Paulie oversees a street fair.
Janice takes her kids on a carnival ride.
Chris and Tony help themselves to some wine.
Episode 74 – Originally Aired May 7, 2006
Written by Terry ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Winter
Directed by Alan Taylor
___________________________________
Even after watching The Sopranos for six seasons, some people still didn’t get how David Chase operated. Many viewers hoped that this hour would provide lots of action and suspense—y’ know, get back to the dramatic, dangerous famiglia storylines of mob-land New Jersey after taking a detour to Dartford for the romantic interludes of Vito and Johnny Cakes. Many viewers felt like the series had just been treading water, not really going anywhere over the last couple of episodes—and they found this quite troubling considering that the series was soon coming to an end. The day after this episode originally aired, Tim Goodman (TV critic at the San Francisco Chronicle) expressed this viewpoint:
There are only three episodes left in this current season. That’s very worrisome. Not just because Episode 9 was one of those atypical Sopranos episodes that somehow manages to burn up 60 minutes without actually paying off directly, but because as viewers we simply can’t afford an episode like this so close to the end…It was a placeholder, a pause. That’s acceptable in Season 4, but what it might signal here is that we shouldn’t get our hopes up about any kind of major wrap-up by Episode 12. The writers still have eight more episodes after that to get out of the hat, but it’s looking more and more likely that major storylines might not get resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
I’m a fan of Tim Goodman, but I’m extremely surprised that he would (mis)characterize this episode as “atypical.” It seemed quite typical to me that David Chase would kick around in some marginal storylines just when were expecting him to display some sense of narrative urgency. It also seemed quite typical that a Sopranos episode would attempt to be part of a larger, more comprehensive payoff rather than try to “pay off directly” after 60 minutes. And it seemed very typical of Chase to give us an episode whose primary thematic concern is the ho-hum dreariness of everyday life. Chase’s preoccupation with the inescapable banality of our existence was hinted at right from the Pilot episode, and almost every episode of the series contains some scene that touches upon the banal, boring or trivial aspects of life. But it is nevertheless difficult—particularly for a first-time viewer, as Tim Goodman was when he wrote this article—to recognize that the regularness of life could be a chief concern of a TV show (especially a TV show that is primarily perceived as a mobster saga.) And this is why I think “The Ride” is such an incredible hour—it revisits with grace and clarity this long-running idea of “regularness” so that we can now better appreciate and understand its importance within the series.
While the theme of “boredom” hasn’t gotten much treatment on television, it has been addressed in other mediums. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, his most well-known work, that…
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation… A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind.
Throughout the hour, we see the various ways in which characters in SopranoWorld, beginning with Chris Moltisanti, try to conceal their quiet desperation with some of the various games and amusements of mankind.
The first line of the episode comes courtesy of Saw II which Chris is watching on the television: “How much more blood will you have to shed to stay alive, Michael?” The line may immediately recall Adriana, whose blood was shed so that Chris could maintain his lifestyle. A moment later, Kelli steps out of the bathroom to tell Chris that she is pregnant. He suggests that they get married. We are probably more surprised by his proposal than she is because this is the first time that we are meeting her—we didn’t even previously know that he was seeing anyone. The quick introduction and plot development deftly sets up the contrast to Christopher’s previous girlfriend: Kelli is not barren as Adriana was, and he wastes no time proposing to her.
Kelli is a beautiful girl but she doesn’t quite have the “pop” of Adriana, who strode through SopranoWorld with her big hair and sexy Jersey-chic outfits. Chris was in the midst of planning an extravagant wedding with Ade when she had to be offed. He makes no such extravagant plans for his union with Kelli: “We’ll drive to A.C., make a day of it.” But the memory of Adriana haunts Christopher and sabotages him just as his new relationship is getting off the ground. (The episode title “The Ride” most obviously refers to the carnival ride at St. Elzear’s feast, which is one example of the games and amusements that Thoreau describes, but the title may also allude to Adriana’s last car ride with Silvio because her murder is so strongly evoked in this hour.)
Chris is still carrying a lot of pain from Ade’s death, and that’s why his fall from sobriety is so easily triggered. He doesn’t refuse the glass of wine that Tony offers him (from a bottle they’ve appropriated from the Vipers). Chris and Tony get drunk and think back to the day they betrayed Adriana. In a “flashback,” we see the details of how Chris ratted Ade out to Tony. (I put flashback in quotes because it is not exactly a traditional flashback; the scene was actually made for “Long Term Parking” but Chase shelved it after shooting it. Chase’s decision to transplant the scene into the current hour is a genius move—not only would using the scene as originally planned have diluted the suspense of “L.T.P.,” using it now increases the emotional punch of “The Ride.”)
All the way back in Season One’s “The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti,” Chris confessed that “the fuckin regularness of life is too fuckin much for me.” The young man has to contend with some serious “regularness” now as he prepares for a life of domesticity and fatherhood. Although Chris seems excited at the prospect of giving up his bachelor pad for a nice suburban home, the joke he makes about the new house may be very revealing: he describes it as “stately Wayne manor.” Bruce Wayne, as we all know, had dark, hidden impulses that were camouflaged by his public persona. Chris, too, has dark urges that he tries to hide from his family and his famiglia. In the car with Corky Caporale, he tries to resist his urge to shoot-up. When he presents Corky with an idealized picture of domestic life, we get the sense that he is actually trying to convince himself how good it is going to be. It is a quietly intense scene in the Maserati, intensified by the close quarters and the pouring rain and the darkness around them. We realize that Corky’s spike is going to end up in Chris’ arm when we hear him admit, almost licking his lips, that that needle wets his whistle. (In one of those idiomatic mix-ups that is so commonly found on the series, Chris says “wets my whistle” when the technically correct idiom might be “whets my appetite.”) Chris has slipped off the wagon before, but it is in this hour that he begins a backslide from which he will never fully recover. He pukes out of his car window and wanders forlorn through the streets.
Generally speaking, The Sopranos has always been straightforward in its audio-visual style, opting for simplicity and realism. But Chase and director Alan Taylor go in the opposite direction now to create a masterful impressionistic interlude that simulates Christopher’s stoned state. The shimmering guitars and drowsy vocals of Fred Neil’s “The Dolphins” combine with the blurred, refracting lights of the carnival to conjure up the aural and visual landscape of a heroin trip. Wandering around alone in the night, Chris befriends a stray dog. The dog may recall Adriana’s dog Cossette, which Chris also directly caused the death of. But I think the presence of the dog mainly underscores that Chris has been a lost dog himself, without any real companionship or peace of mind in the time since he lost Adriana. His troubled thoughts are taking him to a dark place. Christopher’s impulse for self-destruction has always been a bit stronger than most people’s, and now he is beginning to truly succumb to the lure of self-obliteration. Destroying oneself can be the biggest ride of them all.
