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"Sopranos Rewind: Stage 5 Posted by Alan Sepinwall April 15, 2007 9:58PM Categories: The Sopranos WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode. A moment of silence, please. I'm in mourning and more than a bit of shock that the show killed off one of the greatest characters in its history. I'm speaking, of course, about Gerry "The Hairdo" Torciano. What? Sorry, my mistake. The late Gerry The Hairdo may have had one of the show's best nicknames, but the classic wiseguy who died in "Stage 5" was Johnny Sack. Where Gerry went down in a hail of bullets in a power play by rival New York underboss Doc Santoro, Johnny had a quieter, more prolonged passing, succumbing to lung cancer in a prison hospital. Vince Curatola, who's gone from masonry contractor to "Sopranos" bit player to one of the show's most essential cast members, called his farewell episode "an actor's dream," and he made the most of it, turning in a master class performance. One superb scene in particular was the first visit by wife Ginny and daughter Allegra, from the way Johnny gently broke the news with his understated, "I'm very, very sick," to the daggers he stared at that prison guard (in freer, healthier times, Johnny would have had that guy's entire family killed), to the look of anticipation right before he smoked his first cigarette in a long time. What a great sendoff for an indelible character. Thematically, though, the key scene was the one where Johnny asked optometrist brother-in-law Anthony Infante, "How will I be remembered?" When you're coming to the end, either as a man dying of cancer, a mob boss who believes you'll soon end up murdered or in the can, or a TV producer trying to bring closure to one of the all-time great dramas, thoughts turn to legacy, as they did so often throughout "Stage 5." Tony congratulated Christopher on making "Cleaver" by noting, "100 years from now, we're dead and gone, people'll be watching this (bleeping) thing." (No doubt a sentiment thrown around the "Sopranos" studios of late.) Then he complained to Dr. Melfi that rather than pass on the connection he had with Christopher's father Dickie, he'll instead be remembered by Chris as a bully. Little Carmine (granted a rare moment of respect by the writers) explained to Tony that the part of Carmine Sr.'s legacy he wanted to follow was the happiness, not being boss of New York. And Phil Leotardo prepared to end his brief retirement (watch out, Doc Santoro) because he didn't want his legacy to be as the guy who didn't avenge his brother's murder. (That Phil still holds a birthday party for his brother years after Billy died, and that Johnny still tells stories about Carmine Sr., shows how much both men value how people are remembered long after they're gone.) While Johnny was dying and Phil was stewing, Tony's relationship with Christopher continued to fracture. Chris is sober again, and he's apparently dumped Julianna Skiff. But he's keeping his distance from the wiseguys, allegedly to stay sober, but also to distance himself from the people (besides himself) responsible for the death of Adriana. Like Tony, I've been visiting with Dr. Melfi long enough to understand the subconscious, and Chris is never going to forgive Tony for Ade's death - or for the affair he believes they had in season five's "Irregular Around the Margins." They can make nice at the screening for "Cleaver" (a project Tony never would have given his blessing to if he hadn't just come out of a coma at the time), and Tony can even be godfather to Chris and Kelli's daughter, but whatever bond these two had is gone. Chris used to boast that he would go into Hell for Tony, and he's been living there ever since Tony ordered Adriana's murder. Not that I think this is where the season is going (more and more, I'm expecting a "life goes on" conclusion with Tony neither dead nor in prison), but something to chew on: After Ralphie killed Tracee, Tony initially got back at Ralphie in less overt ways, like making Ralphie be the one to decide Jackie Jr.'s fate, or stealing Ralphie's girlfriend and his horse. Making "Cleaver" - a movie depicting Christopher's warped interpretation of the events of "Irregular Around the Margins," in which the Christopher stand-in eventually kills his boss and mentor - seems like Christopher acting out on a level similar to Tony's early punishment of Ralphie. Eventually, Tony had enough and Ralphie's head wound up in a bowling ball bag; could Christopher reach a similar breaking point? Could his payback move from the subconscious to the conscious? And how would Tony be remembered if his junkie cousin took him out? Some other random thoughts: - With the death of Johnny, the Tony/Christopher schism and Phil's burning resentment, this was a dark hour, but also a wickedly funny one, and I don't want to shortchange some of writer Terence Winter's jokes. Among the best: Paulie turning the farewell toast to Johnny into a story about himself (and screwing up the lyrics to "Spinning Wheel"), Silvio's deliberate non-reaction to Tony's attempts to discuss the real-life parallels in "Cleaver," Christopher braining J.T. Dolan with his "Human-itis" Award, Paulie's confusion between Billie Holiday and Judy Holliday, and Johnny dismissing Ginny's theory that cancer comes from a bad attitude by asking of 6-year-olds with leukemia, "What's that from? Their negative thinking?" - Continuing the series' long-running theme about the futility of change: Johnny gives up smoking and eats healthier, and he gets cancer anyway. - Well, that was a nice little promotional gimmick that Agent Harris had to go ruin by interrupting Tony as he went to get his morning Star-Ledger. So now that our time on the show is apparently over, what's our legacy? - So Meadow and Finn are splitsville, eh? Not really a shock, as he only proposed as protection from Vito. - The song playing over the final scenes at the New York bar and the christening was "Evidently Chickentown," by "punk poet" John Cooper Clarke, one of the show's weirder, more ominous musical selections. Legend has it David Chase heard the song only once before, while cleaning his garage in 1983, and made a mental note to use it in a show one day. - "Cleaver" star Daniel Baldwin is obviously one of Alec's 400 or so actor siblings, while Jonathan LaPaglia, who played the Cleaver, is the younger brother of "Without a Trace" star Anthony - who just so happened to be Fox's choice to play Tony back when David Chase was developing the script there. Little on this show is a coincidence, so take LaPaglia's casting as a hat-tip to what might have been. - More guest star goodness: Sydney Pollack once again proving he may be a better actor than director with his nonchalant work as oncologist-turned-convict Warren Feldman. His delivery of the anecdote about killing the mailman ("At that point, I had to fully commit.") was hilarious, and his presence in turn inspired this brilliant bit of wisdom from Anthony Infante: "You're right. He still has the knowledge. I mean, O.J.'s no less of a running back, right?" - Guest star oddness: Hey It's That Guy! actor Chris McDonald, who played Chris' new AA sponsor, is arguably too recognizable to be plopped with no introduction into an episode where Chris is schmoozing with C-list actors playing themselves. As usual, our "Sopranos" blog will be filled with extras throughout the week: a chat Monday at noon, an interview with Vince Curatola about Johnny's death, reader response and more. "

