Tony preys upon Davey Scatino while Carmela gets
closer to Davey’s brother-in-law.
A witness to the Bevilaqua murder
unnerves Tony.
Episode 23 – Originally Aired March 19, 2000
Written by Frank Renzulli and Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess
Directed by John Patterson
___________________________________
This is sort of a “worker bee” episode, it comes in and tells its story competently without all the heavy philosophical and mythological and religious stuff that we’ve seen in other episodes this season. The opening scene almost feels like something out of a classic police procedural show, like Dragnet or Law and Order—a good citizen identifies Tony to the police as the man he saw at the park where Matt Bevilaqua’s body is found. But the typical procedural rarely ever delves deeply into the emotional, private lives of its characters as this series often does.
In those classic TV shows, a clear line divides the good guys from the bad guys—and this line can only be drawn if the bad guys are not shown in their full human dimension. This is where The Sopranos most differs from those classic TV shows. In this episode, Tony is humanized from his very first scene: he wants to aid a small child who is lost at the mall. The crying child reminds him of Matt Bevilaqua, who cried when he realized that Tony was going to kill him. Tony resolves to be a better father to AJ, who may make the same missteps as Matt—and become a lost child himself—if Tony doesn’t take a more active role in his life.
We also see a human dimension of Carmela that we’re not very familiar with. She’s got the hots for Vic Musto. His sister, Christina Scatino, tries to get him to cool his jets, reminding him that Carm has a ring on her finger: “…especially that ring, probably came off a dead person’s finger.” (She may not be far off the mark—last season, we saw Tony stumble a little when Carmela asked if her wedding ring was legitimately purchased.) But Christina’s remark is also significant because of the edit it generates:
Chase cuts from her mention of a dead person’s finger to her suicidal husband, who may become a dead person himself with just a twitch of his finger. Davey seems to come very close to pulling the trigger, but bails out when his wife’s voice interrupts him. This episode exposes the particular way that the mob performs a “bust out,” getting its claws into a business and consuming it from the inside out. Or more accurately, “Bust Out” shows how the mafia consumes its victims, like Davey Scatino, from the inside out.
The next scene also features a gun, albeit in a more humorous context. The camera slowly circles around to reveal the gun (and the joke):
Janice, despite her feminist posturing in previous episodes, is willing to indulge Richie’s gun fetish Janice is willing to debase herself so that her man can get his kicks. In spite of her disturbing subservience to Richie here, we know that she wields great power in their relationship. She tries to goad him into making a power-grab against Tony, even though she knows it would probably lead to the death of her brother. Janice and Richie represent the mortal threat to Tony this season that Livia and Corrado personified in Season 1. Just as we ponder the homicidal similarity between Janice and her mother, Livia makes a startling entrance into this episode:
Relying on the mechanical Stair Lift, Livia seems like an elderly, suburban Darth Vader in this scene—more mechanized monster than maternal matriarch. Up to this point in Season 2, we had only seen her at the hospital, “recovering” from her supposed stroke. Her reentry into the domestic space of the Soprano family here is both hilarious and menacing.
Janice, Richie and Livia are certainly threats to Tony, but he is most worried right now about the eyewitness to the Bevilaqua murder. Melfi recognizes that he is genuinely scared, and justifiably so. His crew are doing all they can to identify the witness, but they’re not making any headway. (In one of those great Sopranos moments that injects humor right into the tense drama, Furio—still learning the idiom—suggests that Tony make an escape: “Maybe you should lamb chop it for a while.”) But Tony doesn’t have to worry, because the reputation of the Mafia protects him. When the eyewitness is told by his wife that Matt Bevilaqua was a mob associate, he decides to abruptly withdraw his involvement in the investigation. Several TV elements (wardrobe, set design, props, diegetic music) all come together to quickly give us a sense of the couple’s relationship, their marital history, their politics, their self-perceived role in society, and their fear of the mob. Writers Burgess and Green have always been adept, going back to their Northern Exposure days, at conveying personality with just a few lines of dialogue. I marvel at these 70 seconds of televisual efficiency:
The intellectual do-gooder suddenly loses his motivation to do good, and Tony finds himself safe from the Damocles sword that has been hanging over his head. There is, however, something else that has also been threatening Tony this hour, though he doesn’t quite realize it: his wife’s crush on Vic Musto is deepening…
VIC MUSTO
The previous episode ended with a hot-and-heavy scene between Tony and Carmela as the camera moved in close to capture their physical intimacy (in a scene that may have been a reference to From Here to Eternity). In “Bust Out,” however, the only physical contact between the two is when Carm attacks Tony, flailing her arms against his bulk. We should not have expected the newfound warmth and passion they found in the previous episode to have lasted very long because we could be reasonably sure that Tony would continue his philandering. But surprisingly, it is Carmela here who seeks intimacy outside the marriage.
Vic Musto has Tony’s mass and broad shoulders, but the similarities end there. He is a hard-working man in a legitimate business, and he is bonded and state-certified as well—a far cry from Tony’s employment status. Vic is a Wallpaper Man, someone who can redo and revitalize Carmela’s domicile, in contrast to Tony who constantly jeopardizes the household with his criminal and extramarital activities. Maurice Yacowar notes an important way that Vic is the Anti-Tony: Tony’s exploitation of Davey Scatino’s gambling addiction has depleted Eric’s college fund, and it is Uncle Vic who decides to step in and pay Eric’s tuition. (“Uncle Vic” is the answer to the question that was asked on the soap opera that Corrado was watching: “What about little Eric?”) Once Vic learns that it is Tony Soprano who is behind Davey’s latest (and largest) blunder, he squashes the burgeoning relationship with Carmela.
