Los Angeles, CA
I spent the last few weeks binge watching every episode of The Sopranos. It was a fun project but I had limit how much time I devoted to recapping each episode. There was so much to talk about. Each season could have inspired its own book, but in the end, who wants to read six books filled with my half-baked analysis? The beauty of The Sopranos is that it could be enjoyed on multiple levels by both the low brow and high brow. It seemed so simple for a complex narrative structure.
I wrote about the previous seasons: Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4 - Season 5 .
I completed the second batch of the final season of The Sopranos. I broke up the final season recap into two parts. Season 6, Part 1 covers episodes 1 thru 12. This recap covers Season 6 episodes 13 thru 21...
S6, Episode 13: Soprano Home Movies... 6am at Castle Soprano. The King and Queen were awoken by the Man banging on the front door. Not the FBI, but Essex County cops hauled Tony off for a gun with hollow point bullets. Flashback to 2004 when Johnny Sack got pinched. Neighbor kid saw Tony ditch the gun and he retrieved it from the snow later that night. Few years later, the kid got pinched for cocaine possession but tried to weasel out of it by claiming the gun belonged to Tony Soprano. The Feds pressured Essex DA to drop the charges because they spent 5 years on building a RICO case... Janice and Bobby invited Carmela and Tony to the Bacala family lake house in upstate New York. You can take the Sopranos out of NJ, but you can't take NJ out of the Sopranos... Bobby gifted Tony an AR-10 assault rifle for his 47th birthday and commented how he only used bow/arrow to hunt deer.... Carmela gifted Tony a b-day BJ (and a set of new golf clubs)... Meanwhile, AJ and Blanca hosted a raging pool party at Castle Soprano... Bacala revealed he never whacked anyone because his father didn't want him to go that route. Tony mentioned that Old Man Bacala, a barber by trade, was the Terminator and a stone-cold contract hitman for the mob. Tony offered Bobby a new position... At birthday dinner, Tony said his father's line: "no presents, just a few kind words." Janice gifted Tony old home movies transferred from Super 8 to a DVD... They cranked out drunken karaoke and played Monopoly (with Dave Brubek playing in background). Bobby wanted to play by the exact rules, but not the way The Sopranos played ("free parking rules")... Janice told embarrassing family stories like time Tony ate a milk bone and the time Johnny Boy and Moma Soprano were driving back from the Copa, and Johnny Boy shot a bullet thru Moma Soprano's beehive when she wouldn't stop nagging him... When Tony made fun about Janice sucking off dudes under the boardwalk, Bobby took offense. Tony an Bobby rumbled in the lake house. Like two bears brawling. Bobby won the fight and Carmlea got knocked around trying to break it up. Tony had a bloody hotel stuck to his face. Bobby crashed his SUV into a tree. In middle of night, Tony woke up Bobby and admitted he won fair and square, but he cited falling on a rug the reason he lost... The next morning, Carmela wanted to leave. Bobby tried to make up and reminded Tony they had a meeting with the Quebe mobsters. Plus, Janice (via the maid) made egg frittata. Eggs always foreshadows death... TONY'S DUCKS: His niece sang a song about ducks, which drew Tony's interest... Tony made up excuses for losing the fight... CATTY CARMELA: Carmela called out Janice for comparing Tony to Moma Soprano... During the meeting with the Quebes, the French-Canucks pitched a prescription drug scam and casually mentioned they needed someone rubbed out. Tony offered to do the hit if the Quebes lowered the price on the pharmies deal. Tony sent Bobby to do the hit (his first-ever hit). Bobby went to Montreal and whacked the guy in a laundry room while white high top sneakers were tumbling in a dryer. When he returned to the lake house, he hugged his daughter and gazed out at the lake... Tony watched the home movies of halcyon days of yesteryear while Ben E. King's This Magic Moment plays as the credits roll.
