EPISODE 5: Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request...
Ok, I give up. After five seasons of this, one would think I would know better than to try and predict Chase's story arc, particularly based off of scenes from the next. It turns out that it was Johnny Sack's voice asking Tony for help (I orginally thought it was Phil) and when Phil says "Our friend there... John wants him gone," he's actually talking about Rusty Millio (Frankie Valli) instead of Tony. I still believe there will ultimately be a war between NY and NJ, but, based on this week's developments, it could go in a completely different direction. So here I am, in the same paragraph where I have sworn off predictions, trudging out on another limb. Chew on this potential storyline for a bit, though:
Phil was clearly talking out of school after Johnny's involuntary perp walk in front of Allegra's guests. Even Tony, who, like the rest, practices situational ethics when it comes to following mob guidelines, felt the need to defend Johnny against Phil's insults. For a brief moment, Phil seemed to recognize that a line may have been crossed in his response to the "outsider" who commented on Johnny's plight, but then went directly back to his rant. Of course Chrissy, who can always be trusted to be himself (i.e. one whose impulsivity lets those outside the Family know what he is thinking), agrees with Phil, and Tony's frustration is evident. However, now that Phil, who appears to be the acting boss while Johnny Sack is a guest of the government, has a lesser opinion of Johnny, could it be that he will rise up in mutiny against Johnny? If so, the story could play in several different ways. First, Phil could have designs on the top spot himself. If he ascended to the throne, he would have no one within the Family with the power to overrule his vendetta against Jersey for Tony B.'s actions last season and the further insult of his not being allowed to avenge his brother himself. I think this is less likely because, as of now, his power appears to come from his proximity to Johnny and not from his own leadership abilities.
A more likely scenario could be Phil, knowing that Rusty would have more support than himself as successor to Johnny, allies himself with Rusty and ousts Johnny. In this circumstance, all he would have to do in order to carry out his blood grudge against Jersey would be whisper in Rusty's ear that Tony accepted the contract on Rusty. Then Diminished-Capacity Tony would have put his whole Family at risk by caving to Johnny Sack again (the first being his agreement on the Barone Sanitation sale), and for what... because in his condition it wasn't worth arguing over? We'll have to wait and see but, while it's probable that I will be sheepishly retracting this theory next week, either of these scenarios would bring a fair bit of action to our Sunday nights.
Ok, I give up. After five seasons of this, one would think I would know better than to try and predict Chase's story arc, particularly based off of scenes from the next. It turns out that it was Johnny Sack's voice asking Tony for help (I orginally thought it was Phil) and when Phil says "Our friend there... John wants him gone," he's actually talking about Rusty Millio (Frankie Valli) instead of Tony. I still believe there will ultimately be a war between NY and NJ, but, based on this week's developments, it could go in a completely different direction. So here I am, in the same paragraph where I have sworn off predictions, trudging out on another limb. Chew on this potential storyline for a bit, though:
Phil was clearly talking out of school after Johnny's involuntary perp walk in front of Allegra's guests. Even Tony, who, like the rest, practices situational ethics when it comes to following mob guidelines, felt the need to defend Johnny against Phil's insults. For a brief moment, Phil seemed to recognize that a line may have been crossed in his response to the "outsider" who commented on Johnny's plight, but then went directly back to his rant. Of course Chrissy, who can always be trusted to be himself (i.e. one whose impulsivity lets those outside the Family know what he is thinking), agrees with Phil, and Tony's frustration is evident. However, now that Phil, who appears to be the acting boss while Johnny Sack is a guest of the government, has a lesser opinion of Johnny, could it be that he will rise up in mutiny against Johnny? If so, the story could play in several different ways. First, Phil could have designs on the top spot himself. If he ascended to the throne, he would have no one within the Family with the power to overrule his vendetta against Jersey for Tony B.'s actions last season and the further insult of his not being allowed to avenge his brother himself. I think this is less likely because, as of now, his power appears to come from his proximity to Johnny and not from his own leadership abilities.
A more likely scenario could be Phil, knowing that Rusty would have more support than himself as successor to Johnny, allies himself with Rusty and ousts Johnny. In this circumstance, all he would have to do in order to carry out his blood grudge against Jersey would be whisper in Rusty's ear that Tony accepted the contract on Rusty. Then Diminished-Capacity Tony would have put his whole Family at risk by caving to Johnny Sack again (the first being his agreement on the Barone Sanitation sale), and for what... because in his condition it wasn't worth arguing over? We'll have to wait and see but, while it's probable that I will be sheepishly retracting this theory next week, either of these scenarios would bring a fair bit of action to our Sunday nights.
Speaking of Chrissy being Chrissy, as much as he loves movies, shouldn't he brush up on his I's and II's? First, in Season One, it was "Louis" Brasi who slept with the fishes after he killed Email, and now no Italian can refuse a request from a man whose daughter is getting married? He's clearly spending too much time renting "Kundun" and waiting for Scorsese at red carpets and too little time worrying about following what amounts to racketeer scripture. This young generation has no respect.
A few other thoughts on this week's episode...
