The Sopranos - Family Values

Review By Dr. Scott

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Season Five, Episode Seven (Episode 59 - IN CAMELOT)

Review By Dr. Scott

Am I the only one feeling frustration about the way this season has been running? A friend of mine, a Dr. Mike, told me the other day that, pound for pound, this season of THE SOPRANOS is paling in comparison to our other favorite show, THE SHIELD. I quibbled with him about this briefly, but after seeing last night’s episode, and having been subjected to last week’s, I tend to agree with him.

This week, we got no follow up to the Tony Blundetto/Kim situation. We learned nothing new about the Christopher/Adrianna situation, to say nothing of the Adrianna/FBI situation. Nothing new on that situation that started last week, with Carmela gettin’ some on the side and getting her heart broken all in the same week. Nope, we didn’t learn anything on these fronts, which– and I may be just stark, raving, fucking mad– are the most important plot threads going right now. I’m getting bored, okay? We need some action, and we need it now.

I’ve stuck with THE SOPRANOS since the very beginning. I know the show inside and out (and, yes, I called that bitch a "capo" when I shouldn’t have, so sue me, you whiny bastards), and I love everything the show does. But I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with this season, especially when one takes into consideration that WE ONLY HAVE 16 EPISODES LEFT IN THE SERIES and, you know, WE HAVE TO WAIT THREE MILLENNIA IN BETWEEN SEASONS. Maybe this is the result of creator David Chase buckling to the HBO pressure to give them not one, but two more seasons. Oh, well. Even "bad" SOPRANOS is better than 75% of everything else on television. Maybe the critic doth protest too much?

So, what did happen this week? Well, we got up close and personal with Uncle Junior, who’s figured out that he can get out of his "house arrest" status by going to funerals left and right. The entire episode, I’m thinking: "Man, that’s gotta be depressing; It’s only a matter of time before he– " And, there it was: Junior breaking down at his third or fourth funeral of the episode, wondering what the purpose of living was. Why, too keep us entertained, June! Come on, chief, stay with me here.

And we got yet another subplot that may or may not go anywhere: Tony running into one of his father’s old flames, a woman who claims to have kinda-sorta nailed JFK and to have known George Gershwin. Whatever. Something about this woman seems....off to me, and I’m not willing to count her as a "friend of the family" just yet. What was the deal with her singing Marilyn Monroe’s "Happy Birthday" to Tony? Was she trying to seduce him? Something tells me she’s after Tony’s money, and that she just happens to be really slick about going about getting it.

The third plotline vying for attention this week involved guest star Tim Daly as a former heroin abuser that acts as Christopher’s support during their time served in AA. Off the drugs, Daly went right into a gambling addiction, ended up getting a shitload of debt piled up against him, and finally borrowing the money from Chris. When he couldn’t pay him, and when he seemed very nonchalant about bringing Chris the $1200/week that he owed him, Chris had to regulate. This subplot led to several great moments in an otherwise boring episode: Daly trying to pawn an Emmy award ("I give you...$15") for money to pay Chris back; And Christopher mentioning that that was, in fact, "Diamond" David Lee Roth a few episodes back sitting in at the poker game. Finally, that mystery’s solved.

So, now, could we get some action, please? I wanna know how this Chris/Adrianna/Feds situation is gonna play out. I wanna see Blundetto getting into some hard core work again. I guess, ultimately, I wanna see a major character get killed off. Kinda validates things, don’t it?

Somehow, I believe that we’ll have to sit through several more episodes before that particular hammer starts falling. The season is now more than halfway over (which I believe, of course, to be bullshit), and things need to be worked out, stages set, for what can only be a blistering final season.

This past week, I received numerous emails from you guys about the Adrianna/FBI conundrum. I wanted to know if the information she’d sent to the Feds thus far would be worth a damn in the long run if she were to be killed. I received many different answers, but a few of you told me that her evidence would be "hearsay" if she were to be, ahem, "whacked". I took a criminology class last semester, and I keep meaning to go...hold on....

Okay, I just called my Criminology professor to get some "legal advice" as far as this article is concerned. He told me that, yes, were Adrianna to be "whacked" then everything she’s told the Feds thus far would be "hearsay". Although, if she’s turned over any physical evidence– tapes, audio recordings, etc.– that would be admissible in a court of law. So, that’s the answer to that question.

I received a bunch of emails this past week, and I believe that I answered every one of them. If, for some reason, you wrote me and didn’t receive a response, then...fell free to call me an asshole. I can take it. Strong like bull! However, to those of you I did respond to, I appreciate all your commentary and advice about the series. One person– whose name I can’t recall at the moment– told me that he didn’t get the "And Next Week on The SOPRANOS" previews at the end of the episodes he watches, and asked me to include discussion of "Next Week, etc." in my reviews. So, here we go.

The preview for next week looks like it brings Tony Blundetto directly into the family, or at least him trying to get involved. We see Carmela telling Tony that they have to lead "separate lives..". There were some quick cuts, the usual intriguing stuff, and then we see Blundetto seemingly making a deal with some mobsters heretofore unseen (at least, as far as I recall) offering him work in what sounded like a "whacking" of some sort. Hmmm, maybe next week we’ll get some much-needed bloodshed? Only time will tell.

As Always, I remain:

Dr. Scott

If you have comments about this review send them directly to Dr. Scott at until_dark@yahoo.com

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