S6, Episode 14: Stage 5... Chris and Lil Carmine screened a rough cut of Cleaver. One of the lesser known Baldwins took over the lead role as mob boss. The NoJer crew assembled in NYC for a premiere of Cleaver. Chris gave Tony a shoutout for being a main investor. Paulie kept getting phone calls during screening. At the party, Tony told Chris he was proud of him. Larry Boy got pinched by marshals because he was under house arrest... CATTY CARMELA: She was pissy about how Tony was portrayed in Cleaver. Tony was clueless until she it pointed... Chris stopped by Joe Hollywood's apartment and asked him to take credit for some of the stuff that made Tony look bad. Joe Hollywood dropped by Bada Bing and chatted up Tony about Cleaver. Joe Hollywood said he lifted most of the ideas from a William Holden movie... Tony told Dr. Melfi that he always treated Chris like a son, but he felt betrayed by his portrayal of an "asshole bully" in Cleaver. Tony said that Chris' father Dickie was like father-figure/older brother to him so he tried to do the same for Chris. Alas, Tony is well aware that Chris used art to retaliate against Tony for past transgressions... Tony chatted with Phil Leotardo, who finally recovered from a massive heart attack, but he's a kinder and gentler Leotardo, which created a power vacuum in the Lupertazzi family. Leotardo wanted to promote his protege Gerry, whereas Doc Santoro was jockeying for position... Silvio had dinner with Gerry. All a sudden, there's blood splatter on his face. Gerry got whacked, but the sloppy hitman (in black Fila sweats) required multiple shots. Silvio was untouched and he rushed out of the restaurant.... Later on, Silvio said he never saw the hit coming. Was that a little foreshadowing for the final episode? Tony always thought he would either die in prison or get whacked. In this episode, Johnny Sack died in prison while Gerry got clipped in public... Lil Carmine met with Tony, who was pissed that Doc Santoro ordered the hit and Silvio was used as bait. Tony told Lil Carmine to step up and they'd support him. Lil Carmine told Tony about a dream he had about his father and an empty box, which inspired him to stepped aside from head of the family... Incarcerated Johnny Sack developed stage 4 lung cancer and the doc gave him 3 months to live. So he started smoking again. In prison med unit, Sack met a former oncologist who murdered his cheating wife. That doc told Sack that he had at least a year to live because his own doc lowballed his number in order to make himself look like a miracle worker. However, Sack's condition took a turn for the worse and he passed away. Johnny Sack's brother-in-law stopped by Satriale's to inform Tony and the crew... Phil Leotardo had a special party for his dead brother's birthday. The family kids blew out candles on a cake, but they knew very little of their Italian heritage (one of the morons thought Leonardo da Vinci was famous for writing The Da Vinci Code). Leotardo said immigration officials at Ellis Island changed their family name from Lenonardo to Leotardo (shades of Godfather II, when Vito's name was changed from Andolini to Corleone). Leotardo got emo over never properly avenging his brother's death and decided to shed his kinder/gentler ways... FBI special agent Harris stopped by Castle Soprano and asked him to rat out on any terrorists... Episode ended with the christening of Chris' baby daughter, with Tony as the godfather.
S6, Episode 15: Remember When?... The Feds got a tip from a rat and dug up corpse of a dead bookie in basement. The hit happened 25 years earlier. It was Tony's first hit in the early 80s and he did it with Paulie, an order from Johnny Boy Soprano himself. They went on the lam by driving to Miami.. Junior paid off the orderlies (with a Bulova watch) and he ran a high-stakes poker game in the craft room and sold contraband like candy and real soda. He cracked jokes, but the game got busted up. Junior befriended Carter Chong (MIT grad with serious anger issues and overbearing Asian parents), who helped run the game and helped him write letters to Dick Cheney. Junior signed autographs for the orderlies, who sold them for huge profit on ebay... Junior got into a fight with a fellow patient, who ratted out his poker game. The doctor fired the orderly on the take and prescribed him new meds, which made him sleep all day and piss himself. The doctor made Junior wear Depends... Carter Chong was angry that Junior took the new meds, because he didn't have someone to goof around with. Junior gave Carter a Hootie & Blowfish CD... During music class learning a John Denver song, Carter Chong jumped Junior and tried to strangle him. He broke Junior's glasses and broke his arm... Paulie tilted Tony with stupid banter during the roadtrip. They went to crash for the night in VA at an old inn, but it was shut down and replaced by a corporate chain hotel that didn't even serve room service after 11pm. Tony as pissed that Paulie told a guest they were headed to Miami... Paulie told story about him and Johnny Boy getting pulled over by state trooper in the Deep South and they had to pay