The Strong, Silent Type (4.10)

After Chris screws the pooch (Cosette), his family/famiglia intervene.
Paulie rescues a painting of Pie-O-My from a fire.
Carmela pursues Italian stud Furio while Tony cozies up to Russian caretaker Svetlana.

Episode 49 – Originally aired Nov 17, 2002
Written by Terry Winter, Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess
Story by David Chase Directed by Alan Taylor

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We’ve known Tony Soprano to believe in the mythology of the “strong, silent type” as long as we’ve known Tony Soprano—we first heard him use this phrase in the Pilot episode.  The Sopranos has been playing with this myth throughout Season 4, particularly through various references to old cowboy movies.  For example, the previous episode (in which Tony vanquished Ralphie after a long-expected showdown) ended with music that recalled the 1968 film Once Upon A Time in the West (a movie in which Charles Bronson filled the mythical role of ‘the strong, silent type.’)  There have also been overt references this season to High Noon and Rio Bravo.

high noon vs rio bravo

In the 1952 film High Noon, Gary Cooper, playing square-jawed squinty-eyed “Sheriff Kane,” seems to be the very embodiment of the mythical American hero. However, John Wayne and Howard Hawks felt the need to make Rio Bravo in 1959 in response to High Noon because they felt that Cooper was not strong or silent enough in the earlier film.  Wayne and Hawks interpreted Sheriff Kane going to the townspeople in High Noon to ask for help as an act of weakness.  And so we realize the irony: the rugged, thick-skinned, lone hero is such a revered figure in American folklore that even Gary Cooper himself can’t live up to the myth sometimes.  Throughout this episode, we see Tony, Chris and Paulie struggle to live up to the American myth.  Ironically, it is a couple of European characters who are more successful in displaying strength and true grit this hour.

Tony is upset by the arrival of the painting of Pie-O-My which he had commissioned back when the horse was still alive.  (Its arrival at the Bing, of all places, may add to Tony’s distress because it may lead him to further conflate the dead horse with dead stripper Tracee.) Tony feels lost.  He cries in Dr. Melfi’s office, describing the world as a “toilet-world” and asks “What kind of God does this shit?”  With a typical lack of self-awareness, Tony tells Melfi that he plays the role of the “sad clown,” smiling on the outside while miserable inside.  Melfi has not had much screentime this season, but it is good to see her back.  She calls Tony on his bullshit, pointedly observing that he does not usually display a smile when he’s feeing miserable but rage.  We clearly saw this rage, sparked by his misery over Pie’s death, in the previous episode.  Tony may adopt the pose of the “sad clown” or “the strong, silent type,” but he does not actually have the strength or fortitude that is needed to deal with life’s bumps and twists in a mature (or legal) way.

Christopher also lacks some necessary internal fortitude.  We see Chris’ weakness for drugs in the opening scene of the hour.  His addiction is affecting his life.  He inadvertently kills little Cosette (and tries to blame the dog: “She must have crawled under there for warmth”).  Then he misses an appointment to deliver TVs to Paulie and Sil when he goes into the ‘hood to score some scag.  I don’t want to characterize Chris as weak for not being able to resist heroin because anyone can become a slave to that needle once it has tapped the vein.  (And he certainly doesn’t show weakness to the street dealers who carjack him, cussing and thrashing at them even as they point a gun at him.)  But it is a lack of some inner strength that allows Chris to unleash vicious blows on to poor Adriana after she suggests rehab to him, and perhaps it is this same lack of strength that led him to heroin in the first place.

The famiglia cannot ignore Christopher’s addiction any longer.  Corrado believes a bullet to the head is the best cure, but the family decide to try a more enlightened strategy first.  There is of course something ironic in the fact that Christopher’s intervention should occur in this particular episode: a therapeutic technique such as this certainly does not fit into the mob’s traditional notion of a “strong, silent type” of solution.  This incongruity between the old and the new says of handling addiction turns the intervention into one of the most darkly comedic scenes of the series.  The scene is stocked with nasty insults, personal attacks, Silvio’s memorable description of Christopher with his head in the toilet, and finally a free-for-all assault on the young addict.  At the hospital where Chris gets treatment for a hairline skull fracture, Tony tells Chris—in no uncertain terms—of the gravity of his situation: the only reason the famiglia has allowed him to live is because of his close connection to Tony.  Chris checks into Eleuthera House (“Eleuthera” meaning “freedom”) for treatment.

The hour is bracketed by images of American men who don’t quite live up to the fictional representations of strength that surround them.  In the opening scene, Chris shot up while a powerful bear hulked around on his television:

Chris Strong Silent Type

It looks more like a gorilla to me, but the Lil Rascals are referring to it as a bear.  Although Tony will be associated with a bear in Season 5, I can’t say for sure that this bear on television is meant to represent the mob boss.  A representation of Tony certainly does appear in the final scene of the hour, however.  Paulie gets spooked by the painting in which Tony has been retouched to appear as a Napoleon-like figure.  Paulie, we might note, is sitting right in-between this idealized image of Tony and a television that projects the sport heroes whom we idolize—our modern-day Gary Coopers.  Though encompassed by these images of idealized strength, Paulie is not exactly a strong, silent type himself:

Paulie Strong Silent Type

He certainly has not been silent around Johnny Sac.  Insecure about his status and role within the New Jersey Mob, Paulie has been running his mouth to New York underboss John Sacrimoni all season long.  Paulie’s lack of emotional and professional fortitude makes his famiglia vulnerable to its rivals across the river.

In contrast to these neither-strong-nor-silent Americans, Furio is cast in an admirable light.  His European-ness is apparent the moment he comes back from Italy, as he gazes at our vulgar, advertisement-lined American streets with distaste.  In Italy, he complained to his uncle that he no longer feels at home in the country of his birth, but he doesn’t seem quite fully at home in America either.

Furio comes to the Soprano house bearing gifts.  The gobbo that he brings for AJ is a popular good luck charm in Italy.  This particular gobbo may be doubly good luck because its bottom half (difficult to see in screengrabs) is in the shape of another lucky charm—the cornicello, or little horn:

Gobetto + horn

In some parts of Italy, the “little horn” is linked to the “horned hand,” the hand-gesture made to indicate that a man has been cuckolded.  I don’t want to make too much of Furio’s little trinket, but it may possibly underscore the question we’ve been asking all season: will Carmela cuckold Tony with this handsome Italian?