_________________________________
“…SUCH A DEAL…”
While Christina Scatino is telling Carmela during lunch at Vesuvio just how serious her husband’s gambling problem is, Artie cheerfully arrives at their table with some bottled water. It is not the brand that they asked for, but “I got such a deal on this Ramlosa,” Artie explains. We know, of course, that the only reason he got “such a deal” was due to the bust-out of Davey Scatino’s store. By drinking the water, Christina is inadvertently filling her belly through the destruction of her family’s livelihood. Tony and the Mob’s activities have, in a sense, pushed Christina into cannibalizing her own family.
In the following scene, Tony presents AJ with an upmarket rod-and-reel while parroting Artie’s words: “I got a great deal on it.” It’s safe to assume that “the great deal” consisted of little more than swiping it off a rack at the bust-out store. The Soprano family profits at the expense of others. Now that the eyewitness has back-pedaled out of the Matt Bevilaqua investigation, society must bear the cost of Tony’s crime. Similarly, when Tony gives $50,000 to mob victim Beansie, he buys peace-of-mind for himself—but the violent criminal who crippled Beans is left free to wreak havoc upon society. The idea that the rest of us have to pay for the Mob’s actions is a fundamental truth of The Sopranos, and the final scene of the episode wryly rephrases it:
Tony and AJ (finally spending some quality time together to put the appropriated rod-and-reel to use) flip a smaller boat with the Stugots’ wake. But they cheerily continue onward, oblivious to the havoc they’ve caused.
___________________________________
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
-
The stair thing: Perhaps Livia had a Stair Lift installed to allay her fear that Janice would toss her down the staircase (a fear we learned of in “Do Not Resuscitate” (2.02)). Stairs on The Sopranos are often places of menace, callousness and pain, going all the way back to 1.02 when Tony told Melfi of Livia’s laughter when his father fell off some steps.
- The suicide thing: Suicide and suicidal ideation are somewhat common occurrences in SopranoWorld. Davey comes close to ending it all here. Previously on The Sopranos: depressed Chris discusses suicide in 1.08; Ally cuts her wrists in 1.09; Makazian takes a header off the Goodkind Bridge in 1.11; depressed Tony ponders suicide in 1.12; and Melfi is upset over her patient’s suicide in 2.03.
-
Faith & Firearms: We see in Janice and Richie’s sex scene that he’s got a gun in his right hand and a large tattoo of the crucifixion on his left arm.
- Tipsy with alcohol and worry, Tony shares a sweet moment with his daughter. He admires how sharp she is. Tony is more correct than he realizes when he tells Meadow that nothing gets by her; she seems to suspect Carmela’s extramarital desires when she overhears her mother on the phone with Vic.
- I think the scenes in Melfi’s office are particularly good in this hour. I especially love how Tony now defends the statement Annalisa Zucca made to him in Italy—“You are your own worst enemy”—against Melfi’s charge that it’s a cliché, although Tony himself told Annalisa it was a cliché back in “Commendatori.” Melfi does finally concede that the point of psychotherapy is to get patients to understand that “you are your own worst enemy.”
- Tony essentially dodges two bullets in this episode: he isn’t prosecuted for the murder of Matt Bevilaqua, and he doesn’t get cuckolded by Carmela. (In both cases, his status as a mobster protects him.) Maurice Yacowar notes that the powder room in the Soprano house ties these two plot-points together: Tony breathes relief in the powder room when he learns that the eyewitness has reneged, and it is in this same room that Carmela and Vic shared their one—and only—kiss.
Follow @SopranosAutopsy
Facebook.com/RonBernard
Instagram sopranos.autopsy
Email: Ron@SopranosAutopsy.com
If you’d like to help support the site, please visit my Venmo or PayPal
© 2024 Ron Bernard
Sopranos Autopsy 
No mention of the coolers all over the episode? What was that symbolism?
LikeLike
Hmm, didn’t really think about that…Can we say that Davey’s business has been put “on ice”?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe a cooler is just a cooler. Except that Carmela gives on to Vic…, which comes from his brother-in-laws store, once again showing how a relationship with a non mob guy is impossible given her acceptance of swag and other stolen merchandise. I love Carmela, but really…face reality.
LikeLiked by 2 people
How about the red colour symbolising blood haemorrhaging from the business?
LikeLike
What about Carmela scene waiting Vic phone call? IMO its beautfull, Carmela happily daydreaming at the table inflated by the camera, wating a phone call from the telephone in the center of screen, looks like a naive teenager, (or maybe alice in wonderland)
Also, maybe not just coincidence, “Con te Partiro” is playing as back music…
LikeLike
Yeah, great scene.. And later she’ll fall into these dreamy reveries about Furio
LikeLike
Other interesting points, the oposition of tony’s and eric’s father ways of holding the pressure. Tony is obviously worried about the prison, but keeps “working”, provides a secure money to his family, says to Dr. Melfi he is his worst enemy aknowledging himself as the source of his own problems, he is aware of his own nature as scorpion… on otherside, Eric’s father gets complete consumed by pressure, he cant work, thought of suicide, throw away all the money of putting his family in danger, he dont recognizes HIS own faults blaming tony, his wife and Vic by not stop him of gambling (even, when Tony stop his tries TWICE), he cant see his own nature as a frog.
Its really ironic the analogy of the mafia as termites eating the business after the “rotten tree” thing in the first season.
Do you think we can make connections with, counting 3 guns (or 4, if the black phone in that looks like a gun does count)?
Do you think the tony dreams of him as roman soldier fucking a woman, his association with paganism is possible as a “futuresight”…
[SPOILER ALERT \/ ]
…of Richie and Pussy’s death (pussy is catholic which said jesus keep making good things in his live, and numerous times this season is associated with cristianity, richie have his tatoo of jesus in the cross, Paulie, who think is unprotected by the church and jesus stay alive forever =P)?
LikeLike
More about Vic’s profession: a wallpaper man. He comes into the house that blood built and covers up the walls, much like Carmella sees him as the ‘honest man’ only to find that this is a facade when he cowers to the possibility of getting on the wrong side of Tony.
