Posted By: MaryCas
Re: Season 5, Episode 3: "Where's Johnny?" - 03/22/04 01:52 PM
Its kind of hard to catergorize the first three episodes. As you can see our comments cover a wide range. I like them. I think Chase has a big challenge by introducing several new characters and keeping old plotlines developing. No doubt the tension is building up; Sack and Soprano, the NY family, Chrisopher and Tony, Christopher and Adriana, Adriana and FBI, Paulie and Feech, Tony B and Tony S., Janice and Bobby. Kind of like the Ralphie/Tony tension of last season, but more potential combinations.
Frank Vincent was excellent. Feech is bit overdone, but Robert Loggia can sell it. Episode 3 - no Melfi, no Carmella, no Meadow. Lots of Junior - last scene was touching. Having lived through my mother with Alzheimers, I know how the beginning stages can be very frustrating and confusing for the family.
A side point: One thing that seems a little unrealistic. All these old guys beating people up; Johnny Sack last year (?) beating up one of Tony's guys in Little Italy, Feech pummeling Vittro, Paulie smacking the LaManna guy. What happened to the muscle-guys doing the dirty work. For a 70+ year old guy, Feech didn't even break a knuckle.
Posted By: ChrisY2J
Re: Season 5, Episode 3: "Where's Johnny?" - 03/23/04 02:05 AM
Another solid episode. Again, not a great one, but still quite good and immensely entertaining. This one, "Where's Johnny?", is the best episode of the three we've seen thus far.
It starts with Tony catching up on some work at the Bada Bing. His cousin, Tony Blundetto, is working as a delivery driver for a cleaning service place, and he is making his daily rounds when he stops in the Bing to make a drop-off/pick-up. Tony B and Tony talk a bit. My earlier suspicion that Tony B is bitter towards Tony for having to do 15 years in prison seems to be true. They allude to a hijacking that went wrong, that sent Tony B to prison.
Tony B also mentions that he had been speaking with Feech LaManna, and it's clear that Tony doesn't approve of this. Remember in the previous episode, Tony and Hesh were watching Tony B and Feech chat at the Bing, and neither looked happy.
During his conversation with his cousin, Tony takes a couple of half-playful slaps at Georgie, the Bing bartender who has been Tony's punching bag for years. Georgie shies away like beaten dog. I wonder, when is Georgie finally gonna snap like a rubber band from all the abuse he takes?
Later that day, Feech and Tony B are driving after having lunch. Feech starts to speak candidly to Tony B about his cousin Tony (calls him the "boy-king"), but stops when he notices some "business" he has to take care of. Feech pulls over and confronts a landscaper, Salvatore Vitro. Feech lets him know that his landscaping company (run by his nephew, E. Gary LaManna) now owns all the accounts in the neighborhood, that Vitro is, in fact, out of business around that part of town. Vitro tells him to fuck off, and he pays for it. Feech goes crazy, kicking Sal in the nuts, then beating him bloody with his fists. Feech sadistically drags the pummelled Sal over to the curb by his balls, then stomps on his arm, breaking it badly. Tony B, alarmed, intercedes, and Feech finally stops, and they drive off.
Overall, the beating Feech puts on this poor landscaper makes the beating Richie Aprile put on the pizzeria owner Beansie Gaeta in Season Two look like a Swedish massage. Nasty stuff.
Junior is at home, watching TV with one of his crew members, an old mobster named Tommy. Junior, clearly confused, is watching the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and thinks that HE is on TV! (Pretty funny; I wonder how Larry David likes that he and Uncle Junior look alike?)
Bobby Bacala has a meeting with Tony at the Bing. Bobby was promoted to capo of Junior's crew a year ago, but has yet to reap the rewards of the new position. He asks Tony for added responsibilities, a chance to earn more, besides picking up medication for Junior. He has to take care of his two kids and Janice, his new wife. Tony asks how Janice is doing, Bobby tells him she has been sleeping a lot, prone to depression. Tony starts to warn Bobby about his sister, but decides not to. Tony promises to give Bobby more responsibility.
Paulie and his mother, Nucci Gualtieri, visit Paulie's Aunt Mary. His aunt lives in the neighborhood where the landscaper Sal Vitro used to work. Paulie learns of the beating Sal took, and finds out that it was because Feech LaManna is muscling in on the landscaping territory. Paulie decides to do something to help Sal out.