Carmela goes to Furio’s home with some phony interior decorating tip to justify her arrival (with AJ, as always, in tow).  There is clearly (perhaps too clearly—I’ve always felt this scene in Furio’s kitchen to be a little overdone, at least by Sopranos standards) a powerful mutual attraction between housewife and goombah.  But we get the sense here that Furio has already begun the process of thwarting his desire, of resigning himself to the impossibility of a romance.  (Furio will later flee the country rather than indulge in his illicit desire.)  As Carmela leaves his kitchen now, Furio turns down the heat on the whistling coffeepot, just as he resolutely turns down the heat on his dangerous passion.

While the European man exercises self-restraint, the American man does not.  Tony does not hesitate to slip into Svetlana’s open arms.  This difference between Furio and Tony is stressed through the juxtaposition of scenes:

Furio and Svetlana - Sopranos Autopsy

Furio turns down the heat while Carmela leaves his kitchen; CUT TO Tony entering his uncle’s kitchen to turn up the heat on his next conquest.  But the comparison between the two men is made most clearly later in the hour, as Chase cross-cuts between Furio and Tony as they each prepare dinner.  Tony microwaves some leftover rigatoni and pours himself a glass of milk while Furio carefully prepares his meal and enjoys a glass of wine.  Todd VanDerWerff finds the comparison to be a bit trite:

…this simple compare-contrast feels a little too simple. Are we meant to believe that Carmela and Furio really do have some sort of elemental connection, that he’s the sensitive man in hiding she’s always been wanting? Similarly, are we meant to believe that the differences between Tony and Furio are that easy to point out, that they can be accomplished in a series of matching cuts?

It’s a valid criticism.  After all, Tony and Furio are not all that different: Furio is a cold-hearted thug just as Tony is, and Tony is often thoughtful and sensitive towards Carmela as Furio is.  However, I think the scene works better when we look at it not so much as a simple comparison of men, but rather as a comparison of competing cultural ideologies.  Furio is instructed by a European self-restraint, while Tony is shaped by American self-indulgence.  Of course, Europeans can also be guilty of overindulging, but I think the point here is that in America, overindulgence is simply a matter of course—it seems to have become our defining characteristic.  The theory that there is a battle of European vs. American ideologies going on in this episode is also supported by the appearance of that other European this hour: Svetlana Kirilenko.

Svetlana comes down hard on our softness: “That’s the trouble with you Americans.  You expect nothing bad ever to happen when the rest of the world expects only bad to happen—and they are not disappointed.”  Svetlana is a vodka-swigging, hard-working, self-possessed gal who doesn’t let her disability slow her in any significant way.  She is an embodiment of the Russian soul, that hard-boiled mentality in which toughness, physicality, spirituality, skepticism and pragmatism all flow together to form a unique worldview.  One of Tony’s comments to Svetlana underscores her “silent” personality, further attesting that it is she that is most genuinely this episode’s strong, silent type:

Strong silent Svetlana Sopranos Autopsy

After their lovemaking, Tony underplays the possibility of any future dalliance between them, not out of prudence or self-restraint, but because feigning indifference is one way that he acts out his idea of tough masculinity.  But Svetlana actually dismisses the possibility of a future relationship; she recognizes the fragility beneath Tony’s tough-guy exterior and she doesn’t want to deal with this emotionally brittle man clinging to her.  As an American, Tony worships the imagery and mythology of strength that is stockpiled throughout our culture, but—ironically—this diminutive one-legged Russian chick is more “Gary Cooper” than Tony will ever be.

MULTIPLE THREATS
I suppose it is easier for me to make the argument that Furio is exercising self-restraint here because I know how this storyline ultimately plays out.  A first-time viewer would more likely see this storyline’s tension as going up—and the sound of the military snare drum that closes the episode contributes to the feeling that a battle is brewing between Tony and Furio.  The threat of violence against Tony also escalates as the capos figure out that Tony killed Ralph over Pie’s death.  (Albert Baresi even calculates that Silvio should be the one to whack Tony, if it comes to that.)  Another threat comes from the New York famiglia, unhappy that Tony is not sharing the profits of the HUD scam.  (Tony tries to insinuate to his men that Ralph’s sudden disappearance has something to do with NY’s unhappiness.)  These multiple threats—from Furio, NY and possibly Tony’s own capos—signal that we are in the endgame of Season 4.  It is traditional practice for a dramatic series to intensify tensions at the end of a season—but The Sopranos turns traditional dramatic practices on its ear.  After establishing these multiple, mortal threats to protagonist Tony Soprano, the season’s climax will finally come—steady yourself now—via a W-4 tax form (as we will see in episode 4.13).

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ADDITONAL NOTES:

  • The series excels at fleshing out very minor characters who appear only once, never to be seen again.  Even though we’ve never seen interventionist Dominic before, we get a good sense of who he was before he cleaned himself up because of the way other characters rag on him and have difficulty taking him seriously.
  • Some viewers have noted the callback: Pie-O-My died in a fire in the previous episode, and Paulie steps in to rescue the painting of Pie-O-My from a fire here.
  • Disappointed and angered by Christopher’s drug use, Tony tells him, “I ought to suffocate you, you little prick”—a line that seems like a portent of things to come.


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111 responses to “The Strong, Silent Type (4.10)”

  1. ourmofo | July 27, 2015 at 9:54 am | Reply

    Can’t help but cringe when Chris tells Tony he’s gonna die of a heart attack at 50

    Liked by 2 people

  2. David | July 27, 2015 at 3:04 pm | Reply

    This is random, but I always wondered about a certain shot in this episode. It’s a brief bit of what appears to be stock footage an Italian plane landing — followed by the scene of Furio gazing out at Burger King signs and American flags thru his limo window, etc. But what’s so weird is that this stock footage shot is incredibly grainy, hazy, of poor quality — it looks like it could be from the 70s or 80s. It’s very jarring and I’m surprised that they couldn’t get a better-looking clip of simply a plane landing. So while it’s unlikely, I wonder if there could be any possible intentional meaning here?

    Liked by 1 person

    • sonicbluesea | September 17, 2015 at 2:30 pm | Reply

      That shot was always seemed out of place to me as well. I’ve always read that shot as a reference to the stock footage of a plane landing in The Godfather (when Tom Hagen goes out to California), but I doubt that was actually Chase’s intention.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. One Dodgy Dude (@OneDodgyDude) | July 30, 2015 at 10:32 pm | Reply

    Good for Svetlana! I don’t think any of the other women in Tony’s life (family doesn’t count) realized right away what a fragile man he really was. And even people like Melfi tended to idealize or exaggerate that side of him by playing him up as a poor vulnerable kid. We needed more Easter Europeans like her and Carmela’s one-time psychiatrist. They were the only people capable/willing to see through the bullshit.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. One Dodgy Dude (@OneDodgyDude) | July 30, 2015 at 10:35 pm | Reply

    And of course I had to ruin a fine comment by writing “Easter” instead of “Eastern.”

