Remember Me is an odd unexpected and sad film which will have upset the young weekend audience of cinema goers. It also took me time to understand what was happening even though I gave the film my undivided attention.
A mother and young daughter age 11 years are alone on a New York subway station waiting for a train when she senses danger with two black youths loitering appearing to be checking them out. One appears with a gun and she surrenders her handbag but resists giving her wedding ring which is later found at the scene. The two men get on the next train leaving the woman defiantly looking at the on the platform. The door opens and one of the men shoots the woman dead. Later her husband comes to scene and claims his daughter. It is not clear why the wife and girl were taking the subway at the kind of station and time which indicated a dangerous situation at the best of times. Without this incident the core story would have no basis.
We do not know if the two men were caught and punished and for a while we do not know the connection between this incident and opening section of the film after the credits except that it is ten years later. I am not sure of the sequence of events but there is family gathering at a graveside which we subsequently learn comprises Pierce Brosnan as the divorced father and wealthy businessman of the main subject of the film Tyler, University student (Robert Pattinson), his school age sister, his ex wife and her second husband. There is tension between father and Tyler, because he is not wearing a tie and hen over a meal at the family home. Tyler works at a bookstore and only attends university to keep his place without concern for grades or graduation.
Out clubbing Tyler gets involved in a late night street incident which involves the police and gets himself booked with his flatmate, also a university student. Tyler does not want his father involved but the room mate takes the initiative in order to protect his university place and future. At this stage in the film Tyler appears to be an obnoxious anti father anti authority young man without redeeming features or apparent cause. He is hostile to the involvement of his father in getting the matter sorted without criminal records. The only likeable thing about Tyler is that he has a good relationship with his young sister.
His flatmate discovers that the daughter of the detective with whom they had the problem also attends their university and devises a plan that one of them should seduce and then dump the girl in revenge. Tyler goes along with plan and they becomes friends with the room mate persuading the girl to go a party one evening where she gets drunk and sleeps it off in their flat resulting in an angry confrontation with her father when she returns the following morning and he hits her when she tells him to stop being overprotective. She turns to Tyler and his flat mate and this leads to Tyler and the girl having a loving relationship and disclosing their backgrounds to each other. The girl explains her father’s behaviour because of the murder of her mother and his failure to protect her. Later on Tyler’s 22nd birthday he introduces the girl to his father at a posh restaurant and the girl discloses she was a witness to the murder of her mother. Father is called away on business which angers Tyler once more. Tyler has disclosed that his elder brother who was a good musician committed suicide on his 22nd birthday
Then the situation takes a turn for the worse. The girl’s father finds out where she is and confronts Tyler who admits how the relationship started. He also admits the situation to the girl who goes off but they make up and the relationship strengthens. His young sister is having problems at school and Tyler intervenes landing himself in trouble with the police again but this time his father in impressed and the son is appreciative of father’s intervention. The son agrees to visit his father’s office to brief lawyers arranged for him. Father also decides to spend more time with his daughter and calls unexpectedly on her home and asks his wife’s permission to take her to school. At school a teacher has written on the notice board September 11th 2011. Father at his car looks to where crowds are running. The son is seen at the window of a building which turns out to be an office high up in one of the Trades Centre Towers. The girlfriend and flat mate receive a telephone call. Later father, ex wife and daughter are at another graveside anniversary. The girl friends have returned to live with her father but are now riding the subway again. The flatmate is hard at work at university sporting a Tattoo of the word Tyler.
So the moral is? Children should get on with their families and parents with their children and everyone should be true and fair to each other because we do not now what is around the corner in any of our lives! It is also a film which reminds that everyone who died on that fateful day has a family and their lives of individual experiences
Terrorism was also the subject of Blue Bloods this week as an undercover policeman is gunned down by someone one a motorbike in central park while playing cricket. Danny is assigned to trying to discover if the attempted killing meant that his role in detecting a major Terrorist cell and proposed outrage had been breached and put in jeopardy the other officer within the cell.
