Sopranos Series 6 Episode 2
Another amazing episode of the Sopranos as series 6 is moving into high gear. With Tony Soprano lying in a medically induced coma for two days - both his families are in disarray. His mob bretheren are jockeying for position whilst his blood family are grief stricken with nothing but (faint) hope to keep them going.
The episode featured a dreamlike sequence with the comatose Soprano experiencing some sort of purgatory-like existence. He’s lost. He has no identity and off in the distance, a lighthouse is beckoning him to take notice and surrender his hold on life. Tony Soprano has lived outside the law but now finds his fate is in the hands of others. His hold on life is faint and weak, the light is a constant reminder of ‘the easy way out’ but the Soprano family voices, at vigil by his bedside - keep him alive.
Some breathtaking perfomances in tonight’s episode… Edie Falco (Carmella Soprano) showed just what a damn fine actress she is - as if there was ever any doubt. When she breaks down, the pressure of the situation she finds herself in, just completely envelopes her and tears her up from the inside out. Convincingly. I had to remind myself several times I was watching a drama and not a real-life documentary.
And finally, AJ, the weakling son is coming of age. He vows to his comatose father that “…I’m going to get Uncle Junior for this. Don’t worry. You’re my dad, and I’m going to put a bullet in his fucking mummy head, I promise.”
Ladies & gentlemen, boys and girls… strap yourselves in for this one.
Tony is in purgatory.
He was literally in the “Hotel Californiaâ€
He was without an identity and unable to leave.
The hotel he can check into was the “Omniâ€â€¦meaning ALL.
While he is stuck in that hotel, on one end of town is a shining beacon (Heaven), on the other, a raging forest fire (Hell).
Now let’s dig WAAAY deeper into symbolism:
He is also apparently in the military contractor business, so it can be argued that he’s still involved with death and murder. Also, he is still capable of cheating on his wife. I think the writers are showing the point that in the end, sin is sin, and once you get to the end it doesn’t matter if you make your decisions in a boardroom or the back of a stripclub. I guess it’s some social commentary.
In Dante Inferno, it is said there are 7 layers or circles of Hell that Dante traveled through to get to paradise.
Tony was placed on the 7th floor(or circle)… the circle for those who are violent
He’s sinking further and further into the depths. Trying to get back by taking the stairs and leaving the 7th floor (circle, soul)
He fell down the stairs between the 5th and 4th floor. The 5th circle is wrath and 4th is greed
Also, if you recall the first episode opened with William Burroughs spoken word recording “Seven Soulsâ€
From the Seven Souls…Number five is Ka, the Double, most closely associated with the subject.
The 1st circle is limbo and from there he can escape, when he stop acepting his fate and fights back and finds his breifcase.
His double who took his breifcase, or as Tony out it “My whole LIFE is in thereâ€
That guy’s name was Kevin Finnerty, to which the man at the bar jokes “Kev-Infinityâ€
By the way Kevin Finnerty is a heating salesman from the hottest state, Arizona. No need to go further there. Arizona is also on the Driver’s License as AZ or a-z, the beginning to the end.
Dante’s divine comedy is divided into three parts, corresponding with Dante’s three journeys: Inferno, or “Hellâ€; Purgatorio, or “Purgatoryâ€; and Paradiso, or “Paradise.â€
Consider that Tony is now in the second of the three journeys — his life on earth has been Dante’s hell and all it is comprised of (the seven circles of hell: Circle One, Those in limbo; Circle Two - The lustful; Circle Three, The gluttonous; Circle Four - The hoarders;
Circle Five - The wrathful; Circle Six - The heretics
Circle Seven - The violent), he is now in purgatory, and is making his final journey to Paradiso.
On Easter Sunday, Dante emerges from Hell. Through his travels, he has found his way to God and is able, once more, to look upon the stars.
Perhaps this is Tony’s path.
Sunday April 16?
Yeah twas an excellent episode. Edie Falco continues to amaze. She’s just so damn talented. And Kevin Finnerty’s comment above demonstrates the religious undertones evident throughout the series. When I saw David Chase’s name as the writer for this episode, I knew it would be a great one.
And finally, AJ, the weakling son is coming of age. He vows to his comatose father that “…I’m going to get Uncle Junior for this. Don’t worry. You’re my dad, and I’m going to put a bullet in his fucking mummy head, I promise.â€
I dunno but I found that motivation a little cheesy. Or maybe it was AJ’s delivery. I just don’t really want to see AJ ‘rise’ into his father’s business like that. Hopefully it was just a moment of anger.