    Liked by 3 people

  5. Sonicbluesea | August 7, 2015 at 12:48 pm | Reply

    I just want to say what a joy it has been to reading through this website thus far. As great as Alan Sepinwall or Scott Keith are, this is even better. I hope you haven’t lost interest in finishing the rest of the series, because I think once this is finished, you will have something that rivals the work of David Lavery on this show.

    Keep up the good work!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. dawne catuccio | August 14, 2015 at 8:28 pm | Reply

    i cant stop reading your work….im a sopranos obsessive fan…i watch the series over at least 2 times a year……thank you…

    Liked by 1 person

  7. sonicbluesea | September 17, 2015 at 2:32 pm | Reply

    Speaking of that opening scene with Chris “watching” The Little Rascals, I really liked the bit of connectivity to 4.02, where Patsy disrespectfully refers to Chris as “Alfalfa.”

    Also loved how back in 4.08, Furio complains to his uncle about hamburger wrappers left around the cathedral, then after getting back to the States in this episode, the first thing he sees is a sign for Burger King.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Sabine | November 20, 2015 at 10:35 am | Reply

    First of all, I’ve only recently discovered these writings, but have made them my companion pieces for my yearly re-watch of the whole series. Well done, and looking forward to write-ups on the remaining episodes!
    A couple of stray observations: Tony compares Svetlana to Greta Garbo, whom she actually doesn’t physically resemble at all. But the two share some defining traits. They both believe in leaving ’em wanting more: Greta Garbo famously retired early from films, bewildering many fans. Similarly, Svetlana wisely nips her relationship with Tony in the bud, bewildering him as well. Also, a possible reference to this episode’s title: Garbo started in silent films, and had grown up in poverty and hardship. Another strong, silent type.
    I also thought one could draw up parallels between Justin and Christopher, both seen in the hospital during this episode, and who both have a long, hard road to recovery ahead of them.The difference, of course, is that Justin is pierced by the arrow in a freak accident, whereas Christopher pierces himself voluntarily with the needle. But admittedly this might be stretching the point.

    Thank you for providing such wonderful and thoughtful insights into this great series!

    Liked by 5 people

  9. Ralph Robert (Rob) Moore | January 3, 2016 at 5:01 pm | Reply

    There’s a cut early in this episode I’ve always enjoyed: Tony walks out of his house to where Furio is waiting with the car. He sees Furio is upset and asks him why. It’s likely Furio is upset because he feels he must pull back from getting close to Carmela, but instead he tells Tony it’s because his father has just died. Tony has little sympathy, telling Furio, in effect, to “get over it.” We then cut to Tony at Dr. Melfi’s, getting all weepy about Pie-O-My’s death. The sad clown cares little about the pain of others, but his own miseries are always of supreme importance.

    Liked by 5 people

    • .?? | February 28, 2017 at 10:25 pm | Reply

      After I saw this, I realized (or believe) that Tony is his mother. Same exact issues, same complexes.

      Liked by 3 people

    • Orangeannie | September 4, 2018 at 2:01 pm | Reply

      They are brutal when it comes to grief. Junior tells Bobby to move on with his life soon after his wife dies. There is no place for mourning when things have to get done. It’s telling that we see actual tears about this horse…even Melfi says she’s surprised that he is taking it so hard. I don’t think he sees people as people. When he deals with them its as a business and they are always expendable. But the horse is unconditional love. He doesn’t have to make believe with it. We also saw a lot of foreshadowing of the horses demise and I am surprised Tony didn’t see it coming. He really sealed the deal when he told Ralph that he was seeing Valentina… Like when Tony beat the Senator about Irina (same thing) …but really the extra bills that Ralphie was going to pay for the son was the clincher. Tony Loves money, Meadow and animals….in that order.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Dave | February 16, 2016 at 11:00 pm | Reply

    Another note about the good luck charm Furio brought home from Italy: Furio is often seen wearing a cornicello necklace of his own. I could be reading too much into this, but perhaps the gift was meant to serve as a subtle reminder of himself to Carmela?

    Liked by 2 people

  11. David | August 21, 2016 at 5:09 pm | Reply

    This might not be intentional so much as a bit of accidental subtext that enriches the scene, but it’s interesting that Chris would be shooting up while watching the old Little Rascals/”Our Gang” series on TV. Most of that cast of child actors ended up leading a troubled life, with several of the main cast succumbing to heroin and other drugs at one point (one of these was the infamous Robert Blake).

    Liked by 4 people

  12. augustboy | June 22, 2017 at 2:34 pm | Reply

    Going off an observation by one of the commenters in the previous episode, I think this episode almost confirms that Paulie was the one that started the fire in the horse stables. When Tony is seen walking out after receiving the painting, the camera shows Paulie watching Tony walking out the door for a while, before turning around and cracking a joke. I think in that moment, Paulie realises that Ralph was missing because Tony thought he was the one that burnt down the stable and disposed of him. I think Paulie had meant to burn the stable as a way of revenge against Ralph but did not realise that it would affect Tony, meaning that Ralph was genuinely attempting to redeem himself in the last episode. It’s interesting though because the viewer, initially, or most obviously, will assume Ralph was killed because he undoubtedly burnt the stables, either for the insurance money or as a way at getting back at Tony for seeing his ex-girlfriend. It’s interesting because viewing the episode this way, is seeing it exactly as how Tony sees the situation. Because Tony did a similar thing over an ex-girl, with Zellman, he sees Ralph below him, and assumes he would definitely swoop down to those lows, which, going off the theory that Paulie was the one that was responsible for the arson, shows the hypocrisy of Tony and how he could not justify the fact that Ralph would not swoop down to the same level as himself.

    Throughout the episode, the camera always emphasises on Tony’s eyes, of the painting, looking right at Paulie, almost making Paulie think ‘what if he knew?’. This may be why he changes Tony into a Napoleon-like figure, because he knew he got away with the arson, but also knows that Tony is running a military-like regime and had Ralph murdered over the horse. The final shot again reinforces this idea, and Paulie still looks into his eyes thinking the same question.

