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).