A 6/10 is probably too low for a series this good, but I wasn't a big fan of this one. I liked Tony's dreamland in the prior episode, but the show laid it all on a little thick in this one. Tony S's exchange with Tony B in front of the house that was an obvious metaphor for death lacked the subtlety of the show's best set pieces, and the dialogue about letting go didn't help much either. There was a little bit of interesting stuff with Tony wondering if he really is Kevin Finnerty, but overall, the dream sequence business should probably have been confined to the prior episode instead of becoming to literal and running out of steam in this one.
Back to the real world, the idea of what happens when the boss isn't around is an interesting one on principle, and in general I liked the idea of Sil being impressed into service and suffering from the stress, while Vito clunkily tries to position himself to take over and Paulie is his usual greedy self. But in practice, it fell a little flat. Neither Sil nor Vito seemed to have much finesse when given more screen time for something meatier like this (the focus on Vito in particular is a little puzzling), and Paulie's hit these beats before. It does give us this sense that as much of an impulsive ox as Tony seems like sometimes, he has a knack for this that few in his crew do, both in terms of strategy and in keeping everyone in line. He's certainly isolated from them, and its striking how quickly his capos are ready to ignore his family with him out of the picture (Carmela was right to be worried about whether or not she'd be taken care of!), but his absence shows him as a necessary part of what makes the operation work.
It was, however, a decently funny episode. Paulie being told to stay positive in Tony's hospital room and immediately saying, "Madonn'! He looks terrible!" cracked me up, as did his presence giving Tony a heart attack. Similarly, while Chris's movie storyline and subsequent conversation with a brain-addled Tony came off a little corny, the scene where he and J.T. pitched his idea to the mobsters was very funny.
I almost forgot about Carmela's therapy session, which, though colored by her husband being near death, is one of the most revealing and honest moments she has on the show. It feels like Melfi is willing to push her a little more than she is Tony (possibly because Carmela's a little less likely to get violent or use his power to try to intimidate her). Her discussion of her kids and complicity and how she chose this life were all very interesting tidbits.
It's a mixed episode overall, but it had some interesting individual components.
was on the edge of my seat when tony went to the pine inn or whatever it was called man i KNEW what was up as soon as i saw tony b. another great episode man i feckin love this so much.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2015-08-04T22:19:15Z
A 6/10 is probably too low for a series this good, but I wasn't a big fan of this one. I liked Tony's dreamland in the prior episode, but the show laid it all on a little thick in this one. Tony S's exchange with Tony B in front of the house that was an obvious metaphor for death lacked the subtlety of the show's best set pieces, and the dialogue about letting go didn't help much either. There was a little bit of interesting stuff with Tony wondering if he really is Kevin Finnerty, but overall, the dream sequence business should probably have been confined to the prior episode instead of becoming to literal and running out of steam in this one.
Back to the real world, the idea of what happens when the boss isn't around is an interesting one on principle, and in general I liked the idea of Sil being impressed into service and suffering from the stress, while Vito clunkily tries to position himself to take over and Paulie is his usual greedy self. But in practice, it fell a little flat. Neither Sil nor Vito seemed to have much finesse when given more screen time for something meatier like this (the focus on Vito in particular is a little puzzling), and Paulie's hit these beats before. It does give us this sense that as much of an impulsive ox as Tony seems like sometimes, he has a knack for this that few in his crew do, both in terms of strategy and in keeping everyone in line. He's certainly isolated from them, and its striking how quickly his capos are ready to ignore his family with him out of the picture (Carmela was right to be worried about whether or not she'd be taken care of!), but his absence shows him as a necessary part of what makes the operation work.
It was, however, a decently funny episode. Paulie being told to stay positive in Tony's hospital room and immediately saying, "Madonn'! He looks terrible!" cracked me up, as did his presence giving Tony a heart attack. Similarly, while Chris's movie storyline and subsequent conversation with a brain-addled Tony came off a little corny, the scene where he and J.T. pitched his idea to the mobsters was very funny.
I almost forgot about Carmela's therapy session, which, though colored by her husband being near death, is one of the most revealing and honest moments she has on the show. It feels like Melfi is willing to push her a little more than she is Tony (possibly because Carmela's a little less likely to get violent or use his power to try to intimidate her). Her discussion of her kids and complicity and how she chose this life were all very interesting tidbits.
It's a mixed episode overall, but it had some interesting individual components.