Dogmatic

Sopranos Series 6 Episode 11

If last week’s episode of the Sopranos was a little laid back, tonight’s episode ‘Cold Stones’ would have been more than enough to satisfy the Sopranophile with a penchant for bloodlust and mob killings.

Phil Leotardo. The old-school mobster hardened by doing 20 years in the slammer is now poised to take over completely from imprisoned boss John Sacrimon. Leotardo, ever the dramatist, menacingly and symbolically ‘comes out of the closet’ (literally) to finally murder his cousin-in-law Vito Spatafore simply because he is gay. Vito’s only ‘crime’ was - as Paulie Walnuts put it - being a ‘catcher’ so in the mob world, he has to die. As sickening as that thought is, is as sickening as Vito’s inevitable death unfolds on the screen. Beaten to death and mutilated like an animal by his brother-in-law Vito before Tony’s crew could do the job.

Even though Vito is now out of the picture, he will continue to haunt both the Jersey and New York families. Vito was a captain in Tony’s crew. It was Tony’s responsibility to have him killed, yet Leotardo took it upon himself and did the deed nonetheless.

Are we being set up for the ultimate showdown between the Jersey & New York? When Silvio and Carlo savagely kill one of Vito’s killers in the backroom of Satriales… all hell has been unleashed. The war that has been brewing for several seasons now, will be in full swing next season.

And in typical Sopranos fashion, all the mayhem and bloodshed was inter spread with tender and moving moments… Vito’s young children reading about the death of their dad in the local paper will have to live with the ’shame’ for the rest of their lives. And Carmella has trekked off to Paris, marvelling in the sheer majesty and beauty of the city, she is stil haunted by dreams of the missing Adriana, and will soon realize exactly what happened to her. (She will hire a Private Investigator in the series finale - June 4 - to look for the whereabouts of Adriana).

Sopranos Series 6 Episode 9

So the swindlers are shaking down the swindlers. The church wants fifty big ones from Paulie Walnuts who usually fronts ten large for the annual Feast of Whomever. You can bet your bottom dollar that Paulie stuck to the original deal of $10,000 because the Feast was marred with problems due to the budgetary constraints. A kiddie ride grinds to a halt and several children suffer some minor injuries. The incorrigible Janice quickly pounces on this and tries to scam her way to some sort of compensation. As she is want to do, its another fruitless cause for Janice to try and champion. I don’t know about you, but she is the most despicable character on this show and now tubby hubby Bobby Bacala is getting money from the ride owner AND demanding a slice from Paulie Walnuts besides the fact that no one from his family got hurt in the ride. Nice!

Fabulous scene between Christopher and Tony as we finally find out how Chris broke the news to Tony about Adriana singing to the feds. In the last season we were never privy to this exchange and how it ever went down. To see Christopher informing Tony of Adriana’s betrayal was just amazing and as powerful as any other high drama moment on the Sopranos. The scene reinforced the closeness between Tony and Christopher yet just as Christopher’s life is beginning to be on the improve… he tangles with the big H again after some time being clean. You really would not want to be in Christopher’s shoes when Tony finds out about this one.

Hmm Tony and Leotardo are striking a deal whilst Johnny Sack rots in prison. Surely this will come to a head when the rest of the New York crew find out what’s happening. Or is Leotardo making his move with cry-baby Sacrimoni behind bars?

And whilst we’ve had all that to deal with, Paulie Walnuts is in the midst of a intense crisis as he fears he has the big casino. Cancer. In his depressive state, he finally makes peace with the woman he thought was his mother and in a touching scene at the end of the episode, the two are watching TV together.

Sopranos Series 6 Episode 8

Young AJ Soprano is becoming a bit of a cult hero amongst his friends and peers. Here’s the son of a notorious crime boss and gangster living off the legend that is ‘Tony Soprano’ yet unlike his father - AJ is a little boy lost. By any other definition he is a mama’s boy. He’s failed out of school. He’s working a dead-end job and all the supposed glamour of the mob lifestyle has completely escaped him. He wants to be like his dad so bad but there is no way in hell his dad would ever have a $1890 drink bill or be tipping midget waiters at a nightclub. Whilst Tony Soprano would have underlings paying money up to him and free meals and drinks wherever he goes, AJ is the total opposite - paying for all his friends and tipping waiters and the like. After each and every AJ failing, and there have been many, he feels his natural course is to try and impress his father and do the deed on Uncle Junior. Even in this he fails miserably and ends up arrested. What exactly he was thinking by his attempt to kill Junior is another example of his ineptitude. Even if he succeeded in killing Junior, did he even have an escape plan? He quotes the Godfather scene to his father, when Michael Corleone pulls off an execution - but Corleone had it all meticulously planned. AJ is anything but meticulous. Fredo Soprano anyone?