    What someone else mentioned is how Paulie is saving the painting from the fire, maybe as a way to redeem himself or simply keep it as a trophy for his own survival. I think Paulie is one of the smartest characters of the show, and is given less credit than he is due most probably because of his style and personality. I’ve been rewatching the series with the theory that it was Paulie that will call the eventual hit that will end the series, and Paulie’s grievances continue to brew more and more over the series, especially in this season.

    Liked by 4 people

    • Mamjja, J.F. | November 15, 2017 at 6:20 pm | Reply

      Very interesting. I never noticed the cues pointing at Paulie, but no scenes in the series
      are wasted, and I never understood why Paulie was so interested in the painting.
      This makes sense, and ties into Paulie trying to rehabilitate himself with Tony after his
      2 faced-ness with the NY family, but it almost fatally backfires for him later with Tony.

      There are lots of potential candidates for who ordered the possible Holstein’s hit, I never considered
      Paulie. Could be.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Ron | March 8, 2018 at 9:46 pm | Reply

      I never really considered Paulie as starting the fire, but you bring up some thought-provoking points in your argument.. However, I still think Chase’s intention was to leave the question open-ended. The emphasis in “Whoever Did This” was on the whoever…

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hexs | May 3, 2020 at 5:58 am | Reply

        It was Paulie all along, the true villian of the Sopranos.
        This episode nailed it for me. Chase laid the seeds for Paulie’s betrayal throughout the series. Chase showed us Paulie talking to New York behind Tony’s back. Paulie is the only other character with a motive to kill Pie o My. Ralphie was a red herring. The show informs us as much through Tony’s dreams that Ralphie was truly changing over his injured son. Throughout “whoever did this” we see nothing of Ralph that would suggest he was even thinking about the horse. Through his dreams, we are informed that Tony knew subconsciously that Ralphie was innocent in this matter.
        In Fun house, “dream state” Silvio says : “Our true enemy has yet to reveal himself”, Cut to the next scene and we find Tony and Paulie at a table, followed by Tony taking Paulie “the true enemy” out. By this point in the show, viewers knew what Pussy was up to, but the guy who would lead to Tony’s death and was yet to be revealed as such, was always Paulie.
        In “Calling all Cars” we see Paulie find out from Johnny Sack that Tony may be assassinated if the New York / New Jersey issue worsens. In the next shot we see Paulie egg tony on to respond harshly to Johnny sack attacking his house appraiser. Even this early on, Paulie wanted to escalate things and see NY get tony wacked.
        Then there was the very out of place statement Butchie made in the height of the final season’s New York/ New Jersey War. One of the hitmen had his eyes on Paulie, Butchie specifically protected him “No not Paulie”.
        The smoking gun was that final sitdown between Tony and Butchie in the final season. Years ago, I noticed everyone had white chairs at that table EXCEPT for Paulie, who sat in a RED chair. Paulie and Butchie shook hands behind Tony’s back at the end. It was a double, double cross. As Butchie said to Phil, cut off the head and work with whatever’s left.
        Preceding the behind the back handshake was little Carmine stating: “It didn’t have to be this way”
        Tony had Phil killed in front of his family at the gas station. New York decided to take him out the same way, in front of his family. Everyone was tired of this drawn out war over the egos of Bosses. Butchie gave the ok to take out Phil, and Paulie gave Butchie the ok to do the same to Tony.
        Fittingly, Paulie gets one of the final scenes with Tony. In his final conversation, Paulie refuses the Capo rank out of superstition that the position is cursed. I believe the subtext here, is Paulie refusing leadership of Jersey after Tony dies. I believe Patsy gets it. In Patsy’s final scene he’s shown taking Tony’s home and furniture into account as if he’d be moving in soon. Patsy’s son was dating meadow and may have informed him of the Soprano family’s last supper at Holsteins.
        Back to Paulie. We see him watching Tony walk away for the final time, with an initial look of sadness, followed by resolute acceptance. Paulie knew tony was a dead man walking. His final words was an obvious lie for those of us who know Paulie’s character. ” My will is but to serve you my liege” is a bad joke, Paulie always put himself first.
        Chase puts a Ribbon on it with the introduction of the Cat. Paulie is afraid of the cat because it stares at Christopher’s picture no matter where he moves it.
        Tony comments that the cat is probably looking at a rat behind the wall.
        Chrissy qualifies as a rat on the theory that Moltisanti flipped to the feds shortly before meeting his end. Quickly going over the evidence: The final scene of the episode before he dies, Christopher was showed being severely disillusioned with the mob, feeling betrayed and taken advantage of. Symbolically, Chrissy straightened up a crooked sign in front of his house as the episode ends. In Heidi and Kennedy his car flips many times referring to his flipping to feds, he turns up music after being guilt strucken to drown out tony from fbi listeners, he shows up wearing a variant of the FBI hat (chrissy almost never wears hats) shown earlier to contain a mic, he’s depicted as very nervous during the entire interaction, and finally there’s the scene after his death at the hospital where we are shown the out of state housing Adrianna talked about running away to in her bid to convince Chrissy of witness protection.
        So it can be said the cat knows his/her rats well..
        Getting back to Paulie’s final scene and the nail in the coffin for his betrayal. After tony walks away, the same cat enters the screen and stares hard at another rat. Paulie the Rat, who betrayed his boss to end the conflict with Jersey. From our perspective the cat stands at 3:00 of Paulie (sound familar?). The camera hangs on the awkward interaction, and that’s the last we see of Paulie Walnuts.
        The lone red seat at that final sitdown and it was Paulie who sat in it for a reason. The first time I saw the series, I thought Paulie was Tony’s MOST loyal guy. Now I believe that to be Silvio. Re-watching Sopranos, always something new to find out…and that’s what makes it one of the best, if not the best

        Liked by 2 people

        • Demetri | March 5, 2021 at 9:49 pm | Reply

          You have certainly given us tremendous insight.
          Also, half way through the last episode, the seating position, camera angle, and T’s gun-like hand gesture while talking to Paulie all resemble the near identical card playing screen from “Fun House”.
          Et tu, Paulie?

          Liked by 1 person

        • LK | November 14, 2021 at 8:42 am | Reply

          Hexs – You’ve made some excellent comments here. I agree with your callbacks to Paulie, who I agree IS a villain; we’ve seen him consort with the NY faction and heard him talking about Tony in very demeaning ways. Also, the look he gave Vito when Tony was hospitalized conveyed true hatred. I’m not so sure, however, that he killed the horse. As I previously mentioned, I believe that Ralph hired Corky Ianucci to set the fire. Regarding Christopher ‘turning’ … it’s possible, but not very likely. For example, when approached by the FBI about the Arabs, his attitude was hostile to say the least. I also commented that I found it doubtful that the FBI had any confidence in him whatsoever, given his escalating substance abuse and emotional instability. He would have blown his own cover wide open! Chris was disillusioned with, and disappointed in Tony, yes … but didn’t have the balls to set-up Tony, who often let him know that he was being ‘groomed’ to be the next-in-command. Again, great theories/observations!

