home

Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2

By Jeralyn, Section The Sopranos
Posted on Sun Mar 19, 2006 at 05:50:04 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Spoiler Alert: Don't read until after you've seen the show.

The second episode of the new Sopranos season is about to begin. The only hint from the show's website so far is this, "A west-coast business trip turns into a case of mistaken identity."

Toronto Sun columnist Bill Harris, who has seen tonight's show, reports that A.J. has a starring role and a chilling scene. Edie Falco is also excellent.

You will definitely see the most eerie episode of The Sopranos. Parts of it may stick with you for a long, long time....The episode tonight is a weird one, with plenty of imagery and symbolism and outright spookiness.

Reactions, anyone? I'll be back with mine after the show.

Update: I was underwhelmed. Yes, Edie Falco was great, but the hospital got old quickly. Tony's alternate reality sequences were very good, but once they were over, I got bored. He really is the show. I wouldn't rank it as a great episode.

< Dick Cheney Says He'll Serve Out His Term | Moussaoui Trial Resumes, Defense Wants Carla Martin Questioned >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 | 21 comments (21 topical)
    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Mar 19, 2006 at 07:09:29 PM EST
    Edie Falco's greatest episode ever.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Mar 19, 2006 at 08:15:32 PM EST
    I don't know about tonight's episode. It was interesting and Edie Falco was great. I like the fact that when Tony was talking to his 'wife' in the altenate reality it wasn't Edie; who was it? Next week should be good with everyone jocking for position. Also, I expect Christopher to give up the Arab guys before too long. I liked it but after living for two years in Utah "Big Love" gets my vote.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Mar 19, 2006 at 08:54:13 PM EST
    Bush is the sopranos family and bin laden is the main hit guy!

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 01:13:58 AM EST
    I don't think Christopher would rat out the Arab characters. He would just take them out. The wife voice may have been his former nut case girlfriend who sold Mercedes. On the Sopra scale I give this episode a 6.8 and Edie carried it.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 05:20:33 AM EST
    You can check out any time you like but you can never leave. Limbo Rock. I kept waiting for Meadow to lean over and say, "I'm with you now, Pop." Tony looked exactly like Don Vito in the Hospital. The only difference is the updated medical equipment. AJ is so Fredo. You just know he's gonna blow the Junior thing and make matters worse. Brilliantly written, shot, directed and acted.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#6)
    by Slado on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 06:37:29 AM EST
    Sapranos likes the dream episodes to set up the rest of the season and give us clues. I was at first frustrated but then once I got into it I agree with charlie it was well done. AJ is a walking time bomb. He is like Fredo but has more balls which means he will cause even more damage. Tony's crew will come apart as people decide wether to play it safe and assume Tony will ive or gamble that he's done for and make their play for power. Should be awesome. Anyone think Tony will come back his old self? I find it hard to believe they'll pay James Gandolfini 1mil per episode to lay in a hospital bed. Surely they can't keep playing out the dream sequence for the whole season?

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 06:49:27 AM EST
    I got a kick out of Vito wanting to drive AJ home from the hospital...was he gonna make a pass at him? I think we will see AJ become part of the family business if Tony stays in a coma long.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 07:02:00 AM EST
    I don't know, Slado. You saw that wound. You heard that prognosis in the preview from Doctor Warmthstein. He's gonna be on his back for awhile. Flashbacks and Dream Sequences will have to do for now. Meadow and Finn are gonna be a nice storyline counterpoint. Remember, Annette Benning is Finn's Mother. She's as good as it gets. All kinds of potential dramatic conflict there. They've got things set up nicely to go in a number of directions. It's building nicely.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 07:12:43 AM EST
    I don't know, Slado. You saw that wound. You heard that prognosis in the preview from Doctor Warmthstein. He's gonna be on his back for awhile. Flashbacks and Dream Sequences will have to do for now. Meadow and Finn are gonna be a nice storyline counterpoint. Remember, Annette Benning is Finn's Mother. She's as good as it gets. All kinds of potential dramatic conflict there. They've got things set up nicely to go in a number of directions. It's building nicely.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#10)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 09:49:41 AM EST
    Slado et al: With Tony dreaming about being a straight guy (sales person) and with his answer of "what are you a hockey player" in reference to early retirement, do you think he will be down for a while and want to get out when he comes to? It is a huge stretch because this is all he knows, but I am guessing he is out in a couple of weeks our time (months show time) and while still heading crew talking with Carmella and the doc about getting out of the life. I like these episodes, when they are setting things up, and i love when the payoffs come. They set up AJ to potentially whack someone. Carmella to stand by her man. Med to be pissed at Finn and most likely have a break up there. Chris to but a sh*tload of heroin from the middle eastern men (on credit of course) and when they demand payment he conveniently dimes them out. I remember as a kid an italian guy from around the way said "they are bad guys, but they are our bad guys" and it never made sense until I watched this show. Why on earth i would ever pull for a mob boss (hated john gotti) is either great character development and script writing or the destruction of morality on my soul. I am sure Big Tex might have an opinion on the latter. With all love Big Tex.....