I also like the scene with Carmella and Mrs. Scatino in Vesuvio. Artie comes to them and insists that they try this new sparkling water that he got such a great deal on. Look familiar? This is the same water that is being wheeled in crates through Scatino’s store at the beginning of the episode. Tony tells the delivery person to put three crates in his car. Thus, just as Mrs. Scatino is talking to Carmella about how thankful she is that the store is in her name and is therefore safe from Mr. Scatino’s disease, she is served a product that she has unwittingly already purchased under the direction of her lunch-mate’s husband, and will be part of her ultimate financial demise. Just classic.
This is my tenth time through the series, and little elements like this make it watchable again and again. There are so many details that run through the series. Almost every episode has some element that I had not noticed before.
LikeLiked by 3 people
You could also see it as even a bonded, licensed wallpaper man cannot make this house look good. and he is honest enough to stay away. He is going to do what he can to help his family by paying for his nephews school not Carmella’s house. There is so much goimg on. We could easily find multiple meanings in every second nut as Chase points out maybe there is no meaning sometimes. But as humans we are wired to find meaning
LikeLiked by 1 person
I found it remarkable that, at about 7 minutes in, Riche grabs a sandwich and starts eating it. He finishes it in about 11 seconds (at least, the sandwich is gone after that), which is (almost) impossible. But since food is connected to ‘evil’ (bad things always happen when food comes around), maybe this proves Richie is one of the meanest/hardest gangsters?
Also when Davey is trying to shoot himself in the basement, his wife walks down and we see this thing on the wall “Easy Does It”. Which could mean that Davey shouldn’t be losing his ‘temper’ and shoot himself? Or should his wife relax and let him shoot himself? What does it mean!??!!?
When Furio and Paulie are giving new info to Tony, they tell him “It’s not a rat”. Pussy responds immediatly with “Thank God!”. Which could refer to the former episode where Tony and Pussy are eating in the pub. This time, god has been good to Pussy. Otherwise he would had ended up dead for being a rat.
When Melfi says “Maybe we should stop”, it cuts to the Sportstore that is being Busted out. Maybe Tony ‘should stop’ busting the joint, since he is crushing Davey’s family by doing this.
The witness is reading the book “Anarchy, State and Utopia”. When he finds out that this criminal is actually a boss of a mafia-family, he backs out. I haven’t read it, but on the internet it says “Nozick argues in favor of a minimal state, “limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on.””. So he wants the state to protect his citizens against the gangsters, but he is not willing to be a part of it. That is what Tony meant about those “suckers”. They don’t have the balls to do anything because they are afraid of the Mafia. Just like Vic eventually leaves Caremela alone, because he is (probably) afraid of Tony.
At the end, we see the store getting closed. This means Davey has lost his business and his family is ruined. Then the scene cuts to Tony and AJ on this big speedboat, they are enjoying this wealth because Tony wreck other people’s lives.
And Matt, this is my fourth run. I hope I will reach my tenth run sometime :D!
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Easy Does It” comes from AA. They have a lot of those annoying sayings. I also find it interesting that Mrs. Scatino is judgmental of Tony’s lifestyle when her own husband ruined the son’s college aspirations by gambling. I think it’s apples and oranges. Tony tried to show Meadow that Davey is no better than he is by taking the car. Yes, it was callous, but I think he was trying to make a point. Ultimately it worked out for Meadow…she got her solo. PS: this is the second man that Carmela has fantasied about and had a crush on. If she had the opportunity she would sleep with someone else for attention. Is she really bothered by Tony’s cheating or is it her low self esteem that really bothers her? Her choices? If she has an affair (and that’s all it can be) then she can feel better. Tit for Tat. She is trapped in that marriage unless he goes to jail or he dies. She will never get out….
LikeLiked by 1 person
The vertical lines of the wallpaper in the powder room resemble a jail cell. Tony escaped jail this time but he is trapped in this life where he must fear jail or death at every moment (hence his statement whilst the gambling guy is crying: “you’re free to go anywhere after this!”). This man’s brush up with this sort of crime is fleeting; for Tony, he will be doing these sorts of stunts for the rest of his life.
Also the wallpaper being where Carmella has her fleeting kiss highlights she too cannot escape and is trapped due to who her husband is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Orange – Now, now – don’t pooh-pooh AA; that program (and others like it) have helped a heck of a lot of people! Oh yeah … Annoying sayings? Kind of like your own ‘apples and oranges’! Be cool! 😎
LikeLike
Richie does tell Janice that he’s “old school” after Janice’s dirty-talk involves the insinuation that Richie should kill Tony…
Twisted stuff.
Davey’s wife finds him standing on the pool table. She says he’s the one always complaining about the felt getting scuffed. Which I find indicates a possible fear of Davey’s: the family finding the gun. Davey pretends the pool table is really valuable to him so that his family doesn’t go near it, but he only does this for the greater fear associated with the gun hidden in the ceiling tile. I have the feeling Davey habitually plays at shooting himself only to back out last minute. Like, the one sequence we see has probably happened 10+ times. Which seems accurate, considering he’s a compulsive gambler who knows the risks but can’t control himself. Same, possibly, for his attraction to suicide. He knows the risks, but keeps “playing.” But even Tony tells him he’s going to be fine; bankruptcy is nothing compared to 25 to life in prison.
Re: rat: when the guys are talking at night in Davey’s store, Tony says something about Mickey Massuco who ended up in a “rat-infested motel down in Elvis-country” because he had to flee last minute due to murder accusations. It’s funny because Pussy nervously takes a drink from his blue coffee cup after Tony says “rat-infested.”
