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The Sopranos: Remember When
by Tom Biro, posted Apr 22nd 2007 11:29PM
(S06E15) Last week's promos showed Paulie in what looked like a rough situation or two, most of which featured Tony's glare right on him. That all started after Paulie made a snide remark, or more specifically was talking about himself, when the guys were toasting to Johnny Sack's life after he had passed away from cancer. As it turned out, he was absolutely in the sights of Tony when it came to life and death. And in an episode when someone is having loose lips and putting the boss in a tough situation as the body of the person that he killed to "make his bones" more than two decades earlier was apparently being dug up by the feds, the focus on Paulie being a chatterbox about his entire life story was more than appropriate.
One of the cooler things we got to see this week was Vincent Pastore's mug, as he was hanging out in the kitchen in Paulie's dream, a dream that made him want to step up to the plate, and realize that he was on his boss' bad side. Whether or not Tony just couldn't do it when it came to whacking his friend and onetime mentor or that he realized he was making a rash decision wasn't quite clear. What did happen was that we got the do-si-do from Chase & Company, who had us flat-out staring at the Jersey Crew while the New York team was about to head in another direction.
For some strange reason, I had thought that Tony and Carm's relationship had improved significantly since last season, but his relations with the woman in Florida told us otherwise. Then again, I guess I should know by now to separate sex and marriage when it comes to The Sopranos, shouldn't I? When Paulie and Tony headed off to Florida for a few days on a road trip, it seemed like the perfect setup to take out one of the main characters of the series, and one that would have surely caused a stir among hardcore fans, irrelevant of how many episodes are left over. But, as they traveled down the East Coast in I-95, it was apparent that one of the things that we were supposed to get out of it all was that they were getting older. Sure, we've seen that for the last few weeks with Phil making lots of comments about health and aging, and Tony has let on about how things are different now, but the motel turning into a full-fledged hotel, valet parking and all, and Paulie's remarks about Pete using a bag to go to the bathroom in, it's almost like a soft, slow way to "say goodbye" to these characters as the show gets closer to finishing up.
All those allusions makes me wonder if we're going to have a much more "open-ended" closing than a violent one. Then again, with Phil seemingly taking control by force in a blatantly ugly way - a gunshot to the eye and everything - on Doc on the city streets, you never know what kind of clashes could cross the Hudson River.
One small item that came up this week that looks like it's going to be a major part at least next week was cash flow for Mr. Soprano. Sure, he said to Carm that she could get whatever she needed, but taking out a bridge loan for the gambling tab, combined with something happening to the spec house next week doesn't look so good, now does it? And on top of that, Junior isn't going to have his life end in such a sorrowful way, is he? I mean, surely Tony's not happy with him for shooting him and all, and it's uncomfortable after AJ's attempt to kill him in the home, but what's going to happen when the boss hears about the fellow home-member attempting to kill this man that was part of his growing up in the family? Maybe nothing, the way Tony looked at the photo of his father and Junior.
In a show like this, everything always "means" something, doesn't it? Maybe Junior's downfall, forgetfulness, and problems with controlling his need to urinate are all just flat out symbolic, as in the end of an era. If that's the
case, might Tony's fighting for himself and his family (the statement to Carmella about Paulie buying them the espresso maker are big here) along with his take-no-prisoners attitude, at least verbally, of late be the start of what could be a fight to the bitter end, or will we go down nice and easily, with the last episode being no different than any other, but without a followup at the end? I think it's still too early to say, either way, what will happen for the rest of this season, and the show is put together brilliantly, and will hopefully end just as solidly as it has run up to this point, even if we do have to forgive a dream sequence.
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