Just what Tony needs: another vice
I’ve got to start this week by giving props to BF, the reader who pointed out last week that I failed to mention Tony’s gambling. Clearly it’s become a serious problem, as BF predicted, to the point that Tony considered clipped Hesh rather than having to pay him the $200k he owed him. But then Hesh’s girl Renata died and Tony, ever the caring friend, showed up to offer Hesh his condolences and a paper sack filled with cash. Of course, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought Tony had Renata killed up until he showed up to pay Hesh his money.
This is the first episode of the new pseudo-season that fell a little flat for me. Obviously, Tony’s gambling has suddenly become a big storyline, and you’ve got to wonder just how big of a role it plays in these final five episodes. Tony was out of control this week, losing $20,000 on a horse named Meadow Gold and then, after caving in and deciding to give widow Spatafore the $100k she asked for to give her and, more importantly, her deranged son (more on that later) a fresh start, he took that money and bet it (and lost it) on the Eagles because the Dolphins had to rely on a rookie kicker. The interesting note about all of this was the reaction Chris had when Tony decided to throw that money at the Eagles; if anybody knows dangerous addictive behavior, it’s Chris. Is he going to try to help Tony? Will that drive a wedge even further between the two?
Of course, the central problem was the fight between Tony and Carm after Carm refused to roll her earnings from the spec house into a bet on the Jets over the Chargers. Tony had inside info on the game and wanted to turn her windfall into a million-dollar payday but she refused, saying it’s her money and that she’s determined to not end up like Ginny Sack once Tony’s gone. Well, the Jets roll 42-10 and Tony’s pissed because he “only” put $10,000 on the game. “When I’m gone, you can live in a fucking dumpster for all I care,” Tony says after Carm chucked a vase at him. Yikes. He smoothed things over later, at least temporarily, but as well as things seemed to have been going between Tony and Carm so far, you knew something was bound to happen. I just figured it would be the Adriana questions, though I’m sure those will crop up again soon enough.
As for little Vito Spatafore…dude, that kid’s screwed up. Going hardcore Goth is bad enough, but taking a dump in the school shower? And then stepping in it?! Ewwww! As is often the case with this show, I’m not entirely sure where this storyline is going to go or what its purpose will be, but it may be as simple as the added tension it’s added to Tony’s relationship with Phil. If somebody should be stepping up to set the kid straight, it probably should be Phil since he’s Vito’s uncle or cousin (or whatever), and since he’s the one who offed papa Vito last season. But since Tony’s the one cleaning up the mess, you can bet he wasn’t lying when he told his guys he wouldn’t forget that Phil refused to step up.
Then there’s AJ, who finally looked to be getting his life in order. He’s got a woman he loves, a decent job (pizza shop manager, baby!) and, finally, some motivation. He asks Blanca to marry him and when she hesitates, he tells her that he’s going to keep moving up the ladder at work and in a couple of years, he’ll own his own restaurant. You had to feel sorry for the guy when she turned around and dumped him a couple days later, but I think another reader made a great observation a couple of weeks ago: Blanca’s pregnant. This one is obviously a guess but she’s been acting strange all season and, when Meadow mentioned that someone was expecting a baby, she looked very uncomfortable. Hmm….
Finally, two small notes. First, it looks like the two Arabs from the Bada Bing are going to finally come back into play. I’ve been waiting for this for a while. And Tony had a nice little callback to last season when he was talking to Vito, saying, “You go about in pity for yourself.” If you remember, that was a saying someone pinned to the bulletin board in Tony’s hospital room after Junior shot him, and he said the same thing to Artie a few episodes later. With the gambling issues and the general problems he’s been having recently, it seems Tony’s the one indulging in a bit of self-pity.
Posted in: The Sopranos, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas
Tags: final season of The Sopranos, James Gandolfini, Sopranos blog, The Sopranos, The Sopranos blog, The Sopranos final season, Tony Soprano
I agree with a lot of your post, except for one thing. Tony whacked Hesh’s girlfriend! He paid out of guilt, but the smirk that he had while leaving the house confirmed it for me.
You are right on dude about Hesh’s girlfriend. But how did she die and why did they leave that out? It is too obvious about Tony’s gambling and that bother’s me as they are NOT that dense in SopranoLand. Carm is definitely in trouble, but not just w/Tony. Why does Meadow have such a sucky story line? Love the new AJ and props to you for the baby thing. He is clueless, sweet but clueless.
Here was a slip–the puerto rican day parade is in june, yet they were watching and betting on football! oops. usually they wouldn’t make a mistake like that. and does anyone else think tony’s gambling problem came on a bit too quickly? maybe they need more episodes this season.
I thought about putting in the post that it was still a possibility that he whacked Hesh’s girlfriend, but it still doesn’t make much sense to me. He seemed to be considering taking action against Hesh so that he wouldn’t have to repay the money, so why would he clip her and then pay him anyway? And how did he do it? It looked like she died in her sleep, although her eyes were open so maybe there was foul play.
Good catch on the Puerto Rican Day parade being in June. That is a pretty big slip for the show.
Tony probably wanted to whack Hesh but whacked his girlfriend by mistake. That would explain the smirck.
This season is somewhat frustrating but I have a feeling the shit is going to hit the fan.
I can’t wait!!!!