I think Tony and Davey are equally guilty. Tony warns Davey plenty of times not to get involved. It isn’t very smug, it’s honest. Davey has caused his own downfall – whether he wants Tony’s acceptance, or because he is a compulsive gambler, or both, Davey is not in control. Tony also can’t resist getting another piece of business so easily. Then again, I think Tony still abuses Davey’s naïveté, just like Chris does with his screenwriter buddy JT Dolan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I paid attention to the title of the book the witness was reading as well. I haven’t read the book either but had similar thoughts about the witnesses’ conflicting attitudes and behaviors toward law enforcement, based on my limited knowledge of neo-liberalism. Tony and Paulie have a conversation about not being able to bribe the Feds, like they do local law enforcement. Maybe this is a comment on the state’s scope of power. Interesting, the mob doesn’t need to resort to coercion or intimidation to change the witness’s mind. The couple narrowly avoids punishment despite their efforts to help “punish” Tony and seek justice for the victim. I wonder if the way Tony ran his card game represented free-market capitalism? He ultimately allowed Davey to enter the card game, knowing Davey, not Tony, would be liable for the risks. Last, I think Tony’s 50k donation to Beanies is about the power that accompanies obligation. It may also be his way of creating his version of a Utopia. Tony is attempting to distribute justice or provide retribution, to the best of his ability, since he is not able to kill Ritchie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good points. I think Chase’s depiction of the entire mob enterprise, not just the card game, is meant to be a representation of current-day free market capitalism..
LikeLike
The comment on capitalism is presented as an ouroboros. The mob eats Ramsey Sports alive, but I’m pretty sure Davey once said something to Tony about the big brands like Nike making it tougher on him to turn a profit. Tony devours Davey here, but the big-chain stores take a chunk out of the mob by “stealing” espresso in season 1 and being immune to the protection racket in season 6, signaling the arc of America capitalism in one brilliant line: “its over for the little guy.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, and it’s only gotten worse for the little guy in the years since these episodes aired. I wonder if we’re approaching some sort of tipping point now…
LikeLike
In the last season they try and shake down a branch of a coffee chain. The manager says they corporation would simply replace them or shut down the location if the money does not add up.
LikeLike
Also note the witness is close to the beginning of Nozick’s book maybe if he read deeper into it he would get lessons that perseade him to still bear witness. However we have also seen that enough organs of the state are willing to look the other way at what the Sopranos do just like the US attorney who gave in to Carmella’s threats, the universities which take their money, the rabbi who goes into business with them and the priests who eat their food and tell mobsters are alright with god. Everything they do ileads to all society being busted.
I keep seeing DR Melfi getting scared of Tony when he has an outburst at her.
When Tony was telling Melfi about his gear of getting arrested he says he does not serve this. Last episode he said the really bad people who murder for fun should be in hell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The red cooler Carmela tries to give Vic is from the bust out too, I’m guessing. The red ones sell, says merchandising maven Richie Aprile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just wanted to say that I’m loving these write ups. I’m watching through the show again at the moment and finding much more food for thought than I did all those years back, but these recaps are very well rounded and give me even more to think about – good work.
As a side note: that poster on the wall as Davey’s wife coming down the stairs reading “Easy Does It” seemed incredibly familiar when it whizzed pasy. Is it possible that FX’s Fargo was referencing this with Martin Freeman’s poster “What If You’re Right and They’re Wrong?” It’s positioned at the bottom of the stairs, has an inspirational quote and is seen when the man of the house is in the middle of a violent emotional conflict. Might not be anything in it, but it would be a very nice and subtle nod from the makers of Fargo if I’m right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Joshua
LikeLike
“Easy Does It” is a slogan from 12 Step programs, including Gamblers Anonymous. From Vic’s conversation with Davey, we learn that the latter was in Gamblers Anonymous, but fell off the wagon. “Easy Does It” is meant to serve as a coping tool, a reminder to stay calm and control destructive impulses. In this case, it doesn’t seem to be helping.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Kinda interesting that a poster for the 12 Steps would be found near a staircase… I’ve always found steps and staircases on The Sopranos to be evocative/symbolic places…
LikeLike
When Carmella and Christina have lunch at Vesuvios the song playing in the background is “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” by Vince Guaraldi. In a way that’s what Carmella does in the powder room. Of course this is also another reference to wind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How about the Journey song playing twice in the episode? “Wheel in the sky keeps on turning”? Early sun reference (stronger sun.references later in the series)
LikeLike
The lawyer talks about getting ducks in a row.
In a previous episode Tony told Dr. Melfi how he feels about the pool in relation to the ducks, and that he doesn’t even want to be in the backyard anymore.
Now we see him and A.J (his duckling) around the pool. Then he gets a phone call and never joins a.j in the pool.
Later he will do the same when Tony forgets about A.J’s swim meet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good observation!👍🏼
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Wheel in the Sky Keeps on Turning- reference to Davy’s gambling? Like a roulette wheel? Or possibly the cycle of addiction he’s caught in. Also, the coolers in the episode- a metaphor for Tony possibly landing in “the cooler” over the Bevilaqua murder. Also noteworthy is the pretentious “non-music” the witness and his wife are listening to- it sounds like musical anarchy, not melodic order and structure, in much the same way as the epi plays out, with the do-gooder reneging on his eye witness testimony and the murder goes unpunished. Law and Order: 0. Anarchy: 1.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, your observation about musical anarchy and mcriny’s earlier observation about the anarchy book really fit well with the theme of the episode..