Tony flirts with self-destruction too as he tries to escape boredom—he gets into a completely unnecessary shootout with The Vipers (and is lucky to escape with only a twisted ankle). There are various moments throughout the hour in which we see Tony contend with the inevitable monotonies of life: he stands bored while his coffee brews, he can’t find anything satisfying to eat in the fridge, his conversation with Chris in the basement is full of quiet lulls, he even complains that the wine has “lost some of its pop.” Tony has been insisting that “every day is a gift” ever since surviving a gunshot to the stomach. But real-life has a way of eroding such a noble sentiment. Ton’ is coming to understand that boredom is an inescapable part of life, regardless of what we might do to stave it off. And we’re willing to do almost anything to stave it off. He seems to have some realization of this when he sees Julianna Skiff spinning round-and-round on a carnival ride at the St. Elzear street fair. Some viewers have remarked that the wistful look that Tony gets upon seeing Julianna is a reflection of his regret at passing up his opportunity to have sex with her earlier (particularly because the joyful expression she has while on the spinning ride probably looks a lot like her “O-face”). But I think Tony’s wistfulness reflects a deeper issue that is troubling him, one that bubbles up as he describes the carnival rides to Dr. Melfi:
All these people are lined up for this shit—the kids, adults, families. They pay money so they can almost puke. They scream, they yell… They’re bored… Am I bored?… You know my feelings: every day is a gift. But does it have to be a pair of socks? I’m joking. I’m JOKING. Well, whaddaya gonna do? It’s the human condition.
Melfi tries to get Tony to expound upon this thought, but Tony has neither the vocabulary nor the inclination to go into a deeper explanation. David Chase, however, does have the ability and the inclination to express this aspect of the human condition. More importantly, he—unlike most showrunners—has the balls to explore the issue of boredom. Back in “D-Girl” (2.07), Meadow quoted from Madame de Stael as she tried to explain the philosophy of Existentialism to her parents: “In life, one must choose between boredom and suffering.” And the issue of existential boredom was given a full, hour-long treatment in “House Arrest” (2.11). An unfortunate truth of life is that what we find exciting and inspiring becomes unremarkable over time, what we find beautiful eventually becomes commonplace. Ever since being discharged from the hospital, Tony has been feeling the exhilaration that accompanies surviving a battle with death, but the drudgery of the everyday is sapping the glory out of it. Tony is realizing that accepting the banalities of life is one of the existential obligations of being alive.
Paulie is in an existential frame-of-mind too because he possibly has prostate cancer. Before the doctor has even given him a diagnosis, Paulie is already freaking out that the cancer has “mastastasized.” Paulie was stressed out to begin with because of all the issues surrounding the feast of St. Elzear. The new parish priest is almost as skilled as Paulie in the art of extortion, but old Walnuts is not willing to pay the Father’s price for the golden fedora that goes atop St. Elzear’s head. “Fuck the hat,” Paulie grumbles. (In a clever juxtaposition, the priest notes that a previous generation of parishioners had their wedding rings melted down in order to make the gold hat, and in the very next scene Chris shows off his new wedding ring.) Paulie tries to increase his profit margin on the carnival by cutting back on some safety protocols, and this infuriates Bobby Bacala after his family almost gets hurt on a ride. People in the community are talking about how cheap Paulie has been. On top of everything, Paulie is still not on speaking terms with his mother (er, aunt).
Tense and unable to sleep, Paulie watches the clock turn 3:00 in the middle of the night. (It was in “From Where to Eternity” that Mikey Palmice mentioned “3:00” in the dream/vision that Christopher had while unconscious.) Paulie’s stress, superstitions and phobias all come together now to put him in a fragile emotional state. It is while he is in this vulnerable condition that Paulie has a Marian vision—he sees the Virgin Mary at the Bada Bing. Chase takes a cue out of a horror flick now to produce the hair-raising moment, using loud, heavy music to score a quick shot of Mary hovering above the stage. It is a sudden and startling image and many of us at home let out a gasp at the sight.
The Virgin Mary is an ambiguous apparition: is she really there or is Paulie imagining her? Many viewers have noted that we can catch a glimpse of Mary in the mirror before Paulie sees her, giving credence to the idea that she really is there and is not just something that Paulie has conjured up in his own mind. This is possible. Chase, after all, has previously dabbled in the supernatural. We caught a glimpse of Big Pussy’s ghost in a mirror in episode 3.02. And when Paulie visits a psychic in 2.09, the man gets just enough details right for us to think he might actually have a supernatural gift. Another interesting connection “The Ride” makes to the psychic in 2.09 is that the statuette that appears on the man’s curio shelf bears more than a passing resemblance to the Mary that appears now:
(Thank you Paulie G. for pointing this out to me.) Weirdly, the ambiguity and mystery that characterizes the floating Virgin Mary also characterizes the actress who portrays her: she is credited only as “Tanya P.” and it is difficult to dig up any further info on her. In any case, the question of whether the vision is real or not real is not as interesting to me as the issue of where the vision takes place: the stage of the Bada Bing. (I’m guessing that this is the only time a “virgin” of any sort has appeared on the Bing stage.) The location is interesting not only because there is something inherently cheeky and irreverent about seeing the mother of Christ in a north Jersey strip joint, but also because it underscores an aspect of “the regularness of life”—the most unique, miraculous or sacred of events can occur in the most familiar, even profane, of places. (The sacred and the propane, Lil Carmine might say.) As Leon Wieseltier wrote in the New Republic,
Who does not come from a place that mistakes itself for the universe? All metaphysics is local. If it is possible to have a vision of the Virgin Mary, then it is possible to have a vision of the Virgin Mary at the Bada Bing. The Sopranos locates the human lot in north Jersey, but the human lot is available everywhere or it is available nowhere…
It is quite fitting that Paulie should have a vision of this sort now. He is confronting a health scare and public opinion is turning against him right now, so he could really use the love and support of his mother. But he has distanced himself from her. It is understandable that with his mother absent, Paulie would envision the ultimate mother—the blessed mother of Christ. The apparition that appears, however, isn’t exactly a sweet, comforting vision; it seems to be more like a wake-up call, a message from Above that his recent behavior toward his mom as well as toward the local parish has been selfish and despicable.
When I first saw this episode, I strongly began to feel that Chase was purposefully loading the stage of the Bada Bing with metaphoric significance. In the closing moments of “Whoever Did This” (4.09), after murdering Ralph as revenge for possibly killing Pie-O-My (and absolutely killing young Tracee), Tony became mesmerized by the emptiness of the Bing stage. As an inheritor of Livia’s philosophy of nothingness, it is metaphorically appropriate that Tony might associate the empty stage with the emptiness of the Universe. While the spotlights highlighted “nothingness” for Tony in that earlier episode, they shine down on a maternal/religious symbol for Paulie now:
Paulie has always been a religious man, his Catholic faith means very much to him. It would especially mean a lot to him now, when he is feeling alone and motherless and vulnerable to a mortal illness. These two very different images of the Bing stage manage to reflect the two very different views that Tony and Paulie have of the universe.
