In another unfortunate scene, Hesh, his Puerto Rican aide, Tony, Christopher and the nephew of Paulie Walnuts are talking in the horse barn at Hesh's place. The conversation about Columbus day degenerates into a free-for-all in which each guy vouches for his ethnicity while calling attention to the historical shortcomings of the ethnicities of everyone else. I understand Chase's point - that once you tattoo yourself with identity politics, you can't divorce yourself from your chosen interest group when it becomes inconvenient - but the scene really felt contrived, and not at all within the bounds of what we might expect from the characters involved (Hesh, for instance, has never been the ADL card-carrying Jew. If anything, he's been self-deprecating. For him to start throwing out anti-Semitism charges at his aid for likening Columbus to Hitler rang really hollow). I was really disappointed that we didn't see more from the ex-husband of Melfi, Tony's therapist. David Chase has used the guy numerous times in previous episodes as the microphone for Italian-Americans fed up with both the mob image, and the mobsters who make that image possible. He would've been the one guy in the show who could speak on the subject and remain within the context of his character. Yet we don't see him until the end, and even then, he merely flips on a television and displays his disgust at the Columbus Day showdown.
That's not to say there weren't a few redeeming exchanges on the topic.
In the episode's opening scene, the boys are all lounging on the sidewalk in front of Satriale's meat shop when Bobby Bacala first reads of the protests in the newspaper. The fellas' in turn all weigh in on the injustice being done to Columbus when Furio - the only first-generation Italian in the bunch - says he loathes Columbus. Columbus, it seems, was from North Italy. The northern Italians have all the money, and so turn their noses up at the south. Furio spits on Columbus and his northern descendants. It was a nice - and wholly believable - turning of the tables, and a reminder that every ethnic group, no matter how loathed, can find a subset ethnic group to loathe even more.
The other saving dialogue comes at the end and, unsurprisingly, is delivered convincingly and passionately by Gandolfini. He admonishes Silvio for his constant griping about the "discrimination faced us Italians." "Look at you," Tony says, "you got a smart kid at Lakawana College, you own the best strip club in Jersey. You got a wife who's a piece of ass - or at least she was when you married her. Did you get all of that because you're Italian? No. You got it because you're you, because you're smart, because you're...whatever the fuck."
Article comments
1 - Ryan Olson
Great Lines: You missed one by Janice's Psychiatrist. I'm afraid I'll have to paraphrase now...
"You're just going to have to sit him down, and with the grace and compassion you're so famous for, tell him that it is over."
Ha!
2 - K.A. Hughes RA
A little early with this comment but I'm interested in what others might think anyway.
End of Season 5 - Does Tony "Find God" and enter Witness Protection or does he get knocked off by someone. In either case the show definitely ends with little hope of a sequel (Which is what Chase has said all along).
Any takers?
3 - Jackson Raegen
What I really thought was neat was the parallel that Chase drew between Carmella and Tony. If you watch carefully, you see how Carmella is treated by the other wives like Tony is with his crew. She gets a certain assumed status by virtue of her marriage (i.e. she is driven to and from the lunch, Silvio's wife stands up for her to the priest, she decides who will help out at the Bacala residence). It was subtle, but fun to watch.
4 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassads!
5 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
6 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
7 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
8 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
9 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
10 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
11 - Tony Da Greek
Da whole t'ing is so racis'...I hates youse bigotistic bassids!
12 - Tony
Sorry...I hit da button too many times...I never was good at mat'.
13 - ShoEZ
To the writers: thank you for this critical analysis. As a common viewer of the series, I often notice double meanings and subtleties that I cannot quite verbally define. Redaing your reviews help me to make sense of all the "extra" information and themes that seem to be cleverly hidden with most great works of art particularly, in this case, the Sopranos. Thanks and please keep up the good work.
14 - Luis E. Vargas
It would've certainly been a great twist in the story if Furio finally confessed his love to Carmella. I'm sure some excellent sub-stories could have originated from a confession like that. Moreover, it would've been great if Carmella just for a moment consented to fall on Furio's arms and for one time experience what her Tony does almost every week.
15 - John Taylor
The writer of this article is a closed-minded, opinionated, blanket-statement-throwing pinhead. Open your mind! One small example -- Janice isn't the most irritating character to EVERYONE by a long shot! Your personal issues continually creep into your writing. Why do you assume we're all waiting for her to get knocked off? You reveal more about yourself and your troubled thinking than you realize!
16 - Bobby Bracca
Who is this "Radley" person anyway? We'd ALL like to see "the act" take place between Furio and Carmela? Speak for yourself, pal! Yeeeeeeesh...
17 - joe
Hmmm. I think someone has a different take on your libertarian rant ;):