LikeLike
Tony and Richie working as business partners….oh god! I like your points relating to the water and the fishing poles. “Such a deal.” If people only knew how these things happen. Davy’s wife thinks because the store is in “her name” that they are immune to any financial woes or the fact he could gamble it away. But Tony and the mob are smarter than that and have been doing this probably hundreds of times over. Davey really fucked up here didn’t he? Robert Patrick was great in his role of Davey and showed a great deal of emotion and depth of this dark troubled character. We were introduced to this man a few episodes ago, successful and a bit cocky. Now he is basically reduced to a man who has nothing, all within a few weeks. I suppose “easy does it” was not applied in this case. Seeing the mob bust out his business was pretty interesting. More or less everything and anything in the store is up for grabs. (I thought Paulie swipes a pair of shoes) If memory serves me right we see these goddam coolers popping up into season 5 at least. I am not sure of any significance of the coolers but someone made sure that they were part of the dialogue and scenes. Perhaps it’s the idea that something as simple as a cooler is something of value to these guys. One cooler may fetch them 5-10 dollars, but when they sell 10,000 of them profits add up. I think its a reminder that these guys are always on the hustle and trying to make a quick buck no matter what the case. As you pointed out very clearly, it’s others who are worse off or lose out, not Tony. And sometimes he gets out of situations due to his mob status. Perhaps the person who ends up effected the most is Eric. I seen this as an eye opening episode and one of my favorites of the series. Not much action but the story line is quite interesting and unique.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, very unique… It’s kind of surprising that Chase’s mob series doesn’t spend too much time showing us the inner workings of mob schemes, but this one does, and it’s a refreshing change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“a bit cocky.” Do you know how many jock straps he sold last week? Ep. 2/6
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am very much enjoying the “autopsies”, and I really like the pacing of this episode. You mentioned “Full Leather Jacket” as a personal favorite, and I think this is nearly its equal. The whole second season has a “pop” that is more consistent than the first season. You can tell the whole crew, having gotten through the first season, now has their feet fully under them and the momentum of the entire season is unstoppable (culminating in the searing “Funhouse”).
The scene in the small bathroom with Vic and Carmela is the turning point, about 2/3 of the way through. It’s the “axis” on which the structure turns. Tension builds up to this point, their kiss is the peak, and the tension rapidly releases and then unwinds all through the rest of the episode as the various threads play out.
Concepts can be conveyed to the viewer not only by calling them out explicitly, but also showing them by their similarities, their absence, or their opposites. In this case the vertical stripes convey the impression of the “gray bar hotel”; jail, or prison, to be specific to Tony’s case. Dramatic irony is used in that Carmela is unaware of the peril of prison that her husband faces, but the wallpaper stripes clearly show it to us, the viewer. If Tony were to go to prison, Vic represents the type of temptation that Carmela would undergo the entire time her husband is incarcerated. For a brief moment, when the door is shut (with its wallpapered back), they are surrounded by symbolic prison bars and they are at risk of being incarcerated themselves, in a potentially doomed romantic fling that would result in seriously bad outcomes for both Vic and Carmela. After they kiss, and both come to their senses, Carmela “busts out” (opens the door and releases them both from their “cell”).
Vic certainly isn’t going to be the one to “bust out”, at least until later in the episode when he finds out who is responsible for Davey’s predicament. Carmela has – perhaps subconsciously – selected Vic as a very easily-attained target for her sexuality. Carmela may not have set out to have an affair with this man (who was essentially a random encounter), but she is impulsive in her own way. Perhaps she is more of a kindred spirit to her husband than she would care to admit. She is a beautiful woman to begin with (freely admitting to an Edie Falco crush here), and she has gone to some length to make herself extra-attractive. She has previously noted that Vic had “a sadness about him” and upon finding out he is a widower who was devoted to his late wife, she knows (on some level) that he must suffer terribly from loneliness and longing for his absent wife. Being early-middle-aged with two kids, Carmela is likely less confident of her ability to attract a man than she was in her younger years. But, for Carmela, Vic is like shooting fish in a barrel – she has essentially no risk of rejection.
It’s interesting, as you reference above from Maurice Yacowar (although I haven’t read his stuff) that Tony experiences his “release” in the same jail-themed room that Carmela successfully “busts out” from. Again the concept of confinement (or the lack of confinement) is conveyed through the wallpaper (Vic’s domain).
Couple of other delightful turns of phrase and ironies. Vic tells Carmela that the vertical stripes are “a lot for the eye to handle in a such a confined space”. With a delightful pause in his delivery for the double entendre. Obviously in that moment they have eyes only for one another and each one of them is a lot for the other to “handle”. The “confined space” is literal, but beyond that, refers to confinement by incarceration.
When Janice and Richie come to visit Uncle Junior, shortly after the “what about little Eric?” moment, Richie bends down near Junior to talk, distracting him from his soap opera. Junior remarks of one character, “she’s a putana, this one – fucked an arson investigator last week”. Hey Jun’, you want to know who “fucked” an arson investigator? Your little nephew Anthony, that’s who. And it wasn’t last week, it was last season – in 01.13 “I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano”. And not just “an” arson investigator, but two. Tony tells Artie “two arson investigators gave that fire a clean bill o’health” (29:34).
You have to love it!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks for posting this, it’s insightful stuff… I would think that the episode title as it pertains to Carmela’s storyline here would be that Carmela wants to have a romantic fling in order to “bust out” of the monotony of her marriage and domestic life. I’m primed to see it this way because I think the desire to escape banality is one the major Sopranos themes (and no episode explores this theme more fully than the very next hour, “House Arrest”). But you read the title, as it relates to Carmela, in the opposite way: the fling itself would be a prison, and Carm is able to “bust out” of it here before it traps her. That’s a valid way of looking at it too. The fact that these opposing viewpoints both seem legitimate attests to how rich and ambiguous and complex The Sopranos is…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the kind words. I agree about multiple interpretations being equally legitimate, and that it’s because of the depth and interlocking detail in the series. I often wonder if all of these mysterious details were put in intentionally, or are mere coincidence, or perhaps a byproduct of the immersion that the series creators and writers have in their fictional world. Someone with more insight than I is going to have to answer that one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another fun prop note: Junior is also seen drinking a Ramlosa when he is talking with Richie. I’ve looked for other Ramlosa appearances in the episode but I don’t believe there are any others.
LikeLike
hehe I would bet most of the New Jersey mob got a share of Ramlosa that week…
LikeLike
Artie has Ramlosa at his restaurant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I mean, Paulie is drinking one in Davey’s store when it comes off the dolly-cart. But that’s obvious, besides Artie offering it to Carm and Davey’s wife.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A bit of irony: david scatino’s wife nearly catching david offing himself and she says, “i know how concerned you are about ruining the felt.” Blowing your brains out on the pool table would definately do a number on the felt!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is my first time of viewing the show so I’m aware that there are subtleties, plot twists, developments ahead in the story that I don’t know about and that might subsequently affect how I view various characters.