It was established that the attempted killing was by someone who wanted the girl friend of the officer. All three were Muslims and therefore the issue touched on was the need to be aware of the ongoing threat but also to understand that those intervolved were a tiny minority of the Muslim population in the USA. There were sub issues such as the inability of Danny to share the position with his female partner who nevertheless worked out the basic for herself. The issue of the death of the elder brother allegedly from within the force continues as a loose thread between episodes. The woman within the FBI who approached the youngest member of the family seems to have been killed and the young man threatened. The odd aspect of this storyline is that boy refused to participate in spying on his colleagues to attempt to establish that happened and also has not disclosed to any member of his family including the assistant DA.
This weeks Blue Bloods episode covered a familiar theme and was therefore less engaging. A wealthy business man is separated from his wife and has a younger model girl friend that he has no intention of marrying but arranging an extra special Valentine evening meal, she interprets this as a signal that he will divorce and marry her. She communicates this to the teenage daughter who is the subject of a joint custody order. The girl has a secret boyfriend and she persuades him to kidnap her for a $5 million dollar ransom in diamonds using a closed screen vehicle which is later dumped. The misguided and thoroughly dubious motivation for this story is that of a nice girl trying to bring her estranged parents together.
The added dubiousness is that she has the stock boyfriend character that lives in squats, dabbles in soft drugs and in order to carry out the plan has to use another of the streets characters, a graffiti artist who lives in a different area of squats. They use a third individual to collect a small thermos filled with the diamonds who they pay $100 for his part in the operation, who is picked up by the police when no one comes for the diamonds. Meanwhile the graffiti artist driver decides that he actually wants a share of the diamonds which daughter intended to place in a safe deposit box until her plan was successfully completed. In order to change the plan the graffiti artist gets hold of a gun and in the effort to save the girl from being part of a real kidnap the boyfriend is killed and then when the police move in, this young man commits suicide by choosing to drop out of a high floor derelict building than go to prison. Danny Reagan the Commissioner’s Detective son who gets all the best i.e. important investigations, comments to his partner that from the behaviour of the parents when they visit the girl in custody it looks as if she has now achieved her objective. Meanwhile because this series always has to have we feel good about America and ourselves ending we are not told that clearly little miss rich girl will be charged with the misuse of police time, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and complicity in causing the murder of the boyfriend and suicide of another. She needs to be locked away for a very long time!
As usual there are sub stories. In this instance the officer cleaner unburdens that her son has been arrested charged with a serious offence and from what she says the Commissioner intervenes and asks the female detective in charge of the case to pursue the matter further with the homily that it is often harder to prove someone innocent than guilty. She makes the enquiries and vindicates the Commissioner and the boy’s mother. The boy is released to the joy of the mother without being aware of the role of the Commissioner. Wow.
The second sub story which admittedly fits in with the main story line is that the daughter the Assistant DA visits her mother at her office and notes the way the ambitious DA, Mayor candidate looks at her mother and invites her mother to have a meal at a posh restaurant on St Valentine’s night and also the D.A without mentioning this to the mother, with the idea of getting her grandfather to collect her and leave the two together. She wants her mother to be happy. She, unlike the main subject, has second thoughts and talks over the situation with the grandfather who advises, implied, that she should come clean to her mother which she does and the mother politely tells the DA not to come, not because she does not like him but because of the conflict in interests, going out with a her boy who in turn if he becomes Mayor would be expected to change police Commissioners etc. The episode ends with mother and daughter arriving at the restaurant to find that her father and grandfather are already there, with the comment that it is a meal for the eligible but alone members of the family. Thus signalling that it is alright for those of us to enjoy Valentine’s night with a special meal out with others in a similar position. Wow.
The penultimate episode of the first series of Sopranos Isabella finds Tony is a severe depressed condition, unshaven staying in bed and he has a hallucination involving a beautiful young Italian woman who sees in the garden of his neighbour and who says she is an exchange dental student who he then takes out lunch and who knows his family background in Italy. Dr Melfi his psychiatrist works out the cause is part of the medication he has been taking and which is dropped. The symbolism is explained as an idolised version of his mother after having a day dream of the woman breast feeding a baby called Antonio.