New York loan shark Lorraine Calluzzo and her bodyguard Jason Evanina pay a visit to a bartender who owes her money. In the middle of the collection, the door opens, and New York mobsters Phillip Leotardo (the capo played by Frank Vincent), Joey Peeps, and Billy Leotardo walk in. They are here to deliver a message: Lorraine is to kick her points up to John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni, NOT Little Carmine Lupertazzi, like she has been doing. Phil slaps around Lorraine as Billy pins Jason to the floor, a gun to his head. Joey duct-tapes Lorraine to a chair. Phil gets ready to shoot Lorraine, using a phone book held to her chest to muffle the noise of the shot. Lorraine, panicking for her life, says she'll do anything, promising to blow the New York mobsters if they'll let her live. Phil comes up with a great line, saying to Jason, "She'll suck our cocks? Is she any good? What am I askin' you for? You probably showed her how!" Phil pulls the trigger of his low-caliber pistol, but the bullet doesn't go through the entire phone book. The whole thing was a mock execution meant to scare Lorraine into getting with Johnny Sack's program.
The next day, there is a meeting at the office of Junior's lawyer, Harold "Mel" Melvoin. Attending are Tony, Junior, Lorraine, Jason, and Angelo Garepe. Angelo was the late Carmine Lupertazzi's consigliere for over three decades. He is one of the oldtime mobsters who just got out of prison. The subject of the meeting is the big problem between Little Carmine, the late boss's son, and Johnny Sack, the underboss. Carmine never named a successor, and now his son and his underboss are butting heads over who should be the new boss of Brooklyn. As Angelo says: "There is a lotta potential for bloodshed." Tony recommends that the new leadership be a triumverate (though he can't say the word!), a division of power between Johnny, Little Carmine, and Angelo. Angelo is dubious over this, but Tony promises to sell it to Johnny Sack.
During this meeting, Junior is showing further signs that he is losing his mind. He says of his nephew: "He never was a varsity athlete." Tony and the New York mobsters note this peculiar behavior, but say nothing, thinking Junior is just being a ball-buster.
Paulie meets with the injured Sal Vitro, who is now out of work thanks to the LaMannas. Paulie tells Sal he will intercede on Sal's behalf, but for a price. Sal reluctantly agrees.
Paulie meets Feech at the old mobster's bakery. They discuss the issue of the landscaper. Paulie tells Feech to back off of Vitro, let him have his business back. The discussion gets heated, until Feech explodes at Paulie, "What's yours is yours, Paulie! But what ain't, belongs to ANYBODY! Now do yourself a favor, and get the fuck out of here!" Paulie glares at Feech venomously, but leaves.
Tony drives his son AJ and his sister Janice to Junior's house for the traditional Sunday dinner (but not before picking up the catered food at Vesuvio's that Janice "cooked" for everyone!). As they drive, Tony lets Janice know that she can help her husband Bobby earn more money by helping out with Uncle Junior, thus freeing up Bobby to do more with work. Janice whines about being too busy with the house and Bobby's kids. Tony points out that their sister Barbara has no problem helping out, and she lives in upstate New York. Janice retorts that, "Barbara's kids are normal", inferring that Bobby's kids aren't, mentioning Bobby Jr's bedwetting (which AJ smirks at, the little shit that he is). Of course, Janice had a hand in messing up Bobby's kids (that whole Ouija board thing from last season), but she won't mention that! Janice also starts sympathizing with their late mother, the evil Livia.
In Vesuvio, they pick up Sunday dinner. Tony walks in the kitchen and buries the hatchet with Artie. Artie is in the same boat as Tony, separated from his wife. He has been living in a motel. Tony invites Artie to live in the spare rooms at his home. Artie gratefully agrees.
At Junior's Sunday dinner commences. Junior makes a comment to everyone at the table, again saying that Tony "never had the makings of varsity athlete." This has been a sore subject with Junior for Tony for years (he told this to Melfi in the first episode of the first season). Tony gets angry and tells Junior he doesn't want to hear that again. Barbara and her family arrive for dinner. One of the first things Junior says to them is the "varsity athlete" comment. Tony flies into a rage and storms out in the middle of dinner, taking AJ with him. Dinner continues in silence.
While visiting his Aunt Mary, Paulie sees the injured Sal Vitro, and feels bad that he wasn't able to help out the landscaper. Because of the financial crunch the LaMannas put on his landscaping business, Sal had to fire his help and have his son (who WAS in college) work for him for free. Paulie decides that action will speak louder than words.
That night, Tony meets with Johnny Sack to discuss the problems with Little Carmine. Johnny explains his reasons for roughing up and intimidating Lorraine: he wants to make it clear to everyone, especially the capos, that HE is in charge, not Little Carmine, and that payments upstream should continue as usual. To HIM, not Little Carmine. Tony runs his power-sharing idea by Johnny, presenting it as Angelo's idea. Johnny completely rejects the idea. Compromise between Johnny and Little Carmine seems impossible, and Tony is the unenviable position of trying to mediate.
