I get it, it’s a joke… but for who? He didn’t expect to run into Sal, so clearly the joke wasn’t for him. And then he told Sal not to say anything about the joke? But if you watch other episodes, the family always loves a good joke.

You gonna tell me you never pondered that?

As we know Tony B kills Phil's kid brother as revenge for killing Angelo. Now Phil is made yada yada so I see why he's displeased with Tony B's attempt on his life but I don't get why he acts surprised, you KNOW why he tried to kill you. Your brother's death is YOUR fault. On top of that Tony has shoot his own cousin (a guy he actually liked btw) in the face over this. There, done, resolved. The Boss himself handled this, what more could you want. I can understand if he wanted a payout but he never named a price, he just kept walking around and exacerbating the issue, which helped NO ONE. What more do you want? And why would you pick a beef with the fucking BOSS (who has a reputation for being one of the most violent and short tempered guys around PERIOD) of a glorified crew? You're just a capo. A boss who has literally tried to make amends and shot his own fucking cousin in the face to please you. Matter of fact it contributed to the war between New York which ultimately lead to his own death. I'm convinced if he continued as acting boss he would have lead NY to its downfall with the pure idiocy that flows through his neurons. In fact I think that's why NY ok'd his death or whatever happened there, they were displeased with his leadership.

Edit: Apparently Phil was just an associate at this time and not really a capo? Whatever, timeline got fucked up

Edit: Timeline got fucked up even more, Phil was definitely a Capo. Sharp as a fuckin cue ball this one.

Look, the series is so amazing that any critiques we have are pretty petty and minuscule, but after many re-watches I've increasingly found the whole Aprile family to be largely a bunch of losers. The series started with the Jackie Aprile character as this tragic wounded leader who was strong and respected but succumbed to cancer. Tony describes how tough Jackie is to Melfi and Christopher tells Richie his "brother Jackie was a god- great leader" -- but was he? Was he even the legit boss or sort of an interim? We get on glimpse of him in his pre-cancer state in the flashbacks about Pussy disappearing in 95, etc and he looks pretty tough and together -- but then we meet his family. His very flawed psychotic older brother who makes really stupid decisions and he's fantastically flawed son. Not sure why this is important --maybe because the Apriles precede Tony's leadership and in order to evaluate how good of a boss Tony was we have to consider the effectiveness of the Apriles. Just wondering if anyone else got this vibe.

I finally started watching The Sopranos and just wrapped up season 1. This is peak television series. I held off for so long because no series has really grabbed my attention in a while, but man this one is amazing. I even find myself bummed since i cant binge watch the series in one sitting. But honestly it’s great having something to look forward to watch, after work. Anyways i've been saying "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" a lot at work lol.

Rewatching the series and flying through 1998 to 2007, I can’t help but notice how every character switches from a regular sedan to an SUV. Tony is the first one to do so, as he has the venerable red GMT400 Suburban right from the start, and mentions he used to drive Lincolns. This brand wouldn’t come up with an SUV until 1997 with the Navigator, which means without a doubt Tony drove Lincoln sedans. When replacing the Suburban with something new, he gets another SUV, the Escalades, confirming his choice. If the story happened today I’d probably imagine him driving a loaded-out Mercedes GLS or something. And of course, Carmela changing from her Mercedes station wagon to the Cayenne.

Chrissy impulse buying a Lexus sedan that is already out of fashion in 1999, then getting an SUV, the Range Rover, then being served with an incredibly obvious GM product placement by moving to a Hummer H2 without any explanation ; the only reason he doesn’t get another SUV is because he gets a performance sports car, not a regular sedan. Interestingly, so does Angie Bompensiero lol, when she gets a Corvette, if she hadn’t bought a sports car, she probably would have gotten a GMC Yukon or something lol.