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 10:22:47 AM EST
    AJ is indeed a walking time bomb. That raises the possibility of the next big shocker on the show: In the chaos of everyone jockeying for position in the post-Tony family, someone (Christopher?) whacks AJ. After AJ is gone, Tony emerges from his coma and wreaks vengeance.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#12)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 11:23:39 AM EST
    I don't care how dead tony seems to be, nor does it matter if AJ kills the old man and a made guy, no one could ever take a run at him.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 11:40:57 AM EST
    Jackie Aprile was the boss of the family before Tony. After Jackie died, his punk son Jackie Jr. started to get into the business and got whacked. The Jackie Jr./AJ parallel was foreshadowed this week with the conversation in the restaurant between Carmela and Jackie Jr.'s mom Rosalie. Rosalie gives Carmela some advice about AJ, Carmela tells Rosalie, who are you to talk, you coddled your son and then he got killed, and Rosalie says, why do you think I'm telling you this?

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 12:16:22 PM EST
    I agree AJ is going to be a huge player this season and that very stormy weather is ahead for Finn and Jamie. He probably will shoot someone, I just wonder whether it will be Junior or whoever's with him by mistake... The FBI agents have been in both episodes now with a terrorism theme so something will be up with that--and I agree, Christopher is the likely one to be in that angle. I think next week will be about them jockying for position while Tony's incapacitated. Probably lots of action. The preview hints at that as well. The alternate reality scenes have to continue, they didn't end. What was up with Tony not having a New Jersey accent and the phone calls to Carmela who didn't sound like Carmela and the kids being so young they had to be put to bed, yet he was 46, the same age he is now? Was that his vision of his life had he not gone into the mob and just been a salesman?

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 12:47:13 PM EST
    Jackie Jr. was a rocket scientist next to AJ. Jackie at least was a cunning thief with nerve. AJ's got none of those traits. As far as Tony's not having an accent, etc. He sees himself as he'd like to be. Clean, happy family, kids still young and not fully formed. (The ducks in the nest. Sylvio, as Consigliere, is acting boss. Everybody else is jockeying for position. That's why they're falling all over themselves to give rides and win points. Everybody's got an angle. Everybody's got ulterior motives. Long-term, it's still gotta be Meadow.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#16)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 12:49:04 PM EST
    How old was jackies kid though, I thought he was in his 20's, but i guess AJ is about that now also. I cannot see that but we will see. I think that in tony's state he was dreaming what his life could have been like which is why i think he may want to consider easing out of the family, although it will be impossible it does seem that they baited us with the florida dream and the "no getting out" combined with Tony really struggling with the "family".

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#17)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 12:54:55 PM EST
    I don't think Chris is manipulating in this situation. I think he wants Tony to be ok because tony has always stood by him. Live or die, I would expect every capo to be picking up carmella and helping out, it is worse if he lives and hears that someone was not there, no?

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 01:50:15 PM EST
    IIRC, Jackie Jr. had started college and dropped out, when he began getting involved in the family business and got whacked (by Vito) shortly thereafter. AJ just flunked out of college, as we learned in Sunday's episode. FWIW, I agree with the comment above that the voice of Tony's "wife" in the dream sounded like Tony's former mistress Gloria. She's appeared in a dream sequence before.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#19)
    by Slado on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 01:58:39 PM EST
    I think if Tony lives he will not try and get out. He only last episode told the guy who hung himself that you couldn't quit this job. What was the quote? Plus if he lives he will probably be in no shape to mount some sort of monumental move that would extracate himself fromt he family. Even if he wanted to leave it's not like Paulie and the boys would just let him either. Sure he's the boss but these people depend on him for their lives and would not just let him walk away. They'd kill him first. Also remember Christopher actually got a glimpse of what was in store for him in the after life during his near death experience and he still went back to Tony and then chose Tony over his girlfreind who he basically killed by letting Tony know she was working with the feds. Much more likely that Tony is whacked then leaves the family. Unless he was to give everybody up? Ala Goodfellas.

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#20)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 02:04:06 PM EST
    MJ, for some reason i still keep thinking of AJ in HS although flunking out was stated very prominently in the episode. That would be a really big blow....

    Re: Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 (none / 0) (#21)
    by Jlvngstn on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 02:48:11 PM EST
    Slado, I don't think he will try and get out, I think it will be his new neuroses. Struggling with all the family stuff and life death.

    Sopranos, Open Thread: Show 2 | 21 comments (21 topical)