Season 4, Episode 12

After last week's somewhat disappointing episode, I think this one might be one of the classics. At least I hope it will be!

Will we be seeing an assassination attempt on Tony? A power grab by Paulie? A confrontation with Furio? Junior going to prison for good?

Possibilities abound...

hahahhahah we know you just wanted to start this tread for tonighht early..come clean!

you were dying and couldn't wait till Sunday came so noone would bust you for starting it to sooon....we know you can't fool us....by the way stay away from my sister!

Yeah, I came home from work at about 5:30AM, was still wide-awake, and just had to peruse the boards. And when I saw no one started the thread for this episode, I just HAD to do it!

I'll stay away from your sister, as long as you tell yo' momma to stop pagin' me!

I thought I was gonna start this one this week! If this is a bad episode, it's all your fault!

Talking about a mans mother will get you the same thing Carlo got. ..by the way, isn't time to caught your plane to the airport....

Meet me at Louie's Restaurant, Camillus. It's perfect. Good food, everyone minds their business.

oh yes, that would be good, You order your veal, while I step out to use the mens room....

Good episode.. what did Johnny Sack mean about Carmine?

I just finished watching it..the show started off slow but got more interesting as it went on..A 75 minute finale is just what I need. and the kid from doogie howiser makes his bones it looks like. i like this episode tonight..sets the mood for the next one.

We started out slow and for the first twenty mins or so I thought Oh NO we looked like we were headed for the crapper again.

Then the first twister came with Furio and the helicopter....just with the look in his eyes and the the grab, made your mind start to think for a second. But the truth be known you know that Tony isn't going, at least not this soon.

Then when you think Carm and Furio will get together..bam...switch a rooo.

New York puts a little pressure on and you think things will heat up with a little tit for tat. Just when you things things are starting to move along they jam in crap about Meadow and her roomates...We missed her last few weeks, and if this is the way she is coming back, then I for one would rather see her gone, along with that shithead AJ....even tho the fart was alittle funny.

Paulie made some great moments this week, with his Mom and all and Hey you wanted someone to get whack!....Who better that that old broad.

Paulie first with Silvo and then finds that he is getting played by Johnny Sack...And that Sack of shit Johnny Sack is playing everyone and now hinting about getting rid of his own boss... Carmen.

Even tho the night wasn't great, it sure was better then last weeks by far, but I really was looking for more for the next to last night of the season....

Next week they show someone getting shot, but as always who can trust the previews....No one is happy and you see shots of Chris who looks alot better then when he left for rehab.

Still to many loose ends and no Fbi with Chris's girl...Big deal 75 whole mins next week after giving us a short one last week...big sports!

Meadow looked great tonight.

I miss Ralphie.

The only one whacked this week was an old lady?!

Some loose ends are being tied, but mostly via the easy way out apparently. Paulie's back on the Soprano side after Sack screwed him. This avoids any serious problem (and excitement). Furio moves away. This avoids any potentially serious problem (an excitement). Guess those two can't get whacked? Ritchie and Ralphie were, and they were two great characters.

Looks like Melfi is in next week's episode. Big shock there.

I don't know. This week was better than last week (a rerun of Silver Spoons is, too) but at least I know next week SOMETHING good has to happen. At least it better. They'll have 75 minutes to try to excite me next time.

jg

Being what I consider a die-hard Sopranos fan, it's tough to be negative about how the season is going. However, last week's episode was so pointless I didn't even bother posting about it. Like a couple of you have said, I thought tonight was going to be a re-hash of last week's nightmare. And it was slow on the front end...in fact, it hardly had a stellar finish...but I think it redeemed itself over all in the storylines and sub-plots. It left me thirsting for more, and that's something I desperately needed after last week's disappointment.

A 75 minute finale'? Yeah! I can get into that! No predictions from this cowboy, though... the way it's developing, anything is possible!

And, yeah, Meadow indeed looked beautiful!

A definite pick up from last week. The big surprise from this episode is Furio going back to Italy...Anyone else think 40% is a bit too much on the Esplanade deal?...Carmela's bitchiness was a bit irritating and I didn't think she would be so broken up about Furio...Johnny Sack is one cool customer and its pretty interesting to note that Carmine wanted him whacked and now its the other way around...The season finale looks really good but why not make it an hour and a half?