Chase has given a long-running treatment to the opposing worldviews of Tony and Paulie within the series, but there were two episodes in particular where the differences between them were underscored. In episode 2.09 “From Where to Eternity,” Tony and Paulie argued over their contrasting conceptions of life and the afterlife. For Tony, like his mother before him, the uncertainties and ambiguities of the universe lead to a dark nihilism. (“None of this shit means a goddamn thing,” he told Paulie in that episode.) Paulie, on the other hand, revealed a much more black-and-white view of the universe: Heaven and Hell are actual physical places, and he will have access to Heaven after serving roughly 6000 years in Purgatory. (Which he believes he could do, no problemo, standing on his head.)
The difference in their personal philosophies was also starkly illustrated in episode 6.04 “The Fleshy Part of the Thigh.” In that episode, Tony still found the universe to be an ambiguous place, but instead of seeing it as a Big Nothing as his mother did, he begins to see it (under John Schwinn’s guidance) as a Big Everything. (“Everything is everything,” Schwinn asserted.) For Paulie however, the universe remained a simple, black-and-white place. He is thrown for a loop when he discovers that the woman he believed to be his mother turns out to be his aunt, but instead of going with the flow of events (which would require him to be flexible in his views), he sticks to his simplistic rigidity—and completely disassociates himself from the woman that raised him.
(“The Ride” is brilliant in how it revisits and combines Paulie’s storyline from these two earlier episodes. From 2.09, we get Mikey Palmice’s “3:00” prophecy, Paulie’s brush with the supernatural, a miniature clone-image of the Virgin Mary, and Paulie’s Catholic beliefs; and from 6.04 we get the plot-point of Paulie’s separation from his mother.)
Paulie goes into a reflective mood after being visited by the Madonna at the Bing. He decides to try to reconnect with his mom. There are no fireworks or great displays of emotion when Paulie goes to Green Grove, there is just a simple, understated reconciliation between mother and son. They sit in front of the television and watch Lawrence Welk. (We may notice that it’s an old tube TV. Paulie tossed the flat-screen out the window the last time he was here.) It is a muted, almost banal scene as they sit together in the nursing home. The camera quietly retires away from the room to imagery of the wind blowing through the trees outside. (Wind and trees again.) The serenity of the scene is broken when Chase cuts to the end credits, scored to a loud, live and raw version of Johnny Thunders’ “Pipeline.” (A snippet of the song was heard during the cannoli-eating contest earlier.) The song, of course, is one of the classics of surf-rock, evoking the sense of riding the pipeline of a wave—and thus refers back to the title and major theme of “The Ride.”
Watching the episode now, that closing song reminded me of an earlier episode in which Chase had also used a classic surf-rock track; the Beach Boys’ “Surfin USA” was heard in “Calling All Cars” (4.11). In that hour, Tony dreamt of a dark, shadowy Livia-like figure standing on a staircase. (We all remember the creepy image.) Tony had just quit therapy and was probably more susceptible than usual to the feelings of meaninglessness and depression that have long dogged him, and that’s precisely when he has the troubling dream of the lady on the stairs. So: the “visions” of these two maternal figures, one standing on a staircase in episode 4.11 and one floating above a stage now, each seem to express Tony’s and Paulie’s respective stances toward life.
Whether you are inclined to side with Tony’s uncertain worldview or Paulie’s simplistic certainty, the prevailing sentiment of SopranoWorld is that the fucking regularness of life is the ultimate truth. I think Leon Wieseltier is right on the money when he describes The Sopranos as a “devastating portrait of the dictatorship of ordinary life.” This episode is all about how we look for diversion and fun in an effort to escape that dictatorship:
Julianna gets a thrill out of getting spun on the carnival ride. And why wouldn’t she? We’re hardwired to enjoy the sensation from the time we are babies. (See how little Nica loves getting spun round-and-round by her uncle.) As our dopamine response to exciting things wears down over time, we might seek bigger and bigger kicks, even though they may be dangerous (like antagonizing an armed biker gang) or suicidal (like shooting smack into your arm). But most people, whether in the real world or in SopranoWorld, don’t get to chase kicks all day long. There are too many obligations to meet, too many responsibilities to shoulder, and simply not enough time, not enough money, not enough energy. Alan Sepinwall says in his write-up of this episode that:
All these characters are on a ride, all right, but it’s not a roller-coaster with dips and curves and loops. It’s the baggage carousel at the airport, and they just keep going around and around in circles, seeing the same disappointed faces as they pass, waiting for someone or something to take them somewhere interesting.
The great and amusing irony of this episode is that many viewers and critics (like San Francisco Chronicle’s Tim Goodman) had hoped this hour would give them a walloping, exciting ride into the final third of season 6A. And Chase responded by telling them not to expect the show—or life—to constantly provide them with wallops and thrills; expect a fuckin’ baggage carousel.
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FOOD, FAITH AND FIREARMS
This episode makes some of the strongest links between Food and Faith that we find in the entire series. The Feast of St. Elzear is literally a feast, it features a cannoli-eating contest and the streets in front of the church are lined with food-stands. Tony describes the scene as “thousands of people either praying or eating.” Paulie calls Elzear “the patron saint of zeppoles.” It was only two episodes ago in “Luxury Lounge” that Chase made a focused study of our consumerist desires. In “The Ride” now, Chase shows how religion aids and abets our lust to consume, and to continue consuming until we’re ready to burst.
It may be interesting to look at the way that Chase uses “wine” in this episode. Wine is the most sacred of substances in Catholicism. In the hands of a Priest during the rite of Communion, it becomes the incarnation of the blood of Christ. Notably, it is crates of wine that Chris and Tony rob, at gunpoint, from the Vipers. Wine may thus serve to metaphorically connect the la cosa nostra mobsters with the Church, (which is particularly interesting considering that this episode features Father Jose who has all the chutzpah and oiliness of a mobster himself.) We wouldn’t be able to make this particular connection if it had been crates of bourbon, for example, that the guys had robbed. At dinner, Christopher resists Tony’s offer of the stolen wine. But Tony pushes him, telling him that in the old country wine isn’t even considered an alcoholic beverage, it is considered food—which makes this particular wine that was stolen at gunpoint fit perfectly under my FOOD, FAITH AND FIREARMS heading.
A troubling link between Faith and Firearms is made at the Feast when Paulie shows his gratitude—just as the statue of St. Elzear is being brought out onto the street—to a young soldier who has taken up arms to do two tours of duty in Iraq. I applaud Paulie for recognizing the young man’s courage and commitment, but there is nevertheless something disturbing in the scene; it is almost as though the Saint himself looks on and legitimizes that questionable, bloody conflict. There were serious concerns at the time that the Bush administration was seeing the Iraq war not only as a war on terror but also as a Holy War, and it sort of feels like Chase was lending his support to that criticism with this scene here. But I don’t want to read this scene through too political a lens because I don’t think it is strongly warranted.
There is, however, a clear political reference later in the hour: Tony says “Heckuva job, Brownie” to Paulie when his handling of the Feast turns into a clusterfuck. In the previous year, immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, President Bush gushed to Michael Brown (director of FEMA at the time), “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job!” Ten days after receiving the compliment, Brown resigned when his incompetence and his agency’s gross mishandling of the situation became more and more apparent and the body count in New Orleans continued to rise. “Heckuva job, Brownie” became one of the era’s most popular sarcastic memes.
