This week's Soprano's episode was like Andre 3000's recent remix killing spree where he started rapping again to show he was still better than 99 percent of all them rappers in their nightgown length white tees.
The show starts off with Tony and Chris meeting with Phil to discuss the asbestos removal. Phil wants 25 percent now or no more dumping. Driving back to Jersey Tony and Chris debate whether or not to give in. Tony is steadfast in his refusal because it would set a bad precedent with a new boss. Chris is more flexible and tells Tony he should give it to him.
As they are driving Tony notices Chris is all fidgety and can't leave the radio alone. After Chris pops in the Departed soundtrack, and that fucking god awful comfortably numb remix, he zones out and swerves into the other lane of traffic and crashes his SUV down a hill. Tony is able to get out of the wreck with a banged up face and bruised knee and goes to help Chris, who is bleeding out of the mouth and begging Tony to get him out of there because he can't pass a drug test. Tony then looks straight through him, and into the backseat where a tree branch has jutted through the window and pierced the baby seat in the back, and decides to put Chris out of his misery once and for all by suffocating Chris as he dies choking on his own blood. Tony then calls 911.
Tony seems unaffected by this death, and is instead, happy to have rid himself of a potential future problem. Chris, who was was once Tony's hand picked successor, constantly disappointed Tony to the point where Tony felt he was more of a liability than anything else. In a dream sequence with Dr. Melfi Tony admits he is glad Chris is dead because he was a sniveling drug addict who could turn state's evidence on him at any time, and then concludes by ranting about how much help and pity he gave Chirs concluding with, "Guess what pity produces in the recipient? They shit on your pity."
It seems in these final episodes we are finally witnessing the exact ruthless, paranoid, and calculating nature that is Tony. It seems in previous seasons the show almost seemed designed for us to give a free pass to Tony's horrible actions, and many times almost feel sorry for him. This season we realize to get to the position he is in he needed all this ruthlessness, which enabled him the ability to kill a best friend like Pussy, or near son like Chris without any seeming remorse or pity, and instead he felt a sense of relief after it was done. They were weak, and one day could eventually bring down Tony, so in order to avoid future problems he took care of those potential issues and liabilities. If we root for Tony then we root for evil and in previous seasons this type of proposition was something we could easily deal with because there was always someone seemingly more sinister and ruthless on the horizon who detracted from Tony's inherent evil nature. It was similar to Menace II Society where we could root for Caine, and forget all his faults simply because O- Dog was the craziest motherfucker alive (anyone want a cheeseburger?) and his actions were always more heinous and irrational than those of Caine. But now we see that the most ruthless and conniving son of a bitch has always been Tony. All his vices, be it women, gambling, or excess, have been on display this season. Which leads the audience to wonder whether we should root for his eventual downfall, or rather, root for his makavelian perseverance and willingness to do anything to achieve his American dream.
At the wake Tony and his crew remark at how elegant and beautiful Chris's widow looks(also of note is how Tony seems to be enthralled at her titty when she feeds the baby a few days later leading us to wonder if this scenario is going to play out like the Cleaver movie and end with Tony sleeping with her). That same night as the wake for Chris is also a wake for Paulie's mom. When Tony and Carmela head to Paulie's mom's wake after coming from Chris' wake Paulie is upset that nobody came to his mother's wake and complains he got 500 prayer cards that will go to waste. Tony tells him well at least he was there which for the moment appeases Paulie.
Elsewhere we see the two Jasons telling AJ not to let his cousin's death get to him. The next day they are hanging out at their frat when one of the Jason's comes back with food and opens his car door which picks off a random college dude on his bike. After he gets flipped over from the car door he gets pissed off at one of the Jasons which ultimately leads to a beat down for him from Jason and his crew. AJ looks at this beat-down with horror. The next day at therapy is depressed because of the incident and wonders why everything is so "fucked up" and why "everyone can't just get along." It seems AJ feels something Tony never has and that is empathy for the victim of how they prosper in life.
Tony decides he needs to escape New Jersey and leaves for Las Veags on a private plane. While there he meets up with an old girlfriend of Chris, who is a beautiful stripper who uses her vocation to pay her school bills. Tony breaks the news to her that Chris is dead and then sleeps with her. The next day they are hanging out and Tony mentions drugs and how he could never take them because he was always so responsible and in charge. Tony decides to say fuck it and drops peyote with the girl and trips out over vegas. During his trip he breaks his losing streak in gambling, resulting in him keeling over laughing so hard, and eventually ends out in the desert shouting at the sky he finally "gets it."
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