Having said that my initial and overwhelming reaction to this episode was thank god Vic didn’t go back to the Soprano household and take things with Carmela any further.
She’s an attractive woman and the temptation must have been huge, but I’m glad that a combination of principle and fear of the consequences made him ‘do the right thing’. I was worried throughout that he was going to come to a sticky end at Tony’s hands and very relieved that (so far at least) he didn’t. Vic seems to me currently as a rare example of a decent, good man, seldom seen in the world of The Sopranos, almost the ‘anti-Tony’.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“By drinking the water, Christina is inadvertently filling her belly through the destruction of her family’s livelihood. Tony and the Mob’s activities have, in a sense, pushed Christina into cannibalizing her own family.”
Fuck.
I always love your analysis so much.
Hey Ron, YOU’RE DOING A GREAT JOB!
LikeLiked by 1 person
lol are you telling me to get back in my fuckin hole?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“The stair thing: Perhaps Livia had a Stair Lift installed to allay her fear that Janice would toss her down the staircase [a fear we learned of in “Do Not Resuscitate” (2.02)]. Stairs on The Sopranos are often places of menace, callousness and pain, going all the way back to 1.02 when Tony told Melfi of Livia’s laughter when his father fell off some steps.”
There’s also the scene where Tony trips down the stairs and his gun falls out of his jacket while Livia laughs at him in a future episode
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘Bevilaqua’ literally means ‘Drink Water.’ Just thought I’d lay that there.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I believe Matt goes back to using the surname “Drinkwater” when he’s introduced to Richie. Why is a mystery.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t see Davey as a “victim”. I see him as a self pitying degenerate gambler, willing to blame his shortcomings and problems on everyone else. The son is the victim, and the wife. He made his bed, he has to take the consequences.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maybe a victim of his own addiction though, yes?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, if doing something purposely when you know its dangerous and wrong and also ruins your family can be called being a victim. How about when he berated Vic for not helping him stay with Gamblers anonymous? Or calling his wife the C word? That’s just self pity. Tony is a criminal….all his associates are murderers and psycho’s, if he got in trouble he asked for it. The family is better off with out him anyway. Even at the end, the “ranch” near Las Vegas…didn’t learn a damn thing. No sympathy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t see Janice as debasing herself in that scene with Richie and the gun. I think she’s getting off on it in her own narcissistic way (“I’m screwing a made guy who’s holding a gun to my head! Who does that? I do! I’m so cool!”). Enjoying kinky sex like that, or at least enjoying the idea of it, goes along with Janice’s self-mythologizing as a freewheeling outside-the-mainstream type, whether it’s a hippie or a gangster’s girlfriend and no doubt other versions of herself she has inhabited over the years. The gun sex is something she even boasts of to Carmela when they’re shopping for a wedding dress a couple of episodes later. She loves how it shocks Carm, who has just been gushing about the wedding details and pivots to her patronizing persona when she tries to give Janice some wisdom from experience, only to have Janice one-up her with the gun thing–kind of like Janice one-ups Richie on the sofa. He might have a phallic gun on her at first, but his actual phallus wilts pretty fast when she turns her manipulation on him, and she’s the one who displays dominance in their subsequent conversation. Richie’s gun is used only for pretending and does no actual harm in that situation; Janice’s passive-aggressive taunts have a more serious purpose and they do hit their target (as we see in the scene at Junior’s house–where it’s interesting that Junior warns Richie about Janice). Probably the only time in this whole season that I felt sorry for Richie is when he complains, “How can you think of stuff like that during sex? You’re not in the moment!” At the same time, it’s hilarious that Richie, the old-school gangster, cares about “being in the moment” or even uses the phrase. I guess he learned that along with the yoga when he was in prison.
By contrast, I don’t think there was ever a single time in the whole series when I felt sorry for Janice, except (maybe, very briefly) when she’s about to board the bus back to Seattle in a later episode of this season and she’s all tearful about where Richie will be buried and Tony mocks her by describing the supposed burial place. Even then, it’s hard to feel too bad for her because first of all, she murdered the guy she loved “soo much,” and second, you know she’ll forget Richie by the time she hits the West Coast. Her grief for him is part of her story about herself, and she’ll find a new story in no time. It’s how someone with her type of emotional dysfunction lives–reinventing herself to cover over the hollowness inside her.
(As a side note, you know you’ve seen these episodes too many times when you get distracted by continuity errors, such as where Richie’s hands and arms are during the conversation on the sofa.)
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good points about the sofa scene, I guess I do mostly agree with you that Janice isn’t necessarily debasing herself. I suppose it’s because it is Richie that is holding the gun that I feel like it is so degrading. We know him to have a kind of hyper-toxic masculinity, he doesn’t even think it’s wrong to hit a woman as long as you’ve put a ring on her finger first. It would be easier for me to think of it as just kinky sex and not something so demeaning if it had been Janice and Aaron “have you heard the good news?” Arkaway on the couch, for example…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ick! There’s an image I didn’t need in my head! LOL! Except it would be Janice holding a gun to sweet, annoying Aaron’s head.
