Ann Althouse thought that in last week's episode Tony might already be dead, or dying, from the car accident. Never occurred to me, but dang, I wondered if she was right. And I wondered if David Chase was going to be so predictable as to have A.J. commit suicide, when everyone knows antidepressants like Lexapro now carry a suicide warning for young adults as well as adolescents. Over in Ann's comments we were all agreeing that Tony had gone back to his irredeemable gangster ways and that we were going to be left chastened and sickened that we'd ever felt any affection for him.
Not.
SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading right now if you haven't seen tonight's episode.
My God. It turned out that not only had Tony not been dead and in hell, just in actual Vegas on an actual peyote trip, but that he had revisited the groping humanity and flickering larger view of life that he'd briefly grasped at after his coma. So last week's murderer became this week's grieving, protective father: having killed off his loose cannon gangster-"son," murdered the murderer, he saves the life of his "weak" and sensitive son who's taking on all the bad news in the world. No sooner does he break your heart with that than he and Carm are having an ugly brawl about the "Soprano curse," which, in a way that goes back past Shakespeare to Greek tragedy, is once again discovered to emanate from the Medusa/Medea figure of Livia.
We are not going to be allowed to decide for one side or the other of Tony, the heartless or the heartfelt. They are both Tony, alternating so fast, like a rapid-cycling manic- depressive, that they finally merge into one paradoxical whole. That's what has made this series so life-like, and such great art.
I can't hardly put a sentence together, I'm so blown away. I laughed out loud many times during this overwhelmingly moving and frightening episode: for instance, when Tony's asbestos-dumping crew were speculating like solemn environmentalists that all their kids were suffering "chemical imbalances" because of "the mercury in the fish." I'll have to watch this episode again to remember what-all was so funny.*
Phil Leotardo is perhaps so intransigent, not only because Tony was responsible for his brother's death -- and has not been allowed to expiate it by any sacrifice -- but precisely because Tony is appealing to his human side, which gangsters have learned to fear as "weak." I think I do know one thing about what's coming, and that is that our consolation for Tony's likely death is going to be, not that he's such a shit we're glad to be rid of him, but that he has seen -- as he told Melfi -- that there's "something beyond all this." It may give him the courage to sacrifice himself in some way. Or he may just be pointlessly snuffed out by the victorious reptilian brain embodied by Phil. Chase's dark view has a guttering candle at the center of it: the world is such that death and brutality always win, but not quite totally, because against all odds, for some moments, something else has managed to open its eyes and live.
Now watch Chase go and put Tony in prison for life, just to confound even this sentimental expectation. Would he do that? I wouldn't put much past him.
Two episodes to go.
Do we know how lucky we are? Most people don't get to live in a time when great art is made in a popular medium.
*Oh --Tony's comparison of mothers to bus drivers -- then he changes his mind and says no, buses! They drop you off and continue on their own journey, and the problem is, we keep trying to get back on the bus!
Your last line- agreed. We are offered so much schlock via television and recognize that frequently. Seldomly do we celebrate the truly great offerings that come along with the bad.
It was a great episode.
Posted by: Lisa V | May 21, 2007 at 12:13 AM
How's that non-blogging going for you, Amba?
Posted by: Ruth Anne | May 21, 2007 at 12:43 AM
LOL.
But there is a difference. If I have nothing to say I'm not going to say it. I mean, I'm not going to go in search of something to say.
Posted by: amba | May 21, 2007 at 01:02 AM
I think you just found the sure-fire cure for blogger's block.
I also know you're up and about because I just read a comment from you [turtles? We don't need no stinkin' turtles!] over at the House of Alt.
Posted by: Ruth Anne | May 21, 2007 at 01:17 AM
Last night makes up for that horrible previous episode.
I think the most surprising ending would be if Tony lives. Everyone is expecting him to be killed (perhaps by AJ?). It would be great for him to go out on top, having killed Phil (or maybe have AJ kill Phil to take his proper place by Tony's side?)
Bummer: No episode next week. WE have to wait two weeks for the next one. :(
Posted by: slick | May 21, 2007 at 10:57 AM
No, it's good. We need two weeks to absorb this one. (AND the last one.)
A.J. may be "getting in touch with his anger," but I don't think he has it in him to kill his father. It's his father who saved his life. The episode ended with a real bond between them.
Tragedy ends with the death of the hero, right? Comedy ends with a wedding. This may be both. Whoever said Meadow might become the head of the family might not have been so far off!
Posted by: amba | May 21, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Your comment about watching great art being created is so true. I hope you will catch up on the Wire in time for the new HBO season and provide us with your commentary; in my mind, it provides a richness of scope and humanity unparalleled by anything else on TV, even the Sopranos. We are so lucky to be able to watch these masterpieces unfold.
Posted by: teri | May 21, 2007 at 12:34 PM
I'm very sorry to have missed "The Wire" so far. I have a hangup about not coming in in the middle of a series (although I actually did start watching the Sopranos in the second season). Now, of course, with DVDs, I don't have to. You've reminded me to get "The Wire" from Netflix.
Posted by: amba | May 21, 2007 at 01:18 PM
That really is the beauty of DVDs? Coming in mid-series is so difficult, and with the Wire it would be especially hard because the experience of watching the show is like watching a novel unfold. I'm excited for you to start at the beginning. I loved it from the start, but some die-hard Wire watchers I know took a few episodes to warm up to the dense and poetic language of the dialogue (a friend watches the show with the close-captioning on for this very reason). I'll eagerly await your always incisive take.
Posted by: teri | May 21, 2007 at 01:42 PM
I was racing home last night with my son to watch the show. He's 16 and makes fun of my wife and me for being such Sopranos fanatics.
So what suddenly came to mind was how lucky he was. "I envy you. One of these days, you're going to discover it, and realize it's the greatest literature of this era -- and you're going to have almost 90 hours of it to watch, and it'll all be new to you."
Posted by: Vail Beach | May 21, 2007 at 01:57 PM
Vail Beach:
When we were kids (this will really, really date me), we were allowed to watch a limited amount of (black-and-white) television. My mother called 5 o'clock, when she would start making dinner and park us in front of the hotly anticipated Mickey Mouse Club, "the holy hour."
That phrase often comes to mind as I arrange my life around 9 PM Sunday night. Of course I could record it, or watch it in repeats later in the week or on demand. It wouldn't be quite the same. Talk about "Appointment television."
I envy your son, too.
Posted by: amba | May 21, 2007 at 02:20 PM
I'm happy to see some comments about The Wire. It's a shame that everyone is so fixated on The Sopranos when there is art that is much more intelligent, compelling, and important available in the exact same popular medium. It's like comparing Arrested Development with Everybody Loves Raymond. Oh wait, no one watched AD either?
Posted by: Buster Bluth | May 21, 2007 at 05:54 PM