LIZ LaCERVA
Adriana’s mother makes an appearance in this hour when Carm runs into her at the Feast. Liz is convinced that Chris Moltisanti killed her daughter. When Carmela brings the topic up to Tony, he insists Liz’s theory is way off and, anyway, they should be careful not to undermine Chris who has been doing so well lately. “Let’s not sabotage him,” Tony says. The irony is that as Tony says this, he is enjoying a glass of wine—the same wine which Tony used to sabotage Christopher’s sobriety and precipitate his slip now (a slip which within a few episodes becomes a full-blown relapse).
The last time we saw Liz LaCerva was in “Long Term Parking.” She looked Jersey-fabulous back then, with her highlighted hair and tiger-print blouse. She seems like a different woman now, depressed over the disappearance of her daughter. Carmela later expresses her surprise at how terrible she looked at the carnival. Personally, I think Liz looks fine, but I guess by the standards of Jersey-chic, she must look almost like a homeless woman to Carmela:
We’ll see Liz one more time on the series, and her deterioration will be much more evident at that time.
___________________________________
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
- Chris shares his plan to stay sober with Tony: “My son will be my strength.” But he ends up having a daughter. Hmm, is this why he doesn’t find the strength to stay clean?
- Little Details. I guess DiSorbo does give Paulie an envelope of cash to sponsor the eating contest as asked for, because we see the bakery’s T-shirts and banner at the contest later.
- Little Details. Paulie’s doctor asks if he has a history of prostate cancer—his father, maybe?—and Paulie replies “I don’t know.” He cannot know; after the family revelation in “Fleshy Part of the Thigh,” Paulie is unsure who his father is.
- We see a stronger side to Bobby in this hour as he goes after both Paulie and the carnival ride operator. We will see him assert himself more and more through Season 6B. (But Tony and Janice find ways to tear him down in the next episode “Moe ‘n’ Joe.”)
- I really like how the character of “Corky Caporale” is played on the series. Despite very little screentime, he manages to seem fishy and damaged and vulnerable and dangerous all at once. (“Heroin-chic” used to be the term for his look.) On his website, the actor that plays Corky posts The New Yorker‘s description of him: “Edoardo Ballerini has a fox’s eyes and the intense self-disposition of a ballet dancer.”
- Chase loves his classic rock. Free’s “All Right Now” is playing while Tony and Chris mug The Vipers. Later, the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider” scores a shot of Tony’s Escalade barreling down the highway (the song evokes the title and major theme of “The Ride.”)
- I love how excited—and surprised—Chris is when he lands a bullet in one of the Vipers as they race away. On most crime shows, hitting the target in such a circumstance would simply be a matter of course, it wouldn’t be considered something unlikely. But verisimilitude rules in SopranoWorld.
- Tony inhales a lungful of air and tells Chris that autumn is here. Another one of the admirable things about this episode is how well it captures the mood and feel of the northeast in early autumn.
- No one else will be interested in this but I have to leave the note for myself: Chris tells Corky the story of a childhood friend named Ronny here, and the previous episode had a firefighter named Ron.
- “How much more blood will you have to shed to stay alive, Michael?” This first line of the hour, coming via Saw II, gets imbued with a meta-meaning when we realize it is MICHAEL Imperioli that is watching the movie. The meta-significance of the Saw films will continue into 6B, as Christopher is surely influenced by these movies when he produces Cleaver. Christopher’s movie will itself feature a character named “Michael” (but we’ll get into all that meta-fun in “Stage 5”).
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I was waiting to read your take on Paulie’s vision!
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You got a pash for that
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I totally missed that “How much more blood…” line from Saw II, and it was right there at the start.
Thanks for pointing that out, and tying it in. As the episodes get better & better, so does your analysis, Ron.
Some thoughts on nighttime parking lots and throw up:
That sad scene of Tony bonding and drinking wine in the dark parking lot with Christopher, reminded me of Tony
trying but failing to bond with AJ while they drank beer the Stugots II in the previous episode.
Real gangster Chris successfully completes the heist, while AJ lost face after his botched attempt to act the gangster.
Chris gets the bonding from Tony that AJ would have loved to have gotten. Poor AJ couldn’t even throw up properly
in that dark parking lot.
But when Chris later throws up well and proper in another dark parking lot, that’s the personal vig he pays
on his debt of obligation to SopranoWorld.
It’s 2018 in America, I’m feeling nausea, and this series is even more vital. How is that even possible?
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Haha vomit as vig, I love it..
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Two funny things I remember
1. How Janice goaded Bobby for not taking action over dinner and then wearing that neck brace the next day
as Bobby went to ass kicking.
2. Bobby was looking for Paulie who was hanging w some of the guys and Bobby Yells “Hey Cocksucker”
and they all turn around.
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His Wife’s got NERVE damage.
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…and yet she’s still got a lot of nerve haha
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@Ron, this might be weird, but do you think gaits in the Sopranos have a secondary meaning?
The Eddie Lind character of Barone/Alleghany Carting “Anyway, my guy at the weigh station’s on board”,
got me thinking about gaits. He walks away in the Pennsylvania scene with a severe lean like a yacht tacking into the wind.
Later at the Bing, “Any of the girls working yet?” he walks in with that same extreme gait. His scenes are short,
but I’m always struck by his gait. Vito probably has the 2nd most severe gait, difficult to miss, it’s such a part
of his character. I know there was the storyline with Tony Blundetto where his gait change (after the car ran over his feet)
gave him away, but I’d be interested in your thoughts on gaits in SopranoWorld in general.
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The only times I really thought about it is when AJ walks with this sort of stiff-legged gait (I don’t remember the episodes and I can’t access my notes right now). I wondered if Chase was suggesting that AJ had Asperger’s because there is some scientific evidence connecting the syndrome with an awkward gait. (The Sandy Hook shooter had Asperger’s and a noticeably awkward gait.) But AJ’s stiff-leg walk is rare so I don’t want to read too much into it.
I also noticed that Tony has a lumbering gait in 6B’s The Second Coming which may be a reference to the “rough beast” which is “moving its slow thighs” in Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”…
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Hmmm. That’s interesting about AJ. After Tony & Carmella angrily ended AJ’s ADD
testing, deciding not to look under any more stones, we are left with hints like this one.
Not to go too far afield, but I’ve wondered – based on other patterns – if the current chess champion
is on the spectrum. Once you mentioned the connection with Asperger’s, I thought of him because he
has a slightly awkward gait. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. His games are powerful.
Thanks for your insight. I’ll re-watch the “Yeets” episode – I’ve got a gait connection to catch.
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I think Robert Iler just has that type of walk, its been like that since the beginning. Sort of like a skip.
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Yeah I think you’re right
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Yes and as far as Vito his gait is typical for somebody with hip arthropathy.
It could well be a genuine problem suffered by Joe Gannascoli after years of obesity.