off the cop $100 to get out of a ticket. Paulie told Tony that the only time he saw his father cry was the night he was born... In Miami, Tony and Paulie met with Beansie the pizza shop owner. Beansie gave them old black and white pics, including a young tough guy Paulie and Junior/Johnny Boy in front of Satriale's. Paulie was telling too many stories. Tony chastised him, "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation"... Tony ordered in a hooker, who thought Paulie was his father. He told her he used to work for Johnny Boy... Beansie set up Tony/Paulie with Cuban wiseguys. Paulie acted like a mook at the meeting, which irked Tony.... Tony bitched about Paulie to Beansie about the Napoleon painting and other stuff, who said he's always been a little off because he never had a wife/kids. Beansie reminded Tony that Tony was all Paulie had in life... Silvio called Tony to reveal that the Feds attributed the corpse to Jackie Aprile, so he was off the hook and could go back to NJ. Tony overheard Paulie watching Three's Company by himself and he felt a lil sorry for him. He suggested they rent a boat (See Vous Play) and go fishing to celebrate, but Paulie was a little spooked and paranoid. He thought he was gonna get whacked. He had visions of the time the crew whacked Big Pussy on a boat. Paulie made lunch, Paulie Rigatoni. Tony tried to get Paulie to admit he told Johnny Sack about Ralphie made fun of his wife. Tony kept looking at different possible murder weapons and considered whacking Paulie... Paulie had a dream that he returned home and found Big Pussy cooking in his kitchen. Paulie asked, "When my time comes, tell me?"... Tony asked Hesh for a bridge loan of 200K, to cover the money he donked off betting NFL... Phil Leotardo had a meal with new boss Doc Santoro. When Doc ate some of Leotardo's sausages, he decided to whack him. Doc Santoro got shot in the eye in front of a massage parlor... Paulie sent Tony and Carmela a pricey espresso maker. Tony walked into the office and overheard Paulie running his mouth and told Chris old stories about fading the Jets during his hottest streak as a gambler... The episode ended with a faded Junior sitting outside barely awake and petting a cat. Shades of both Godfather flicks (Vito petting a cat in beginning of first movie and Michael Corleone sitting in chair at end of second one).
S6, Episode 16: Chasing It... Opening scene: the crew stood around the roulette table at Borgata and watched Tony donk off chips. Tony's losing streak continued with another bad weekend betting the NFL. Tony trashed his office... Tony visited Hesh, who complained about his health issues. and Hesh wondered when Tony was going to pay him back the 200K he loaned him. Tony offered to pay the vig at 1.5 points... Tony spoke to Dr. Melfi about his losing streak. She asked him why he gambled and why he missed his therapy sessions... Hesh stopped by to collect his weekly vig, and Tony was a dick about it. Hesh mentioned to his son-in-law that it would easier if Tony whacked him than paying him back. "Never lend friends money," advised Hesh... Tony went on a temporary rush winning 18K at blackjack in AC, but he donked it all off on a horse named Meadow Gold that woulda paid out 2/1 odds. Alas, Meadow Gold finished in second by a "cunt hair"... Carmela sold her spec house to her cousin Brian. She made 600K on the sale. Desperate Tony suggested she bet on the Jets because he got a tip that the Chargers QB had an injury that Vegas didn't know about it. She refused to give him any cash to gamble because it was "her money." The Jets won big, but Tony only bet 10K because Carmela wouldn't bankroll him. He flipped out on her... Bobby and Carlo suggested that Tony stiff Hesh for the 200K, but Tony refused to do that.... Vito Johnnycake's kid, Lil Vito, turned into a Goth kid, who trashed a cemetery and killed neighborhood cats. Vito's wife asked Tony if he could give her 100K to move to Maine. Silvio suggested a pet dog would be better (and cheaper). Tony thought Phil Leotardo should pay the 100K since he whacked Vito and he was family with Vito's wife... Nancy Sinatra performed at Phil Leotardo's party to celebrate him becoming the boss of Lupertazzi family. Tony told Leotardo about Lil Vito's problems, who agreed to talk to him. Both Tony and Leotardo chatted with Lil Vito, but he wouldn't give up his Goth ways. Leotardo said he looked like a "Puerto Rican whore"... Lil Vito got made fun of in gym class, so he took a shit in the shower and stepped in it... Tony took up a collection and got 100K from his crew, but instead of paying off Vito's wife, Tony chased his gambling losses by betting the 100K on the Eagles. Alas, Tony donked it all off and told her he couldn't give her the funds to move. Instead he paid for a boot camp in Idaho which only cost 18K... AJ popped the question to Blanca. She initially said yes, but then she gave the ring back and broke up with AJ... Tony apologized to Carmela for his weird behavior because he was chasing his gambling losses... Hesh's girlfriend died unexpectedly and Tony brought him the rest of the money he owed.
