Category: TV Dramas (Page 223 of 235)

So how long before Tony closes the deal with Julianna, the smokin’ real estate agent played by Julianna Marguiles? Man, she nailed her role to perfection tonight. Those knee-high boots, that little red leather coat, saying things like “I have a low tolerance for boredom,” visiting Tony at the Bing to talk business. You’ve got to feel for Tony, because on the one hand, he loves Carmella and is profoundly grateful for what she did for him while he was recovering from the gunshot wound. They’re getting along great, both in and out of bed, and T’s got a new lease on life. But on the other hand…I mean, dude, did you see those boots and that coat? Yum. To paraphrase Chris Rock, I’m not saying Tony should’ve cheated on Carm (again)…but I understand.

And yet, in a scene that proves Tony Soprano may have more restraint than just about any red-blooded man in TV Land, T tosses Julianna aside when she straddles him and starts unbuttoning his shirt, reminding him much too vividly of Carmella buttoning up the same shirt for him an hour or two earlier. That’s a great sign for Tony and Carm’s marriage, right? Not so much. Judging by Tony’s mini-tantrum when he discovers there’s no smoked turkey in the fridge when he gets home, there appears to be some rough water ahead. We haven’t seen the last of Ms. Julianna and, hopefully, we haven’t seen the last of her killer boots either.

Tony’s got more problems at home, though, namely A.J. and his thriving social life. He’s hanging out at New York clubs, staying out late, waking up later, and displaying a general disinterest in anything that doesn’t involve booze, coke or women. Problem is, he realizes his buddies only want him around because he’s Tony Soprano’s kid, which is coincidentally the reason girls find him so “intense.” Still hung up on seeking revenge against Joon and trying to prove he’s more than just Anthony Soprano Jr., AJ pays his uncle a visit in the loony bin but panics when he sees Junior, drops the knife he had stashed in his coat, and eventually winds up in cuffs, waiting for dad to pick him up at the police station.

The scene outside the station between Tony and AJ was sensational. They haven’t done much with AJ’s character this season, aside from portraying him as a total fuck-up with zero ambition, so it was nice to see some depth from him tonight. Unfortunately, T’s father-son chat didn’t change much as AJ was at the club again when, uh-oh, he suffered a panic attack. Tony went out of his way to say that AJ was “a nice guy,” an assessment AJ clearly resented, but Tony insisted it was a good thing. He’s told Dr. Melfi several times that he doesn’t want AJ to follow in his footsteps, so it’s no surprise that he would highlight just how different he thinks he and AJ are. Turns out, the apple may not have landed as far away from the tree as T would’ve hoped, which means we’re likely going to be seeing more of AJ (and his shady friends) in the coming weeks too.

And then there’s Vito. This storyline was abandoned last week and this week, we saw why. I’ve been trying to figure out the purpose behind the Vito angle all season, and it seems clear to me now that this has more to do with the problems the situation is going to cause between Tony and Phil and less to do with the situation itself. Vito’s hiding out in this little town, telling everyone he’s writing a book on Rocky Marciano while getting much more comfortable in his new skin, and now that he’s hooked up with Johnny Cakes (the cook at the diner who, Vito discovers, is also a motorcycle-riding volunteer firefighter who pulls children from fiery houses), he seems to be establishing some sort of life for himself. Okay, fine…but now I’m bored. We’re not going to see Vito and Johnny Cakes going on picnics each week, so what’s going to happen now? I’m sure the phone call Vito made to his wife is going to lead to trouble. Phil, who’s really fired up since Vito is married to Phil’s cousin, will trace the number back to the small town and take care of Vito himself. He already tried telling Tony how to deal with the situation, to which Tony took exception, and after making it clear that he’s still not happy with how Tony handled the Tony Blundetto mess last season, you can bet Phil wants to be the guy who finds Vito first.

They’ve been setting Phil up for a fall all season. Looks like that moment is fast approaching.

Who knew Vinnie Delpino was such a bad ass? Free from Doogie’s shadow, Vinnie, aka Benny Fazio in his new TV life, had his coming out party in this week’s episode. First, he hooks up with the hot new greeter at Artie’s restaurant, then he throws a couple threats at Artie when Artie starts giving his girl a hard time, and he caps off his performance by shoving Artie’s “sautéing hand” into a pot of boiling sauce. Granted, he also had his ass handed to him by Artie, but Vinnie hasn’t had this much screen time since the “Doogie Howser” heydays. Assuming there were “Doogie Howser” heydays, of course.

The trouble started when Vinnie and his honey swiped a few credit card numbers from Vesuvio, Artie’s restaurant, and sold them to Christopher’s Middle-Eastern associates (more on that later). American Express picked up on the fraud, presented Artie with the evidence, and pulled Am-Ex from Vesuvio. Already hemorrhaging money thanks to some new competition, this latest bit of news sends Artie over the edge and, when he finds out Vinnie and his girlfriend are behind the operation, he goes to Vinnie’s house and rearranges his face for him. Unfortunately for Vinnie, his small-screen renaissance may not last long, not after Tony specifically told him to forget about the Artie situation and Vinnie still charred his hand. Will Tony do anything about Vinnie’s disobedience?

As for Artie, I’m not sure where this storyline is supposed to go. Artie’s provided a handful of memorable moments throughout the years but, honestly, I just don’t find his character all that intriguing. This week’s episode lacked focus, mainly because Artie was onscreen so much. We haven’t seen much of him at all until now, and yet he monopolized most of the episode. I suppose it’s all a matter of personal preference, and maybe this Artie detour will lead somewhere good when it’s all said and done, but Tony was dead on when, borrowing from the saying that was pinned to his hospital room wall, he told Artie, “You go about in pity for yourself.” Artie’s depressing, and aside from his encounters with Vinnie, he stole some of the show’s momentum this week.

Fortunately, Christopher kept things interesting while in LA. He and Little Carmine have a meeting set up with Ben Kingsley to talk about their ridiculous “The Ring meets The Godfather” movie idea. Kingsley, of course, hardly even pretends to be interested and tries to lose Chris and Carmine by going to a Luxury Lounge. Stunned by the amount of swag heaped upon the stars at the event, Chris later attacks Lauren Bacall, punches her in the face and swipes her gift bag.

I still say Chris is in for some big trouble this season. His crew is supplying Muhammad and Ahmed with all these credit card numbers, which they’re clearly using to get their hands on guns and/or other weapons. We’ll have to see if the bender Chris found himself on while in LA carries over now that he’s back home, but I’m guessing it will. If that’s the case, we’re going to watch Chris’ life quickly unravel and, sometime soon, agent Harris will confront him about his association with Muhammad and Ahmed. Whether or not Chris flips when faced with the prospect of hard time remains to be seen, but I’m saying he’s dead, for one reason or another, by the time the credits roll on the series finale.

Not much else happened this week. The hired guns Tony imported to take out Rusty, as a favor for Johnny Sack, get the job done but at this point, it’s unclear what exactly is brewing in that pot. Meanwhile, we didn’t see Vito, and aside from his screen time with Artie and Vinnie, Tony wasn’t around all that much either. The previews showed that Vito will make his way back next week, though, and we’ll also be introduced to Julianna Margulies, who looks to be Tony’s next fuck buddy. Stay tuned.