http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/04/sopranos_rewind_stage_5.html

4/15/2007 11:04:34 PM

That was great. It is going to be interesting what happens at Johnny Sax'x funeral. Phil looks like he is about to go crazy while Christophers plan to insulate the adrian connection ended up showing Tony exactly what he was trying to not get him to think. not looking good for him either....

It's going to a long week to next sunday.

4/15/2007 11:18:27 PM

I thought the same thing when Carmine gave his little speech to Tony. I was waiting for him to totally sound like a dumbass and he actually sounded halfway intelligent for once.

4/15/2007 11:38:13 PM

"Isaac Newton invented gravity when someone threw an apple at his head"

4/16/2007 11:26:28 AM

Aj's girl sure is a bitch, huh? Kid's getting a taste of his own medicine

4/16/2007 12:14:18 PM

yeah i dont know how good it was for AJ's relationship when his girl saw that line about "he's a boy...you need a man" or whatever

4/16/2007 12:27:07 PM

^agreed. between that and the last episode with her being all excited about the jacuzzi, i started to think about her trying to get a piece of the mob action

4/16/2007 12:33:38 PM

The way they did the scene when Gerry Torciano got shot was the shit. I thought he through his wine on Sil at first



OH yea, and best line.... Tony "There he is. So how was Florida?"
Phil "Hot and sticky... like my balls. "


[Edited on April 16, 2007 at 10:17 PM. Reason : 1]

4/16/2007 10:14:36 PM

How could anyone have been bored with this episode. Phil finally fed up with being weak, the Tony/Chris bond being broken, Johnny Sac dying of cancer (probably one of my favorite alternate depictions of Tony). This was a Soprano's fans wet dream.

4/18/2007 12:04:44 PM

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"Aj's girl sure is a bitch, huh? "

i think she might be pregnant

4/18/2007 12:06:28 PM

this caught me off guard. anyone know how much time had passed between this ep and the one before it? it seems like it must have been several months at least due to the following lengthy events that werent even introduced in previous eps.

-johnny sack diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment (several months?)
-filming/production of chris' movie (several months)
-termination of chris' relationship with the junkie girl (weeks, a month at most)
-carm's spec house finished (months)
-aj grew an ugly beard thing (?)

im not sure if that was a serious question. just some notes on the subject. im guessing 2-3 months minimum passage between the last 2 eps.

4/18/2007 11:43:10 PM

i didnt really get that impression but who knows

i think a couple of those things happened in the offseason...for example johnny sack wasnt in the season premier, was he?