Tony was right to be depressed for other reasons as Uncle Junior’s Plan, instigated by Tony’s mother, to have him assassinated is put into effect. However the first attempt is thwarted unwittingly by Christopher who concerned about Tony’s welfare follows him and parks his car preventing the assassins from getting a clear shot. The second attempt appeared more successful as one gunman shoots the other by mistake and Tony forces the second from his car, but then crashes and injures himself into hospital. In hospital the FBI visit and offer Tony immunity from prosecution if he gives evidence against Junior and other members of the criminal fraternity. Tony claims he as involved in an attempted car jacking but at the end of the episodes admits to Dr Melfi that he wants to know who arranged the attempt on his life.
Three of his gang and supporters, Silvio Dante, Paulie Gualtieri and Christopher suspect Junior and discuss the likelihood just as Junior and visits Tony with Livia. Junior has murdered the man selected to organise the hit after finding that he has a big mouth. He also finds that Livia is shocked at the suggestion that she had anything to do with inciting the attempted killing of her son. Junior realises that he has been manipulated and increasingly on his own.
The last episode of the first series is called I dream of Jeannie Cusamano epitomises everything that made this series one of the best of the past decade despite its subject matter.
At the end of the episode Tony is in his car with his wife, son and daughter, in the middle of a great storm which is making driving difficult to impossible. The family plead with him not to proceed but recognising where they are he pulls in to the new restaurant, Nuovo Vesuvio of his childhood friend Artie where the electricity is off but the gas is on. Already there are his closest lieutenants, Silvio and Pauli enjoying their food and wine and nearby there is Christopher with his live in girl friend Adriana who has being given a job as social hostess or such like ! Tony is provided food with the best wine and proposes a toast to his family saying to the children that when they leave home and have families of their own, it is such moments that will be enjoyed and remembered.
It has been an episode filled with joyous moments many of a dubious and morally repugnant nature. It has also been an episode of truth revealed and admitted,
Early on the psychiatrist Dr Melfi breaks all the rules of her profession by trying to confront Tony with the reality of his mother, her behaviour towards her son and his inability to accept the truth because of what it means for his self esteem and fragile integrity. (Early in my more modest training as a social caseworker, I learned the importance of not confronting clients with the truth of their reality their reality unless one is super confident upon advice that it will not provoke a negative reaction involving oneself, others or the client in violence or unnecessary torment)
In this instance Tony reacts with physical aggression and Dr Melfi manages to get rid of him and locks herself in the office, terrified.. By normal standards that ends the relationship for both of them.
What she fails to do the FBI shortly achieve after when they again invite Tony to provide evidence against Junior and his senior New York controllers. Previously Tony has boasted to his captains the value of using the residential home where is mother is placed as an opportunity to meet without worry about the authorities. In fact they have the place now wired and play back to Tony the conversation between his mother and his uncle during which she incites Junior to get rid of Tony because she can no long manipulate him and he has placed her in the home and sold her house. She uses the fact that he is being analysed as a threat to herself and to the crime family. Tony is naturally cunning, of reasonable intelligence and with a fair appreciation of the realities of life but his mistake to assume the authorities are not checking all bases is surprising necessary for the storyline.
Tony again refuses to cooperate, deciding to sort out things his own way. He returns to Dr Melfi to express his sorrow at his behaviour and confess that she was right all along. He offers to provide her with round the clock security until she goes for a long vacation while he resolves the situation. She gasps at the self awareness that he means kill people, to which Tony tells her not to worry about such minor matters. She takes his advice and leaves which disappoints Tony when he returns to report that things have been taken care of and they can continue as before.
The taking care off has several strands. They finally work out who was the wire to the Feds and at a meeting with Junior present it is agreed that Jimmy Alitieri should be killed and this is undertaken by Christopher who entices him to a session with two Russian whores only to be greeted by Silvio Dante who carries out the execution. His body is found with a rat in the mouth thus signalling to everyone what happens to those who deal with the FBI.
Then Tony kills Chucky Signore, one of two senior lieutenants of Junior. He is sent to swim with the fishes weighed down with concrete blocks and chains.