          Liked by 1 person

          • Orangeannie | November 14, 2021 at 12:19 pm | Reply

            I also commented that Ralphie had the motive. Therapy bills for his son, the escalating cost of medical care for the horse, and Tony’s affair with Valentina which he brought up at the worst possible moment. Pauline was treacherous and not really loyal but he wouldn’t have killed the horse. He wouldn’t benefit from it financially and that’s what they are all about.

            Like

        • vida82 | February 19, 2022 at 7:53 am | Reply

          Brilliant post, I’m going to have to rewatch the final few episodes again with this in mind. I always thought Paulie so loyal he could never turn on Tony like that but he did try and turn to NY before Carmine shot him down (figuratively), he knew Tony was a lunatic who could take him out any time he was no longer useful or did something to piss him off (see Tony grilling him on the Stugots about telling Johnny Sac about the joke) and he said previously he only survived the 70s by the skin of his balls. I firmly believe Tony was killed in the final scene but the question was always who did it after Phil was taken out.

          Liked by 1 person

  13. Mamjja, J.F. | November 15, 2017 at 6:34 pm | Reply

    A few more observations about Svetlana. Was there any other character who engaged with
    Tony and came out ahead? Maybe the female Boss in Italy? Hesh? Janice from time to time?

    Svetlana knew how to quit when she was ahead, unlike many of Tony’s victims.
    She accepts the piece of ‘thank you maam’ jewelry from Tony and moves on,
    unlike Valentina who disdains it, tries to ride her streak, and ends up burned.

    Come to think of it, she tried to convince Irina to take the $75,000 and move
    on with her life too. Irina paid a price by goading Tony later.

    Svetlanna also got the better of Janice. Not too many characters can say that!
    Come to think of it, she may have gotten the better of Livia too!

    Liked by 4 people

    • Orangeannie | September 4, 2018 at 2:03 pm | Reply

      Svetlana is pragmatic. Not needy and independent. None of the women in Tony’s life are like that except Melfi. I love how he takes for granted that she will see him again…its great when she spurns him in the nicest and most honest way. She loves her Bill..

      Liked by 2 people

    • LK | November 10, 2021 at 4:48 pm | Reply

      Mamjja – I, too, admire Svetlana for her (emotional) strength, the fact that she pulled one over on Janice (the records), and hee independence. Not only that, she basically gave the finger to Tony, and got away with it!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Sue | December 23, 2017 at 7:03 am | Reply

    I think the “bear” in the Little Rascals is most definitely a gorilla- meant to represent the “monkey” on Chris’ back- the heroin he is shooting up-to-date in the foreground.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Orangeannie | March 6, 2018 at 2:14 pm | Reply

    I always felt that Paulie wanted the painting because it cost a lot of money, and because he is angry at Tony. He also feels guilty about his duplicity with Johnny Sack, and having Tony “watch” him from the painting unnerves him, so he changes it to disguise it. But it still gives him the heebie jeebies anyway.

    Liked by 3 people

  16. Orangeannie | March 6, 2018 at 2:23 pm | Reply

    Also, Tony is happy with his life and with Carmela. He is impulsive and Svetlana was sexy, so he slept with her. She’s an enigma, but he wouldn’t stay interested for long. She is also pragmatic, and realistic, and loves her “Bill.” He seems to be constantly looking for a woman with depth, but the women who have depth are not interested in any long term thing with him. Carmela is his match, not only because she takes care of him and the family, she understands him completely, and he really feels that its part of the deal that he will have other women. She doesn’t want a divorce, she just wants another mans attention because Tony neglects her. If he was a regular guy, after 20 years they would both be sort of relaxed and probably in a rut in some ways. Marriage with anyone is not easy.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. David Moran | April 14, 2018 at 1:03 pm | Reply

    At last an opportunity to make a proper observation!

    For any Italian the “sad clown” is Pagliacci. It is his aria that moves Al Capone to tears in Brian De Palma’s classic The Untouchables as , simultaneously, Sean Connery crawls away to die at the hands of Capone’s hitman. He too had not seen the shots coming.

    So we might ponder the following – given that Tony must have seen that film who is he really identifying with, and who is Chase comparing him to?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ron | April 14, 2018 at 1:33 pm | Reply

      Hmm you may very well have a point there…

      It’s interesting, you mentioning Pagliacci immediately made me think of a Seinfeld parallel: Crazy Joe Davola went into a rage while wearing a Pagliacci costume in Seinfeld, and Melfi tells Tony here that he tends to go into a rage when he’s in “sad clown” mode…

      Liked by 2 people

      • vida82 | February 20, 2022 at 8:29 am | Reply

        And what does Davola scream when he rushes the stage at the premiere of “Jerry”? Sic semper tyrannis – death to tyrants. Tyrants like Tony became as boss of Jersey? I doubt there’s any intended connection there at all but it’s an interesting thread to pull on.

        Liked by 1 person

  18. David J Noone | April 26, 2018 at 6:55 am | Reply

    That intervention scene, goddam that was funny. It was kind of going ok until Paulie opened his mouth, then all hell broke loose. It’s amazing the Chris character wasn’t killed off yet, he is a major liability. The focus on the painting is interesting. I have always seen it as Paulie genuinely looks at Tony as a leader. It could have been “an honor” for Paulie to have this painting in his home, or it could be that he knew it’s value. Let’s not forget, besides Corrado, he is the most selfish character on the show. The ending of this episode is pretty cool. Showing Tony and Furio and then the painting over the drums. We are fooled again aren’t we. I was expecting another Tony/ Ralphie situation with Furio but it never happened.

    Liked by 3 people

  19. Elliott | October 18, 2018 at 10:04 pm | Reply

    First I want to say that Sopranos Autopsy has become my favorite web site on the world wide web. Thank you! I always read your synopsis before watching an episode. I am currently watching the episode right now and I noticed that as Christopher was shooting up the Gorilla came up behind Buckwheat, could this be symbolizing a monkey on Christopher’s back?

