What an odd episode.
This was a real tough episode for me to get a handle on. Especially after one viewing. Last night was DEFINITELY one of the more "plot driven" shows, as opposed to the "character driven" eps that best define the show. plot devices were responsible for the characters dialogue, their decision making, and ultimate resolutions. Any character development that occurred last night was due solely to random plot events. It felt like a one-off or "throwaya" episode in that regard.
Tony's gambling, or rather Tony's continuing habit of losing at his gambles, has suddenly become a problem so severe it is negatively affecting his closest relationships. Adding to T's growing stress is a request from Marie Spatafore, wife of late Soprano family capo Vito Spatafore, for 100K to move the family away from the area in order to give Vito Jr., a severely troubled young man, a fresh start somewhere where the family's history is unknown. The money plot device was needling Tony the whole episode and ultimately dictated how he resolved every problem he faced, and he pragmatically resolved Vito Jr's problem by choosing the cheaper of two evils.
Tony was ugly in this episode. Dammit the man was downright vicious and cruel. I can't remember an episode in recent memory where he was just so wholly unlikeable. Even during some of his more violent and horrifying cruel outbursts and arguments in seasons past, Gandolfini has usually been able to convey something redeemable in the man. I'll be a monkey's uncle if there was any of that going on last night, either in Gandolfini's performance or in the writing. He moved like a wounded animal for the better part of the episode. Taking his lumps, HARD, whenever he would get clobbered on his bets, then in the midst of licking his wounds he would attack, nastily, anybody who was near to him. Hesh's words last night were on point and he had T dead to rights during that scene in which he was discussing with his son-in-law the dangers of doing business with "the Italians". That was a fantastic bit of acting by Jerry Adler and a great monologue conveying the heavy reality of the position Hesh had found himself in. He wasn't being bleak or a pessimist in the least when he summarized his friendship, and ultimately his safety, as being worth about as much as Tony Soprano wanted to part with. Based off the closeness of the two characters, I mean since episode fucking one, I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen the way Tony was acting once he started feeling the pressure of paying up. Tony is an ugly motherfucker when he owes money. In Melfi's office he started in with the "Jews/$$" thing and did not give an inch when she tried to downplay the stereotype (that every gentile alive believes), and from that point I knew shit was going to go wrong for Herschel Rabkin. Did anybody notice Chrissy when Hesh came by Satriale's and Tony started in with the Merchant of Venice shtick? Great little bit of stifled laughter by Imperioli right there.
Speaking of good acting, I'd like to put in a word about the kid who played Vito Jr. That guy had a really tough gig last night and he pulled it off pretty damn well. A lot of times with kids I cringe while watching stuff and usually if a kid isn't just out and out horrible then I'm pleasantly surprised. I was more than pleasantly surprised by the job that kid did. He was able to do some tough stuff, some really "over a kids head" type stuff, and he was able to do it well. Kid held his own with Frank Vincent and Gandolfini, was made up and had his hair dyed to look feminine, and then stood shirtless and shit himself. I think a lot of that stuff would be hard for a kid to pull off as well as he did. Good little actor.
Alright so back to the Tony's gambling, his all consuming destructive habit of "Chasing It". During his second visit with Dr. Melfi I kept waiting for her to ask him, rather puzzled, "Didn't we have a breakthrough revelation in here about you witnessing your dais cut off a man's finger and that, along with your father's imploring you, has kept you from gambling your whole life?". But to no avail. That flashback was about gambling, right? Or was it about paying your debts? Either way, Tony is having real problems with both of those right now.
Anyone else think that Tony exploding at Carm in that horribly cruel way, while definitely INITIATED by the realization he missed out on a windfall with that Jets bet, ended up being about his own dissatisfaction with the way he had handled (or mis-handled) and let down the Spatafores? The more I reflect on what he said about her being a shitty businesswoman and building a rotten house that was sure to fail and perhaps even kill the family residing in it, the more I consider the parallels between Carmela's failure to build a secure home and Tony's failure to provide a sound life for the family one of his top guys.
I think its very telling that it was Carm's cousin moving into her spec house. Not only does it provide the obvious realization that she was unable to unload the house on a stranger and had to resort to cheating a relative, but it also toys with the notion of "family" in a way The Sopranos has riffed on and made part of its marketing since Season 1. Tony's other "family", his crew of loyal button men and captains, rely on him as a surrogate father, mentor and most definitely as a provider. The flow of money in the mafia is competently summarized in the term "kick UP". Weekly envelope drops, when guys mention "making collections", travel from the associates to the soldiers they're under, then onto that soldier's capo, and then to the top of the pile where they find their way into Tony's jacket pocket, accompanied by a handshake and a smooch on the cheek. Even though this pyramid scheme favors the Boss in every way, shape, and form, his family of criminals most certainly relies on T for guidance and allowances regarding what scores are acceptable and what areas are free game. In this way Tony is not only responsible for providing a house with food on the table for Carm, Meadow, and AJ, he is responsible for all of his guys' ability to make their own healthy households, and their ability "to eat". All the made guys also certainly rely on "their thing" as a sort of insurance plan for whenever their end game is reached. Tony explains as much during Chrissey's induction ceremony, and the guys come to rely that if they wind up in jail or dead and gone that Tony will look after the other family they leave behind.
Carmela's inner turmoil about intentionally screwing over a relative for her own financial gain is juxtaposed with Tony's screwing over one of his "relatives". His anger arises with the realization that he had failed to protect Vito, had failed to take care of the Spatafore family left behind to pick up the pieces by leaving the job to Phil, and was going to fail them further by advising Vito Jr. be taken to a brutal camp for troubled youth...all because it was the least expensive choice. He knows that parts of the foundation of his other household has been built with faulty wood, and that it wound up caving in and killing that poor baby (Vito Jr./Francesca).
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