Maybe I expected too much. After all, this week’s episode of “The Sopranos” wasn’t the season finale, even though the show is back on hiatus until January. Still, I was hoping for some resolution tonight, for closure on some of the storylines that have been carried (dragged, in some instances) throughout this uneven season. But instead of tying up some loose ends before this six-month intermission, David Chase unraveled a couple of new threads tonight.
First, there’s AJ, who hooked up with Blanca, the hot secretary at his construction site. Problem is, she’s 10 years older than him and she has a three-year-old son. But talk about a MILF…wow. AJ even brought her to Christmas dinner, which certainly surprised Tony and Carm. The thing is, Blanca and AJ seem to get along and he’s great with her kid, so maybe we’re about to see him wake up and show some responsibility, which is exactly what T and Carm want, right? In fact, compare AJ’s feeble assassination attempt on Junior to his decision to give his bike to the three guys who woke Blanca’s son up if they took their loud music somewhere else. Talk about growth; a few weeks ago, he would’ve gone out there as Tony Soprano’s kid and tried to take all three of them on. Maybe the apple fell a little farther from the tree than we thought.
As for Carm, she pushed the Ade situation so far tonight, by asking Tony if they could hire an investigator to track her down, that T relented and had Sil lean on the building inspector. “For all our sakes,” he said to Sil, “my wife needs a career.” Sure, Carm’s content now that she’s got her spec house back, but I don’t think this Ade situation is dead. Hell, some commenters on this site think that Ade’s not even dead. I don’t buy that, but Carm’s not done digging.
The one storyline that nearly came to a head tonight was Tony’s volatile relationship with Phil. After Sil and Carlo “accidentally” took out one of Phil’s guys last week, T needed to distance himself from the incident, so he blew up Phil’s wire room as payback for the hit on Vito. Of course, Phil and his crew aren’t fooled: They know Tony’s responsible for both events and one of Phil’s guys even suggests taking out Tony in response. That’s what I’ve been waiting for all season, some bad blood boiling over between these two families, but it’s only been simmering for the last couple of months. Phil taking out Vito last week was bound to turn up the heat, but Phil won’t go so far as to whack a boss. He is, however, open to taking out someone in Tony’s crew. Before he can move on any plans, though, a heart attack lands Phil in the hospital, which led to one of the better scenes of the episode: Tony comes in to visit Phil and opens up about his supernatural experience while he was in his coma, telling Phil that he needs to cherish his grandkids when he gets out of the hospital before calling a pseudo truce by saying that there was plenty for everyone. I’m sure that won’t fly, but it was a revealing scene in that it showed that Tony hasn’t completely abandoned the “every day is a gift” outlook his own near-death experience offered him. It was even more interesting when you remember that Tony ordered a round of drinks in celebration when he first learned of Phil’s heart attack.
So where does this one go next January? Who the hell knows. How will Phil respond once he’s out of the hospital? He could have a change of heart, much like Tony did, or he could continue being a pain in Tony’s balls. With the way some of Phil’s guys were talking tonight, they could become a real problem too. And, if they follow through with their plans to take someone out in Tony’s family, who’s that going to be? Hmm….
And finally, there’s Chris. Okay, so I don’t still think that he’s a rat (though I so still think it COULD happen), but he obviously isn’t all that worried about crossing and/or betraying Tony. Turns out he’s banging Julianna, whom he met at an AA meeting. Wow, way out of the blue on that one. We got a nice little flashback to fill in the gaps, but to everyone who’s been saying this show doesn’t like to surprise its audience, how do you explain this one? Chris knew about the Julianna/Tony connection but, as he told his buddy, “I don’t know if it’s okay, but fuck (Tony) and what he doesn’t know.” That’s a dangerous road to travel, Chris, and it’s even more dangerous when you’re high out of your mind. Turns out instead of watching out for one another, Julianna and Chris enable each other and Chris, once again, tosses himself off the wagon. Let’s see: a pregnant wife at home, a raging drug problem and an affair with the woman that Tony suddenly can’t get. That’s not a good combo. Chris has been spiraling all season, and things look even darker for him after tonight.
So what do you guys think is going to happen? We’ve got six months to talk about it. Any predictions? Are we going to see the kind of bloodbath that so many fans seem to be clamoring for? I still say someone’s going to flip at some point: agent Harris made a return visit tonight (to tell Tony about the potential hit from Phil’s crew), and those Middle Eastern guys are still hanging around the Bing. They’re up to something, and I can’t wait until we find out exactly what it is.
Unfortunately, that wait is now six months long instead of seven days. Damnit.
Let’s just hope the writers can give Vince a love interest without making him look like a bonafide pussy, like they did last season with the Mandy Moore storyline. It was painful to watch, and the way they wrapped up the story, so quickly and conveniently, in the season finale was weak at best, but at least it’s over. Hopefully. Watching Ari build his own agency from the ground up, with Lloyd at his side (that dude’s great), should be entertaining to say the least, and here’s hoping Jeremy Piven continues to make Ari one of the best characters on TV today. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if Terence, Ari’s old boss, will step up his efforts to bring Eric in as an agent. Now that Ari’s on his own, there’s bound to be an ensuing power struggle as Terence tries to keep Ari down, but while it’s pretty clear that Vinnie remains loyal to Ari, Terence may still think he’s got a shot to steal Ari’s #1 client. Considering Eric is dating his daughter (did I mention how hot Sloan is?) and he offered Eric a job last season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Terence step up his recruiting efforts.