Later Christopher and Paulie wait for Mikey Palmice out for his morning jog and drill him full of holes leaving his body undiscovered in heavy undergrowth woodland. Paulie gets covered with poison Ivy while chasing Mikey and at the restaurant Pauli is seen covered in calamine lotion
This leaves Junior and Olivia. Before Tony can get to Junior, he, and some of the other captains and gang members about 16 in total are arrested by the FBI relating to two fraud scams which Tony and his closest associates had not been part of. This makes the TV news much to the interest and delight of Tony‘s children. The Feds offer Junior prosecution immunity if he admits that Tony is the real boss of the New Jersey family and running the crime syndicate with the approval of the New York Families. Junior is too proud to admit that he was in charge as the fall guy.
What Tony finds it difficult to forgive Livia, it is not her egging Junior to kill him, the final straw is that she revealed to Artie Bucco that he set fire to the family restaurant of three generations. Artie then confronts Tony with a hunting riffle in a mixture of high emotions. He admits that he realised Tony was trying to protect him because Junior was planning a hit at the restaurant. However he is delighted to have a new place where he has not got to worry about the rats and cockroaches. He has been made party to a criminal conspiracy to defraud the insurance company. His wife has also expressed concern about the extent to which the restaurant was being patronised by criminals but he reminds that other people are attracted to such situation and brings in good custom. Tony is able to bluff his way out of the situation.
Artie has talked with the parish priest about the position and the priest advises Artie to discuss what has happened with his wife. As a consequence of Tony’s denial Artie tells the priest he may have got the situation wrong because of Livia condition and history.
Livia was found wondering in the neighbourhood of Tony’s home appearing to have suddenly developed Alzheimer’s and she is admitted to a high class nursing hospital from which she reveals the restaurant burning to Artie when he visits with some food. Tony doubts about the sudden onset of the disease suspecting it is a front to protect herself from involvement in the attempting killing of her son and Junior’s criminal activities. Later Tony goes to smother her with a pillow only to find she is on an escorted trolley having had a stoke. Tony again says he believes she is faking because she is smiling at his accusations. He has to be restrained by security staff.
Tony has also admitted to Silvio, Paulie and Christopher that the precipitating reason for Livia and Junior’s action against him was that they found out he was being psycho analysed. He attempts to reassure that he disclosed no information which could affect the welfare of them and their colleagues and requests that they out or forever remain silent on the matter.
Pauli admits he too once went for help because he had issues and learned some coping skills. Christopher asks if it like marriage counselling and seems upset and storms out raising questions yet to be answered. The remaining trio say they need always to be open with each other to avoid misunderstandings and because of threats to their position.
For me the highlight was none of these things but Tony’s wife telling her priest that he manipulates vulnerable spiritually thirsty women and mentions that food and sexual tension are part of his game He departs crushed uttering one word Whoa. She has admitted that she finds him attractive and enjoys and needs his company and that she is angry with him because of the attention is he paying and giving other women.
Out shopping she finds him on his own in her home having been let in by her daughter who is off to study with a friend. He has brought a video with them to watch which she points out is of kind she had previously said she does not like. She attacks him for not just saying he wants to come and watch the video on their cinema surround hi fi unit and stay for dinner.
Previously we have seen Carmela have a meal with the widow Rosalie Aprile at Nuovo Vesuvio when Father Phil also visits and they talk about the food and also a watch which belonged to Jackie Aprile and as given to him by Rosalie, thus signalling to Carmela that she is not the only woman who the priests visits and enjoys their company. Separately Carmela makes a surprise visit to the church to give Father Phil a bowl of the home made pasta he likes Rosalie has got their before her and the priest is enjoying her home made dish in an intimate fashion. She leaves without conveying her presence and pours the pasta in a street trash can. Whoa
Meanwhile the USA government has announced the execution of the unarmed Bin Laden in Pakistan Whoa. This has similar theatrical and fictional aspects with several prominent personalities appearing to be lying through their teeth in what I suspect has been a well planned action timed to take place just before the campaign for the 2012 Presidential elections commences as it was also interesting that the attempt to kill Colonel Gadaffi was timed just as the public became preoccupied with the Royal wedding before various national and local political elections in he USA. I know all coincidences as was the sudden cancellation of the honeymoon, or was it?