While at the beginning almost everyone else drives a variation of a Cadillac sedan (hello GM!), usually a terrible modern take on a flagship model of the glorious days of the 70s, some characters, you guessed it, get SUVs. Can’t remember which exact model it replaces, but Sil gets a black GMT800 Suburban/Tahoe at the start of S6, his Cadillac sedan making its final appearance when whacking Adrianna at the end of S5. Can’t exactly remember either what Bobby Bacala drove but he switches from a Cadillac sedan to a Jeep Grand Cherokee after building a family with Janice. Phil Leotardo clings onto his shitty red Lincoln Town Car fitted with an incredibly tacky 70s rear spare wheel before getting his wife a Ford SUV.

Also pretty sure that as early as S2, the Soprano crew is heavily pushing SUVs for grey market export to Italy rather than the usual stuff locals would want (like Furio’s obsession with Caddies)

Meadow and AJ get SUVs which I’m sure Carm was happy about because « they’re safer cars » (then both get ridiculous powerful coupes)

Of course, it would take another few years to get to our near past / current times - auto companies discounting decades-old models and focusing solely on SUVs. But the very recognizable model names that make up a majority of today’s car sales all took their roots in this exact era. Wealthier people who had a habit of gettint a new car every few years while being loyal to a brand and a certain segment of the automobile industry would start getting on this growing luxury SUV trend, even if it meant going to other brands.

Barbara Soprano, the ultimate enigma. So pivotal, she needed two actresses (Nicole Burdette and Danielle Di Vecchio) to almost not be there.

Was her purpose to remind us even the Sopranos have a forgettable sibling, or was she just there to watch Uncle Junior that one day? The mystery persists, like how Harpo is doing today.

In season 4 there is a scene where Melfi’s therapist Elliot is empathizing by sharing his own uncomfortable experience in a parking garage. A man the audience knows to be Tony Soprano looms and jeers after Elliot “must have accidentally crowded that big Bluto type guy” with his car when he goes to leave his kid’s college.

Here’s the thing…with all the news stories, and the publicity, and Elliot’s constant hard on for Jennifer’s mafia patient…is it realistic to assume Elliot wouldn’t know what Tony Soprano looks like and who he is? Anyways $4/lb

As a proud Arizona State alum, can I just say how refreshing it is to hear my beloved alma mater not referred to in a disparaging manner. And as a statement of fact, A.J. wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds in Tempe.

Who else remembers when Phil Leotardo turned into a house temporarily? I mean come on it must have been due to the stress boiling over of his kid brother Billy’s death right? Just crazy to me…

I’m not ashamed to say it, but “Isabella” as an episode mostly just sucks.

Yeah, you heard me. It’s got great moments like Tony getting shot at, the aftermath, etc.

But the central twist, that Tony hallucinated this sexy broad across his lawn due to Lithium? C’mon, huh?!? I got rhesus monkeys writing better episodes over heah!

David Chase was not making a shitty CW show heah. What’s next, all of season 6 was all a dream because Tony was wearing the wrong shoes?

Poor fuckin “A Hit is a Hit,” the fans sent the wrong episode back to writing jail!

Bettah than fuckin “D-Girl,” though, Madone!

I’ve never understood why NY had such a big problem with Tony assaulting Coco. Surely harassing a made man’s daughter, and a boss’s daughter at that, would get you whacked right away. Coco was lucky he wasn’t killed.

I guess it’s a “the straw that broke the camels back” type of situation, where even though Tony was justified Phil can’t let it slide due to the already rising tensions

What are your thoughts?

In Funhouse before Tony, Paulie, and Sil go to take Pussy out on the boat. Tony obviously had to fill in Sil and Paulie on what they were doing. Tony just told them "oh yeah, we're gonna go over to Pussy's and find his wire because a dream I had made me sure of it." if that's the case I'm guessing it further cemented Paulie and Sil's respect for Tony's savant level of insight. It still seems weird. I also think that the dinner they had where Tony announced he bought the boat and Meadow announced she was going to Columbia actually happened but mostly hallucinated the exact events. I think Tony had already purchased the boat before taking Pussy out on it. They wouldn't be stupid enough to kill and dump a body on a test drive.

