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Anybody else immediately think of Seung-Hui Cho when the Chinese kid appeared in the nuthouse?

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my wife and i said the exact same thing right after he attacked Junior.

us too. Really bizarre timing, albeit unintentional.

First thing I thought of as well.

I don't think we'll see junior again.

Like was said earlier, that was his farewell episode.

I missed this but read it in one of the reviews - it's brilliant -
Junior either says it or it's in his letter to Vice President Cheney something along the lines of "as a fellow man in power who has had a mishap handling firearms" (Cheney and his buddy, Junior shooting Tony)
I can't wait to see the reruns and catch it - that is hilarious!

It's in the letter to Cheney. I caught it and was laughing out loud and the friend I was watching with thought I was nuts. She obviously didn't catch it.

Totally. That was really weird seeing that they wrote the episode a long time ago.

interesting episode tonight. again, another episode with a lot of tension thinking a main character is going to get whacked (hesh).

where did this Tony gambling problem come from though?

it was a good episode and i liked the little vito storyline.

anyone think AJ starts getting drawn into the business now with Blanca leaving him?

nothing. is. happening.

Good episode. Tony's money problems will definately be an important part of this season - probably the motivation for him doing something stupid that causes some whackings.

there was much tension, but very little delivery. There is alot to wrap up in only 5 episodes.

***************************************************

Think. Feel. Be.

That shower scene was WACK! Could have done without it.

I hope Phil gets whacked - he seems close. Not helping Vito's widow is unacceptable.

A.J. taking a cue from The Phat Phree possibly...

-They have been dropping little references about Tony's problem over the past few episodes. I'm guessing this is a problem that has risen since he came out of the hospital. Didn't Tony's dad once tell Tony never to get into gambling?

-We have not seen Tony in a sympathetic light in a while (maybe not at all in 6b?). He is damaging relationships EVERYWHERE this season (Bobby, Chris, Carm, Hesh, Paulie). Sil is the only one Tony respects all the time.

-Oh and I loved how the Mavs beat the Spurs in this episode!

Next Week-
I think we are going to see AJ fall into a deep depression. Who knows where it leads (possible a suicide attempt by seasons end?).

since Phil is the one that 'capped' Vito, shouldn't he be responsible for taking care of Vito's family? on top of that, he was related to them.

So far this season we know Tony has beefs with: Bobby, Phil, Christopher, and Paulie. That's a LOT of potential whackings.

AgCanuck:

Great points.

Maybe they are setting Tony up to get whacked. He's not exactly Mr. Popularity these days.

Random thoughts on the 4/30 episode -

Liked how they followed up on what happens to the family of someone that just got wacked - not only is the person dead, but the whole family is ruined - a previous time they did this was seeing Big P's widow selling food at the grocery store.

Every episode this 2nd half of the season has ended with one of Tony's crew or a major character alone and/or miserable - Johnny Sack, Junior, Paulie, now Hesh. I think that is the impression that the creators want to leave - mob life is not glamorous.

Tony had a smug look on his face leaving Hesh's house. Considering the whole crew was just talking bad about him and Tony's anger at being asked to pay up, maybe he couldn't take out Hesh but could get to his girlfriend. Mafia justice?!

AJ is about to blow up and not in a good way.

Carm is about to blow up and not in a good way.

I can understand how Tony is losing money - a lot of his big earners aren't around - Ralphie, Big P, Vito, Tony Blundetto - so it made sense to me he would be trying to make up for it at the tables.

Phil will be wacked by season's end - Tony having to send the kid away and take responsibility may have been the last straw.

i dont think tony had anything to do with Hesh's GF kicking the bucket.

Where is Meadow?

One line at lunch is not enough.

I would also like a whole lot more of Meadow.

And I think Phil bits the bucket within two weeks.

one thing nobody mentioned that had a very slight reference in last night's show:

the terrorists angle. we see Tony drive by the community center or mosque or whatever it is and see those guys that have been coming to the Bing for all those years and now they are hanging with the religious crowd. thats exactly what the 9/11 hijackers did (strip clubs and heavy gambling) before taking down the WTC.

i wonder if Chase is just trying to mislead us....or if theres something to that angle.