S6, Episode 17: Walk Like A Man... Tony was singing Pink Floyd when he found heart-sick AJ awake early watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. AJ visited Blanca at work, but got jealous because she moved on. When AJ saw a couple cuddling at the pizza shop, he quit on the spot. Meadow told her parents that she was worried about his suicidal tendencies...Tony dropped a dime on two Muslims, former associates of Chris, who were spotted in front of a mosque. Tony asked Special Agent Harris if he got a "get out of jail free card" but he was told he'd only get a special note in his permanent file that might sway a judge during his inevitable sentencing... Paulie busted Chris' balls because he toasted to him without liquor in his glass. Chris didn't think it was funny... Chris' father-in-law Al Lombardi owned a hardware store and sold boosted power tools via Paulie's deal with Beansie's Cubans. Off-duty cops were their biggest customer. Al Lombardi nearly shot Lil Paulie when he caught him boosting tools for the pipe fitters union. Chris went apeshit, but Tony dismissed him... Chris hosted a huge housewarming party with his wife. Tony gave him guff for drinking non-alcoholic beer. Tony and Chris butted heads over. Tony thought "alcoholism is a disease" was bullshit, but Chris felt otherwise. He told Tony that his father was a low level junkie... At AA, Chris complained about his growing rift with Tony... Patsy Parisi gave Tony a huge-ass envelope because his son Jason booked NFL bets on Rutgers' campus. Patsy bragged about his tech-savvy bookie son, who just built his mother a website. Tony was jealous because his spoiled offspring AJ was an inept, heartbroken, emo college dropout.... Tony told Melfi that his therapy was "a jerkoff" and he wanted to stop seeing her, but he's worried that AJ was considering suicide. "My rotten putrid jeans have infected my kid's soul"... Tony tried to watch a John Wayne movie with AJ. Tony told him he should go hang out at his friend's Jason party at the Bing... AJ went to a therapist. He thought she ended the relationship because his family was wealthy. He admitted to some suicidal thoughts and his new shrink prescribed him happy pills.... AJ went to Jason's party at the strip club. Jason invited him to join his campus bookie biz, but AJ initially declined... CATTY CARMELA: She was pissed that Tony allowed AJ to drink at his strip club. Tony said it was cool because he got AJ to finally leave the house and some boobies in his face did him good. Besides, hanging with frat bros might entice him to go back to school... AJ hung out at Jason Parisi's frat house. They ran into a degen student who owed them money. Jason used AJ to scare the broke dick and said he was Tony Soprano's son, but the broke dick never paid up. They tracked him down at a party. AJ helped them snatch the kid and they drove out to the woods. AJ held down the mook while the frat bros poured acid on the mook's bare feet. AJ kinda liked being the muscle... At a card game, Chris jumped Lil Paulie and chucked him through a two-story window. Tony told Chris he had to pay for Lil Paulie's hospital bills. Paulie retaliated by doing donuts on Chris' front lawn. Tony smoothed out their drama. Chris apologized to Paulie but he started drinking again. He got shitfaced and stumbled over to Joe Hollywood's house, who was in the middle of writing a Law and Order script. Joe Hollywood was pissed that Chris fell off the wagon and told him to call his wife and go to an AA meeting. Chris rambled on about the mafia life and he threatened to bring down the entire empire including Castle Soprano by dropping a dime on everyone. He mentioned that the crew whacked Adriana and Ralphie, but Joe Hollywood told him he shouldn't say anything. When Chris realized he said too much, he put a bullet in the writer's head... Tony heard a car tearing up the driveway at Castle Soprano and grabbed his shotgun. He was happy it was only AJ.They went inside to find Meadow and Carmela having a late-night meal. Tony and AJ joined them. The episode ended with a brief moment of happiness and togetherness at Castle Soprano.
