death allowed him to wash all that away, and for now he is living a rare point of awareness. Will it last? Who knows? Can Tony still kick some ass and be Buddhist-like? I believe so, but it won't be inspired by the same things as it once was. And should he stay in the moment of awareness it is most likely that he will try to distance himself from the insanity around him epitomized in this episode by Paulie.
What's sad is that it seems even if Tony renounces all "briefcase" his son seems destined to attain his own very heavy briefcase. The sins of the father very often do reincarnate themselves on and on and on... and have no qualms about jumping from one person to another.

adam!! nice again..one thing to add...i think we are all forgetting about Carm!!!!

i think perhaps we are being led down this path...

tony will end up just like his dad, and carm will be more and more like his mom!!!...the whole show started out about him and his mom....when the actress died that messed everything up, but perhaps the muse is back...

so carm starts to see tony weakening, remember what she said to him in the coma, about his "strength, like a bear"....as tony weakens, maybe carm realizes/admits how complicit she is in all this and stops being such a sanctimonious shrew about her role (remember what she did to get meadow into college????)....

so carm starts pulling strings in the "business"..think of the possibilities!!!!!!

just a thought...i think carm is the major player here not paulie...

Wow Adam, you really give this stuff alot of thought, are you a pyschologist? I don't see Tony softing up at all. In fact, I see that Reverend ending up at the bottom of the river in a couple of episodes if he doesn't shut his trap... It seemed Paulie cracked that kid's knees more out of jealousy when he saw how devoted his mother was to him, although I'm sure the money is a factor too.

I didn't know if Tony would get shot or see the ducks again, both were possibilities. I think this new found gift of life will be short lived for Tony, he is already talking about his favorite sushi joint, and screaming like a maniac next week. Looking forward to next week..

OK, Adam, what? Some good fucking exegesis but I think you have some key points confused, especially where Phin the Phish Phan is concerned. He is in NY, not CA, right? And why does he NEED protection from Vito?

I think WP might be a stretch; more likely if he doesn't flex some muscle he's dead. But will Chase actually kill him? If he was going to, wouldn't he have done it at the beginning of episode 2? I mean, he IS going to die.

When Tony left the house to sit by the pool i was almost expecting (dreading) that a shot would ring out from a sniper hiding in the blowing trees