4/18/2007 11:51:09 PM

i would guess that time has passed pretty close to actual time
so, 9 months - a year

4/19/2007 12:45:54 AM

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"-johnny sack diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment (several months?) -filming/production of chris' movie (several months) -termination of chris' relationship with the junkie girl (weeks, a month at most) -carm's spec house finished (months) "

there isnt any indication that all of this stuff had already happened by the first episode. They just dont mention it. Also since there is about a year that passes between seasons usually it is reasonable to assume that one episode covers one month.

4/19/2007 1:12:01 AM

In Home Movies, Tony says "It's been a year" or "over a year" since he got shot to Carm...making the time between when we left off to now at about 6 months or so.

4/19/2007 7:46:59 AM

Right, but not between episodes necessarily.

I just think all that stuff happened in the offseason....and they just didn't show you any of it in the premiere.

4/19/2007 8:00:50 AM

It seemed like some time passed between the first two episodes to me too.

Like you said, Johnny Sac's bout with cancer wasn't mentioned before, AJ's relationship wasn't on the rocks, and I also noticed that Tony's black eye was completely healed.

4/20/2007 6:15:26 PM

Last episode of season 6a it was christmas, first episode of season 6b its summer.

4/21/2007 8:46:24 AM

good observations. i cant wait for the next episode.

its starting to look really bad for christopher.

4/22/2007 2:34:55 AM

i <3 Cara Buono

4/22/2007 12:19:02 PM

I had a dream about what is going to happen in the series.

But I cant remember what happened

I think it had something to do with Christopher positioning himself to kill Tony and get out.

or something completely different. Made alot of sense at the time

4/22/2007 12:48:18 PM

i can't help but thinking this will have a Mario Puzo ending.

his son is basically worthless to him till the end, his daughter is awesome and pretty much the only person that is real, he tries to go legit, a hit is planned on him at a public event, his daughter catches the bullet

4/22/2007 9:51:29 PM

Dick Cheney reference was hilarious. And if i didnt know better i would really think the crazy aggressive asian dude was a reference to VT but i know there is no way.

[Edited on April 22, 2007 at 10:03 PM. Reason : d]

4/22/2007 10:03:01 PM

What was the importance of the joke that Tony kept asking Pauli about?

4/22/2007 10:05:58 PM

Paulie had heard about the joke about Johnny Sac's wife while was in jail and passed it on to johnny sack.

4/22/2007 10:10:05 PM

my uncle played the psychiatrist in tonight's episode

4/22/2007 10:30:25 PM

yeah good stuff, you could def. tell that tony was thinking about it with paulie on the boat but I think it was more to scare him straight. He is still gonna talk but now not about anything important like he was. End of the day, it was just a message to be sent to paulie.

Still haven't talked too much about christopher other than the cleaver business which was rather disappointing. Aren't there supposed to be a total of 6 new episodes? You'd think half way through there would be more going on.

Uncle junior still crazy? Check
Paulie a trainwreck? Check
AJ still a fuck up? Check
Phil crazy as a shit house rat? check
so. what pray tell is the developing plot to end this fantasitic series???

4/22/2007 11:08:15 PM

retard guy when Junior pissed himself

ACCIDENT! ACCIDENT!

4/23/2007 1:58:04 AM

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"so what pray tell is the developing plot to end this fantasitic series???"

the russian from 'pine barrens' comes back and kills off the crew one by one.

4/23/2007 4:15:08 AM

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"Aren't there supposed to be a total of 6 new episodes? You'd think half way through there would be more going on. "

8 episodes.

4/23/2007 7:48:49 AM

8 more then?
good, well they still aren't tipping their hand too much at this point. to me not much is different in NJ, but the NY situation while lightly covered in the plot is clearly could be a powder keg.

as an aside, for movie buffs, the actor who plays phil leatardo, Frank Vincent, is in raging bull as one of the guys that robert deniro's wife is at a club with and joe pesci kicks the crap out of them to get her out of there.
saw it over the weekend and was suprised...

4/23/2007 8:58:11 AM

no, 8 total, 5 more episodes to go.

4/23/2007 9:13:49 AM

Tony was definitely going to kill Paulie. The whole episode was going there. The guy can't keep his mouth shut. That's not a trait you want in your crew. You could tell Tony regretted not doing it at the end.

4/23/2007 9:20:31 AM

maybe it's just me, but every preview for the next episode makes you think there's going to be a lot happening and shit is finally going to go down. then the next episode comes and nothing happens.