S6, Episode 18: Kennedy and Heidi... During a meeting with Statue of Liberty in background, Phil Leotardo wanted a 25% cut of Tony's asbestos dumping biz. While jamming out to Pink Floyd in the car, Chris suggested Tony should accept the deal because life was too short and they had to dump it somewhere. "Each day is a gift,"remarked Tony. Chris almost crashed into two girls, Heidi and Kennedy, but drove off the road. Chris admitted he'd fail a post-accident drug test. Tony held his nose and he suffocated Chris death. Murder or mercy killing? At the ER, a nurse informed Tony that Chris died in the crash. Tony called Carmela from the hospital and told her the bad news... The crew visited Tony at Castle Soprano. Tony suggested he was speeding, not wearing his seatbelt, and back on the sauce... The next morning, Tony went downstairs and asked Meadow to bring him scotch. Paulie felt guilty over their petty arguments over money... The hospital informed the family that Chris had cocaine in his system. More bad news when Paulie mother/aunt Nucci passed away... TONY'S DREAM: During a therapy session, Tony told Dr. Melfi that he felt relief that Chris died because he was no longer worried about junkie ratting him out. He said that he killed other relatives and friends before and then he woke up... Tony went to get coffee and saw a Cleaver mug. He walked outside and threw it in the woods. Tony had a real session with Dr. Melfi and mentioned Chris' harsh portrayal of him in Cleaver. Tony spewed lots of cliches and didn't real say anything coherent aside from the fact he didn't feel sorrow or grief... Jamba Juice junkie lady showed up at Chris' wake, which was well attended by the crew. Tony was visibly irked by everyone's public display of grief. The two Jasons (college bookies) showed up to pay their respects to AJ and told him to stay strong... Even in death, Chris upped Paulie. Mostly everyone attended Chris' service compared to the low turnout at Paulie's mother/aunt Nucci's service. Carmela and Tony showed up, which pleased Paulie... In therapy, AJ told his therapist that he enrolled in a few classes and wasn't thinking about Blanca as much... AJ hung out at Rutgers with Jason Parisi. They saw the degen mook, who told a female student that car battery burned through his shoe and he had two toes amputated... AJ was shocked when his friends beatdown an exchange student from Somalia and called him the N-word. AJ refused to participate, but he didn't stop them. The incident sent him spiraling back into a deep depression. He angrily ranted to his shrink that "everything is so fucked up"... Chris's wife and mother stopped by Castle Soprano. She breastfed in the living room, which irked Tony. He decided to rage solo in Vegas. The VIP host at Caesar's sent him a plane. While in Vegas, Tony hung out with a local stripper named Soyna, who knew Chris and was saddened by news of his deadly car crash. She said that it was good he left something behind, his daughter. Tony got a flurry of calls pertaining to the asbestos disposal including Phil Leotardo was a dick when offering condolences over Chris' death then hung up on Tony... Tony's sanitation crew dumped the asbestos in the marshes of the meadowlands... Tony and Sonya went on a classic Vegas bender. They also went down the rabbit hole after eating a couple of peyote buttons. Tony puked his guts out and then tripped out on the lighting fixture. While tripping balls, Tony and Sonya wandered through the casino admiring all the pretty lights and other sparkly things like a devil on a slot machine. Tony walked into the pit and told Sonya that roulette had the same principles as the solar system. He went on a sick, sick rush at the roulette table betting the ages of his kids. His horrendous losing streak final came to an end. Chris was his jinx, he deduced. His death ended his bad streak. "He's dead," said Tony. He rolled around the casino floor during an uncontrollable laughing fit... Tony and Sonya drove up to Red Rock Canyon to watch the sun rise. Tony finished up the tail end of his trip and slowly returned to Earth's atmosphere. During a moment of clarity, he finally figured it out, "I get it!" he exclaimed while looking directly into the sun. I've been there man. It's a glorious feeling when you reach that impasse.