A mother and young daughter age 11 years are alone on a New York subway station waiting for a train when she senses danger with two black youths loitering appearing to be checking them out. One appears with a gun and she surrenders her handbag but resists giving her wedding ring which is later found at the scene. The two men get on the next train leaving the woman defiantly looking at the on the platform. The door opens and one of the men shoots the woman dead. Later her husband comes to scene and claims his daughter. It is not clear why the wife and girl were taking the subway at the kind of station and time which indicated a dangerous situation at the best of times. Without this incident the core story would have no basis.
We do not know if the two men were caught and punished and for a while we do not know the connection between this incident and opening section of the film after the credits except that it is ten years later. I am not sure of the sequence of events but there is family gathering at a graveside which we subsequently learn comprises Pierce Brosnan as the divorced father and wealthy businessman of the main subject of the film Tyler, University student (Robert Pattinson), his school age sister, his ex wife and her second husband. There is tension between father and Tyler, because he is not wearing a tie and hen over a meal at the family home. Tyler works at a bookstore and only attends university to keep his place without concern for grades or graduation.
Out clubbing Tyler gets involved in a late night street incident which involves the police and gets himself booked with his flatmate, also a university student. Tyler does not want his father involved but the room mate takes the initiative in order to protect his university place and future. At this stage in the film Tyler appears to be an obnoxious anti father anti authority young man without redeeming features or apparent cause. He is hostile to the involvement of his father in getting the matter sorted without criminal records. The only likeable thing about Tyler is that he has a good relationship with his young sister.
His flatmate discovers that the daughter of the detective with whom they had the problem also attends their university and devises a plan that one of them should seduce and then dump the girl in revenge. Tyler goes along with plan and they becomes friends with the room mate persuading the girl to go a party one evening where she gets drunk and sleeps it off in their flat resulting in an angry confrontation with her father when she returns the following morning and he hits her when she tells him to stop being overprotective. She turns to Tyler and his flat mate and this leads to Tyler and the girl having a loving relationship and disclosing their backgrounds to each other. The girl explains her father’s behaviour because of the murder of her mother and his failure to protect her. Later on Tyler’s 22nd birthday he introduces the girl to his father at a posh restaurant and the girl discloses she was a witness to the murder of her mother. Father is called away on business which angers Tyler once more. Tyler has disclosed that his elder brother who was a good musician committed suicide on his 22nd birthday
Then the situation takes a turn for the worse. The girl’s father finds out where she is and confronts Tyler who admits how the relationship started. He also admits the situation to the girl who goes off but they make up and the relationship strengthens. His young sister is having problems at school and Tyler intervenes landing himself in trouble with the police again but this time his father in impressed and the son is appreciative of father’s intervention. The son agrees to visit his father’s office to brief lawyers arranged for him. Father also decides to spend more time with his daughter and calls unexpectedly on her home and asks his wife’s permission to take her to school. At school a teacher has written on the notice board September 11th 2011. Father at his car looks to where crowds are running. The son is seen at the window of a building which turns out to be an office high up in one of the Trades Centre Towers. The girlfriend and flat mate receive a telephone call. Later father, ex wife and daughter are at another graveside anniversary. The girl friends have returned to live with her father but are now riding the subway again. The flatmate is hard at work at university sporting a Tattoo of the word Tyler.
So the moral is? Children should get on with their families and parents with their children and everyone should be true and fair to each other because we do not now what is around the corner in any of our lives! It is also a film which reminds that everyone who died on that fateful day has a family and their lives of individual experiences
Terrorism was also the subject of Blue Bloods this week as an undercover policeman is gunned down by someone one a motorbike in central park while playing cricket. Danny is assigned to trying to discover if the attempted killing meant that his role in detecting a major Terrorist cell and proposed outrage had been breached and put in jeopardy the other officer within the cell.
