“The Sopranos” premiered 20 years ago today (January 10, 1999).

Different topic (AVOID IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FINAL SEASON AND STILL PLAN TO WATCH):

What does everyone think of Kennedy and Heidi?

I think it is one of the more unique episodes in the show's history. We get the big moment in the first 10 minutes of the episode, and then the second half is very strange as Tony does all kinds of drugs in Vegas and has the revelation at the end. Just the feel of the episode is unlike any other in the series.

When it comes to the last block of episodes (Season 6B), I think it is one of the three best episodes, along with Stage 5 and Remember When.

 

This is another that I am looking forward to hearing on the podcast. It takes me repeated viewings to make sense of it.

 

For some reason a line from the Sopranos has been in my head. A special no-prize goes to whoever recognizes it!

"Catch some shrapnel!?"

 

Paulie Walnuts whining that in death Chris has once again shafted him as he had to printed up so many cards for his dead aunt/mother is about the only good part.
Although I always wonder why Tony is so eager to groom his “nephew” as his successor unless their is nobody else. A.J. is obviously brain-damaged, the two nitwits Matthew and Sean in season two get killed early. Tony seems determined to have Jackie Jr go to college like his father wanted nut that doesn’t work out. In some ways Tony and Chris is like Michael and Fredo in “Godfather”. Fredo and Chris both make the mistake of talking out of turn in meetings with outside members. Both are kind of weak minded, chose the wrong people to associate with (Adriana wouldn’t do five years in jail for Chris) and ultimately both have to be retired mafia-style.

 

Janice getting blasted by Ralphie’s toe nail clippings. Lol

 

Tony never wanted AJ to go into it, nor did he think AJ could handle it. He also wanted family, and Chris was as close to family as he could find.

Also Fredo felt passed over. Chris was being groomed.

 

Well, Michael brought Fredo in to a role whereas Vito had kept Fredo in Las Vegas where he was sent after Vito was shot. Part of that was getting slapped by Moe Greene but a big part was Vito thought Fredo having a menage a trois with two women was sheer degeneracy…and Vito was very strait-laced about sex. But I don’t remember Chris ever making a move on Tony…others did or thought about it, he just whined and snorted.

 

Regardless, I don't see a comparison between Chris and Fredo.

 

Chris did make an attempt to kill Tony in S5 when he was drunk and thought Tony had fooled around with Ade, but was restrained quickly until he sobered enough. In fact, as much as I love S5, the resolution of that episode was always the one that bothered me. Chris got over that way too quickly, and why? Just because a doctor said that her bruises showed she was sitting up at the time of the crash impact? Come on. Yeah, Chris held on to some resentment after that, but it was the next episode when he and Tony are acting all buddy-buddy and cracking puns and looks to each other about Kim's daughter.

Agreed. I think the similarities are superficial. Chris was a legit tough guy and street smart. Fredo was the complete opposite.

 

It was one of those episodes in which you had to suspend disbelief. But it is consistent with Tony because he would give passes to guys who did things that probably deserved death (Richie, Ralph, Vito). And Chris did have this love/hate thing going on for a few seasons.

 

I didn't read Christopher's behavior as a serious threat against Tony in that episode. Chris was under the influence and in crisis, but he wasn't going to shoot Tony. He emptied his gun at Tony's car, which was pretty stupid, but he had no bullets left to shoot anyone. The more serious threat posed by Christopher to Tony was by blabbing to the wrong person through AA or an FBI informant, or if Chris himself was flipped by the FBI. Ultimately it was a business liability to keep Christopher around, and the more time wore on the more Tony realized that. Similarly, Tony did decide to get rid of Richie, Ralphie and Vito, but he also understood that they were good earners with kids and their own strengths and weaknesses. He understood the weight of these decisions and tried not to make them lightly or hastily, though sometimes his emotions or spontaneous instincts got the better of him.

 

Actually in the novel Fredo is described as the toughest growing up and while Michael has seen tough guys crack in combat in the Pacific, it is strange to see his brother in a state of shock after he saw Vito shot five times.

 

I don't think Christopher ever would have flipped, unless he found himself in a situation like Sal, where it was 30 to life or become a rat. For as much as he complained, outside of his drunken rampage in S5 where he has to be restrained, he never came close to making a move to flip or against Tony. Even when Ade wanted him to flip in Long Term Parking, I am not sure he ever really wanted to do it. He was torn, for sure, but once he saw that guy at the gas station, he realized he didn't want to live his life like that and that was it. He was in it till the end.

 

That beacon at the end of “Kennedy and Heidi,” like the one Kevin Finnerty sees in “Join The Club” and Carmela in Paris in “Cold Stones,” scares the crap out of me. Without spelling it out, it leaves you with the clear impression that nothing good is happening with Tony, eschatologically speaking. By then, Tony’s all but a lost cause, and all that’s left for him to do is to go to Holsten’s and have some onion rings in a nice, peaceful dinner with his family.

