Probably closer to a 9.5, but I really liked this episode. The chain of gossip that ran through the episode, as reflected in both the script and the direction, were stupendous. Watching the various games of telephone progress made for interesting watching and moved a number of the pieces on the board closer together. Whether it was Tony/Ralphie, Meadow/Jackie Jr., or even Carmella/Rosalee, there was an awful lot of great symmetry in how things played out.
There we also a lot of great individual scenes, from Tony's half-flustered/half-suave interactions with the mercedes saleswoman, to the "pack of schmucks" pan past the character in Gigi's crew, to the well-observed advice session between Tony and Uncle Junior. Even Johnny Sack, who's been lurking at the edges of the season for a while now, had a nice little coming out party.
The "He" in "He Is Risen" is Ralphie, (or, I shudder to think given his hectoring of Meadow, Jackie Jr.), but the story of how it happens is an interesting, and the episode did a great job of exploring the fallout from prior events. James Gandolfini is always stellar, but the actor who plays Ralphie has brought so much to the table, and every scene with him and Tony in this episodes were wonderfully revealing of both characters, how they want to be seen, and where they stand with each other. Truly superb.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-07-13T00:31:19Z
Probably closer to a 9.5, but I really liked this episode. The chain of gossip that ran through the episode, as reflected in both the script and the direction, were stupendous. Watching the various games of telephone progress made for interesting watching and moved a number of the pieces on the board closer together. Whether it was Tony/Ralphie, Meadow/Jackie Jr., or even Carmella/Rosalee, there was an awful lot of great symmetry in how things played out.
There we also a lot of great individual scenes, from Tony's half-flustered/half-suave interactions with the mercedes saleswoman, to the "pack of schmucks" pan past the character in Gigi's crew, to the well-observed advice session between Tony and Uncle Junior. Even Johnny Sack, who's been lurking at the edges of the season for a while now, had a nice little coming out party.
The "He" in "He Is Risen" is Ralphie, (or, I shudder to think given his hectoring of Meadow, Jackie Jr.), but the story of how it happens is an interesting, and the episode did a great job of exploring the fallout from prior events. James Gandolfini is always stellar, but the actor who plays Ralphie has brought so much to the table, and every scene with him and Tony in this episodes were wonderfully revealing of both characters, how they want to be seen, and where they stand with each other. Truly superb.