“The Sopranos” — Remember When
Pic via HBO.com
Can we get a show of hands? Who thought Pauly wasn’t going to make it back to shore? I, for one, had absolutely no idea on what to think. The whole sequence was nerve-racking. The horizon line kept jumping up and down as the yacht rode the waves. Tony sat there eating his pasta and turning the screws. Brilliant.
After the episode I was glad Pauly made it out alive, not because I’m a huge fan of the character (though I am), but because his “test” was far more emotionally violent than any kind of physical measures would have been. I actually felt horrible for the man. He clearly loves Tony like a son brother. His only crime was the frequent and relentless reminding of Tony about how things used to be, and thus indirectly reminding him that things will end.
Again, three episode in and the finality that every scene dabbles with is wholly fascinating to watch.
Another wonderful Sopranos technique in storytelling is taking some completely minor, utterly forgettable element and making it the most important thing in the series. Who would have imagined that Ralphie’s joke about Jeanie’s fat ass would have these kinds of legs (the joke, not the ass). That was a comment made off-the-cuff sometime during the first half of season four, and it was still being recalled (for the worse) in last night’s episode.
We also finally got a terrific Uncle Junior episode. Terrific, because it seems like its the first time in years we’ve seen the character act like his old self, even if his new self frequently repeats what he had just said and/or forgets what he’s about to say.
It’ll be interesting to see if the character comes back at all in the next half-dozen episodes on our march to the close. This one had an awful lot of finality to it as Junior decided that he’d rather live out the rest of his life with dignity over fun.
On the way to that realization, we did get to see him beat someone up one last time — and get beaten up himself.
Does anyone understand why the young guy was being kept with all of those elderly patients? Seems like he should have probably been held in a different location, though his presence certainly worked wonders for the story.