Waaay too much, Don Jasani! You know, I liked ol' Carmine in the earlier episodes. He seemed reasonable, logical, and smart...almost like ol' Vito Corleone himself. But now? I think someone should take the old geezer out of the equation...I just hate it may be that weasel, Johnny Sack. I knew that slippery jerk was just playing both ends against the middle! Reminiscent of John Gotti and poor old Paul Castellano.

Snake, I knew someone was with me on that one. Johnny Sack is power hungry and it could cost him but I don't think he'll get whacked because he is Tony's main link to N.Y. and getting rid of him would require too much plot re-working. All we really know is that someone is definitely getting whacked next week and who its going to be is anyone's guess.

I wouldn't be surprised if Carmine got whacked. He has always been a secondary character, and Johnny Sac pretty much runs things anyway. Maybe Johnny will do him Castellano-style. Painting that penis on the painting that hung in LaGuardia's office was pretty funny, and I thought that AJ's fart was great too (I used to do that to my kid brother to get him out of my room). I also wouldn't mind if Meadow's boyfriend Finn got whacked. He's a tool.

Can't wait til Paulie kills the whole age home.

That's what all 75 minutes will contain.

Oh hellllllll yeah! Paulie takes down all them old ladies! Don't mess with the Walnut-Man!

I thought this episode was rather boring.

Like someone mentioned earlier, Tony & Carmella spending time with meadow(she looked good though, but then she always looks good ) was rather stupid IMHO. What purpose did that serve?

I miss Ritchie.

meadow didn't look so great to me...she could stand to lose about 20 pounds.

I think the point of the scene with Meadow and her roomates was to show the divergent paths being taken by members of Tony's real family, contrasted with the divergent paths being taken by his crime family.

This weeks show was alot better than last weeks thats for sure. I cracked up when then spray painted that dick on the picture. The look on Carmines face was priceless. And I cant believe Paulie killed that old lady, but shit happens I guess. Ya know I've noticed something over the years. Every time Paulie gets into a fight or someting, he gets cracked right in the nuts . Have any of you guys noticed that?

They lost the momentum very quickly after Ralphie got whacked a few shows back. Back to back episodes of nothing. The one thing that they established in the last two weeks was giving Carmine a little more screen time. This way you will know who he is and think he is a main character when they whack him next week.

I guess Adrianna is on the lam ever since Chris whacked her dog.

Hi,
Next week a 75 minute season finale. I saw the whole plot with Carmine coming a mile away. Carmine has to go and Johnny will have both him and Carmine's son whacked. Johnny will be the new boss of the NY family. Sac played Paulie and Paulie now knows. Paulie will not whack Sac. I have a feeling Paulie may try a hit on Tony. Remember when Sac and Paulie were talking and Paulie said he wouldn't mind being boss. Furio is gone so far but characters come and go. Look at Janice. She came back after leaving(Nancy Marchand's death helped). Uncle Junior will walk.

Paul

[QUOTE]Originally posted by plawrence:
[QB]meadow didn't look so great to me...she could stand to lose about 20 pounds.QUOTE]

Plawrence, plawrence! Surely you're joking. She's in shape, not overweight. (Madonn', this is why girls become anorexic. Sigh.)

Anyway, excellent episode, I thought, with Johnny's duplicity revealed at last, and the diffusion of the desperately unhappy Furio/Carmela situation; whew; the only way to put out that fire was with the entire Atlantic Ocean. Good. And Meadow's assumption about the situation was intruiging; she could intuit what her father and brother could not (fortunately, for Furio's sake, after he's gone!; it will be interesting to see if she reveals her suspicions to her father).

You know, I thought Tony's dreams last week indicated he felt inarticulate and powerless, especially after he suspended his therapy; I thought perhaps we'd see him resorting to force rather than negotiation. But interestingly, it didn't happen this week, even with the Carmine incident; he put a halt to retaliation.

Which makes the show hard to predict, as always; which makes it very interesting, again, as always.

Maybe that's where he gets the name "Paulie Walnuts"

A really good episode; not a classic, but really solid overall.

Johnny Sack is what made this one. The guy is such a nefarious snake, it's incredible. First, he subtly plays both Carmine and Little Carmine so that the peace overtures from the Miami meeting are shot (the golf course scene).