S6, Episode 19: The Second Coming... Pile of asbestos rotting away in the meadowlands was intercut with a depressed AJ rolling around in bed.. Bobby checked in on the asbestos removal project but Stefano the subcontractor was so cheap the cleaning crew did not wear any protective gear... AJ asked his shrink why the happy pills weren't working. His class on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was depressing. The shrink suggested he write a short story about the Somalian kid to try to make sense of his feelings. AJ loathed his parents materialism... Tony returned from Vegas and told the crew he did peyote which he described as "nutty shit" and failed to properly describe his transcendental experience. Paulie said he got dosed once at the Copa in 1968 and it looked like Uncle Junior "had laser beams shooting out of his eyes"... Chris' wife and daughter ate dinner at Castle Soprano. Super-emo AJ spouted off environmental hippie bullshit about the beef industry... In English class, AJ studied the W. B. Yeats poem The Second Coming... FBI Special Agent Harris stopped by Satriale's to show Tony pictures of the two Muslims he ratted out... During a meeting in Brooklyn, Tony counter offered 15% of the asbestos biz, but Phil Leotardo wouldn't budge on 25%. Tony reminded him about their tender moment in the hospital when Leotardo had a heart attack, but Leotardo made fun of him when he asked for a compromise... Tony retaliated. Silvio pulled some no-show jobs from Leotardo's crew. They beatdown the foreman and robbed him... Meadow thought she caught AJ watching porn, but he was watching depressing news on Al Jazeera's website. She tried to chat with AJ, but he was nothing but a Debbie Downer. She reminded him that the son was always more important than a daughter in an Italian family... The pool was covered for the winter, but AJ tried to commit suicide by tying a cinderblock around his feet and wrapping a plastic bag over his head. It didn't work, or he chickened out. He actually botched the suicide attempt and got the bag off his head, but got stuck and couldn't get out of the pool because the cinder block anchored him down. Tony dove into the pool and pulled him and the cinder block out. "What's wrong with you!" screamed Tony before he held a sobbing AJ... AJ's shrink checked him into the psych ward at the hospital. Carmela and Meadow sobbed as they wheeled him away... The crew was awkwardly silent when Tony showed up at work. Tony told everyone to talk about it instead of avoiding it. He asked, "What did I do wrong?" The rest of the crew shared their own difficult experiences raising kids in the wise guy world... Carmela and Tony had a fight the next morning. She and reminded him that AJ didn't inherit the craziness from her side of the family, whereas the Soprano Curse affected both his parents, Uncle Junior, and the great-great-grandfather who drove the donkey cart off the cliff. She said it was bullshit that he constantly played the "depression card." She threw her engraved watch at Tony... During a session with Dr. Melfi, she said the botched suicide was a cry for help. Tony blamed Carmela for coddling AJ... Coco from Leotardo's crew intimidated and insulted Meadow while she was on a secret date in Little Italy. She told Tony about how he made lewd remarks and wanted to tuck her in at night. She finally revealed that she was dating Patrick Parisi, Patsy's oldest son. Plus, she revealed med school was too hard and that law school was a bigger passion... Dr. Melfi went to her shrink who told her that talk therapy did not work with sociopaths, in fact they used therapists to hone their con man skills... Tony paid Coco a visit in NYC and beat the piss out of him and knocked out all his teeth. One of them was still lodged in his cuff and he didn't notice it until AJ's group therapy session... In the session, Tony called him a "moma's boy" and AJ revealed a pearl of wisdom from Moma Soprano, "Life is a big nothing" and that "your friends and family let you down"... Lil Carmine paid a visit to Tony and suggested they have a sitdown with Phil Leotardo. When they went to Brooklyn, Leotardo refused to meet with them and instead told them to fuck off from a darkened upstairs window... In a session with Melfi, Tony revealed he took peyote and he experienced there's something larger than life but he couldn't explain what it was. Plus, he saw all mothers are bus drivers, they are the vehicle that gets us there and drop us off, but we keep trying to get on the bus. Melfi was surprised and thought it was highly insightful... Tony visited AJ with a pizza, but they wouldn't let him bring in any outside food.