The thing is, some women like rough sex, and some women are strongly attracted to dangerous men and dominating men. I’m a woman, and I’m not attracted that way, but I’ve seen it. I think Janice, who has a toxic streak of her own a mile wide, is turned on by Richie’s toxic masculinity. Also I’ve seen women like Janice who are steamrollers be attracted to men who are even stronger, for various reasons. In Janice’s case, narcissist that she is (way more than Tony), I think she believes that she is smarter than Richie and therefore can manipulate him, using his toxic masculinity for her own ends. One of the themes running through the series is the kinds of power men have and the kinds women have and how they use their power. In the Mafia, at least in the U.S. (we’ve seen that it’s supposedly different in Italy), someone like Janice would aspire to being a made man if she were a man. Since she isn’t a man, she can impose her will in that world only through a man, and here’s Richie, giving her the perfect opportunity. “It should be you,” my ass. I think on some level, probably not conscious, she thinks it should be her. After all, Tony is her younger brother. Why should her kid brother be boss and she can’t be? So what she can do is meddle and position herself to be wife of the top guy when Tony gets taken out. She’s every bit the manipulator that Livia is (though Livia has years and years of experience that give her some edge over Janice), but where Livia hides her true motives behind her scowl and self-pity, Janice hides hers behind her big smiles and air of kookiness. I get the impression that even some viewers bought into Janice’s “middle-aged hippie” persona, the way people in Soprano-world often saw Livia as just a little old lady–maybe unpleasant, maybe confused, but she’s old, and a woman, so how malignant could she be? Some people seem to have trouble getting past cultural conditioning about women. Janice is plenty malignant, but she isn’t as smart as she thinks she is, and she is fooling herself when it comes to her power over Richie. It’s not that he turned out to be more hyper-masculine than she thought. It’s that she thought she could ride that hyper-masculine tiger because she was special. She’s living in a story about herself, as always, and she fails to see what stories other people think they’re living in. When Richie says, on the sofa, “I’m old school, Janice,” she doesn’t take that as a warning. She takes it as a challenge, something she’ll have to work around, but she doesn’t doubt that she can. She’s wrong, of course, but I should perhaps save that part of my analysis of Janice for the “Knight in White Satin Armor” episode. And then there’s Season 6, Part II, but that would be getting way too ahead of ourselves!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I’m not sure if Chase originally had long-term plans for Janice, but she turned out to be one of the most complicated and interesting characters on the series. I’m looking forward to reading your take on her in future episodes…
LikeLike
When Christina descends the stairs into her basement and interrupts her husband’s suicide attempt the phrase “easy does it” can be clearly seen in a frame on the wall. This is a common phrase used and embraced those in the 12 step program Alcoholics Anonymous, and perhaps similar 12 step programs. Since we know that Davey has struggled with his gamboling addiction for a long time it’s possible he was once “working a program” in gambler’s anonymous (Victor tells him he “must go back to GA later in the episode.) It is more likely that Davey once suffered from alcoholism, got help through AA but has now tragically developed a cross-addiction to gambling which is perhaps more destructive than alcohol. This could be a foreshadowing of JT in later seasons, who overcame heroine only to begin his demise through gambling and his association with Christopher, Just as Davey’s combination of a gambling addiction and access to the executive game through his relationship with Tony leads to his undoing. In fact JT becomes heavily indebted to Christopher later on at the same executive game.
The “Easy Does it” poster is certinly not placed on the set by mistake, nothing is in this show. Perhaps Chase is commenting to the futility of recovery and that people are likely to move from one form of destructive behavior to another, something many characters in the show struggle with from season too season.
I’m thoroughly enjoying re0watching the series in order and reading your analyses as I go. Great site.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes: Davey and J.T. are very similar characters. Melfi certainly seems to embody the “easy does it” mindset/philosophy. But that’s the paradox: easy does it is simple but very difficult. Rashness is automatic, analysis is unnatural, or difficult at best.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ron: great post now that I’m re-watching the earlier seasons.
Wanted to mention the Electra Complex Tony seems to be on the other end of. It might be a stretch, but Tony seems really satisfied with how smart and self-reliant Meadow is turning out to be. When she sees him drinking alone late at night, she isn’t worried. Carmela would freak out. Meadow knows how to handle it.
In the Marco Polo episode in Season 5 (Carm’s father’s birthday party) Tony seems really intimate with Meadow. And Tony Blundetto seems either upset or envious about this. I didn’t really want to think this was a possible way of reading the Tony-Meadow relationship, but it’s surely a piece of it. Meadow is fairly independent and therefore has Tony’s support. Meadow seems to have successfully earned/won Tony’s love, as it’s more simplistic than the love between Tony and Carmela, the depth of which Meadow accurately doubts.
Nonetheless, it bothers me how insistent Tony seems when he’s around Meadow. Not saying that it would get physical. Of course, I think the average male viewer sees two actors, not father-and-daughter; this skews the whole conflict. Tony wants AJ to be more like a friend, and Meadow to be more like a lover. Both AJ and Meadow evade their father’s desires.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a complicated dynamic between Tony and Mead..
LikeLike
When Davey is lying on the billiard table with the gun, he pulls the trigger and it just clicks. His wife comes before he can pull it again. He is either playing Russian roulette or playing with an empty gun.
When he is standing on the table to hide the gun in the ceiling, we see for a moment, on the right-hand side of the screen: part of his body, entirely in shadow, completely black, with the arm hanging limp at the side, and the fingers hanging limp from the hand. It is like the body of a hanged man.
Tony says to Davey, “When this is over, you’re free to go. You can go anywhere you want.” He means that Davey is lucky! He can start afresh. Tony’s the unlucky one! He’s trapped!
– – – – – –
The witness tells the FBI agents that the second man leaving the murder scene was “heavy-set”. “Heavy-set” is a euphemism for “fat”. Skip Lipari, who suspects that it was Pussy, says the second man was “husky”. “Husky” is a euphemism for “heavy-set”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s an amazing idea that he was playing Russian roulette, it would be so in character for Davey: he’s a gambler and he is leaving it to chance to decide whether he lives or dies. But I don’t think he actually pulls the trigger, I believe the clicking sound is him cocking the gun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“The witness tells the FBI agents that the second man leaving the murder scene was “heavy-set”. “Heavy-set” is a euphemism for “fat”. Skip Lipari, who suspects that it was Pussy, says the second man was “husky”. “Husky” is a euphemism for “heavy-set”.” What is your point here? These seem like obvious interpretations. Is there something hidden in the meaning?