It was established that the attempted killing was by someone who wanted the girl friend of the officer. All three were Muslims and therefore the issue touched on was the need to be aware of the ongoing threat but also to understand that those intervolved were a tiny minority of the Muslim population in the USA. There were sub issues such as the inability of Danny to share the position with his female partner who nevertheless worked out the basic for herself. The issue of the death of the elder brother allegedly from within the force continues as a loose thread between episodes. The woman within the FBI who approached the youngest member of the family seems to have been killed and the young man threatened. The odd aspect of this storyline is that boy refused to participate in spying on his colleagues to attempt to establish that happened and also has not disclosed to any member of his family including the assistant DA.
This weeks Blue Bloods episode covered a familiar theme and was therefore less engaging. A wealthy business man is separated from his wife and has a younger model girl friend that he has no intention of marrying but arranging an extra special Valentine evening meal, she interprets this as a signal that he will divorce and marry her. She communicates this to the teenage daughter who is the subject of a joint custody order. The girl has a secret boyfriend and she persuades him to kidnap her for a $5 million dollar ransom in diamonds using a closed screen vehicle which is later dumped. The misguided and thoroughly dubious motivation for this story is that of a nice girl trying to bring her estranged parents together.
The added dubiousness is that she has the stock boyfriend character that lives in squats, dabbles in soft drugs and in order to carry out the plan has to use another of the streets characters, a graffiti artist who lives in a different area of squats. They use a third individual to collect a small thermos filled with the diamonds who they pay $100 for his part in the operation, who is picked up by the police when no one comes for the diamonds. Meanwhile the graffiti artist driver decides that he actually wants a share of the diamonds which daughter intended to place in a safe deposit box until her plan was successfully completed. In order to change the plan the graffiti artist gets hold of a gun and in the effort to save the girl from being part of a real kidnap the boyfriend is killed and then when the police move in, this young man commits suicide by choosing to drop out of a high floor derelict building than go to prison. Danny Reagan the Commissioner’s Detective son who gets all the best i.e. important investigations, comments to his partner that from the behaviour of the parents when they visit the girl in custody it looks as if she has now achieved her objective. Meanwhile because this series always has to have we feel good about America and ourselves ending we are not told that clearly little miss rich girl will be charged with the misuse of police time, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and complicity in causing the murder of the boyfriend and suicide of another. She needs to be locked away for a very long time!
As usual there are sub stories. In this instance the officer cleaner unburdens that her son has been arrested charged with a serious offence and from what she says the Commissioner intervenes and asks the female detective in charge of the case to pursue the matter further with the homily that it is often harder to prove someone innocent than guilty. She makes the enquiries and vindicates the Commissioner and the boy’s mother. The boy is released to the joy of the mother without being aware of the role of the Commissioner. Wow.
The second sub story which admittedly fits in with the main story line is that the daughter the Assistant DA visits her mother at her office and notes the way the ambitious DA, Mayor candidate looks at her mother and invites her mother to have a meal at a posh restaurant on St Valentine’s night and also the D.A without mentioning this to the mother, with the idea of getting her grandfather to collect her and leave the two together. She wants her mother to be happy. She, unlike the main subject, has second thoughts and talks over the situation with the grandfather who advises, implied, that she should come clean to her mother which she does and the mother politely tells the DA not to come, not because she does not like him but because of the conflict in interests, going out with a her boy who in turn if he becomes Mayor would be expected to change police Commissioners etc. The episode ends with mother and daughter arriving at the restaurant to find that her father and grandfather are already there, with the comment that it is a meal for the eligible but alone members of the family. Thus signalling that it is alright for those of us to enjoy Valentine’s night with a special meal out with others in a similar position. Wow.
The penultimate episode of the first series of Sopranos Isabella finds Tony is a severe depressed condition, unshaven staying in bed and he has a hallucination involving a beautiful young Italian woman who sees in the garden of his neighbour and who says she is an exchange dental student who he then takes out lunch and who knows his family background in Italy. Dr Melfi his psychiatrist works out the cause is part of the medication he has been taking and which is dropped. The symbolism is explained as an idolised version of his mother after having a day dream of the woman breast feeding a baby called Antonio.
