Shook the Spot

"WE LEAD THE WORLD IN COMPUTERIZED DATA PROCESSING" . . . THE SOPRANOS — SEASON 6, EPISODE 7 . . . "LUXURY LOUNGE" . . . ARTIE SHOOTS, SERVES A RABBIT . . . CHRISSY JACKS LAUREN BACALL . . . RUSTY TAKES TWO TO THE HEAD

The first words of last night's episode strike an ominous chord, albeit in subtitled Italian. "This is where the Twin Towers were," says one hitman to the other, plotting a little post-double murder tourism. The line comes immediately after the "Previously on . . . " montage, which reminds us that Tony is worried two Arabs in his crew might be "al Qaedas or something" (and reprises Chrissy's great line, "I don't think so. Mohammed and his girlfriend have a dog.") It's odd that the subplot even gets a mention in the montage, since there are no developments on that front in the episode. The Arabs make only two fleeting appearances when Tony pats them on the back at Bada Bing and, later, when they purchase some computer chip or something . . . anyone catch what was going on there? But obviously something will soon go down with the two of them, though it's more likely they'll be blown up than blow something up themselves. Anyone care to speculate?

The real plot set-up last night, though, had to be the takedown of Rusty in his black Mercedes as he backed out of the driveway of his extremely tacky (Staten Island?) home. Who thinks that hit is likely to figure into whatever grand conclusion David Chase has in store for the show? Shook does. We've got a heroin addict in charge of making sure the weapons, which the Italians drop at the crime scene, can't be traced back to anyone. "The fishes have been cleaned," he assures them, but we all know the fishes always come back to haunt the boss. And Phil seems miffed when Tony refuses to accept his thanks for a job well done. With Johnny Sack unlikely to emerge from his prison cell again before the series finale, isn't Phil the guy that Tony should be concerned with pleasing, if mollifying the New York crew is really his aim? (For a good while last season, a NY/NJ war seemed afoot, but Johnny's arrest put the kabash on that. Shook thinks it brewing again.) And furthermore, a fuckload of people appear to know the details behind the Rusty hit, including Benny, whom you can't even trust with a few credit card numbers. (Although, on that note, isn't it time Artie hung up the apron? Last night's subplot was only slightly less annoying than Artie's tableside manner.)

And before we go, what is there to say about Ben Kingsley and Lauren Bacall? It was about time someone gave Bacall that punch in the face she's always been asking for. And it's a good thing Kingsley turned down the role of the boss in Chrissy's flick. He just wasn't right for it . . .

Finally, Shook got kinda angry when the early episodes of this season fixated on that dreadful Ojibwe saying on the wall of Tony's hospital room . . . "Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while, a great wind carries me across the sky." The line has been kicking around since then, though, with Tony whipping it out at several choice moments. So let's a get a running list of people whom Tony has accused, "frankly," of going about in pity for themselves . . .

Janice ("Frankly, Janice, I think you go about in pity for yourself.")
Homosexuals (To Dr. Melfi: "I think they go about in pity for themselves.")
Artie ("Frankly, I think you go about in pity for yourself.")

We missing anyone?