LikeLike
Everyone seems to be “fucking” eachother in this episode.
Richie to Tony: “Fucking Dick Barone”
Tony: “Well as long as you two are happy”
Skip to Sal: “Did you fuck me? Did you fuck me?”
Richie to Junior in regard to Tony: “I cant not notice that hes fucking you”
Not to mention Richie and Janice screwing on the couch.
Carm and Vic could have possibly fucked if Vic didn’t learn of Tony screwing Davey.
Also, a parallel between the two stair scenes:
Livia comes down the stairs which results in Janice & Richie hiding their appearance after screwing.
Mrs. Scatino comes down the stairs resulting in Davey hiding the gun he was thinking about screwing himself with.
And the obvious parallel of both Janice and Davey having a gun to their head.
I also found it funny that Tony, being relieved of incarceration, goes to sit down on the very thing people go to relieve themselves.
The show really does get more rich with each viewing. A very fine episode.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great observations
LikeLike
Ray – And it looks like Carmela was fucking Vic in the wet dream she was having! LMAO! 🤩
LikeLiked by 1 person
Probably reading wayyyy too much into this but when Carmela is chastising Tony for not attending AJ’s swim meet, she says he’s been acting like an “Alien Life Form” all week. Does anyone else think this is an intentional ALF reference? Tony is wanted by the government (especially in this episode) just like ALF. Just a silly thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha I like that
LikeLike
Chase is clear nothing is all good or all bad: Twelve-step program worked for Christopher, but not for Davey. (By the way, Christopher’s mom also has a 12-step slogan on her refrigerator.). Speaking of nothing is all good or all bad, amidst all the corruption: Two good Italians? Charmaine Bucco and Vic. Two good African-Americans? The cop who stopped Tony and the father of the corrupt minister. Two good Jews? The therapist that Melfi recommends for Carmela and the brother of Ariel the hotel-owner.
Oh, speaking of the Buccos, I notice that they are not only the mirror images of the Sopranos (Italian-Americans raised in the same neighborhoods as Tony and Carmela, surrounded by the Mafia, but decide to go the honest route). But also their names parallel each other: Anthony/Arthur and Carmela/Charmaine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting parallel..
LikeLike
Re: Meadow’s performance in the talent show. Didn’t the teacher say give someone else a chance? But Meadow says No I need it for my college resume. The teacher gives in. Also, Meadow was one of the soloists in “All Through The Night.” I don’t think her voice is very good – does anyone else agree? So I conclude that teachers are a little scared of Meadow because they know who her father is. So they give her extra privileges. Just like Joan Cusamano the lawyer is intimidated by Carmela because she is a Soprano, and writes the letter of recommendation. And the kid gives AJ the money rather than fight him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What was juniors comment about his niece being a thief about? Seems like I missed something.
Love the reviews btw, reading as I rewatch over Christmas break.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think it’s mentioned anywhere else. But it does give us some insight into what Junior thinks about Janice.
LikeLike
Nat – Junior said that Janice took money out of his wallet. He definitely despises her, and provides damning information about her throughout this series. 😮
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Ron! you Got a point about Carm’s crush on Vic: is a powerful symbolism about her latent desire to clean the house of Tony’s presence. About Livia’s appareance is a comedy/horrorific presence: it reminds me about Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, the matriarcal power is always upstairs: a symbol of the superego.
Another point: this episode is one of most showing of Tony’s sense of guilt, he wants to recover the relation with AJ to cover is guilt to have whacked a young guy, and even talked about the killing with Carmela expressing a discomfort to Matt’s death.
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍
LikeLike
Maybe someone posted this already, but did anyone acknowledge Junior giving Richie a warning about Janice? Foreshadowing his death .
LikeLiked by 1 person
When Paulie reports to Tony that “the witness….he ain’t a rat”, Pussy reacts with a, “Thank God!”. Considering the way Tony was eye fucking and quizzing Pussy just seconds earlier about why Puss wasn’t a suspect in the Bevilaqua murder, it surprised me that Pussy’s sigh of relief didn’t raise a red flag with Tony (who’s proven throughout the series that he can read when somethings amiss). As Paulie shells out more bad news, adding to Tony growing anguish, Pussy appears even more anxious and dubious. Yet still, no red flags.
In between the yelling, the backhanded insults, Tony’s impending doom, and David Scatino’s whining—-it’s Pussy, who inadvertently throws off Tony’s scent and calmed things down with some unintentional levity: “Sit on this [corkscrew], cocksucker!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Matt Bevilaqua, who did a wonderful job on one of my favorite movies ‘A Bronx Tale’ (1993), was played by real-life bad boy Lillo Brancato. Lilllo was not arrested for drug possession (heroin and cocaine), he also was charged with the second degree murder of a police officer (2005). He was found not guilty of murder, but was imprisoned for first degree attempted burglary. He was paroled in 2013. He allegedly lives in Bogota Columbia. I was pleased to see him executed (by Tony).
LikeLiked by 1 person
P.S. I meant to say that Lillo was ‘not ONLY arrested for drug possession’. Sigh.
LikeLike
Pingback: The Soprano Onceover. #41. “Bust Out” (S2E10) | janiojala
I noticed that Davey was going to kill himself in the middle of a game table while he is also surrounded by board games and trophies – assuming game trophies. Maybe the “Easy Does It” sign is saying to take it easy with the games.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s interesting. How we live is often how we die..
LikeLike
I’ve watched the series probably at least 8 times through, I love it so much – currently rewatching with my S.O. (his first time!) and noticed something new this time. Printed on the blouse Carmela was wearing toward the end (when Vic didn’t show up for lunch and sent Ramon instead): a pattern of different types of purses and other luggage. Symbolic perhaps of the baggage she has, that Vic was smart enough to avoid by not continuing to pursue her?
LikeLiked by 1 person