4/23/2007 9:47:42 AM

thats what they do for every show on tv

although with 5 episodes left ever, at least we know that some serious shit will in fact start to go down sooner rather than later

4/23/2007 10:07:03 AM

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"Sopranos Rewind: Remember When Posted by Alan Sepinwall April 23, 2007 3:45AM WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode. "Things are going great, finally," says Tony Soprano. "Maybe I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop." So are we, Tony. As this final season has gone on, fans have been waiting to see who will die, who will wind up in jail, who will rat. If a sad, moving episode like last night's "Remember When" is any indication, the wait might not end -- and that might be okay. "Remember When," is an entire hour of shoe-levitation. The FBI digs up the body of Willie Overalls, the first man Tony ever killed. Tony and corpse-disposal accomplice Paulie drive down to Miami to lay low, but everything's fine after incarcerated capo Larry Boy Barese pins the murder on the late Jackie Aprile. On the road trip, Tony's first prolonged exposure in years to Paulie's verbal diarrhea makes him wonder if Paulie can keep his lips zipped in front of the feds should it come to that. On a celebratory fishing trip in the Atlantic, we're cued to believe that Tony is on the verge of sending Paulie to sleep with Pussy, but at the last minute, he backs off, not ready to kill Paulie for something he only might do. There's a murder, as Phil Leotardo's guys give the food-poaching Doc Santoro a Moe Greene Special, but the biggest explosion of violence is perpetrated on Uncle Junior, who takes a nasty beating from his mental hospital protege Carter Chong (guest star Ken Leung). I expect more misdirection like this as the season goes on. Thus far, the murders have involved minor characters like Doc and Gerry The Hairdo, while Johnny Sack had a non-homicidal passing. David Chase and company (in this case, writer Terence Winter) have never liked to do what the audience is predicting. I think we're going to see a lot of characters suffer a fate worse than jail or even death: being forced to confront who they really are. In episode one, it was Bacala who had to abandon the pretense that he could be a made man without blood on his hands. Last week, Tony saw how much Christopher resented him, while Phil and Johnny Sack questioned how they had lived their lives. Here, Junior and Paulie -- Tony's biological uncle and his unofficial one -- come to terms with their decay into lonely, pathetic old men, not useful for much besides dirty jokes and stories about the good old days. Characters have been telling old stories all season, often about the resentment that grows between fathers and sons, or between mentors and proteges. Here, Junior recalls the day his father (Tony's grandfather) made him walk home 11 miles for turning down a 25-cent tip from a rich woman. Carter loses his temper recounting the time his father dismissed a 96 score on a third grade spelling test because it wasn't a 100. Paulie notes that Johnny Boy Soprano gave Tony the Willie Overalls hit when Tony was 24, but Tony quickly and forcefully says that he was 22. It's those details they don't forget. Even in the grips of dementia, Junior knows he walked 11 miles. Carter remembers the exact grade on the test. Tony remembers how old he was when his father made him into a killer (which he in turn would do to Christopher and Bacala). Earlier in that conversation, Tony suggests that Johnny Boy never believed in him. Paulie counters that Johnny trusted him with the hit, after all, but Tony clearly resents that Johnny didn't believe he could become anything but a thug, condemning him to this life. Tony's always been one to dwell on the past, but spending so much time with blabbermouth Paulie takes away his taste for it. Annoyed by Paulie's endless stories -- including one, uttered in front of civilians, about an apparent murder at a Jersey shore house -- he excuses himself from the table "because 'remember when' is the lowest form of conversation." At least Tony still has a present to hold onto. Junior and, to a lesser extent, Paulie don't. Junior tries to recreate the past in the hospital, enlisting Carter to help him run a funhouse mirror version of his old Executive Game, with the patients playing for buttons and non-diet sodas. But he's not as strong as he once was, and faced with the threat of being transferred to a less cushy facility, he consents to a new drug regimen that leaves him a blurry, sleepy shell of himself. Carter, bitter at the perceived betrayal by another father figure -- and perhaps having read "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" too many times -- gives Junior a beatdown. Our final glimpse (ever?) of the official boss of New Jersey shows him sitting in a wheelchair, a cast on his arm, a blank, depressed look on his face, and a cat from pet therapy as his only companion. (Can Dominic Chianese and Vince Curatola share the Emmy? Damn.) Midway through their fugitive vacation, Tony and Paulie are shown a black and white photo of Paulie in his '60s heyday, flexing a bicep for the camera. What we realize instantly is that Paulie is trying to preserve that image all these decades later. He still pounds the dumbbells, even though the skin sags around his muscles. He still wears the same hairdo, even though the hair is grey and thin. He lives alone, has no real friends, is the least-productive, least-respected captain in the Family and he can't stop talking. The only real difference is the amount of TV he watches; in the '60s, he didn't know who Barney Fife was, while today he cackles hysterically at a "Three's Company" rerun. Paulie's just self-aware enough to know that Tony's displeased with him. He has a flashback to Pussy's oceanic murder as he and Tony cast off in their fishing boat, is terrified throughout the voyage and later has a dream (very literal by "Sopranos" standards) where he confronts Pussy the rat to ask, "When my time comes, tell me: will I stand up?" Paulie hasn't had to make that choice yet. None of the major surviving characters have. Right now, Paulie's punishment is simply having to be Paulie Walnuts, just as Tony's punishment is to be the boss of a decaying empire, and having to work with guys like Paulie. Will that be enough for the fans? Some other thoughts on "Remember When": -More foreshadowing that Tony was going to murder Paulie: the three men who took Tony out for a celebratory dinner after the Willie Overalls hit were Pussy (killed by Tony), Ralphie (ibid), and Paulie. -Art inadvertently, awkwardly imitating life: days after the Virginia Tech tragedy, we have an episode (shot months ago) featuring a violent, emotionally disturbed young Asian American man, as well as talk of on-campus violence (another patient at the hospital is a Rutgers professor who stabbed his dean and then slit his wrists in the faculty lounge). -Know your Family: The two gentlemen volunteering to spring Junior were Uncle Pat Blundetto, whose upstate New York farm featured its own buried corpses in season five's "Cold Cuts," and Beppy Scerbo, a member of Junior's old crew. Beansie Gaeta, Tony and Paulie's Miami host, is the pizzeria owner paralyzed by a Richie Aprile hit-and-run in season two. -Not since Junior confused himself and Bacala with characters from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has there been as hilarious a Junior parallel as him writing to Vice-President Cheney to note that they're both "powerful (men) all too familiar with accidental gunplay." "