I noticed that too. It seems they are getting more serious about this plot line. Looking back to Episode 1 in 6B, when they were at the lake, Tony/Carm talked negatively about immigrants. This could have been groundwork being laid to show Tony's feelings about the subject. Have the two Arab men been at the Bing at all in 6b?

Maybe they are going to use this to take in an entirely different direction. Maybe David Chase is setting Tony up to become more and more paranoid. He no longer gets the paper out of fear. Maybe the Arabs are doing nothing wrong but rather Tony is paranoid and reading into things more than he should.

By the way, I don't think Agent Harris is working in a Terrorism unit. I think he is still working OC.

If the season ends without some kind of wrap up of the terrorist angle I'd be upset. Hints of this were showing up back when Adrianna was alive. Almost a parallel to the Italian mafia are the Muslim immigrants - both immigrants, hang out with their own kind, both involved in gambling, strippers, illegal deals, etc.


The more I think about Hesh's girlfriend dying, I agree with Orlando that Tony didn't have anything to do with it - more just pity or guilt that Hesh lost something more valuable than money. Tony pays his debt and still feels like he told Carmella - he's up, way up.

We also see how damaged Tony's relationship is with Hesh after the girlfriend dies. Prior to this gambling debt, Tony would have consoled Hesh and helped with his grieving. Now it had a purely business feel to it. Tony gave a small, generic remark saying he was sorry for Hesh's loss and then dropped off the money and left. This is Hesh's lowest moment and Tony's trip to Hesh's house is purely business.




-Has Tony been canceling appointments with Melfi because he is trying to save money or because he just lacks respect/accountability? She mentioned he has been canceling more often lately and there was a huge focus on money in this episode. At least this explains why we have rarely seen her in 6B.

I have always thought the series was about nothing but families. Tony has two. It looks like Chase is showing us the simultaneous destruction of both of Tony's fmilies. The end will be which, if any, of Tony's families does he salvage? He can't have both. I always thought the series would end with Tony turning state witness, or entering the witness protection program; to save his biological family. Turning on the Islamic "terrorists" through his old acquaintnce from the FBI would be the easiest sequae. Maybe too easy.

^
interesting.

I posted on this before the season began. And the last episode really solidified my belief that those Arabs from the Bing are going to do something big and Tony and the gang are going to get connected to them and that will be their downfall. Or maybe they are just a Red Herring - I don't think so.

I don't see the family getting in bed with them. I think Tony is going to be a little more wary of his ventures, esp if he knows agents are looking at Arabs a little closer.

Members of Tony's crew have dealt with the two Arab men (I can't quite remember but didn't Christopher help them with guns?)

Tony's demise will have something to do with Dr. Melfi. Book it.

could be wrong, but I think the Arabs are a red herring. something may go down, but I don't think it will have a big impact on how the series wraps up (setting myself to look like an idiot in a few weeks).

I didn't really care for the gambling angle. Considering they've never really had any Tony addiction story lines, I thought they just came on too strong with it from mostly out of the blue.

I am a total newbie to the Sopranos, since I have never had HBO and caught it only when I was travelling. So I apologize in advance if this is a simplistic and already re-hashed comment.

I am currently somewhere in season 2 on the A&E re-runs and interestingly, they just ran the episode where Tony as a kid saw his dad chop off a guy's fingers for non-payment of a gambling debt. His dad then gave Tony a very serious talk on why Tony should never, NEVER become a gambler. Tony was so ruthless and pitiless to guys with gambling debts (like the sporting good store owner) in the begining.

Watching the new episode last night was such a juxtaposition for me after just watching that scene with his dad. Tony has become exactly what his father warned him against.

The gambling angle fits. Remember it was made pretty clear after Tony was shot that he was going to be a "changed man."

He certainly has become more introspective and reflective, but also more reckless. This stems from his near death experience.

It's great they keep us in the dark like they do about his demise. Could be the feds, could be his family, could be a made guy or member of his crew, could be physical ailments, could be betrayl, could be Arabs, could be someone he mistreated.

But I think we can be certain he is going downtown to Chinatown.