In other developments, Vito establishes contact with his wife but in the meanwhile, Leotardo has a hard-on for Vito (pardon the pun!) and wants him more than dead. Will Vito’s call be traced back to his hiding place where now Vito has outed himself with one of the locals?

Tony is definitely a changed man. Whilst the seductress real estate agent Julianna finally tempts Tony to sell a property he owns, the two finds themselves in the throes of lust. As Juliana begins to unbutton Tony’s shirt, he remembers his loving wife Carmella buttoning up his shirt before he was to leave the house. With deep love and care, Carmella was dressing him up yet now Tony finds himself about to cheat on the one woman who truly loves him. It was like the angel and the devil sitting on each of his shoulders, but this time, Tony rejected the devil and went home to his angel. Albeit in a fit of rage that there was no smoked turkey in the fridge(!)

Sopranos Series 6 Episode 6

It was indeed left of center in the last Sopranos’ season when top-earner Vito Spatafore was seen by Meadow Soprano’s boyfriend, Finn performing oral sex on a security guard. We knew then this was not going to be some throwaway scene and there would be permeations in that story arc down the track. Here we are in the next season, and things are getting decidely uncomfortable for the gay mobster. The word is out that he is gay, and even tho he is one of boss Soprano’s number one guys - that don’t matter when you’re a homosexual. You may as well be broadcasting on radio ‘W-RAT’.

Tony’s crew all have their mind made up. Vito must die. They are all jockeying for position on who should do the actual deed. That is, when they’re not laughing themselves silly with schoolyard humour and one-liners. (And when there’s one-liners being flung about, you know there’s gonna be some gold Paulie Walnuts moments!)

Vito Spatafore, played beautifully by actor Joe Gannascoli, is enjoying his increased air-time now that the gay story arc is unfolding. It was Gannascoli’s idea to make Vito homosexual.

“I saw him as, like, a cross between Mike Tyson and Liberace,” the 47-year-old Brooklyn-born actor told The Associated Press. “I wanted to make him sort of in self-denial, self-loathing, a real gay hater.”

And so Vito Spatafore has a stay of execution for another week. Whether he succumbs and decides to off himself, or whether the looming black-cloud of homophobic mobsters eventually get to him - he will need to either ‘live free or die’. Of course his fate rests in the hands of boss Tony Soprano - but Vito is in hiding and no where to be seen. The ultimate and tragic irony will be if Soprano tells his goons to lay off, but the exiled Vito will end up killing himself regardless.

Sopranos Series 6 Episode 4

Upon watching the last few episodes of the Sopranos, I turned to my biz partner and fellow Sopranoholic and commented “I bet you at the conclusion of all this, Tony Soprano will be in the mob no more. He will end up in witness protection…” After last night’s episode, I firmly believe that this is where series creator David Chase is taking us… Tony Soprano’s ultimate salvation… the Witness Protection Program.

But knowing the twists and turns that always permeate the Sopranos’ story arcs - such an outcome for Tony would be a little too obvious.

Currently in our midst, we are seeing a weakend mob boss and it is only a matter of time before his crew start to see the same. Negotiations with imprisoned Johnie Sack via Phil Leotardo are meek and mild. Tony surrenders and accepts Sack’s first counter-offer. Much to Leotardo’s surprise.

Already Tony’s crew are taking matters into their own hands. Bacala’s botched attempt to shoot the rapper in the thigh, and the much-troubled Paulie Wallnuts putting the squeeze on Jason by wrecking his knee and demanding a $4,000 a month kick-back, are all behind Tony’s back. All this after Tony promised Jason’s mother that nothing would happen to him. His crew are basically freelancing and their responsibilities to the boss are falling short - as are the monetary perks a mob boss expects.

Add to the fact that Carmella has just informed Tony to watch out for both Paulie and especially Vito. How will Tony handle these situations? Has Tony’s near-death experience softened him up to the point where he will seek an out from the mob life? Or will revenge on his beloved Uncle Junior, who has tried to kill him before, snap Tony out of his current lethargy.

Tony Soprano is now at the most vulnerable point in his life. His inner thoughts, will either destroy him or be his saviour. The same can be said for both his families.