He mentions he needs hip surgery when seeking excuse for lazing around at work in Dartford.
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Orange – I think he has flat feet. 🚹
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Ron – Regarding AJ’s weird way of walking, someone on reddit succinctly observed, ” It’s like the doctors had to give him a syringe full of cringe before every episode”!!! LOL 🤡
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Chrissy’s power stride when he means business is also the stuff of memes.
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Haha yes
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Two episodes end with a Jonny Thunders song: “Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” at the end of “House Arrest”, an episode about boredom. “Pipeline” at the end of “The Ride”, an episode about the escape from boredom. “Arms” captures Tony’s relief at returning to the lifestyle he enjoys, and also a preemptive sense of nostalgia for those good times. “Pipeline” is pure irony coming after Paulie’s very un-exciting but comforting reunion with his mother. Especially having been used in that cannoli-eating contest earlier, “Pipeline” highlights the emptiness of the excitement these characters chase after.
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I never noticed that Johnny Thunders link.. that’s a brilliant connection
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As a massive thunders fan I find the use of his stuff fascinating. I think that version is from a live bootleg called stations of the cross. Thunders is obscure but in his prime he was a mix between fonzie and Keith Richards….
His life was ruined by his love affair with heroin. In the late 70s he had a cool punk/greaser look but by the time he died in 1991 he looked like death. The heroin had rotted him inside and out and stolen his talent…..
His father had walked out on the family when he was a kid and he apparently struggled with that his whole life. He was a Lower class iitallian kid like the characters on the sopranos. I guess he was a lot like Chris come to think of it….
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I too really like Corky Capriole.
For a long time, I thought this was supposed to be the same Corky that Tony refers to at Ralph’s house in “Whoever Did This”. I thought that was a nice touch—a character referred to in dialogue, then appearing on screen later (like Feech, for example).
Turns out that Corky’s last name was Ianucci.
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Corky was another of the show’s very minor yet memorable characters. Its always nice to hear Italian on the show. Apparently Gandolfini was a fluent speaker who spent much of his childhood in and out of Italy, though I don’t think this was ever used. Would Tony’s character really still know Italian?
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It seems that “The Ride” continues a theme from “Johnny Cakes” of the supposed
protectors selling out their loyal charges. Tony on the phone with Skiff waves at Mrs. Compte
while selling the neighborhood poultry out from under her.
Mrs. Compte is screwed again when St. Elzear goes on procession without his expected headgear.
“Where’s his gold hat?”, more misplaced unrewarded loyalty. Paulie’s scene with the 2 tour Iraq war vet
“I’m proud of you, my friend” is placed right after Mrs. Compte’s betrayal so I wonder if Chase
was in fact making a larger point about misplaced and unrewarded loyalty. Many loyal, brave and earnest
men and women who enlisted after 9/11, and were sent back for tour after tour while in some
cases not even being provided with adequate defensive armor, said upon returning that
they didn’t feel that the home front really felt what was going on. It was all “Thank you for your service”,
yellow ribbon bumper stickers, members of congress sporting flag pins, and the universal exhortations to
“Support our troops”. Meanwhile there were Haliburton no bid contracts, lies from Donald Rumsfeld
and the white house about WMDs and imminent victory, lucrative contracts for mercenary companies
and other war profiteers, forced tour extensions due to incompetent planning, and torture
by Americans in the very same prison Saddam Hussein used for the same purpose barely a year
before. In spite of all that, Dubya was rewarded with a 2nd term, and we saw how that ended.
Misplaced and unrewarded loyalty continually given, invites abuse, and contempt.
So as Tony profits by shitting on the little guy, and some of it even splashes on Patsy –
“Sold the building? I got a kid in college!”, Compte continues her misplaced loyalty as does Patsy,
and SopranoWorld goes on.
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How about conte’s unreconstructed and casual racism when asking Tony to tell what she thinks are blacks to turn down their music? Yet another example of this show’s brutally honest depictions of people as they really are and not as some sanitized farce. I don’t think this show could be mace today….the Twitter twerps would bitch and cry about how their feelings were hurt….
One thing I loved about this episode was the gentrification subplot. Tony clearly feels an affinity for the old neighborhood and it’s sincere…but when Jamba keeps upping its price, he has no choice to buy to sell. And anyway, gentrification is a reality. It’s tragic really, to see things change but change they do and it’s a losing battle to stop it. But we try anyway….
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And you’re doing a fine job – trying to move the hands of time back to the 1950’s, when everything was so “perfect” – right? (I love how you made the typo of “mace”.)
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Awesome essay. One minor correction: The episode featured Buddy Miles’ cover of “Midnight Rider” as Tony and Christopher sped away from the robbery. It’s an underrated gem.
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Thanks
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I also think Mrs. Compte’s remark about “tell Junior I said Hello” didn’t make Tony feel so great. Shows how much of the “old Neighborhood” is exactly that…old and behind the times. Another reason to sell the building. Tony is very petty, and the bottom line is always money. He didn’t want to deal with that old lady anymore.
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I think he wanted to get laid!
: )
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“…every day is a gift. But does it have to be a pair of socks?”
This has got to be the best line of the entire series as well as being a fairly accurate summary of the plot. For some people, that is all they get, but others get more. Or less.
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Yes, it’s one of the definitive lines of the series..
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What really stuck out for me in this episode was how Janice manipulated Bobby into muscling the Hillbilly ride owner. Bobby is a very sweet man, who is only in the mafia because he was born into it. Of all the people in the Sopranos Bobby is the most decent, Janice on the other hand in my opinion is the evilest, and most manipulative person on the show. When eating dinner Bobby says, “I should have kicked that hillbilly’s ass” Janice while holding her neck says “What did you do?”. In the next scene we see Bobby pulling up to the hotel with Janice in a neck brace holding the baby. This reminds me of an article I read about a mother who drove her daughter to a park to fight another girl, it is very sick. Regarding Bobby becoming more assertive, I think it was mostly through Janice’s manipulation.
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Yes, their whole relationship was essentially born out Janice’s manipulations—she tricked him into believing she’d be a good replacement for Karen.
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That means he’s an idiot. That hot widdow of Mikey Palmice, wanted him, she was pretty, sweet personality and knew very well to cook. But Bobby let Janice muscle her out, I lost all my respect for Bobby after he married her. For me, Little Carmine was nicest man there, always ready to help and only one who realized being boss isn’t worth, only important thing is to be happy.
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Also, 3 O’clock made another appearance, and so did Pagano (Realty in this episode, Charles or Sonny in the previous ep, Paulie’s, “first”) and Kohler (fixtures in the house mentioned by the realtor in this episode, “Email”, Chris’ “first”). I am surprised no one has mentioned this connection.
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The duality of good versus evil ( despite the views of John Schwinn in 6.4), is on display with Paulie’s trip to the Bing. After his vision of Blessed Mother Mary on the stage, he meets with The Eddie Lind character in the office. Above his head is a neon Budweiser sign within a shamrock. In “From Where to Eternity”, Christopher describes his experience in hell as being in an Irish bar where every day is St. Patrick’s day. It seems fitting that Paulie would be the character used to illustrate this particular duality.