First, to return to a previous observation, the guys are pretty much done with their sympathy for Tony. I said before, in my review of Mayham, that the writers have quite realistically handled people's short attention spans for those situations that don't directly affect them. Of course, Tony's health affects who the guys kick up to, but not their health or overall well-being, in their minds anyway. Tony as the boss of Jersey is the best thing that ever happened to most of these dolts, but a guy like Vito is talking with Larry Barese about taking over? Please! I am done with Vito altogether, and it looks like the writers are as well. He can't unring the bell of being caught in the gay bar, so it's only a matter of time. With the combination of Tony's weakened state, his focus on reasserting his dominance, and Jersey's step-child status in relation to New York, a face-saving decision on Vito is an easy one, assuming he hasn't taken care of the problem in that hotel room already. My original point on this, though, was that Tony was at the pork store poker game for all of 3 minutes before the guys were ready to talk about something... anything... other than his surgery and condition. And Chrissy, with his mine's-bigger-than-yours scar contest? The first of Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power is never outshine the master, but I guess a mobster who can't quote Part I accurately probably hasn't read that either.
Finally, I have read countless opinions this week on why Tony picked "Penne Arrabiata" to make an example out of in Satriale's. Alan Sepinwall with the Star-Ledger sums up the three most popular in his column this week:
Perry was the ideal choice for three reasons: 1) his physique (making the victory more impressive), 2) he was the only guy in the room hot-headed enough to fight back (ibid), and 3) he's really just an overgrown kid ('My mom says I should count 10, but I never remember') with muscles but no street smarts.
***
A few other thoughts on this week's episode...
First, to return to a previous observation, the guys are pretty much done with their sympathy for Tony. I said before, in my review of Mayham, that the writers have quite realistically handled people's short attention spans for those situations that don't directly affect them. Of course, Tony's health affects who the guys kick up to, but not their health or overall well-being, in their minds anyway. Tony as the boss of Jersey is the best thing that ever happened to most of these dolts, but a guy like Vito is talking with Larry Barese about taking over? Please! I am done with Vito altogether, and it looks like the writers are as well. He can't unring the bell of being caught in the gay bar, so it's only a matter of time. With the combination of Tony's weakened state, his focus on reasserting his dominance, and Jersey's step-child status in relation to New York, a face-saving decision on Vito is an easy one, assuming he hasn't taken care of the problem in that hotel room already. My original point on this, though, was that Tony was at the pork store poker game for all of 3 minutes before the guys were ready to talk about something... anything... other than his surgery and condition. And Chrissy, with his mine's-bigger-than-yours scar contest? The first of Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power is never outshine the master, but I guess a mobster who can't quote Part I accurately probably hasn't read that either.
Finally, I have read countless opinions this week on why Tony picked "Penne Arrabiata" to make an example out of in Satriale's. Alan Sepinwall with the Star-Ledger sums up the three most popular in his column this week:
Perry was the ideal choice for three reasons: 1) his physique (making the victory more impressive), 2) he was the only guy in the room hot-headed enough to fight back (ibid), and 3) he's really just an overgrown kid ('My mom says I should count 10, but I never remember') with muscles but no street smarts.
I would add one to the top of that list and make those 1(b)(c) and (d). While those are all good reasons, and backed up by the camera (as Tony) sizing everyone up, I think the primary reason is that Perry is the only one in the room who isn't a made guy. Of course, Tony has put his hands on a made guy before (Ralphie, after he had beat the stripper to death and disrespected the Bing), but that was out of rage. This was a premeditated move on Tony's part. He took to heart Melfi's admonishment to show the guys he's still himself and, when it doesn't require too much effort, Tony tries to avoid breaking mob rules without casue. He showed us earlier in the episode, albeit gently, that he thought Phil was out of line when sharing his thoughts about Johnny Sack in public.
Finally, based on the expressions of the crew once Tony was finished, am I the only one who felt a twinge that his plan may have backfired? Maybe not. Maybe it was just extreme enough to rein them back in, without making him appear unstable and untrustworthy. However, if a war with NY starts and Tony wavers at all or they think he is too unstable to win it, we could see Jersey rise up against its boss as well. I realize that these are all doomsday scenarios, but the show has a finite amount of time left to tie up its loose ends, so something drastic could happen... and soon. Of course Chase will either (A) do the exact opposite of everything I have surmised or (B) never mention it again. Oh well...
Just for giggles, here's a link to another Star Ledger writer, Matt Zoller Seitz. He was the Sopranos beat writer for the first three seasons and continues to weigh in each week in his blog. The comments function as a great message-board-style dialogue.
If you don't know, now you know...
Finally, based on the expressions of the crew once Tony was finished, am I the only one who felt a twinge that his plan may have backfired? Maybe not. Maybe it was just extreme enough to rein them back in, without making him appear unstable and untrustworthy. However, if a war with NY starts and Tony wavers at all or they think he is too unstable to win it, we could see Jersey rise up against its boss as well. I realize that these are all doomsday scenarios, but the show has a finite amount of time left to tie up its loose ends, so something drastic could happen... and soon. Of course Chase will either (A) do the exact opposite of everything I have surmised or (B) never mention it again. Oh well...
Just for giggles, here's a link to another Star Ledger writer, Matt Zoller Seitz. He was the Sopranos beat writer for the first three seasons and continues to weigh in each week in his blog. The comments function as a great message-board-style dialogue.
If you don't know, now you know...
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