New Mob Talks

[Confederate]

Gloriaaa_Trillo.jpg

Game. Set. Match.

Yeh Sonny, I remember her. Didn't she end up being Christopher's mistress? Wasn't she the one who went to drug rehab with him? Am I correct?

[Teddy Persico]

Not sure I could pinpoint one episode, but I always prefer the ones that focus on mob politics and anything where Paulie and Sil are in the spotlight. Seasons 1 and 2 are the best and I've owned/watched those two seasons a few times all the way through. This is only my second time for seasons 3 through 6 and it gradually drops off as it goes for me but seasons 3 and 4 were great, way better than I remembered. Season 5 still has its great moments but they missed some chances to tie the story together and I was fast-forwarding through any Dr. Melfi scenes by that point. Both times I've seen season 6 now I notice a hard drop off in quality.

As good as Richie Aprile was (with that fucking stare) I'm a Ralphie guy. Season 3 personally is when it hit its feet. One it found them, two it hits its stride and three is perfection. In 'he is risen' the scene with Ralph getting an audience with Tony in Versuvio, Tony eating by himself with Chrissy and Paulie the two gargoyles standing guard. Perfect scene.
Oh, and of course you have Gloria.

And her name was G.... (sigh)

Season three is my favorite too. I love when Tony finally prompts Ralph to captain and he asks Tony if they're finally going to have a drink together and Tony just finishes his drink, gets up and leaves.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Gloriaaa_Trillo.jpg

Game. Set. Match.

Yeh Sonny, I remember her. Didn't she end up being Christopher's mistress? Wasn't she the one who went to drug rehab with him? Am I correct?

Neg mate. That’s Juliana skiff:

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[Rocco]

Gloriaaa_Trillo.jpg

Game. Set. Match.

That's one of Harvey's girls...

[B.]

Season 5 had a lot of potential. If Feech hadn't been written off the show because of Loggia's memory or whatever the rumor was, he would have still been on the street when the other captains started grumbling about Tony's handling of the NY situation and they could have had Feech exploit this and build his own little faction. Meanwhile, Tony Blundetto enters the equation...

A much better story for Tony Blundetto after he gets back into the life would have been to have him initially do well with the gambling casino like they already did, but they should have had Tony induct him like he said he was going to. Blundetto was at odds with Tony all season, so they could have easily found a way for Blundetto to become disgruntled with Tony after being made. Feech would exploit this because of Blundetto's relationship to both Tony and New York. From there, they could have gone a number of different directions, maybe have Blundetto set up a meeting between Feech and Angelo Garepe where they strike a deal: Garepe will support Feech's faction in the NJ family if Feech's people support Garepe's faction in NYC. Garepe asks them to show their support by first having Feech's people kill Joey Peeps, which Blundetto volunteers to do himself.

This would have been a way better set-up for Blundetto committing the Peeps double murder than just "doing a favor for a prison buddy" out of nowhere immediately after Tony puts him back on record with the family and gives him a lucrative gambling operation. This way they still would have used Blundetto's connections to Garepe, but in a much more realistic way that ties Blundetto's, Feech's, and the other captains' beefs with Tony into one package. From there, things could go kind of the way they did on the show, except with Garepe's murder shattering Feech's hope of getting NYC support, NYC settling their problems, Tony restoring loyalty within his own family, and Blundetto still having to go on the lam after killing Billy Leotardo.

The end of the season would be building toward the obvious -- Feech getting killed, just like his antagonist predecessors Richie and Ralphie, only to surprise the audience by having Feech get hit with a parole violation like on the show and sent back to prison. If they had done it at the end of the season after Feech almost stirred up a war with Tony, it would be a much more surprising/interesting plot twist, but having it early in the season like they did made it just feel abrupt and pointless.

If this were the story, you could still have Tony kill Blundetto later on, but I thought the timing of that murder took away from the Adriana murder. Adriana's death and everything leading up to is is fucking gripping and her murder is one of the biggest moments on the entire run of the show. It's the moment that removes all doubt about Tony, Silvio, and Christopher being "good guys with questionable morals". Even Paulie robbing/killing the old lady doesn't measure up to it because Adriana was one of the most likable characters on the show, more than Carmela. Meadow sucks, which made Adriana the sweetheart of the show and her murder is dramatic and brutal. Only to be followed immediately by the Blundetto murder, which was a poor decision. Adriana's death should have been given much more space than that.

It would have been more dramatic too if they ended season 5 with Tony Blundetto on the lam, and Tony would pinpoint where he is just like he did on the show, but the season would end with a cliffhanger over Tony's decision to give NYC Blundetto's location, kill Blundetto himself, etc.