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I love the way Chase shows everything as being real, the feast, the stores, coffee shop, the parties, restaurants, at Jonny Sac daughters wedding, construction sites, it not like other shows. I can usually tell with other shows the places look fake, the restaurants, etc, Chase did an excellent job showing real life places. Just a matter of time before Christopher falls back into the old habits. Sad to watch. Pauly’s Epiphany with the Virgin Mary helps him ( I don’t think he has cancer) reconciles with his Aunt (mom). Great episode a lot going on here.
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You are correct in Chase’s quality of places like wedding, restaurants, feats, clubs, doctors offices, hospitals etc, it never looks fake always has a realistic feel to it. Really amazing.
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What does the trees and leaves mean
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I don’t know if there is a definitive answer, it’s just a part of the mythology of the series
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The autumn leaves make Tony nostalgic, right after he and Chris pull off a thrilling hijack. Ron’s right that at the moment, Tony finds it life affirming. However, if Tony and Paulie are at the ebb of La Cosa Nostra (1.01 “I’ve been having this feeling lately, that I’ve come in at the end.” 6.09“When this was your Dad’s, the feast was a cash cow.”), it’s not a bad guess that Paulie’s encounters this episode have pushed him to check what legacy he’ll leave behind sooner than he expected last week.
Summer’s vividness is being stripped away for the other regularness, the one of death. Regardless of what his prostate says, Paulie concedes a small acceptance of death while reconciling with Nucci.
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Or to quote another HBO show—“Winter is coming.” That’s a great take IronSig…
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And AJ reading the poem about the white of Winter representing death…! So much connectivity in this show.
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One thing I find interesting is that Kelli’s first reaction to her pregnancy is fear. I can’t be the only one who thought Chris was going to beat her up for getting pregnant – like he beat up Adrianna so many times before.
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Yeah Kelli seemed like she was bracing herself when she told Chris..
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The reason the American public was so disengaged from the realities of Iraq and Afghanistan is because most American young men at the time were like AJ….too spoiled , too lazy, to interested in their own pleasure, to find out for them selves and join the military. Let someone else do it. Maybe that sounds harsh but the truth usually is.
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That certainly contributed to the apathy but I don’t think it was the only reason
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That’s why ro made that comment to Carmela about kids AJs age getting blown up in Iraq….come one, AJ is the epitome of the spoiled rotten rich white kid shielded from reality by parents who came from humbler means. Sure his dad is a murderous crook…but still….same difference.
The most sincere Paulie ever seemed was when he told the soldier he was proud of him. Paulie was in the Army too. I can also add that Italians were the most over represented ethnic group in World War Two. This show is about many things and the demasculination of the white male is at the top of the list…
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Yeah, those damn emasculated Medagones right?
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Poor you.
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“The reason the American public was so disengaged from the realities of Iraq and Afghanistan is because most American young men at the time were like AJ….too spoiled , too lazy, to interested in their own pleasure, to find out for them selves and join the military”
I want to preface this with the fact that I didn’t join the military at the time (despite buying into the propaganda) cause I was a coward. Lazy and spoiled didn’t come into it for me, but I had plenty of friends “that were like AJ” who did join and paid for it..
That being said, I don’t really think it’s accurate to say that my generation’s ‘laziness and interest in our own pleasure’ was the reason Americans like yourself didn’t end up caring about the realities of Iraq and Afghanistan.. I think the loss of interest had more to do with the eventual realization that it had more to do with oil interests and much less about finding bin laden in a country that had nothing to do with him or patriotism or WMDs that didn’t exist or terrorists or spreading freedom or any other such nonsense that we (including my generation) all fell for.
But if you’re still buying into the bush administration’s justification for the war in Iraq and wanna put the blame on the younger generations (the ones who actually fought in that war) to make yourself feel better, you do you boo
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Indeed. You can’t spread Democracy from the muzzle of an M-16 held by a 20-YO marine, as someone once said. Even the GOP seems to realize this now, bagging on Obama for “his forever wars.” Didn’t stop them from bagging on Biden for ending a forever war, either. It’s almost like they’re always right whichever way they go…
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Most young men didn’t sign up precisely because they were engaged with the realities of what was going on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Signing up to be traumatised, maimed or killed in the interests of filling the pockets of Halliburton and other corporate gangsters? No thanks.
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I always liked the part after Paulie sees the virgin, when he’s sitting there stunned. The guy shows up and says, “Any of the girls working yet?” All I can think of is, “ Just Mary. Mary came in at 3 o clock”
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“Wet your whistle” is a saying. ” I could use a drink to wet my whistle”. 🙂
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“Julianna gets a thrill out of getting spun on the carnival ride. And why wouldn’t she? We’re hardwired to enjoy the sensation from the time we are babies—see how little Nica loves getting spun round-and-round by her uncle. As our dopamine response to exciting things wears down over time, we might seek bigger and bigger kicks, even though they may be dangerous (like antagonizing an armed biker gang) or suicidal (like shooting smack into your arm). But most people, whether in the real world or in SopranoWorld, don’t get to chase kicks all day long. There are too many obligations to meet, too many exhausting responsibilities, and simply not enough time, not enough money, not enough energy.”
I agree with this enthusiastically. This plays into Chase and how he consistently (and intelligently) plays into “nuture vs nature” and how deftly he can bundle that with the existential dread concerning the monotony of everyday life (and what we’re willing to potentially give up to quell that sensation). After being exposed to these environments, that instinctive sense of resisting the quotidian is hereditarily bound to us in some sense but, I think, also reinforced by our environments.
The environmental coin seems to be expressed almost exclusively by Chris and Tony, when they try to stave this off in an overwrought, self-destructive manner (endangering their lives directly by doing an armed robbery against bikers who shot at them. Plus, Chris doubles down with his attitude of incessant banality concerning life in this episode by doing dangerous hard drugs and risking his life, in more ways than his health)
I think the expression of how both the natural elements of influencing an individual in contrast to the environmental ones are meshed really effectively in the scene when Janice goes back to the fair (with Bobby, Carmella and Tony present), and is with her daughter, Domenica. Domenica allegedly cries out because she cannot go back on the ride and seemingly approaches it when she is put down but Janice says something interesting in that scene:
JANICE: “Can you believe this? After all this, she wants to go back on that ride. She cried for three nights after.”
Infants are notorious for being unformed and not yet incorporated or aware of their environment. They’re fundamentally instinctual entities and I believe Chase uses that in this scene to express how, down to our rudimentary core, we crave an escape from the commonplace even if it means risking ourselves. We know Domenica isn’t aware of the danger. However, even being so nonaligned to her environment, Domenica still seems like she wants to feel the rare joy of that ride again despite apparently “crying for three nights after.”