I know everyone was proficient at cleaning up their own crime scenes but even one drop of blood can lead to a conviction.

First, I’ll acknowledge the criticism of the way massive genius and his posse are written. It’s definitely a little stereotypical, but I’d also point out that some of the lines by black characters throughout the entire show come off as kind of out of touch.

This episode is actually a really important introduction to the character traits that Christopher and Adriana would later be known for. It’s the first time we see Chris make a real attempt to branch out into show business, and how out of his depth he actually is once he’s surrounded by people who play that game for real. His scene with Hesh is a huge wake up call for his character that you can’t just muscle your way to success in the music industry like you can the mob.

It’s an even bigger episode for Adriana’s character. It’s a really genius way to show that while very Naive, she’s good natured and trusts people to a fault. The moment Christopher hits her with the cold hard truth, that massive G just wants to fuck her and that visiting day fucking sucks, shatters her little world and is kind of heartbreaking.

I love how much life this episode breathes into Hesh’s character. Hesh is a side character for the rest of the show who pops in and out, but giving his backstory as a guy who made millions ripping off black teenagers records, shows that he’s an amoral, calculated scumbag.

Lastly, the episode is fucking hilarious. The douchebag band, Chris making the singer do blow, the singer recording in Denmark. It’s fucking hilarious, and that on its own makes it a worthwhile episode.

She is even worse than Heidi and Kennedy. I said my piece!

All the time, I see people talking about how certain characters are misunderstood and don’t deserve their level of hate. Let’s go in the opposite direction, which characters deserve to be more hated?

I’ll start. Amy Safir. I didn’t pick up on how terrible she is until a rewatch. Immediately decides to cheat on her fiancé with his cousin 2 minutes after meeting him, feigns interest in Chris’s script to sleep with him and harvest NJ mob lore for Favreau’s script, throws a pseudo-guilt fit with the whole “I’m not a terrible person” while knowingly putting Chris in danger for 10 seconds of dialogue in Favreau’s script, then trying to blow Chris off completely while keeping that dialogue in despite it putting Chris in danger (whether he’s being truthful about that putting him in danger isn’t entirely relevant.)

She completely sucks. I don’t know what a “D-Girl” is, but I’m glad Chris called her it.

Who else doesn’t get enough hate?

Pretty much all the characters in the Sopranos are horrible people either actively (the mobsters, the corrupt cops and politicians) or through enabling (mob wives, mostly) but who do you think is a morally good person?

My shout has to be Dr. Krakower. He had exactly one season in the entire show and he stands out as a morally upright man.

Long Term Parking Spoilers -

Doing my first rewatch (going to have to make this annual). The scene in season 6 when Tony and Christopher revisit Christopher coming to the house and telling Tony about Adriana being an informant is so well done. Made me wonder if the actual death of Ade could’ve been done better. The car ride, the set up, all fantastic, but Sil chasing her and not seeing it. Could this have been an all time scene if we watched it? If Tony did it? Maybe we see Christopher watching on from a distance and she notices at the last second? Or do you prefer how it was done?

There needs to be one. End of subject!

Elevator pitch:

Play as Furio, part of his life in Italy, with the Sopranos and when he gets back to Italy.

Play as Richie Aprile before he went to prison.

Play as a young Tony in his 20s.

Play as Carmela trying to cook for 15 people.

The possibilities are fucking endless. COME ON HBO/WARNER BROS

edit: apparently someone published an atrocity of a sopranos game 20 years ago, well, I say it's time for a new one, The Matrix had like 3 or 4 games - all fucking money machines and by the look of the price of WBD stock, THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED. (Can't believe I'm giving free advice to these millionaire fucks)

Pain in my stomach from laughing everytime i watch this scene. More his line delivery.

"How about I fuck off all over your stupid fucking face, you fucking mutt! Huh?"

Robert Loggia. He was also so, so good in Scarface as Frank Lopez.