S6, Episode 20: Blue Comet... The cold open: Silvio strangled Burt Gervasi at his home because he was going to jump ship to the Brooklyn family... AJ's old friend Rhiannon showed up at the psych ward, which cost over $2K per day. AJ finally returned home to Castle Soprano but he loafed on the couch and watched an Iraq war documentary... Phil Leotardo, against the advice of his consigliere, wanted to wipe out the entire DiMeo family including Tony because the "Sopranos are nothing more than a glorified crew." He gave the assassination order to his top henchman Butchie, who in turn set forth a coordinated hit on Northern Jersey's Top 3 inside of 24 hours: Tony, Silvio, and Bobby Bacala... Special Agent Harris stopped by Satriale's and suggested it's "the end of times" and we're all just waiting for the rapture. He tipped off Tony that Brooklyn was planning on taking them out.... Tony ate dinner with Silvio and Bobby Bacala, and everyone agreed that Phil Loetardo had to go before he got to them. Tony and Silvio pantomimed Raging Bull. Tony told Silvio to import a hit crew from Italy. When they brought Paulie in on the plan, Paulie voiced concern because he barely survived the big war in the 1970s... Dr. Melfi's shrink Elliot told their snooty social circle that Tony Soprano was Mefli's patient. During their next session, Tony asked how much she earned a year. Tony said that Meadow decided to not become a pediatrician and opted for criminal law and civil rights instead. Tony and Mefi butted heads and he suggested she sounded like his wife, while she suggested he needed to see a new therapist. After 7 years, she finally dumped him... At Vesuvio, Artie Bucco introduced Tony to the NJ Jets head coach (Mangini)... The Italian hit crew planned to take out Phil Leotardo at his side piece's house. They shot an old man with white hair (father of the side piece and not Leotardo) and they also killed the side piece. The Italian hitman noticed they spoke Ukrainian, but they incorrectly informed the Jersey crew that Leotardo was dunzo... Silvio and Paulie realized the crucial mistake when they saw the shooting mentioned in NY Post and the Italians whacked the wrong guy.... Silvio told Tony about the misfire, but they missed their chance because Leotardo had gone into hiding... Janice stopped by Castle Soprano to inform Tony that Junior ran out of cash and they had to move him to a state mental facility unless Tony helped out. He told her to fuck off and made an Exile on Main Street crack about Janice blowing roadies from the Stones... Bobby stopped by a train store to buy a vintage Blue Comet train set. Two guys whacked him and he collapsed on the train display... Silvio and Patsy Parisi were jumped outside Bada Bing by Leotardo's crew. During the ensuing firefight, Silvio got clipped while Parisi safely got away... Silvio did not die, but he was in a coma in the hospital and the outlook was grim... Tony informed Carmela that she had to evacuate Castle Soprano immediately as a precaution. Tony told AJ that Uncle Bobby was killed and they had to leave the kingdom until things settled down. He asked AJ to not be a pain in the ass, but AJ said he was even more depressed. Tony snapped, dragged him out of bed by his balls and told him to pack. Tony tossed AJ around his room and knocked over a bunch of his old toys... Paulie showed up at Castle Soprano to help Tony pack food and weapons. The remaining crew holed up together at a safe house. Tony unwrapped a weapon, an AR-10, which was a birthday gift from Bobby. Tony had a flashback to the lakehouse with Bobby, who said "you'll probably won't hear it when it happens."
S6, Episode 21: Made in America... The series finale...Tony looked like he was in a coffin, but he woke up at the safe house. A stray orange/white cat randomly showed up at the house. It was the ghost of Adriana who wore a lot of animal prints... Tony and Paulie waited at the airport for Special Agent Harris. He asked him if he knew where Phil Leotardo was holed up, but no dice... Tony visited where Carmela was holed up down the shore. Tony told AJ that they had to go to Bobby's funeral, but AJ was worried he'd get whacked. Tony said they'd be safe because the FBI had everyone under surveillence at mob funerals... The post-funeral meal was hosted at Vesuvio. AJ was all Debbie Downer and chastised everyone for discussing the Oscars when the world was going to shit. AJ quoted Yeats poem, "what rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem." He also said that America was bullshit because everyone comes to America to work hard to buy bling and shit they don't need... Tony visited Janice, who was in mourning and trying to figure out what to do with Bobby's two kids, who don't want to live with her... AJ and Rhiannon listened to Bob Dylan's It's Alright Ma. They hooked up in the front seat, but his SUV caught on fire because he was parked on a pile of leaves... Tony flipped out on AJ. He said it was good because he could take the bus to help end their dependence on foreign oil... Phil Leotardo called Butchie's cell phone to tell him he botched the job and shoulda whacked Tony first. Butchie suggested they have a sitdown with Tony, but Leotardo hung up on him. He started the short call in Little Italy and by the time he walked to the end of the street, he was