The next day, Bobby arrives at Junior's house. He discovers that Junior's associate Tommy is watching TV, unaware that Junior left the house and has disappeared. Bobby freaks out. He begins making phone calls to everyone, including Junior's ex-girlfriend Bobbi Sanfilippo (the woman whose face Junior mashed with a pie when he dumped her). He cannot find Junior anywhere, and is beginning to panic. Bobby calls Janice for help, asking her to come over to the house while he searches for Junior. Janice doesn't want to get off of her fat lazy ass.
Meanwhile, Junior is wandering around the streets of Newark. He walks into a building that his late brother Johnny Boy Soprano (Tony's dad) used to use as a place of business. It is now a church in the now-predominantly black community. He wants to speak with his brother Johnny. Clearly, Junior os losing it. They show Junior the door, and he continues wandering the streets.
Paulie is driving to meet with Gary LaManna. As he drives, he is listening to a book on tape of Sun Tzu's "The Art Of War" (hilarious!). Paulie demands to speak with Gary, who is standing in a tree, chainsawing limbs. Paulie demands that they pay for Sal's medical bills. Gary and his workmate Jimmy tell Paulie to "eat shit". Paulie then grabs a shovel. He knocks out Jimmy with a hard blow to the back of the head. Jimmy falls over, letting go of Gary's safety harness. Gary falls from the tree and hits the sidewalk. Paulie empties Gary's wallet and steals a lawn mower. (this is one of the funniest things I've seen Paulie ever do!)
Tony is getting ready for a big lunch meeting in New York. Christopher is driving him. Tony tells Chris not to bring up the subject of Little Carmine to Johnny Sack. At the end of his rope as far as finding Junior goes, a panicked Bobby finally calls Tony. Tony, still angry with his uncle over the "varsity athlete" slight, tells Bobby he doesn't care where Junior is.
Tony, Christopher, and Vito Spatafore (now in the charge of the Aprile crew once run by Ralph Cifaretto) meet with Johnny Sack and his associate Joey Peeps over lunch in Brooklyn. Johnny is talking about the younger Lupertazzi. Against Tony's orders, Chris starts talking with Johnny about Little Carmine. He attempts to play consigliere, trying to smooth things out between Johnny and Little Carmine. Johnny becomes enraged, and laces into Christopher, "Ya know, I remember there was a time you used to wait in the car. I think you should STILL be there!" Johnny and Joey walk out of the meeting.
As they drive back to New Jersey, a furious Tony vents at Christopher for his screw-up. It's Tony's intention to let Little Carmine and Johnny Sack fight it out, so the Soprano Family can pick up the pieces. He doesn't necessarily want a peaceful resolution to the Lupertazzi-Sacrimoni conflict, and Chris' actions during lunch could have fouled up that plan. And now Johnny is even more angry with Tony. Tony says, "Now I gotta do something nice for him."
In another of their clandestine meetings, Adriana tells FBI Agent Robyn Sanseverino about the intricacies of Italian blood family relations. Adriana asks how long she'll have to keep being a snitch. Sanseverino tells her that a major RICO case against Tony Soprano would take years to build, and she cites a recent RICO case against a New York mobster named Joe Macino.
Meanwhile, Junior is still lost. He sits on a curbside bench in a rough part of Newark. An older black woman, maybe homeless, maybe a crack addict, sits next to him and strikes up a conversation. Confused, Junior asks her if she knows his brother Johnny and "did we have relations?" She offers him a "date" (what "I'll give you a half-and-half in the back seat" means, I don't wanna know!), but he wanders off once again.
Later, when it's dark out, he is still aimlessly wandering around the streets of Newark (reminds you of real-life mobster Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, doesn't it?) in his bathrobe and slippers. Two Newark cops in a cruiser spot him as he trips over a trash pile and bangs up his knee. The start to drive over to him. Junior spots the cops and tries to hide from them behind a dumpster. After some disjointed conversation, the cops ask him his name. When he says, "Corrado Soprano", the cops look at each other, startled. They obviously know who the Mafia don of North Jersey is, but don't believe it's this confused old man in front of them. They bring him along in their car and drive him home.
Janice and Bobby to go to Livia's old home (where Tony is now living, with his new roommate Artie) to tell Tony about the problems with Junior. He's still missing, but Tony, still angry over what Junior said to him, doesn't care. When Janice starts in on Tony and says, "And you wonder why you live here alone without your family?", Tony focuses his anger on his sister.
In a huge tirade that has been long overdue, Tony lets Janice have it with both barrels. He accuses her of shirking her responsibilities and running away, leaving him to deal with their awful mother for decades. "Free spirit Janice, rebel without a cause, while I was mired in her bullshit, trying to be a good son, while you were off dropping acid and blowing roadies!" Bobby is watching all of this argument, gape-jawed, and when Tony says this, his reaction is priceless: "ROADIES?!"