Then, he has that sit-down with Tony and Silvio where New York refuses to budge on the 40% share of the HUD scam. Who else thinks Carmine had NO IDEA about that sit-down? Johnny's intent was to keep fanning the flames of the cold war between Carmine and Tony, further vilifying Carmine in Tony's eyes.

Johnny encourages Carmine to "break Tony's back", subtly infuencing Mr Lupertazzi to call in the union and halt the riverfront esplanade project.

THEN, after that, he secretly meets with Tony and puts all the blame for the bad feelings on the old man, Carmine. And on top of that, he now wants to assassinate his boss with Tony's help!

Wow. John Sacrimoni is a master manipulator... but there's a possible monkeywrench in the works now: Paulie.

Paulie, by a chance encounter with Carmine, now realizes that Johnny has been playing him like a fiddle. Paulie now realizes who his real friends are, which may be the fly in the ointment for Johnny's master plan, whatever that may be...

As for other highlights of the show: Furio almost killing Tony was remarkable. But he put the brakes on at the last second, and realized he had to get away. Not quite the way we thought the Furio-Carmela thing would go...

Paulie killing Minn was nuts, but so typical of Paulie. He wanted to get back on Tony's good side by any means necessary, so he certainly wasn't above stealing the old biddy's stash. Minn was a creepy-looking corpse, wasn't she?

AJ's line was funny: FART! "Oh, dude! Meeting over!"

And Brian, the accountant, may have had one of the most subtly funny lines ever. When he finds out his drunk ass is gonna be lifted home in a chopper, he starts drunkenly singing the melody to a song in "Apocalypse Now", when the US soldiers fly in by helicopter!

It was a good one, and I can't wait for next week...

I too enjoyed last night's episode. I thought it was one of the better ones. For some reason I can't say Carmine's father (Sr.) looked familiar to me. He must not show up too often, or between the long waits from season to season rental, I forgot about him.

The surprise to me was when Furio grabbed Tony by the airplane!! When Tony said Furio called to say he was moving back to Sicily, I first thought maybe Tony whacked him. Is it just me or does everyone else think 40 per cent cut is too much of a cut for those houses ? Is there a reason that it should be that much??

Overall, I like the episode and am looking forward to next weeks finale.

TIS

Well, TIS, I can only speculate, but I got the impression that the outrageous amount was punitive for Tony continually keeping Carmine out of the cash loop on the HUD scam.

What I've always wondered was why Tony had to give Carmine anything. I mean, unless it's a deal they're actively working together, why should he pay him? Just because they both used the alderman (Zellman) at times? That was Carmine's excuse, but it seems a pretty shaky argument to me. I understand Carmine is a big boss in NY and supposedly more powerful than Tony (who's described as not having a family, but just a "glorified crew"); but Tony's in New Jersey, so...??

I guess that's my point too Snake, why did Tony have to include Carmine in the first place?

Another thing, what's up with Carmines son? Is he playing Tony saying he'd talk to his dad. What is his "position" in the scheme of things? I can't figure out his character. You would think he'd side with his father with the 40 per cent????

TIS

Carmine's son is funny. He seems like he looks up big words to sound smart but totally pronounces them wrong. I think in the last episode he used the word "debacle," but pronounced it DEH-buhkle.

Carmine Lupertazzi's son, Little Carmine, obviously isn't all that bright a guy. In fact, didn't Junior refer to him in an earlier episode as "Brainless the Second"? He has more ego than smarts, it seems.

When Carmine Sr says that he would've been proud to call Tony a son, Carmine Jr's emotions of shame (his father obviously is disappointed in him) got the better of him, and he forgot about business. Instead of concentrating on business (which would've been smoothing things over between the New York Family and the North Jersey Family), Carmine Jr tried to verbally cut Tony down, which furthered the rift between Tony and Carmine.

Yeah the 40% is on the HUD scam not the Esplanade as I thought for some reason, whatever its still too much. Carmine Sr. calling The Soprano Family a "glorified crew" was pretty funny and I second Don Corpuzzi's thoughts on Little Carmine. Last week he mispronounced Versailles and in the last episode it was debacle. I hope he sticks around just for the comedic factor.

Don't forget that Tony is very "allegorical"

whatever that means.

Meadow is getting raped next episode...

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell Little Carmine was trying to convey when he said Tony was "allegorical"!