"Dont underestimate the other guys greed!" The delivery and that explosion of cheer in his face. He was fantastic.

Jackie Snr - A few extra pounds but no parade float. Beautiful hair.
Jackie Jnr - Slim
Liz La Cerva - Slim
Adriana - Very slim even before the diarrhoea
Richie - Slim
Richard Jr - Slim and a twinkle toed dancer
Kelli Aprile - Slim
Mackenzie Trucillo - Slim

Waddling Vito did not share those genes

I already wasn’t a big fan of his character but every time it was on screen I wanted to shit

Odd title, but fuck if I'm changing it.

So early in this episode, Tony has a dream where he's on the boardwalk eith several of the guys (including Philly with a bullet hole in his head).

The guys are commending Tony for deciding to light himself on fire instead of dragging his death out after a presumably fatal diagnosis.

Chris is wearing an outfit that stands out relative to what he usually wears. He's wearing what looks like a black peacock with a bright red and black shirt underneath. I'd link a photo but I can't even figure out Pokeyman cards.

So at this point Chris has already "gone to hell," etc., and potentially seen something beyond most people's understanding. (This follows Paulie's visit to the impossibly-informed psychic -- one of the few moments in the show that I have a major issue with, for continuity's sake.)

Anyway, four dollars a pound. So we all know that nothing in this show is done accidentally, but especially these precious moments and setpieces that we get in the bizarre and brilliant dream sequences.

This unusual outfit of Christopher's means something. If not to us, then certainly to Tony. But where's it coming from? What's your take on this?

This is the Mexican cartel against a united DiMeo and Lupertazzi family working together. The fight will take place in a deserted city. Who would win in an all out war?

#1 I think Tony was arrested at the end. He was talking about how Carlo was set to testify, and right after he mentioned that, -..... cut to black. Perhaps it was the police? The FBI? And do I believe Tony was able to beat the charges? It depends... obviously, Paulie and many of the members of the family would do everything to produce a John Gotti Esque "not guilty" verdict. I also believe that Carlo could've gone Missing before the trial.

#2 I don't believe the "gangsters" that walked in were real gangsters. They were way too cartoonish. The guy in the members only jacket was probably an undercover cop. "Oooh he walked into the bathroom like in the godfather" it's like... he probably had to piss.

#3 Tony getting killed at the end isn't necessary unrealistic but I think with how insane and elaborate the show got especially near the end, it would've been too easy and expected to kill Tony. When Christopher (and especially Bobby) died, it felt extremely unexpected. When Tony killed Chris, that was shocking and unexpected, like it was supposed to be. So Tony Dying at the end- it would be like- "oh I saw that coming." Like, you give us all these unexpected things happening in the final episode especially, then why would you give us a predictable outcome like that?

#4 some people believe if Tony did die it was Paulie, Carmine Jr., Patsi, or even Phil Leotardo. (Despite the fact that he is DEADER THAN DEAD) hell, I saw someone make a case as to how Christopher came back as the Cleaver to kill him, what is this, the crow?

#5 I don't care what David Chase thinks happened Tony. The same guy who butchered the Dickie Moltisanti murder subplot in the many saints of Newark is expected to not butcher Tony?

He also shot that guy but out of respect for his fawtha

Played the “Italian Guy” in a lot of things, besides our thing. That’s why you gotta live for today….

Season 3 episode 7 both Chrissy and Paulie think their ladies have size 10 feet. Ade is so happy so get new heels in every color but Chrissy gets her the wrong size. Did he ever get her the size 8.5 in all the same styles? I hope so because that’s a nice score

Joey Pants and Michael Imperioli were both nominated for an Emmy in 2003 for best supporting actor for their season 4 performances. Joey ended up winning but I think it could’ve gone either way.

What were some of your fav Chrissy or Ralphie moments from S4?

Anyway, see you all at the 100 dollar table

Took me 20 rewatches to notice Pussy at Livias wake. Marone!

Tony better discontinue the lithium again.

Anyway, 4$ a pound.