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Shook the Spot

March 20, 2006


"Cowbell," Tapes 'N Tape

"OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN / STAY THERE!" . . . THE SOPRANOS — SEASON 6, EPISODE 2 . . . "JOIN THE CLUB" . . . AJ VOWS REVENGE . . . CHRISTOPHER FIGHTS TERRORISM . . . THE FAMILY HUDDLES . . . AND INTRODUCING KEVIN FINNERTY AS TONY'S ALTEREGO . . . WHIP OUT DAD'S TWELVE-DISC TONY BENNETT BOX SET

We hear Meadow read her comatose father the first four lines of "Pater Noster," the Jacques Prevert poem translated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which may have been the most surprising moment of the episode. (Yes, more surprising than AJ.) The rest of what she recited to Tony . . .
Our Father who art in heaven
Stay there
And we'll stay here on earth
Which is sometimes so lovely
With its mysteries of New York
And its mysteries of Paris
At least as good as that of the Trinity
With its little canal at Ourcq
Its great wall of China
Its river at Morlaix
Its candy canes
With its Pacific Ocean
And its two basins in the Tuileries
With its good children and bad people
With all the wonders of the world
Which are here
Simply on the earth
Offered to everyone
Strewn about
Wondering at the wonder of themselves
And daring not avow it
As a naked pretty girl dares not show herself
With the world's outrageous misfortunes
Which are legion
With legionaries
With torturers
With the masters of this world
The masters with their priests their traitors and their troops
With the seasons
With the years
With the pretty girls and with the old bastards
With the straw of misery rotting in the steel
of cannons.
But while Meadow tiptoes around her relationship with Dad, the longhaired AJ gets right to the heart of the matter. Honestly, the first thought that came to my mind as AJ vowed revenge on Uncle Junior at Tony's hospital bedside was . . . sequel! Jesus fucking christ. When AJ was introduced in the montage that opened the premiere, the Burroughs line we heard was, "Number five is Ka, the Double, most closely associated with the subject. The Ka, which usually reaches adolescence at the time of bodily death, is the only reliable guide through the Land of the Dead." So yeah . . . jesus fucking christ. But AJ failing out of colllege . . . best life decision ever.

Suffice it to say, Shook shed a tear during one of the hospital scenes. Twist raises a good point . . . we're gonna need some transcripts of the Carmella monologues. (On a related note, did anyone recognize the voice of Kevin Finnerty's wife? Thought it might have been the Mercedes saleswoman who killed herself after Tony dumped her.) And we've got to throw out some theories on the hole in Tony's stomach. Who is Kevin Finnerty?

 #  hustle hard on the block (2) 12:04 AM
Comments:
An Italian kid from Regis who sat in on our screening here identified the woman on the phone as Artie Bucco's wife -- who Tony apparently dated when they were kids???! No confirm on the ID, but would suggest that Tony is living out alternate lives for himself in his mind. "What if I hadn't married Carmela" etc.

Also, what about the ID card that Tony whipped out toward the beginning? (Related note: who thought he would end up fucking the ID checker? Be honest!) I thought Kevin Finnerty's face looked EXACTLY like Tony's. Did I misread?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : March 20, 2006 1:59 AM
 
Hmm, I didn't think of Charmaine Bucco when I heard the voice - that could be. Have to listen for that when I watch it again. Like Shook, I thought the voice was Annabella Sciorra (Gloria, the friendly Mercedes lady), also known for a memorable scene with Tony in the Bronx Zoo. Tony likely still feels guilty about her suicide, and so could well hear her voice in his comatose dream, but yeah, it certainly all was who Tony thinks he would have been had his life taken a different turn, so the Bucco theory is appealing. In any case, the voice was definitely not Falco (who is, in real life, quite the homewrecker, by the way - ask the Pasty Russian about that after she catches up this weekend). But Falco's performance was Emmy-quality - as was AJ's.

More on the dream - very well done how Tony/Kevin was seeing the lights as he came in and out of consciousness, and how he had stomach pain - also the fall backward over the luggage rack was probably when he was having a seizure. Probably more buried in there too. Yeah, Finnerty looked almost exactly like Tony, because Tony was projecting him as his alter ego. But he wouldn't have fucked the checker or the woman in the group in the bar, because this is Tony seeing himself not as he is, but as he might have been. Not married to Carmela, not in the mob, not unfaithful to his wife, and - kudos to Gandolfini - speaking with almost none of Tony's Jersey-mafia intonations.

As for the reality part of the show - all so well done: AJ's avoidance, Vito's empathetic theory about Gene's suicide, Christopher's disdain for Gene's taking the "easy" way out. And all of the interactions between the boys - Silvio taking charge, Paulie bickering with everyone, Christopher being the most emotionally affected, everyone hating Junior.

Good call, Shook, about the sequel!
# posted by Blogger teevoz : March 20, 2006 2:50 AM
 
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