Tony ponders the future as he celebrates his 47th birthday, Bobby steps up, amybe one step to many though, and Christopher is on the outs with Tony.
9.0
Well here it is the final nine episodes of The Sopranos and it’s about time. First up “Sopranos Home Movies” to get us started with what is sure to be some of the best episodes of the series, at least that’s what I hope. What better way to start these final episodes then with Tony being arrested, is this their way of foreshadowing what’s to be or not to be Tony's demise? Either way I’m sure that the ending will be something that will keep us in suspense for the next two months, nonetheless there’s a lot of in between to be savored. We already get the feel that Tony and Christopher isn’t quite as close as they used to be, and that leaves us to ponder what’s in-store for Christopher. Will old habits come back to haunt him, or will unnecessary distractions keep him from taking care of business and therefore cause Tony to question his loyalty as well as his ability to take on the position that Tony has been grooming him for. Once Tony loses faith in Christopher as his right hand man how much of Christopher’s distractions will Tony put up with, and if Christopher’s old habits come back on Tony’s radar will Christopher get that same chance given to him several seasons ago, it’s doubtful. It was clever how they put a handgun charge on Tony that stems from a discarded handgun from the last episode of Season Five when Tony and John had met early in the morning at John’s house, and the FBI was coming to arrest John so Tony took off running and discarded a handgun in the snow which was seen by the teenage boy who subsequently recovered the weapon. Over the next couple of years the teenage boy played with a handgun shooting cans and what not and was caught with it, and after being caught he told the police where he got from thereby turning Tony in. Tony was released shortly thereafter and decided to go to the lake house with Carmela to visit his sister Janice and his brother in-law Bobby, as well as to celebrate is 47th birthday. During the visit Tony along with Bobby went fishing and while out in the boat they talked at which time Tony commended Bobby for having stepped-up and indicated looking to the future that he had questions about things he had planned, which you know he was talking about Christopher, and how there may be changes. It seemed that he might be considering Bobby for an even greater position, but he didn’t make that completely clear for now. Unfortunately later on while he, Carmela, Janice, and Bobby were playing Monopoly as well as drinking Tony had made some harsh remarks towards his sister Janice, and for anyone who has watched this show knows that there isn’t anything unusual for him or her to do so towards one another. Yet this time Bobby who has never stood up to Tony finally had enough and sucker punched the very inebriated Tony thus a fight broke out. Unfortunately for Tony and possibly quite unfortunate for Bobby, Tony ended up the loser. Some will argue that Tony being drunk, and having been sucker punched was the only reason that he lost, but many will agree that he may have had it coming to him with regards to Bobby. Throughout this series I don’t think anyone has had to put up with more verbal abuse then Bobby from Tony, and given the fact that even after Janice married Bobby, Tony still made plenty of harsh insults to Janice in front of Bobby. Because Tony is her brother and the boss of the family Bobby of course had reservations about saying anything to Tony, but one would wonder what Tony’s reaction would be if Bobby were to say the same things to Carmela. Tony later on in the night woke up and was seemingly still intoxicated when he walked into Janice and Bobby’s bedroom to tell Bobby he won the fight fair and square while startling them in the process. Janice needless to say was not happy about Bobby attacking Tony the way he did, and made that clear to Bobby. The next day Tony and Bobby had some business to take care of regarding a deal with some Canadian criminals and importing drugs for resale, and as part of the negotiation with the Canadians they asked Tony if he could take care of someone they wanted whacked. Tony gave the contract to Bobby whom we just found out the other day that Bobby had never whacked anyone, so for whatever reason Tony, possibly because of the fight between him and Bobby, gave the contract to him. Afterwards Tony & Carmela finished up their visit with Bobby and Janice then left to go back home. Bobby being a good soldier took care of the contract and went to Canada and whacked the person according to the negotiations. Regarding Christopher, while Tony was at the Lake House Christopher finally called after having no regard to check on Tony when he was arrested, nor for the hearing, or even after Tony got out. Letting a substantial amount of time go by before checking in with Tony thus shunning Tony and therefore putting more distance between the two. Tony upon answering the phone and hearing Christopher hung up on him thereby showing how Christopher has fallen from Tony’s graces, and certainly is going to be on Tony’s radar with only a few episodes left I doubt that there is going to be a good outcome for Christopher. Bobby upon returning to his family, and holding his youngest daughter seemed different having made the hit for the first time how this will affect him will be interesting to see. This weekend with Tony may or may not have been a bad thing, first thought Bobby having stepped up already therefore having earned respect in Tony’s eyes to begin with is a good thing, and Bobby having stood up to Tony may have also earned him more respect by Tony also the fact that it happened around his sister and wife and not around the guys makes it a different situation. If it would’ve happened around the guys then Tony would’ve had to handle it in a much different way because of respect for the boss, and having someone directly challenge the boss would mean Bobby’s death. But given the fact it happened in private well the story is open to interpretation as opposed to having the guys witness it, and so Tony can handle it differently without going to extremes if anything at all. Another thing having Bobby do the hit without any question, and being a loyal soldier could count in his favor as well; Bobby gave Tony no arguments but did as he was told without question. Now the other school of thought could be Tony will hold this against Bobby and deal with him at some later date, or did Bobby possibly leave any evidence at the hit that might get him caught, and then have him turn on Tony for the sake of his family. But would Janice go along with that if that were the case or prefer her brother's favor? That’s another possibility that could play out as the series ends who knows? At any rate that’s one down, and eight to go so lots more to be played as we get to that final episode, and hopefully it’ll be one to remember. Take care.
Peace To All.