Season six would then open shockingly with the brutal Blundetto "lupara" murder instead of Tony getting shot by fucking Uncle Junior. Junior hobbling around with that gun is fucking hilarious, but it's a wasted story in my opinion and the aimless Kevin Finnerty dream sequences set the tone for shitty storylines. I don't think I could even come up with a way to fix season 6 so I'm just going to leave it there.

Anyway, maybe we should start a Sopranos topic, where I can get stoned and ramble on about this shit, ha...

[B.]

Fuck it. I've said it many times, but the ending of this series was obvious from the pilot episode: Chris eventually flips on Tony and Tony is faced with the decision on whether or not to flip himself. Everything leading up to that point was up in the air, but from Tony's little monologue in the pilot episode I figured this would be the best ending. And no, it wouldn't be a "cliche" ending -- it would be the most realistic and interesting ending.

I felt like they were setting it up with the Adriana murder, too. Chris initially shows loyalty to Tony and has his fiancee killed, but in season six it would haunt him. They should have had some of the family captains/soldiers get arrested in season six. There would have been all kinds of opportunities for hilarious petty disagreements between Paulie and Christopher in jail, problems with blacks, failed attempts to get "Goodfellas" style preferential treatment from guards (a sign of the times). Eventually, at the end of the season, the FBI would use the Adriana thing to finally crack Christopher and get him to testify against Tony. Tony gets arrested and the season ends with Tony in jail being pressured to flip. He reflects on his wife and kids, life in the mob, and the series closes with the agent asking something like, "Well, what will it be Soprano? Which family do you love more?"

CUT TO BLACK. We never get an answer. David Chase still gets to feel like an artist and the series still ends on a cliffhanger, but a much more interesting one in my opinion that plays into the whole theme of the show. Jerkoffs on message boards would debate "Did Tony flip?" instead of "Did Tony die?" This would leave the audience examining Tony's character for the past six seasons instead of just saying the same "Durr, do you think the black guys in the diner shot him? Who was the member's only jacket guy? Blah blah" bullshit.

[Teflon john]

Everybody assumes that Tony dies and the guy in the Members Only jacket is the shooter but i never thought that or got that impression. My opinion on the final season/episode/scene is that it shows the treachery and paranoia that has to go along with that life. Constantly worrying about cops,being arrested,getting clipped,someone close to you flipping. Tony sitting in that diner where he can see the door and the camera showing everyone that walks in,to me,shows that every second of every day in that life is waiting and watching for something bad to happen.

[jimmy_beans8]

every second of every day in that life is waiting and watching for something bad to happen.
++++agreed

[Wiseguy]

I thought seasons 1-5 were solid , though the show really missed Nancy Marchand (Livia) after season 2. The final season suffered a bit from them trying to do it in two parts, which resulted in some uneven pacing and getting bogged down in sub-par subplots.

[JeremyTheJew]

i never got the scene where Pasty and his wife mention i. believe a relative of Pats that was going to flip they made it seem by his reactions ... who was that? carlo? i dont remmember at all through out the season seeing this person...


suprised nonone mentioned the pine barrow episode where paulie and chris get lost in the woods

B- that would have been great

[Teddy Persico]

They where talking about Carlo's son who got pinched for drugs. He went to college with Patsi's son and they ran a little bookie operation. Carlo was going to flip to save his son.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Everybody assumes that Tony dies and the guy in the Members Only jacket is the shooter but i never thought that or got that impression. My opinion on the final season/episode/scene is that it shows the treachery and paranoia that has to go along with that life. Constantly worrying about cops,being arrested,getting clipped,someone close to you flipping. Tony sitting in that diner where he can see the door and the camera showing everyone that walks in,to me,shows that every second of every day in that life is waiting and watching for something bad to happen.

Really good post. Fantastic perspective that I hadnt considered. Much appreciated mate.

Great post.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Carlo was going to flip to save his son.

Always hated that part of the storyline.
A 60yr old Capo is going to roll because his son might get 2yrs?
Seriously.

[UTC]

I mostly liked the parts where they were transacting business, but of course they were few and far between. Hated the personal interest parts. Liked the fat wimp threatening the union office candidate, when they shot the black kids that Chris used, and roughing up the Orthodox Jews.

[JeremyTheJew]

Carlo was going to flip to save his son.

Always hated that part of the storyline.
A 60yr old Capo is going to roll because his son might get 2yrs?
Seriously.

he was a capo...? i cant think of who he is....?