    Liked by 3 people

  20. Paul | November 8, 2018 at 10:11 am | Reply

    I did not understand the note Carmela left for Tony she was at the Charles Hotel? Whats the significance of this? They never mentioned what she was doing there. The area code is 617 which is Boston, was she going on a trip. This just seems strange to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Orangeannie | November 8, 2018 at 10:57 am | Reply

      Yes, I always wondered about that note as well. I didn’t think about the the area code though. How can we find out? I looked for it but I don’t see any reference.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Orangeannie | November 9, 2018 at 4:30 pm | Reply

        How can we find out?

        Like

        • jfigs24 | August 21, 2019 at 11:13 am | Reply

          The Charles Hotel is a 4 star hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My guess as to the in-show reason she went there was probably because she wanted to take a trip up north with Rosalie/one of the mob wives or maybe Meadow. My guess as to the writer’s reason she went is that they either need a reason to show that montage of Furio and Tony preparing their food for the sake of comparing the two men (as Ron already talked about). Or it could’ve been a tease to make you think for a second “Holy shit she’s staying at a hotel, I wonder if she’s with Furio” only to see him seconds later preparing food and then seconds after that realizing that he’s alone.

          Like

    • Melly | November 30, 2018 at 2:44 pm | Reply

      Earlier her mother was saying she wanted Carmela to come with her to Boston for some doctor’s appointment. I actually came here hoping to find some info, and your comment about it being a Boston area code made it click.

      Liked by 2 people

    • maarten429 | May 30, 2020 at 7:31 am | Reply

      I lived at The Charles Hotel for a month – it’s right by Harvard, in Harvard Square. I don’t understand the implication either.

      Like

  21. Paul | November 8, 2018 at 1:57 pm | Reply

    From another site, doesn’t explain but references it
    A nice misdirect: Furio sits in his chair, listening to a love song. He gets out of his chair. We cut to Tony, arriving home, calling out for Carmela. She’s not there. A note says she’s checked into a hotel, and he can warm up the rigatoni. Is she there with Furio? Cut to two arms preparing a meal, and from this angle, they almost look like Tony’s arms (particularly with those shirt sleeves). But no. They’re Furio’s. He’s alone, too.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Rick | May 20, 2019 at 6:51 pm | Reply

    Excellent work. Minor quibble: Kane was a Marshal, not a sheriff.

    Like

  23. Orangeannie | July 29, 2019 at 2:39 pm | Reply

    Paulie is the only member who thinks in the old school way. In his day, drug addicts were liability that would be eliminated immediately., and Chris is lucky to get this chance. I’ve always been convinced that Chris is weak in MANY ways, not just the drugs. Maybe for good reasons, but his bad qualities out weigh his good. He’s miserable…ALL the time. That beating he got was coming to him. I have no doubt he would flip eventually. And probably go back into crime, because he has no skill set. Ade should have run when she could…but unrealistic expectations, just like Carmela.

    Liked by 3 people

  24. Jeffrey Wonderly | October 22, 2019 at 6:44 am | Reply

    Awesome job, love reading your essays.
    l also found it ironic and hilarious in this episode when Tony rebukes Furio for crying about the death of his father (or whatever the real reason is), and it cuts directly to Tony, now sitting in his shrink’s office crying, just like Furio was.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. wjc83 | November 1, 2019 at 4:45 am | Reply

    Continuing the psychoanalytic reading from the past several episodes: following the news of Gloria’s suicide, Tony is reckoning with the question of his fundamental toxicity. He tried killing Ralph in an attempt to excise some repulsive part of himself – it didn’t work. All it did was vindicate Ralph’s tendency to “bottom from the top” (scapegoat), and Tony’s tendency to “top from the bottom” (poor sad clown). Svetlana provides something of an antidote, or at least a progression to this narrative, by drawing a line where normally Tony would proceed to drag his lover through the mud. What Tony’s missing, as you say, is continence – self-restraint. That’s the source of his toxicity – even initially beautiful acts are eventually driven into the red (“you Sopranos, you go too far”). I believe the continuing centrality of Gloria to the plot is supported by the selection of passengers in the next episode’s dream. Maybe Tony is attempting to understand his toxicity, through her, as a way of understanding what his mother did/does to him? He blames the world to rationalize his own indulgence, casting himself – ridiculously – as the victim. Carmela’s involved too somehow – but her relevance to this constellation of characters and issues is only starting to come into focus.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Christina Coj | November 22, 2019 at 10:49 pm | Reply

    **SPOILER ALERT to first time viewers**
    Nice comment at the bottom about the resemblance of Tony saying “I ought to suffocate you”… Great job on this blog!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Ray Cordiano | January 18, 2020 at 9:39 pm | Reply

    Sabine beat me to it.. I also don’t see the resemblance between Svetlana & Garbo.. but it does further your point of Svetlana being the true “strong and silent type” as Garbo was strong and independent herself. She is also regarded by some as the “queen of the silent era”.

    Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, “She often floundered about what to do and how to spend her time (“drifting” was the word she frequently used)always struggling with her many eccentricities, and her life-long melancholy and moodiness. As she approached her sixtieth birthday, she told a frequent walking companion: “In a few days, it will be the anniversary of the sorrow that never leaves me, that will never leave me for the rest of my life.” To another friend, she said, in 1971, “I suppose I suffer from very deep depression.” One biographer claims that she arguably could have been bipolar. “I am very happy one moment, the next there is nothing left for me”, she said in 1933.”

    Sounds familiar. As you said, “Svetlana doesn’t fit the profile of Tony’s usual goomar, physically or emotionally” … perhaps this is why he sees her as Garboesque, to have her fit into his usual criteria.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Phil Brandt (@blackhook) | May 3, 2020 at 11:34 pm | Reply

    I did a double take when I saw Carmela’s note with ‘Charles Hotel’ & the 617 area code… While working a late afternoon in Boston one winter, I was anticipating the rush to Logan Airport & getting home after a long business trip. But the snow started falling…and didn’t stop…so no flights were leaving. Luckily for me the company I was working with had a rate at the Charles, and I stayed there across from Harvard Square in the midst of a winter wonderland …one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Good times! Thinking one of the Sopranos writers must have spent some time in Boston…

