A strong episode, among the season’s better ones. Perhaps the best-ever subplot involving Janice as her relationship with Tony and the entire family is further explored. Loved Tony’s childhood description of her along with his newfound respect for Janice for demonstrating the discipline that Bobby can’t. It was one of the rare times that Tony has ever respected Janice as she earns a house while Carm doesn’t earn hers as Tony fears that project will distract her from her motherly duties. Very well-written material. I’m glad that, at long last, it looks like Carm’s ordeal with the spec house is over, marking an end to perhaps the most unrewarding subplot in Sopranos history.
I enjoyed the advancing of Johnny Sack’s plot and the potential conflict this will create. He played it halfway. He didn’t flip, but he didn’t go to trial like a man so that makes for some interesting perceptions of him from his fellow mob members and at least puts forth the possibility that his days are numbered. Thought the scene with his brother-in-law was hilarious: “The coffee with the fuckin’ chicory.”
Also enjoyed the scenes with the landscaper, Sal Vitro. Great comic relief for an otherwise serious episode. “Maybe they stuck tasers on his balls and beat him mercilessly with a rubber hose. Ever think of that?” “No, but of course it makes sense.” Hilarious.
If there was any average part of this week’s episode I felt it was the Vito stuff, largely because I was not convinced that he’d leave, especially when it looked like he had finally carved out a halfway decent life up there. Sure it makes sense on the one hand because he misses his family and his old lifestyle, but I didn’t buy that breaking point would be the struggles of the carpenter’s job. That doesn’t seem like such a bad deal considering the potential disaster that awaits him in Jersey. Of course, him returning sets up the conflict that I’ve been waiting for in terms of how he’s “welcomed” by his cohorts and the decision that Tony and/or them will make in regards to his presence. But I just wanted to be better convinced that he’d leave at that exact moment.
One another negative tidbit: I mean, would it kill them to give A.J. and Junior one line in the two episodes following A.J.’s “attempt” at murder? I mean, is A.J. still a total fuckup? Has he made any strides towards a more productive life? Does Junior have any inkling as to what happened? Beats me.
Still, overall, I really liked this one, especially the understated ending with Tony’s sarcasm. The writer was Matthew Weiner, who had previously done “Mayham,” which is part two of Tony’s coma, which I loved, and “Luxury Lounge,” a.k.a., Artie’s Saga with Dead Rabbits. So once again, for me, each writer is on an every-other-episode-is-good basis.
This season has been good, but needs to finish with a pair of grand slams. It hasn’t earned any leeway. No bullshitting next week. No story about Hesh opening a deli. Let’s wrap it up strongly by delving into and then concluding the quality plots the show has created.