Tony was right to be depressed for other reasons as Uncle Junior’s Plan, instigated by Tony’s mother, to have him assassinated is put into effect. However the first attempt is thwarted unwittingly by Christopher who concerned about Tony’s welfare follows him and parks his car preventing the assassins from getting a clear shot. The second attempt appeared more successful as one gunman shoots the other by mistake and Tony forces the second from his car, but then crashes and injures himself into hospital. In hospital the FBI visit and offer Tony immunity from prosecution if he gives evidence against Junior and other members of the criminal fraternity. Tony claims he as involved in an attempted car jacking but at the end of the episodes admits to Dr Melfi that he wants to know who arranged the attempt on his life.
Three of his gang and supporters, Silvio Dante, Paulie Gualtieri and Christopher suspect Junior and discuss the likelihood just as Junior and visits Tony with Livia. Junior has murdered the man selected to organise the hit after finding that he has a big mouth. He also finds that Livia is shocked at the suggestion that she had anything to do with inciting the attempted killing of her son. Junior realises that he has been manipulated and increasingly on his own.
The last episode of the first series is called I dream of Jeannie Cusamano epitomises everything that made this series one of the best of the past decade despite its subject matter.
At the end of the episode Tony is in his car with his wife, son and daughter, in the middle of a great storm which is making driving difficult to impossible. The family plead with him not to proceed but recognising where they are he pulls in to the new restaurant, Nuovo Vesuvio of his childhood friend Artie where the electricity is off but the gas is on. Already there are his closest lieutenants, Silvio and Pauli enjoying their food and wine and nearby there is Christopher with his live in girl friend Adriana who has being given a job as social hostess or such like ! Tony is provided food with the best wine and proposes a toast to his family saying to the children that when they leave home and have families of their own, it is such moments that will be enjoyed and remembered.
It has been an episode filled with joyous moments many of a dubious and morally repugnant nature. It has also been an episode of truth revealed and admitted,
Early on the psychiatrist Dr Melfi breaks all the rules of her profession by trying to confront Tony with the reality of his mother, her behaviour towards her son and his inability to accept the truth because of what it means for his self esteem and fragile integrity. (Early in my more modest training as a social caseworker, I learned the importance of not confronting clients with the truth of their reality their reality unless one is super confident upon advice that it will not provoke a negative reaction involving oneself, others or the client in violence or unnecessary torment)
In this instance Tony reacts with physical aggression and Dr Melfi manages to get rid of him and locks herself in the office, terrified.. By normal standards that ends the relationship for both of them.
What she fails to do the FBI shortly achieve after when they again invite Tony to provide evidence against Junior and his senior New York controllers. Previously Tony has boasted to his captains the value of using the residential home where is mother is placed as an opportunity to meet without worry about the authorities. In fact they have the place now wired and play back to Tony the conversation between his mother and his uncle during which she incites Junior to get rid of Tony because she can no long manipulate him and he has placed her in the home and sold her house. She uses the fact that he is being analysed as a threat to herself and to the crime family. Tony is naturally cunning, of reasonable intelligence and with a fair appreciation of the realities of life but his mistake to assume the authorities are not checking all bases is surprising necessary for the storyline.
Tony again refuses to cooperate, deciding to sort out things his own way. He returns to Dr Melfi to express his sorrow at his behaviour and confess that she was right all along. He offers to provide her with round the clock security until she goes for a long vacation while he resolves the situation. She gasps at the self awareness that he means kill people, to which Tony tells her not to worry about such minor matters. She takes his advice and leaves which disappoints Tony when he returns to report that things have been taken care of and they can continue as before.
The taking care off has several strands. They finally work out who was the wire to the Feds and at a meeting with Junior present it is agreed that Jimmy Alitieri should be killed and this is undertaken by Christopher who entices him to a session with two Russian whores only to be greeted by Silvio Dante who carries out the execution. His body is found with a rat in the mouth thus signalling to everyone what happens to those who deal with the FBI.
Then Tony kills Chucky Signore, one of two senior lieutenants of Junior. He is sent to swim with the fishes weighed down with concrete blocks and chains.