Even more interestingly, after Domenica walks toward the ride, Tony seems to go over to her and he picks her up, spinning her in the air and laughing as he seems to act as some sort of emblematic stand-in for the joys of the now decommissioned fair ride. I’ve wondered if this isn’t Chase symbolically knotting together how we, overall, lash out at the ever-burdensome mundanities of life from both a place of our nurture/environment (Tony participating in a dangerous and risky armed robbery with Chris and doing so being a straightforward result of the product of his environment. Perhaps someone not brought up in a Jersey crime syndicate would’ve resisted the “regularness” of life in a less risky and overwhelmingly dangerous manner by jet-skiing, playing a video game, going for a walk, reading, etc.) and also coming from a place of our nature (Domenica wanting another ride for that thrill without even remotely comprehending why, including the risks and effect it has on her).
Perhaps even Tony’s brisk walk toward his niece to provide this “rush” for her to escape even her basal glominess, allaying some of his own in the process, is Chase’s way of demonstrating just how desperate we can all be, on some level or another, to escape the dullness life can provide and perhaps how fleeing that sensation can serve to connect us? My point of view perhaps does speak to some overwhelming existential nihilism but this episode (along with others) strongly points out that we do all sorts of things to claw our way away from that, perhaps even Paulie subconsciously does this (on a fundamental level) when he sees something vivid, uncommon, and loud that is represented by Mary (the nurture “fill-in”?) on one of the show’s (what I’d consider) flagship stages for showcasing bleakness? Is that Paulie’s means of providing himself with an escape from his “basal glominess” that we all carry, even as infants?
I’m not sure. Regardless, I appreciate your dissection of this episode, even what I don’t necessarily agree with. Please keep it up! Helps me escape the fuckin’ regularness of life.
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“It is a sudden and startling image, and many of us at home let out a gasp at the sight”
If by let out a gasp you mean shit your pants and almost ran out of the room screaming like an 8 year old girl, then I completely agree with this statement
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🤣
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corky looks like gary oldman…as a young man
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Ephoph
Have you ever noticed that during his Goodfellas cameo, Henny Youngman … is an old man?
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😂
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Haha that’s perfect, exactly like a young Oldman
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Kudos to Edie Falco here – in probably my favorite scene in this episode: She is in complete [overt] denial over Adriana’s death and has the impudence to tell Mrs. LaCerva that she’s drunk. I love how Falco approaches the multi-faceted character of Carmela – she never disappoints.
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Great analysis but I’m surprised you didn’t mention Tony’s irritation when Chris was on one of his “yammerings” after announcing Kelli is pregnant to the guys
You think he was irritated because he felt he didn’t deserve the praise? Or because he just felt Chris was being fake and trying to hard?
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In 2.09 the psychic tells Paulie that Charles “Sonny” Pagano was his “first,” as in first kill. Paulie denies it, or gets angry and makes a scene. When Chris goes to tour the big house in the suburbs, the realtor works for Pagano Realty, and there’s even a sign in the yard with “Pagano” on it. This too is Chris’s first “kill,” only it’s a house, not a body. Almost instantly Chris says he’ll take it. Carmine quips that “a man is not complete until he’s married; then he’s finished.” I almost see this as a reference to Chris’s unreality: technically, he was “finished” after marrying Ade. With his frequent relapses and countless brushes with death, it’s almost a joke that he’s still alive and well and even somewhat happy. That his dream involves having Corky over to his house is telling. Sticking up the Vipers also just shows how little he or Tony have learned – not to mention that Chris selling the wine seems to irritate Tony. And like Tony walks all over Sal Vitro even though he’s “paisan,” Chris and Paulie walk over “Pagano:” enemy and hero are practically the same.
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Wow that’s an interesting connection
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I suppose the name could be a coincidence, since “Pagano” is a fairly common Italian surname. Still, I see more connections:
– The fact that Phil Leotardo “becomes” the house to comical effect in 6.19 might suggest an eerie symbolism, what with Chris buying a house listed by Pagano Realty. The connection would be that (the ghost of) Charles Pagano, Paulie’s first murder victim, brings about Chris’s end. The psychic carries on a conversation with the dead, who cannot be heard, whereas Phil is heard but not seen. Phil-as-house keeps Tony and Carmine out, whereas the ghost-of-Pagano-as-house welcomes Chris and his new wife, Kelli.
– I don’t know why the ghost of Sonny would want to kill Chris, but it’s possible that Dickie Moltisanti had something to do with it, and Chris is paying for it.
– Chris’s housewarming party in 6.17 is somewhat cold. Next episode, 6.18, Tony kills Chris. The house is a less obvious foreshadowing of Chris’s end. Tony tells Chris the steaks are done, teases him about alcoholism, and his N/A beer. I think Tony rejects the notion that Chris deserves a house and wife. Tony and co. essentially can’t accept Chris’s (false) progression into adulthood.
– Kelli, Chris’s new wife surviving Chris’s murder is a reversal of Chris’s first marriage, where he ultimately “survives” and Ade is killed in a forest.
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The realtor also mentions that there are Kohler fixtures. Emil (Email) Kohler was Chris’ first kill too. Perhaps that is the connection?
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‘Pagano’ also in Italian means ‘they pay’ – make of that what you will…
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I like how you describe Chris as a lost dog here during his drug ride/trip.. During this scene, the dog & him are sitting with a brick wall behind them, which reminded me of this classic picture of Chaplin’s A Dogs Life.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/55/d0/4a55d01faf8929660d3b22d5c1f65bea.jpg
I think we can also associate the title with the ending scene as well when Paulie comes to visit Nucci. The tree blowing in the wind that Paulie sees might not mean a whole lot to him, but to us the viewers it might be a reminder that “a great wind” is carrying us.. Paulie was obviously going about pitying for himself a lot in this episode & could have killed someone with his carelessness in regard to the ride. He knows that with his possible prostate cancer that his own ride could be over soon. Instead of pitying, he realized on some level that he was wrong and tries to make a connection with Nucci. It might not be a big scene but its very touching.. Its one of those “little moments.. that were good”.
I’ve watched this episode three times in the past four days. So I guess its okay…
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I may have been inclined to describe Chris like that because my garage band in high school was named Lost Dog. (We figured that all the “lost dog” flyers that pet owners posted around town would function as a sort of free advertising for us haha…)
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Talk about taking advantage of a situation.. I guess the next idea could have been to dognap dogs for publicity reasons, then when the owners show up they get their dog & they get a free show aha
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😆
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Indeed another solid episode that is underrated because it comes late in the series, however it puts back the relationship between the beloved lead characters to the focus. The scenes between Tony and Chris are so strong and the flashback scene still hits deeply to the core, unfortunately the rest of the story, while still good though, just does not match that intensity and pales to the opening of the episode.
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Very late to this…but Chris “wet my whistle”, I always felt was a call back to Godfather 2… when the black hand tries to shake down a young Don Corleone / de niro and asks for enough to “wet his beak”. Beak being a constant reference for Chris nose and all that
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I’m not sure if anyone pointed this out yet but the year of the wine that Tony and Christopher stole from the Vipers was made in 1986. Christopher exclaims, ” ’86 .. Oooh Baby !! Show me the money !!”