surrounded by Chinese people in Chinatown... Special Agent Harris tipped off Tony that Phil Leotardo made calls from a gas station in Oyster Bay... Tony called Lil Carmine to arrange a sitdown with some of Leotardo's crew. Tony and Butchie reached a deal in which Brooklyn would back off and look the other way when Tony clipped Leotardo. In addition, they'd pay Janice money for whacking Bobby.... With the big dogs called off, Tony and the crew returned from hiding out. The crew brought the stray cat to Satriale's, but Paulie wanted it gone. All day long the orange cat stared at a portrait of Chris... Paulie went to the Bada Bing to meet Carlo, but he was a no show... Tony gave Paulie a huge promotion as the new head of the Aprile crew, but he had to think about it, which irked Tony... Lil Paulie and Vinny Delpino staked out gas stations near Oyster Bay looking for Leotardo... Janice visited Junior at the looney bin, but he was more senile than ever... AJ saw a new therapist. He said he felt cleansed after his SUV blew up... Meadow's old friend Hunter stopped by Castle Soprano. She was in her second year at med school... Tony and Carmela invited Patsy Parisi and his wife (who can't tell jokes) to dinner at Castle Soprano... Tony saw AJ jogging and started singing the Rocky theme song. AJ mentioned his intentions to join the Army (helicopter pilot training)... Tony told AJ's new therapist about AJ's sudden interest in the army. Tony was conflicted because the military could finally discipline him, but there was a war going on and he didn't want to see him get killed in Iraq... Tony ate sushi with Meadow and he asked her why AJ went off the rails and why she wanted to be a lawyer. "The state can crush the individual," said Meadow. She hated seeing how the Man treated Italian-Americans... Tony's crew finally found Phil Leotardo, who got whacked with his grandkids in the backseat. His wife locked the keys in the car and the SUV accidentally drove over his head... Special Agent Harris was more excited than he shoulda been when he got word about Leotardo's assassination... Carmela and Tony shot down AJ's plan to go into the CIA after his stint in the army. AJ said Rhiannon didn't want him to go either. Tony offered AJ a job as a development executive on Lil Carmine's new film project. If he did a good job, then Tony would invest in a club for AJ... Tony ate a meal with his attorney Mink, and they think Carlo became an informant because his son was arrested for slinging E. Tony's attorney said an indictment was imminent... Tony visited Silvio in the hospital, but he was still in a coma... Tony and Paulie sat in front of Satriale's. Paulie turned down the promotion to run the Aprile crew because the job was jinxed. Everyone who held the position ended up dead. Paulie told Tony about the vision of the Virgin Mary at the Bad Bing. When Tony said he'd give the job to Patsy Parisi, Paulie finally accepted the job. The orange cat sat down in front of their table... AJ got a new BMW and picked up Rhiannon at school. His depressed seemed to magically disappear and he was eating junk food and watching bad TV... Tony raked his leaves and stared up at the trees.... Tony visited Junior at the looney bin. He told Junior that if he ever remembers where he stashed his hidden cash, that the entire proceeds would go to take care of Bobby Bacala's kids. Tony told demented Junior that he used to run all of New Jersey with Johnny Boy Soprano, but he was unresponsive. Tony walked out... Carmela arranged dinner at Holsten's... Tony arrived first. He sat down and looked up at the door whenever it opened and he heard the bell. He browsed the jukebox and put on Journey's Don't Stop Believing. Carmela, wearing a red jacket, sat down in the booth across from him. Guy in a Members Only jacket (looked like a bloated Johnny Boy Soprano) walked inside in front of AJ. He looked like Geno and sat at the counter. He kept clocking Tony. AJ sat next to Carmela and said to Tony they should "remember the good times," advice he once dispatched. Tony ordered onion rings for the table. There was an empty spot next to him, where Meadow was going to sit but she was late because she had problems parallel parking but got it on the third attempt. Members Only guy walked into the bathroom and two black guys looked at the dessert display. Meadow was about to walk inside Holsten's. The bell rang. Fade to black. No music, nothing but blackness. Ten seconds of dead air before the credits rolled. Tony got whacked.
Epilogue: Final Episode... Tony got whacked. Like Bobby Bacala said "You'd never hear it coming." Very similar to the scene when Phil Leotardo got whacked at the gas station and the time when Silvio never saw Gerry's murder coming until the blood splattered on him and it was too late. Even in Goodfellas, Henry Hill noted that he knew he was getting arrested by cops because they were screaming at him. If it was a mob hit, he never woulda heard it.... There's also a heavy 9/11 theme throughout the episode. Never saw it coming.
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Season 6 is dunzo. Thanks for wasting your time with me. Here are other binge-recaps from The Sopranos:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6, Part 1
Season 6, Part 2
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