    Liked by 2 people

  29. macleanalan | May 12, 2020 at 6:07 pm | Reply

    This is just about the funniest hour of the whole run! Chris and Cosette, the intervention gone wrong, Paulie giving Tony a Napoleon complex, it’s great!
    Whilst the scene between Carmela and Furio can be seen as a bit trite, I think that’s only if you take it relatively literally as Furio being everything Tony isn’t, but if you take it as Furio representing an archetype of what Carmela believes she wants and Tony thinks he wants to be, then he is used to show both the superficiality of much of American culture and the way that Tony and Carmela both profess to want things but either lack the fortitude or the real desire to change or to get it. Melfi actually calls Tony out on his hypocrisy for a change – he’s very angry for a sad clown and for someone who professes and appreciation for the “strong, silent type” doesn’t seem to really appreciate those who live up to that moniker (berating Furio for mourning and being disappointed that Svetlana sees through him so easily), and though he complains about the time and money spent in therapy, he’s not willing to make the kinds of changes needed if he wants it to actually make a significant difference.
    Despite that, I’ve still found Furio a bit thinly sketched this season…
    Additionally, think there is any meaning behind the choice of the name Cosette for the dog? The most obvious reference being Les Miserables, where Cosette is crushed by the weight of the responsibilities she has to bear, Cosette the dog is crushed by Adriana’s responsibilities… 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ron | May 12, 2020 at 11:02 pm | Reply

      I never made that Les Miz connection, but it’s interesting, Carmela does dream of Cosette the dog in a Paris boulevard in a future episode…

      Liked by 1 person

      • macleanalan | May 13, 2020 at 4:17 am | Reply

        Ah, getting Cosette and Fantine mixed up – Cosette is the child of Fantine (the one who was crushed by the weight of her burdens) whereas Cosette is more of an innocent child who plays a role in how the more significant characters live but isn’t that significant a character in and of herself. Could also represent Adriana and how she lives her life through the men in her life more than on her own terms…

        Liked by 1 person

  30. maarten429 | May 31, 2020 at 3:28 am | Reply

    Tony (speaking to Melfi): I feel like the Reverend Rodney King, Jr. – why don’t we all get along.
    LMFAO. Ironically, I’m watching this during the George Lloyd protests while speculation circulates that Joe Biden will pick a Black woman as his running mate. We’re also still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interesting show, interesting times…

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Jordan | November 12, 2020 at 1:55 am | Reply

    Any thoughts on what is up with Paulie and the painting? Why he painted Tony to be Napoleon? I always thought this was one of the most memorably bizarre things in the show, I’m surprised you didn’t take a crack at it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ron | November 12, 2020 at 9:51 am | Reply

      Tony was repainted as a General, not Napoleon. (“He’s a bit portly to be Napoleon.”) But the fact that Paulie turned the figure into a General does become very consequential in the Season 5 finale, especially for Tony Blundetto, which I get into in my write-up for 5.13…

      Like

  32. Duncan | November 17, 2020 at 3:42 am | Reply

    I always found it unsatisfactory that there was no follow up or questioning by the capos about Tony’s claim that NY clipped Ralph. Surely as boss, Tony would have to be seen to have retaliated for taking out one of their capos. Yet, it is never mentioned again, unless I missed it?

    Like

  33. Scottie Walnuts | November 25, 2020 at 12:53 pm | Reply

    In the final scene of this episode, Paulie’s watching the baseball game on rather loud volume, drawing our attention to the Yankees game.
    In his scenes with Svetlana Tony had asked “How ’bout those Mets?”
    Generally speaking, the Yankees are the NYC/Manhattan team and the Mets are the Brooklyn/Greater Area team which would include NJ. So I am thinking that Paulie tuning into the Yankees game is an indication that his allegiances are closer to Johnny Sac and NYC than they are to Tony and NJ. This would certainly be in line with what many commenters have observed about Paulie’s loyalties. Would be curious if anyone has any thoughts on the baseball teams – this isn’t the only time the Mets and Yanks are mentioned, so I’ll be keeping a close eye going forward on who roots for whom. For example, Vito invites Finn to a Yankees game, but in the same episode the guys are sitting around the construction site talking about the Mets – an indication Vito is going against convention, as in his personal life in season 6? Maybe I’m taking this too far now but I think the Yankees game on loud volume at the end of this episode means something.
    On a related note, a few commenters have mentioned the difficulty of calculating a Sopranos timeline – this episode was aired on November 17, 2002 – no MLB game has been played later than November 4 of any given year. Additionally, the Yankees are playing the Red Sox, which is a literally impossible World Series matchup (due to division/conference alignment), so even if it was late-round playoffs, it would be ALCS (“Semi-final” in layman’s terms), placing it at mid to late October at the absolute latest. However, in 2002, the Red Sox did not make the playoffs, meaning this game, if even from 2002 at all, was played no later than the end of September.
    Because the volume is turned up, you can hear the announcers celebrating something big Jason Giambi has done. I don’t know what the connection would be other than the Italian background, but Giambi didn’t start playing for the Yankees until the 2002 season, so the game must be from 2002. Giambi was associated with steroids and had been caught up in an FBI investigation into steroids in sports. But that wasn’t until 2003, although it had apparently been well known that Giambi had been using before then. Hmm. I think I’m far enough down the rabbit-hole now.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Orangeannie | November 25, 2020 at 6:02 pm | Reply

      We already know Paulie was upset and wanted to switch sides. It seems like a stretch to get that detailed about something we all already know. It’s possible that people from New Jersey can like different teams, and Svetlana’s boyfriend is the one who is a Mets fan. That’s why Tony brings it up, to tease her. We know that Bill went to The Mets spring training camp.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Scottie Walnuts | November 26, 2020 at 7:11 pm | Reply

        Haha thanks Annie, I feel like the first maybe five sentences of my post made sense before it went off the rails

        But hey that’s what Sopranos fandoms all about. Also I did not realize we knew Bill went to Mets spring training, neat though

        Liked by 1 person

  34. Christian Horschmann | May 4, 2021 at 11:32 am | Reply

    What does it mean that several protagonists are complaining about the red wine Furio brought from Italy?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Orangeannie | May 4, 2021 at 1:47 pm | Reply

      They are incapable of seeing the beauty in the idea of home made wine. But, notice they still drink it.

      Liked by 2 people

    • DaveB | August 29, 2021 at 12:02 am | Reply

      There may be some significance to their reactions within SopranoWorld, but I can personally attest to the fact that homemade wine can be pretty atrocious, whatever the romantic appeal of the notion. My beloved grandfather, rest his soul, who emigrated from southern Italy in 1920 through Ellis Island made homemade wine in his cellar here in the States. We all thanked him for allowing us to partake and sang its praises, but frankly it was only fit to serve as paint primer or shoe polish. But we still appreciated the fact that it meant a lot to him to bring a bit of the old country with him (along with my grandmother’s homemade pasta that she spent many painstaking hours preparing).