 

Oh man, that ending to Join the Club is devastating. That feeling of isolation and loneliness is captured so perfectly in that final sequence. I know a lot of people didn't like the coma episodes, but I thought they were fascinating as heck.

 

I totally agree. Those episodes set up the central drama of season 6 — Tony’s struggle (such as it is) for his soul — and the near fatalism with which he gives up the fight (such as it is) and slouches quickly downward. To me, that’s one of the many reasons why Tony must have died in Holsten’s. It’s the most logical conclusion to that arc.

 

True, and the last episode featured his last and perhaps biggest disappointment, Meadow's decision to become a lawyer instead of a doctor. I remember him saying to Melfi once, ''...after all of the bull ****, is this all there is?" He has to mercy kill Tony B. Chrissy had become a huge disappointment and eventually had to be put down. He had grown apart from everyone in his crew, Bobby was killed, and then the one guy he was still sorta close to, Sil, was in a coma. His knew his marriage was a sham. AJ turned out to be the complete opposite of what he wanted out of his son. His last hope was that Meadow would be a doctor and bring some nobility and even some credibility to the family. And then she ends up becoming an attorney who will likely be defending guys like Tony down the line. His hopes for anything pretty much hit rock bottom there (combined with the looming trial).

 

Certainly Sal had more motivation to flip than Chris. Sal had kids and was arrested for pushing heroin. But Christopher was about to have a family and was addicted to heroin in a way that made him do stupid things. One of those stupid things was talk to people at addiction meetings. He was on the verge of telling major secrets to JT Dolan, implicating himself and Tony in murders, and instead decided to blow JT's brains out. All that needs to happen is the FBI connects him to the crime scene and he's done. If not this time, then in the future if he's continuing to be in Tony's inner circle. That's why I say he's a major liability, businesswise, and the longer he's around, the more Tony felt at risk from him. Chris had known before the momentary glimpse of the guy at the gas station that he needed Ad to be killed; he just couldn't do it himself. He came pretty darn close when he was strangling her. If he was considering the witness protection program as a viable option, he wouldn't have left the apartment like that. He knew his next stop had to be Tony's cellar.

The beacons, helicopter lights that turn into operating room lights, the wind, the Buddhist monks, the briefcase and other symbols throughout season 6 were handled with such spiritual force, it was really quite an achievement. Even the guy from Bell Labs contributed to this spiritual landscape by introducing the Schrödinger thought experiment of quantum physics superposition, explained sort of like "two separate things are really part of one thing and not separate at all." It was said in such a way to conflate good and evil not unlike the entire series that we had been watching unfold for years.

Later, when Tony goes to the mattresses, we are introduced to a cat that seems to materialize out of nowhere. Schrödinger's cat is the manifestation of that quantum superposition paradox, in which the cat can exist in two states at once: living and dead. After the crew returns to Satriale's, the cat parks itself in front of a picture of Christopher and won't move. I don't know who is responsible for such thought provoking imagery and symbolism--Chase or Matt Weiner or someone else--but it's brilliantly done.

 

When my daughter played me this ragtime arrangement of “Don’t Stop Believin’” on YouTube, all I could think of was sped-up silent movie footage of Members Only Guy chasing Tony around Holstens:

 

Agreed.

What do you think is the significance of the cat coming outside and sitting down to stare at Paulie (following the latter's last scene with Tony)?

 

I think it's subjective, but Paulie was convinced the cat was some sort of devil or manifestation of evil. The thing is, Paulie was not Paulie throughout the final season, starting with his discovery that his mom wasn't really his mom. He tells Tony something like, "I'm not who I am." If the final season is about existing in two states simultaneously, Paulie epitomizes this as much as anyone. He "lives only to serve" as he tells Tony when manipulated into taking over Carlo's job, while simultaneously conspiring against Tony in the ultimate betrayal.

 

Interesting. We don't agree about Paulie in regards to his role in the planning of Tony's whacking, but that aside, that is a very interesting POV. Of course, the "live to serve..." line is from The Holy Grail, but between the cancer and his maternal revelation, Paulie was definitely an emotional mess that last season.

 

Well, it's a cliche, but Paulie delivered it in a moment of subservience.

 

Some say that in an earlier scene, Tony tells Paulie that the cat is probably looking or hearing rats in the wall (as it stares at Christopher's picture). The last scene may implicate that Paulie is the rat when the cat comes to look at him (i.e. he's responsible later for gunning down Tony).

 

I don't know what they symbolize, but the cat reminded me of Pio-O-My's goat that would hang around the stables. And when they drove the horse off after the fire, I think they did a close up of the goat. And if I remember, that goat had a patch of white hair like Paulie's wings. And they wrote and shot the episode to make people think Paulie started the fire.