I recall from studying classical literature of various eras, from the ancient Greeks to Shakespeare, that following “the natural order of things” is essential to the well-being of men (and women)…something about the Great Chain of Being. Anyone disrupting the natural order with behavior running contrary to it does so at his peril, and at the peril of his offspring, with the sins of the father being visited upon the sons–see “Oedipus”,”Hamlet”,etc., etc. I believe that this theory explains why there is so much pain, anxiety and self-doubt in Tony. The perpetrators of the actions that set off all the pain and misfortune in Tony’s life are his mother and Uncle Junior, not because of their involvement with the murderous, money-grabbing mob (which because they create financial security for one’e biological family are acceptable behaviors, very much in line with the natural order of things), but because they attempt the ultimate “unnatural” act: the killing of one’s own child/nephew. Both of them try it, on more than one occasion, Tony’s mother’s first attempt being when she nearly “kills” his soul when she is such an emasculating, traumatizing mother to him as a young boy. That is the beginning of Tony’s trouble–the hole in his emotional core that is finally made tangible when Junior shoots him at the end of episode one. The fact that this hole is left open by Tony’s doctors for an extended period in order to avoid sepsis (essentially the rotting away of the patient from within via an infection in the blood) parallels the idea that Tony has an open emotional wound that has never healed–the wound of a battered psyche inflicted by his own “blood”–his mother. Dr. Melfi has of course been the physician who has attended to that wound throughout the series. Only when Tony succeeds in recognizing and breaking free of that profound trauma–we see in Episode One of this season that he is not ready to, during his appointment with Dr. Melfi when he again denies his mother’s evilness–can he free himself from the power it has over him, and can he begin to heal, figuratively. Perhaps his coma is the setting in which he will confront the truth about the twisted family from which he comes, somehow exorcise the demons that have been visited upon him due to the unnatural behavior of his forebears, and break the Soprano curse, if only for the sake of his own children and the generations to follow…And perhaps A.J., his namesake, will, as he threatened, take the real-world actions that will put things back in their natural, proper order, by slaying the elder that helped set them wrong in the first place–Uncle Junior.
Could anyone please explain who is speaking to Tony on the telephone when he calls home? The voices do NOT sound like Carmela and Meadow. When was Meadow trying out for a volleyball team? Did I miss something? Thanks.
Symbolically, it IS Carmella & Meadow - (wife & child). Whether it sounds like them is beside the point. In this somewhat ‘altered state’, he doesn’t even go by the name ‘Tony Soprano’. The ‘dream’ sequence - and I am in total agreeance with the purgatory theory on this one - shouldn’t be taken so literally.
I found it interesting that Steve Buscemi, the “man” (as he is listed in the credits) is the person to greet Tony at the “family reunion”. Buscemi’s previous character was Tony Blundetto, Tony’s cousin who Tony killed. Blundetto was the last family member to die, and to him falls the job of ushering Tony into the afterlife. But I’m still confused about the meaning of the Buddhists (although one of Tony’s doctors bears a strong resemblance to one of the monks). Another great episode, and is there any doubt that Vito will be the first soldier to die?
Hello fellow wannabe Wiseguys/gals this is my first time on the site.
Kudos to Kevin Finnerty for the Inferno parody. This is the main reasons I watch the show; it is layered with irony and symbolism.
To continue on Kevin’s thread, the use of the grouper fish sandwich at the bar was subtle but, sublime. To eat fish would be a symbolic way to accept God.
Religion pops again in the funny scene with the budhist monks. Monks are used because they would be more noticeable.
The altered voices on the phone could be mutated communication caused be Tony’s coma. His family members take turns talking to him to keep in their world, however, his coma makes them sound off timbre or distant.
At the end of the episode, he desires to call home; however, opts not to phone. He still has a long way to go or is slipping fast.
The sales people at the hotel could be Tony’s Virgil, Antaneus and Beatrice.
The visit to hell displays God’s perfect justice, proportionate to one’s deeds or misdeeds on earth. A slap in the face and having to eat grouper are minimal. I am sure the worse is yet to come.
Nice analysis. But fyi, The Inferno was comprised of *nine* circles…
I think that the voice on the phone sounds just like Gloria Trillo’s (the woman Tony had an affair with some time ago, who later killed herself). Also, I think that the woman shown passing through the door into the house where the reunion is being held looks like her. My friend, on the other hand, thinks that a) the voice on the phone is Jackie’s wife (I can’t remember her name at the moment) and that b) the woman entering the house is T’s mom. We’ve got twenty bucks riding on this, although I don’t suppose there’ll be any way of proving. Still, opinions?
The woman in the doorway was Livia Soprano. Tony’s mother.
Okay, I concede ten bucks, since I still think it’s Gloria Trillo’s voice on the phone.
By the way, it took you 5 whole minutes to respond to that? What kind of web-op are you?
the woman in he doorway is the same woman from tonys dreams/ nightmares in previous seasons. The dream where he is wearing this old dirty tanktop & dressed all old-fashion. He walks up to this scary house and the old screen door creeeeks open, he looks in and there is this figure standing in the stairwell. That is the same shadowy figure of a woman
The woman in the doorway was Livia Soprano. Tony’s mother. It’s so obvious its not even worth commenting on anymore.
Episodes 2 and 3 of this season’s Sopranos were nothing short of genius. Here are some things I noticed that have gone unmentioned:
1. Kevin Finnerty is from Kingman, AZ. As the mob boss, Tony is the “King Man.”
2. Finnerty - might there me some parrallel with Finn’s name (Meadow’s fiancee). Finn has some trouble with Vito in his future, so this would make sense.
and the biggest observation…
The THEME of the entire season is Infinity. The beginning of the season began with a “poem” set to music. The words talk about the cycles of life.
If you listen to the dialogue of A.J., Christopher, and Meadow, you will notice that they are have “inherited” that dialogue from Tony and Carmela in previous seasons. The continuing of this dialogue by the children suggests that they will continue on for…infinity. Examples:
a. “Poor you” - A.J. to Meadow (Which Tony got from his mother).
b. “He woke up in such a good mood today” - Meadow to Carmella
c. “…F—ing Mummy Head” - A.J. to Tony (who is in a coma)
d. Christopher putting A.J. in a headlock and giving him a noogie (Tony used to do this to Christopher).
Kevin Finnerty - Neapolitan dialect “Che ven’finerti” - means “What will become of you?” or “How will you finish/end?”
Who wrote the piece the daughter was reading out