      Liked by 1 person

  35. Uncle Donald | July 23, 2021 at 10:46 pm | Reply

    Great analysis, as always. Just wanted to point out the ending, milk vs. wine scene. It is kind of obvious that it goes to prove your point on USA vs. Europe delusion: microwaved pasta with milk (that ages like shit) is a fast-food-isation “typical” of America’s mentality, while the wine with carefuly made pasta in Furio’s case, is the drink of Gods, “ages like wine” applies to the Furio’s constraint and morals concerning Carmela at least, while Tony ages like milk – every season he gets more and more deplorable (which is what made Walter White and BB what they are to be honest, it’s a direct lift of Tony’s arc). Paulie doesn’t eat, but rather reflects on the horse conundrum.

    Liked by 2 people

  36. Sue | July 29, 2021 at 2:37 pm | Reply

    Why would patients at Eleuthera House Be allowed to bring nicotine and not allowed to bring caffeine? I’ve been wondering this for quite a while. They are both mild stimulants. I would think you’d be allowed to bring candy and not cigarettes. The candy won’t kill you as quick as a cigarette will…

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Steve Else | August 30, 2021 at 7:28 am | Reply

    It was definitely Paulie who killed Pie-O-My. His paranoia about Tony watching him from the painting starts as the television advert for the George Foreman grill boasts about the timer which you can set and walk away from, i.e., Tony’s suspicion about how the horse was killed.

    Liked by 1 person

  38. maherdabum | August 31, 2021 at 1:50 am | Reply

    When I watched the original airing of ‘Whoever Did This’ back in 2002, I never felt that Ralphie started the fire. I felt that the true culprit would be revealed in a later episode, which would send Tony into an emotional tailspin for taking out his best earner, for a crime he didn’t commit. Of course, this never happened, which left us wondering “who did it?” When I watched ‘The Strong, Silent Type’, I began leaning towards the idea that Johnny Sac was behind it…as a way of punishing Ralph for the fat joke, and not involving him in the HUD scam. Since Paulie was operating as double agent for Johnny, and both men despised Ralphie, it’s plausible that Paulie killed Pie-O-My to win points with Johnny, as his ticket to join Carmine’s family. Having re-watched the series some 15-20 times since, I’m thoroughly convinced that Paulie did the deed, and most likely acted alone. Paulie’s edgy and dubious behavior in this episode seems to support this theory:

    -While shooting pool, everyone on the backroom shows some level of concern for Ralph’s disappearance (even Tony, albeit for show). Conversely, Paulie is in a good mood, making wisecracks at Ralph’s expense, with a pompous confidence that they’ll never see him again.
    -His expression changes from happy-go-lucky to one of contrition, when he sees Tony’s reaction to the painting. Burning the stable was his way of punishing Ralph. He wasn’t anticipating that the collateral damage would emotionally effect Tony.
    -Some time later, while waiting for Christopher in the rain, he tells Silvio, “T, with that picture, he looked like he was gonna cry.” He immediately follows it up by curiously stating “……..and still no word from Ralph.”
    -His decision to keep the painting could have been a sort of trophy—a reminder of his greatest victory (ending Ralph’s reign), much the same way a serial killer keeps remnants from his/her victims.
    -Paulie appears to have had a contentious past with Dominic Palladino, and shows him nothing but contempt. Prior to Christopher’s intervention, Dominic seems to gain everyone’s trust and attention on how to proceed with the intervention. Everyone that is, except Paulie, who calls Dominic a “scumbag”, “a two time loser” and disregards the notion that he’s reformed. Was Dominic a previous incarnation of Ralph–another rival in Paulie’s past life?
    -During the intervention, Paulie is noticeably stressed, with his hands fidgeting. When it’s his turn to speak, he ignores Dominic’s non-confrontational rules of the intervention. He can hardly restrain himself from verbally attacking Chris, and behaves in the same belligerent manner when Chris fires back at him. Did Paulie’s culpability to the crime make him feel like this was HIS intervention?
    – After Chris makes an off color remark to Tony, Paulie warns him “You better tone it down, you’re talking to the boss, here!” Despite being in Tony’s doghouse for sometime, Paulie suddenly jumped to his boss’ defense like a guard dog? Or was this a result of some pent up guilt?
    -When Chris calls his own mother, Joanne “a fucking whore”, it triggers Paulie into viciously assaulting Chris. In the previous episode, Ralph’s crank call to Paulie’s mom, had the same effect. He threatened to kill Ralphie stating, “there’s a line in the sand, when it comes to mothers.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ron | August 31, 2021 at 10:15 am | Reply

      I noticed it was that that triggered Paulie also, but I figured it was the whole Italian “respect your ma” thing; your connection to the crank call adds more subtext to the moment. And it’s a bit ironic considering Paulie’s own attitude to his mother down the line…

      Like

  39. HerbOf4 | October 3, 2021 at 8:32 am | Reply

    That was definitely a monkey in the show Chris was watching and seconding that it was the “monkey” on Chris’ back.

    Also, monkey on the back of “Our Gang”

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Anonymous | October 17, 2021 at 7:44 am | Reply

    im rly suprised, that anyone didn’t notice THE JACKET at Chrises friend

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Pingback: The Soprano Onceover: #38. “The Strong, Silent Type” (S4E10) | janiojala

  42. LK | February 3, 2022 at 5:02 pm | Reply

    I read somewhere Paulie’s apartment scenes took place in Tony Sirico’s actual apartment/condo. Those brown walls are certainly depressing as hell. Blah!
    ~
    Christopher reminds me of a scrawny, strutting, weak, pitiful little bantam rooster. I don’t know what he’s like in real life, but … just saying … 🙄

    Liked by 1 person

  43. GewtNingrich | July 28, 2022 at 6:21 am | Reply

    Great as always. But may I make a suggestion? It would be better if there were no spoilers. Here we are informed that Furio will leave the country later. In previous pieces there are also many spoilers telling us who’s gonna get killed and what’s gonna happen here and there. I watch these episode by episode, and read each one of your write-ups before moving on to the next episode. If you could remove all spoilers, or at least shift them to the end of each piece with a spoiler warning, that’d be perfect. Thank you and much respect for the prodigious work you’ve done.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. clinto42 | November 25, 2023 at 11:39 am | Reply

    Re-watching for the third time and I wish I had had this site at the beginning instead of now at “Whoever Did This.” Well, on the fourth time I will!

    Liked by 1 person

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