4/23/2007 10:24:35 AM

that eyeshot to santoro was great

4/23/2007 11:28:23 AM

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"as an aside, for movie buffs, the actor who plays phil leatardo, Frank Vincent, is in raging bull as one of the guys that robert deniro's wife is at a club with and joe pesci kicks the crap out of them to get her out of there. saw it over the weekend and was suprised..."

he's in everything. Goodfellas (go get your shinebox), Casino, etc.

4/23/2007 11:49:32 AM

ahah i know right, you have GOT to know who the fuck frank vincent is by now

also

tony continues his solid streak of fine ass affairs

4/23/2007 1:24:44 PM

4/23/2007 1:32:17 PM

ahah, how have some of you people not realized by now that those previews are misleading and things don't exactly go how you think they will in these episodes.

i loved the boat scene. i've never seen a tv show use the duality of two separate incidents so well: tony and paulie discuss t's first hit like a rite of passage and paulie realizing his death could come just like pussy's. Watching the episode again I like how Paulie has a smirk on his face telling Tony how he was "shaky" on that first hit compared to the face Paulie has when he remembers Pussy's boat trip.

good job for Terence Winter on the past 2 weeks. he also gave us demises on two great bosses.

4/24/2007 10:45:35 PM

finally got a chance to watch the new episode last nite.

wow, was i ever bored to tears. some good parts here and there, but not much substance. it just kind of dragged on.

4/26/2007 8:28:56 AM

i don't see how a fan of the series could have been bored by it.

maybe if it were the first episode you'd watched or something.

it seems like they are dealing with the fates of each character a couple at a time.

episode 1 was bobby
episode 2 was johnny sac (and insignificant others)
episode 3 was junior and paulie

[Edited on April 26, 2007 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

4/26/2007 9:44:00 AM

its just a matter of opinion. i dont see how any fan of the series could think its on par with the past seasons.

everything was just too drawn out for me.

4/26/2007 9:46:41 AM

^^I agree with you. After watching these people for the past nine years, it's kinda cool to see how everything is playing out. Would I watch it over and over? probably not. But I definitely wasn't bored.

4/26/2007 9:55:14 AM

^^

Poor you

4/26/2007 10:24:44 AM

bump for tonight's episode. dont forget to tune in.

4/29/2007 8:56:32 PM

damn vito's kid is fucked up

4/29/2007 9:55:35 PM

hahahaha kid took a dump in the shower

4/29/2007 9:59:17 PM

i must admit i was laughing hysterically

4/29/2007 10:00:10 PM