AJ specifically says “Vamos a Latino Day parade.” to Blanca’s kid, so perhaps it’s an Autumn, Jersey analog of the PRDP. Because there’s no way he rolled up on a parking spot like that right before the PRDP. I couldn’t really tell where they were supposed to be, Jersey or NY.
I don’t think Tony whacked Hesh’s girl, and I think he ultimately paid up because he felt bad about Hesh’s loss.
Strange how the show spent so much time with Vito’s son. Like you said, it must be a setup for a throwdown between Tony and Phil.
I think Tony killed Renate. This is one of many Godfather references in this last few episodes (Tony with his tomatoes, the shooting through the eye, the cat on Junior’s lap). In my view, this is a nod to the dead horse found in the bed (no, I am not comparing Renate to a horse), which was left as a warning. Hesh woke up and found his partner dead in the bed next to him, just as with the horse in The Godfather.
Note: The HBO website says she died of a stroke, but there was no evidence of that. Maybe it was a Tony-induced stroke. I don’t know how to induce a stroke, but I’m guessing we’ll find out.
Tony is seriously losing it. He should have killed Bobby for attacking him, and he didn’t. Or hasn’t yet. He’s thinking about killing Paulie. And now this. He’s insulting Carmela, he’s become a compulsive gambler, he’s losing touch with his entire crew.
As a sidenote, I find the sudden appearance of Tony’s compulsive gambling to be annoying. There was no precedent for this in previous seasons, and it’s now suddenly showing up as a way to show Tony getting in deeper trouble? I don’t buy it.
But he is losing it.
Did anyone notice that that was not the true Tony Soprano?? What did the writers quit or get fired? That is by far the worst episode I have ever seen. And I thought the episode-long dream was bad a couple seasons ago.
Tony was acting irrational the entire episode. He told Carmela his business and tried to get her involved in it. He actually asked HER for money. Obviously Paulie, Sil and Chris are looking down on him and he doesnt see it? Hesh was his mentor, now he considers whacking him? And who gives a fuck about A.J.’s going no where love life? Or Junior’s old folks home gambling operation in the last episode? Where does that come into play in any of this? Thought they were writing him out? Does he have a relevant role to play anymore? Come’on. This episode was way out of whack.
Oh, and Tony (the regular typical Tony, anyway) would not whack someone’s wife or loved-one to get to them. He did not whack Hesh’s wife unless the writers really are turning him into a nutjob. He has never really been spiteful, except towards his sister. He did whack Ralphy over a horse it seemed, but that was probably for the best, because he was an obvious whackjob.
And the fact he didnt whack Bobby deserves respect. Tony was out of line, boss or not. And Bobby was defending Tony’s own sister’s honor. He has always been loyal. I know I have gotten into fist fights with my friends and brothers and we still respect each other. Its part of being a family.
Plus, he got Bobby back by making him pop his cherry on that hit. And he knows Bobby will never tell anyone about the fight.
Another thing about the writers taking a shit – people dont become compulsive gamblers overnight. I dont know what theyre setting up, but theyre not doing a good job of it. Theyre reaching for things, adding filler.
It was like I wasnt even watching an episode of the Sopranos.
I thought going about Vito’s stuff last season was a bit too much. Now I think I get it – it is all about setting Vito’s Jr. as the guy, who will take care for Tony, and may be Phil.
When the ep immediately ended and Tony left Hesh’s house the first thing I said was he killed the girlfriend.
But then I thought about it and I agree with John, even Tony wouldn’t be so heartless as to whack his old buddy’s woman and then come over and hand him what would essentially be a $200k payoff for his loss. That would be low, even for TS.
Plus, if you remember when Tony & Bobby came by, Hesh lied and said “Renatta’s got another migraine” as an excuse not to take a ride with them (another Godfather reference, BTW), so I think that was the clue to her death.
I agree with the posters who say Tony wasn’t being Tony this week. I thought the whole gambling thing was WAAAAYYY out of leftfield and totally unnecessary.
This season has more threads than a 200-ct bedsheet; Feds, family, Phil, Arabs, friends, gambling- next thing you know a friggin spaceship is gonna land outside the Bing!
I’m sorry the show is almost over, but I can’t wait for Chase to get to the point of all this.
Yeah, I really doubt Tony killed Renata. Doesn’t make any sense, and it doesn’t fit his character.
As for the gambling, I think the idea here was that Tony lost control this week trying to “chase it.” They mentioned the gambling the last episode (which is when he asked Hesh for the $200k loan) and this week his cold streak led to Tony spiraling out of control. Granted, it still feels rather sudden, but I don’t think it’s completely illogical.
Sorry, but I like the Godfather references but I think we will all be disappointed at the end. For years they have held the Mob war NY Vs NJ over our heads. How are they going to do it in 5 more episodes… who knows. I have seen enough lakes,enough poop in showers, Junior is done adios,enough spec houses, lets get to the point!!!
Don’t think he killed her – not his style – but it was cool how they made us think about it.
Everything is coming to a head. Things are heating up with Phil, yet at the same time Tony doesn’t trust anyone around him. The gambling makes sense – it’s part of the lifestyle.
This is building up to a big ending – should be fun.
Thanks for the plug-in on Tarek, thanks for the plug in http://www.yourdvdworld.com/ Good looking out Badbing, just came in the mail today for $135
Did Tony have an insurance policy on Renata, perhaps? Two birds…