Sopranoswatch: Money's Tight
HBO
For a show that's all about money, The Sopranos has never given us that clear a sense of what exactly Tony is (or isn't) worth. So it jumped out at me when Hesh gave us his estimate of Tony's assets: a mere $6 mil, give or take. It turns out Tony, like a good suburbanite, has been spending money as fast as he can get it--"In one hand and out the other," Hesh says. Which is creating problems, mostly for other people.
I'm not entirely sure what the writers are getting at, theme- or character-wise, with Tony's suddenly-full-blown gambling problem. (Self-destructive impulse? Midlife crisis?) But as Tony has gone from owning a racehorse to being owned by the ponies, the storyline seems to be continuing a pattern of straining or alienating Tony's closest relationships. Last night it was Hesh, Tony's old confidant, fearing for his life when Tony gets 200K in debt to him and, running the cost-benefit analysis on the debt vs. Tony's net worth, and figuring that it may become worth Tony's while to off him.
Actually, maybe it's not quite right to say that Hesh--and before him, Chris, Paulie and Bobby--are becoming estranged from Tony through his actions: with Hesh, definitely, you got the sense that he was simply finally revealing what he always thought about Tony deep down. Beneath Tony's jokes and ball-busting, he says, is an "animal" who'll come out when cornered (actually, he says that about all Italians, countering Tony's bitter grousing about the Jews). Likewise, we see, Hesh's smiles and counsel-giving to Tony hides his basic contempt and fear for him. Maybe these strains and divisions were always there with every character (as hinted at in that long-ago episode when Tony realizes that people only laugh at his jokes because he's Boss), but are just coming out into the open in these last episodes. As Hesh puts it: "Lonely at the top, boychik?"
Ultimately, Tony has set up a mercenary relationship with everyone in his life: he's worth to other people what they can get out of him, which is how he's treated other people as well. This keeps him from forming genuine relationships, and it may have indirectly had the same effect on A.J.; Blanca breaks up with him, perhaps partly because she realizes that A.J. really intends to go straight, and that she would be marrying not a privileged mob scion but a pizzeria manager.
Tony, of course, is oblivious to the ramifications of his choices on those around him, an old theme on The Sopranos but poignantly illustrated in the subplot about Vito's troubled son, who ends up being abducted to get his butt beaten at a "tough love" camp in Idaho because bet and lost the $100K he was going to give Vito's widow to relocate to Maine. That's business: when Tony Soprano catches a cold, you get pneumonia. No wonder Carm is so worried about becoming a mob widow.
Oh, and one more thing, which I'm just going to leave hanging out there, since the episode itself did: what's going on with the two Middle Eastern guys from the Bing? Are they just a red herring, as they've seemed to be before? Or will Chris' past dealings with them be the thing that gets Tony brought down (since, as the series has been intimating, the Feds are pulling resources off the Mafia to cover terrorism anyway)? Only five weeks left to find out: one of those shoes has to drop, right?
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1
Here's another thought on the Middle Eastern guys from the Bing - Tony uses them as his way "out."
It would be, to Tony, the perfect way to save his family and his "family" - he could help the feds bust some terrorists (quite fitting for a man who's patriotism is defined by watching hours of History channel WWII documentaries) in exchange for some type of immunity, while avoiding the pain of breaking Omerta and ratting out his other "family."
This being the Sopranos, though, it's not likely to be that neat and easy.....but if Tony could do it, and in particular find a way to ensnare Phil Leotardo at the same time, it'd be a sweet escape for Tony.
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2
Chaddogg,
It would be an irony either way, since one of the oldest stories David Chase tells about pitching The Sopranos to the broadcast networks is that the executives kept asking him to make Tony a little more likeable--for instance, they suggested, by having him help the FBI catch terrorists.
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3
Was anyone else dissatisfied with the filming and pacing of last night's episode? It seemed to be shot in a way that very few other episodes have been shot, with lots of close-ups that I'm not sure worked well.
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4
Was Hesh's g/f killed or was she the antithesis to Tony's bad luck with money, good luck with life (which he tried to rationalize to Carmela at the end)? I.e. Hesh has good luck with money but bad luck with life in this episode.
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5
joybd, I believe that was the first Sopranos episode shot primarily with hand-held cameras. With the exception of Tony's session with Dr. Melfi (where the camera never moves, no zooming or panning, etc.) this seemed to be the case. The episode was directed by Tim Van Patten, a Sopranos veteran, so it's not like some novice came in and brought his crappy camcorder. The West Wing used hand-helds in a third-season episode when the White House staff was preparing for a debate, and it gave the show a hectic, chaotic feel. In The Sopranos you couldn't help but notice the contrast to this season's earlier episodes that featured a lot of lingering, still shots of water that didn't bode well. I'm not sure how well it worked, but the choice to use hand-helds helped create the feeling that everything is crashing down around Tony.
I also LOVED the use of Howlin' Wolf's "Goin' Down Slow" in one of the casino scenes and over the end credits. If you're not familiar with the Wolf, he was a legendary Chicago bluesman of the 50s and 60s -- the spoken parts were Willie Dixon, and that slick guitar was my West Side homeboy Hubert Sumlin. Check out the lyrics, the song could have been written by one Tony Soprano: http://www.harptab.com/lyrics/ly3550.shtml
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6
Am I the only one who noticed a big flaw in the writing? The Jets started their season a little early...May. Everyone knows that the Puerto Rican Day Parade is held in May.
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7
Actually, Blanca is Dominican, not Puerto Rican. I don't know who was throwing the parade (I haven't brushed up on my Latin American flags in a while). I'm not sure when the Domincan parade is held, or if AJ was even in Manhattan, like I had assumed. That's just what I think of when these parades are referenced -- remember that great Seinfeld episode when they're stuck in traffic because of the Puerto Rican parade?
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8
Daw0317,
I was thinking exactly that, but then I thought it was so odd that this production would get that detail wrong (they shoot in Queens, they're so NYC-connected) that I blamed myself: I figured that I must have zoned out and missed a detail, or that it was actually a basketball game or something... then I never rewinded the Tivo to check. (Was it a Jets game, btw? IIRC the Jets played the game against the Chargers that Tony wanted to bet Carm's money on, and the game that was near the parade was some team vs. "Miami.")
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9
Jim, I'm pretty sure those were Puerto Rican flags all the cars were flying, tho -- the Dominican flag is much different.
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10
Thanks for the correction Jim.
I thought I had seen a Puerto Rican flag?
I did realize Blanca was Dominican, but anyway, that Parade would be in August I believe. Anyway, that Puerto Rican Parade episode in Seinfeld was a classic. -
11
Has it been settled, then, that Blanca is Dominican? The only thing I remember is that at the end of last season, when A.J. brings her home for the first time, Carmella looks dismayed, and Tony says, "Dominican. . . maybe."
Jim, interesting thoughts regarding the hand-held cameras and the sense of chaos it gives the episode. Do you see something similar working with the close-ups that seemed to have no point to them?
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