1986 was a big year for Tony. It was the year he became capo of his crew and really became an essential part of ‘this thing of ours’ Tony becoming capo was at the request of Johnny Boy, his father, who died that same year.
Along with these moments it was also the year of the infamous failed hijacking where his cousin Tony B was caught and did 15 years ..
Tony missed this heist due to a panic attack. However, he hid the truth for years and told his peers he was jumped by two black men ‘Unidentified Black Males’ He didn’t want to admit the shame of having a fight with his Mom and passing out so he fabricated a tale that he was jumped to not tarnish his image and self-esteem ..
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“86” can also mean to discard, destroy, kill, or shut something (or someone) down…
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Can someone please explain the ending of this episode where Paulie is sitting with his mother in the sofa and the camera moves away from them? Maria Nucci really looks scary here, it seems almost as if Paulie is sitting with a creepy-looking ghost from hell. Is there a connection to the 3am visit and somehow Paulie has managed to drag the ghouls with him in the end?
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I guess we all see what we want to, but I truly saw this moment as one of the very few purely sincere, sweet character moments in the series. Paulie grows a little bit in this episode.
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If anything I find this scene as part of a series of scenes in The Sopranos of quiet family moments. Chase does great work with silence, breath’s of time when saying nothing. Acceptance that Paulie loves his ‘mom” and remembers those quiet moments with her, when he needs her most. I find the scene touching and lovely.
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👍
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I see the wine as the apple in the garden of eden (The Vipers= snake). Chris and Tony just cannot resist. Themes of religion and temptation all over the episode; Chris’ addictions, Tony’s infidelity, Paulie’s greed at the expense of safety.
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The Madonna/whore complex in Sopranos is apparent here too as a virgin appears in the place where women are daily exploited–made me look up the term “sacred prostitution” and ancient cult/religious practices. Women in this world, and in many others, are divided into the valuable and disposable, but here the most precious image of womanhood shows up where woman are least respected or cared for.
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In the episode before this one, Tony takes Julianna on a ride of sorts. He rides her, then she rides him, but ends up only with a cheap thrill (he stops it). Then she goes for a ride in this episode. Then she gets a heroin ride in the next couple of episodes, like Chris did in this one. Then they ride that heroin ride. To further add to this pun, in certain parts of Europe (the south, specifically), the slang term for heroin is “horse”.
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and when I say horse, I’m not talking about the translation of the word. No, it’s literally the english word, horse, used as is.
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And we can “ride” this analogy all through the series: what heroin is to Chris, Pie-oh-my was to Tony. Whoever tried to take heroin out of Chris’ life ended up dead/beaten (Ade) or came close to it (his attempt at Tony’s life). He would fight for it with his life, just like Tony did for his horse. And he would die for it. Literally. Heroin chic that you mentioned is one of my favourite things in cinema: Chris doesn’t have it. But Chase captured it perfectly with Corky. Guy Ritchie failed, miserably, to portray it in RocknRolla (2008), while, on the other hand, Bad Lieutenant (1992) and specifically Zoë Lund’s scene, are in my opinion, The heroin chic(k) most glorious moment in America’s cinema. It even surpases Pulp Fiction (1994), or rather, Pulp Fiction doesn’t come close to it, and that’s saying something. On the topic of heroin and amusement parks/rides… The scene with Chris enjoing the feast in his own way is very, very similiar to the scene in Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996) that would get too long to get into, but to keep it short: the heroin addict in that movie scores heroin in an amusement park, sleeps there, shoots up in it, etc. Then he sacrifices himself driving a truck into the enemy forces (taking one final ride) into the sunset (he literally rides the truck out a dark tunnel, and into the sunset). He ends up in a coma, with the needle in his hand 24/7 for the rest of his life. It’s a nice family movie.
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Funniest moment of this episode is when Bobby turns up at the festival after finding out that Paulie cheaped out on the carnival ride, he yells out “HEY COCKSUCKER!” from a distance–Paulie looks up right away, knowing EXACTLY who he was addressing. Paulie hears “COCKSUCKER!” and his first instinct is: “you rang?”
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Pingback: The Soprano Onceover: #26. “The Ride” (S6E9) | janiojala
Amazing how many times Janice has applied for (and received) disability benefits for her real or imagined injuries. I’m even more surprised that she never filed for permanent disability due to her (many) mental illnesses!
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“Paulie’s doctor asks if he has a history of prostate cancer—his father, maybe?—and Paulie replies “I don’t know.” Of course Paulie doesn’t know—after the family revelation in “Fleshy Part of the Thigh,” Paulie doesn’t know who his father is.”
Sigh…this must be my 4th or 5th rewatch and I’m ashamed to say I never picked up on this.
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And Russ Fegoli has prostate cancer in Marco Polo. There’s a bunch of conspiracy theorists who think he’s Pauline’s Dad since his mother the nun says she got pregnant by a guy named Russ.
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Chris reminded me of Esau when he said he sold his share of the expensive wine, 5 crates, for $300.
Not seeing an obvious parallel. But it did evoke that.
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That doesn’t even sound like a very good deal either.
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James Gandolfini got much weight in the last few seasons, unfortunately it probably led Gandolfini to his own demise in Italy in 2013.
Tony sounds lot more cartoonish ,i can’t stop laughing at his mocking of Vipers-“We’re with da Vipersh” , eyes wide open mocking their fear.
My only complain is that after you suffer severe trauma, like Tony did who was in coma few days, got a gutshot wound and sepsis, he would lose at least 15,20 kilos.
I had a similar experience, i was in the coma for 6 days on Intensive Care, after i woke up i was 7,8 days more in the hospital, on pulmology for pneumonia and i lose 20 kilos in that 15 days in the hospital, i had about 90 kilos before the coma, 71 after i got out, but Chase got a pash for that, I mean whatdayagonna do, James couldn’t lose weight in few days.
And no offence, i know these details, i have IQ of 141, itsh been teshted.
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When Christopher shot the vipers dude I found myself thinking “aww, hope he didn’t kill him.” But even if he didn’t, he potentially put him through everything Tony went through… septic shock, agonizing recovery etc. (at best) There’s no empathy in the Soprano world! I felt sorry for the Vipers since they weren’t doing anything the Sopranos don’t do. Just got unlucky. It’s a rare show that has the protagonists going around picking fights and paying no price. But you also have to love them laughing about it. The only things Chris and Tony laugh about seems to be the misfortune of others. “Imagine those schmucks with their brains splattered all over the wall… ha ha ha” (S1)
Now I find myself wondering about how Gandolfini had a breakdown and disappeared from set for a time. Was that season 6? I’ll have to look it up. Poor guy.
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Could be reading into this way too much, but… When Tony spots Julianna on the carnival ride and waves at her, he immediately backpedals emotionally with a look of regret for passing up the opportunity. The scene then cuts to Carmela exiting the church. As she descends the stairs, some dude with a ponytail walks by. You miss him if you blink, but I wonder if that was meant to evoke Furio and her missed opportunity.
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