Janice is shaking with anger, so you know Tony's words are dead-on accurate. Tony accuses Janice of being exactly like Livia, saying how Livia destroyed Johnny Boy Soprano's life. Pointing to Bobby, Tony snarls, "You're gonna do to this man what you do to every one of 'em!" Janice snaps and attacks her brother, slapping him and screaming. Tony wraps his hands around her neck and chokes her. She cries out in pain. Bobby and Artie step in to break them up, and poor Artie gets an elbow in the eye from Janice for his efforts. Janice runs out of the house, crying and screaming. Bobby is standing there, a look on his face that says, "What the HELL did I just marry myself into?" Tony glares at Bobby before he leaves, and says to him, "You want more responsibility? Start with controllin' your wife."
The next day, Tony is mediating a sit-down between Feech and Paulie over the landscaping dispute. Feech is accusing Paulie of attacking Gary and Jimmy, and knocking Gary out of the tree after hitting Jimmy with a shovel. Paulie protests, "He jumped out the tree, and came at me with a chainsaw!"
Tony lays down the law with Paulie and Feech, ordering them to have their landscapers split up the disputed territory evenly. He also orders Feech to pay $1000 to Paulie for Sal's medical expenses. From this meeting, Tony knows that Feech is holding out on him, not giving the boss the upstream payments he should be. (File this away for future reference; this will no doubt become a point of contention between the two later!) Paulie also volunteers Sal to do some free lawn work, which gives Tony an idea.
Paulie tells poor Sal of the new arrangement. Not only does he lose half his business to the LaMannas, but he has to kick some weekly points to Paulie as well, AND work for free for certain "friends" of Paulie's.
Tony and Eugene Pontecorvo are heading back to the club house after enjoying a round of golf. Tony runs into a physician, Dr. Winer, who treated Livia Soprano when she was at Green Grove, and is currently treating Junior. From the doctor, Tony learns that all of Junior's hurtful remarks toward him weren't borne of ill will, but were side effects of the condition affecting Junior mentally. Tony is clearly taken aback by this news.
Outside of the Sacrimonis' Jersey mansion, Sal Vitro and his son work for free, cutting their lawn. This is the "nice thing" Tony does for Johnny Sack to smooth things over with that bad lunch meeting that Chris screwed up.
Tony goes over to Junior's house. Junior is watching the Nature Channel. While speaking with Junior about his problems, Tony learns that Feech has been over to Junior's, and complained to him about Tony's ruling in the landscaping beef.
Tony conveys to Junior that he understands he meant nothing hurtful with his remarks. He asks Junior why he has to focus on only negative things, and asks his uncle if he loves him.
The old man nearly is brought to tears.
Thanks for bumping this, Chris.
Where's Johnny [Spoilers within]
Feech La Manna is wasting no time in earning again after his release in prison, pushing Tony and Soprano crew captain Paulie in particular. Janice is doing a bit of pushing of her own, and husband Bobby may be the one who suffers Tony's backlash because of it. Junior is clearly losing the plot, and I think we may be seeing one peaceful death soon. As far as violent deaths go, who knows who will be next. It's only a matter of time before Feech pushes Tony too far. And what of New York's pushing Tony too? Johnny Sac wasn't happy with Tony's sharing the power idea, and Phil Leotardo doesn't look like one to go by the rules.
A question: what is the guy who complained to Tony about Lorraine almost being whacked called? I missed it in the first episode.
Best episode this season, so far...
Tony's subconscious can't let go of his mother. He said Junior was "dead to me" and we all know the last person he said that about, don't we? And he's living in her home.
Some hilarious moments, and I'm more than pleased to see Paulie holding his own against somebody who is possibly against Tony Soprano--I didn't like him much in Season four due to his treacherous ways in talking to Johnny Sac. I only hope Tony doesn't do what he did between Paulie and Ralphie and cause his captain to go in one of his legendary huffs again...
First time since season one (the earlier episodes) that I've seen the unusual camera angles--note the one used when Junior is looking over the side of the bridge.
This episode reminded me (though it wasn't as tense) as season four's
The Weight, wherein Johnny Sac and Ralphie almost caused an all-out war.
What I want to see more of: Christopher,
Silvio!, the Feech/Paulie "war", Phil Leotardo, Tony Blundetto, and the New York power struggle.
What I want to see less of: Janice and Bobby.
Can't wait until next week!!!!! Sopranos Fever has hit me once again!
The trailer for next week seems very juicy too. Feech moving in on Chrissy perhaps? AJ with a drugs overdose. (Note my prediction in my version of season five which I posted prior to this being aired even in America!) And Chrissy telling Tony that something is a "declaration of war."
Bring it on!
Mick
PS> Thanks for bumping this; but did you have to bump
all of the episodes? You relaly know how to tempt a guy into a spoiler trap! :p
), it seems there doesn't need to be much of a reason to kill someone.