Later Christopher and Paulie wait for Mikey Palmice out for his morning jog and drill him full of holes leaving his body undiscovered in heavy undergrowth woodland. Paulie gets covered with poison Ivy while chasing Mikey and at the restaurant Pauli is seen covered in calamine lotion
This leaves Junior and Olivia. Before Tony can get to Junior, he, and some of the other captains and gang members about 16 in total are arrested by the FBI relating to two fraud scams which Tony and his closest associates had not been part of. This makes the TV news much to the interest and delight of Tony‘s children. The Feds offer Junior prosecution immunity if he admits that Tony is the real boss of the New Jersey family and running the crime syndicate with the approval of the New York Families. Junior is too proud to admit that he was in charge as the fall guy.
What Tony finds it difficult to forgive Livia, it is not her egging Junior to kill him, the final straw is that she revealed to Artie Bucco that he set fire to the family restaurant of three generations. Artie then confronts Tony with a hunting riffle in a mixture of high emotions. He admits that he realised Tony was trying to protect him because Junior was planning a hit at the restaurant. However he is delighted to have a new place where he has not got to worry about the rats and cockroaches. He has been made party to a criminal conspiracy to defraud the insurance company. His wife has also expressed concern about the extent to which the restaurant was being patronised by criminals but he reminds that other people are attracted to such situation and brings in good custom. Tony is able to bluff his way out of the situation.
Artie has talked with the parish priest about the position and the priest advises Artie to discuss what has happened with his wife. As a consequence of Tony’s denial Artie tells the priest he may have got the situation wrong because of Livia condition and history.
Livia was found wondering in the neighbourhood of Tony’s home appearing to have suddenly developed Alzheimer’s and she is admitted to a high class nursing hospital from which she reveals the restaurant burning to Artie when he visits with some food. Tony doubts about the sudden onset of the disease suspecting it is a front to protect herself from involvement in the attempting killing of her son and Junior’s criminal activities. Later Tony goes to smother her with a pillow only to find she is on an escorted trolley having had a stoke. Tony again says he believes she is faking because she is smiling at his accusations. He has to be restrained by security staff.
Tony has also admitted to Silvio, Paulie and Christopher that the precipitating reason for Livia and Junior’s action against him was that they found out he was being psycho analysed. He attempts to reassure that he disclosed no information which could affect the welfare of them and their colleagues and requests that they out or forever remain silent on the matter.
Pauli admits he too once went for help because he had issues and learned some coping skills. Christopher asks if it like marriage counselling and seems upset and storms out raising questions yet to be answered. The remaining trio say they need always to be open with each other to avoid misunderstandings and because of threats to their position.
For me the highlight was none of these things but Tony’s wife telling her priest that he manipulates vulnerable spiritually thirsty women and mentions that food and sexual tension are part of his game He departs crushed uttering one word Whoa. She has admitted that she finds him attractive and enjoys and needs his company and that she is angry with him because of the attention is he paying and giving other women.
Out shopping she finds him on his own in her home having been let in by her daughter who is off to study with a friend. He has brought a video with them to watch which she points out is of kind she had previously said she does not like. She attacks him for not just saying he wants to come and watch the video on their cinema surround hi fi unit and stay for dinner.
Previously we have seen Carmela have a meal with the widow Rosalie Aprile at Nuovo Vesuvio when Father Phil also visits and they talk about the food and also a watch which belonged to Jackie Aprile and as given to him by Rosalie, thus signalling to Carmela that she is not the only woman who the priests visits and enjoys their company. Separately Carmela makes a surprise visit to the church to give Father Phil a bowl of the home made pasta he likes Rosalie has got their before her and the priest is enjoying her home made dish in an intimate fashion. She leaves without conveying her presence and pours the pasta in a street trash can. Whoa
Meanwhile the USA government has announced the execution of the unarmed Bin Laden in Pakistan Whoa. This has similar theatrical and fictional aspects with several prominent personalities appearing to be lying through their teeth in what I suspect has been a well planned action timed to take place just before the campaign for the 2012 Presidential elections commences as it was also interesting that the attempt to kill Colonel Gadaffi was timed just as the public became preoccupied with the Royal wedding before various national and local political elections in he USA. I know all coincidences as was the sudden cancellation of the honeymoon, or was it?
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