'The Sopranos': Did Tony go too far?

Former HBO chief Chris Albrecht reportedly had a problem with a scene in the first season of "The Sopranos" where Tony Soprano kills a guy while touring colleges in Maine with his daughter Meadow.

Albrecht worried viewers would be turned off, witnessing the show’s protagonist murder a man in cold blood. But the episode is widely regarded as a turning point in the success of "The Sopranos," emblematic of the series’ ongoing allure -- the Machiavellian brutality of the mob on the one hand, and the more quotidian aspects of upper-middle-class immigrant striving on the other.

That cocktail is on its last fizz: Last night, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) offed his nephew Christopher (Michael Imperioli), and in the nephew’s dying eyes our beloved protagonist became, finally, despicable and lost, beyond empathy. If it once seemed stretched to begin a series in which the main character commits murder, what shocked Sunday night was that Tony kills and we don’t sympathize.

Series creator David Chase has been working back to this place since his Tony Soprano became perversely loved by millions. Now I’m just waiting for him to die (or be caught, or live on, though probably he’ll die). Even Gandolfini seemed to keep himself particularly dead-eyed and isolated for the hour, in which he saw his closest lieutenant dying before his eyes after the two were in a car wreck. He dialed the numbers 9 and 1 on his cell phone before deciding that his own life would be easier, all in all, without the kid, whose drug addiction was bound to get them all ensnared by the feds, and who had meanwhile committed a more complicated, literary sin: He’d embarrassed the boss by portraying him as be a simpering, bloated bully in a slasher movie called "Cleaver."

If Tony was too dense to realize it at first, Christopher’s betrayal came in handy, finally. Although this time, as Tony distanced himself from his guilt -- railing at the hyprocacies of the living and the dead -- you watched him not with vicarious pleasure but at a cold remove. Not since the death of Christopher’s fiancée Adriana have we watched a character die and felt not for the doer but the victim (in this case, a killer himself, but one who spoke vulnerably in rehab, and made fitful stabs at getting out of the life and dreamed Hollywood dreams.)

Tony Soprano had gotten away with murder before, but in each instance the writers left us bread crumbs back to understanding, and you followed this trail dutifully -- this guy was a mob informant (Big Pussy), that guy had it coming (Ralph Cifaretto).

There was rage and remorse on Tony’s inside, and an adherence to the laws of his jungle on the outside. Like Showtime’s serial-killer drama "Dexter," "The Sopranos" codifies its main character’s barbarous acts so that we experience them, against all odds, as destiny, and thus, in a way, forgivable. It’s the advantage of fiction; in real life you get away with stuff until you don’t, at which point it’s ugly, and unaccompanied by a soundtrack (see Albrecht, who shepherding "The Sopranos" to air and had his own fall-from-TV-grace last week, which has landed him in rehab, to say nothing of show business jail).

Chase, I hope, wants Tony Soprano to die, and die monumentally alone. Sunday night’s episode ended with Tony in the Nevada desert, loaded on peyote after an all-nighter with one of Christopher’s goomars, screaming, "I get it!" His face was a riot of tears, torment and unbidden glee. It had to have been the best acting performance of Gandolfini’s "Sopranos’" career, and maybe the show’s best tableau: The mob boss hallucinating like some exiled Lear in the Nevada desert, with a beautiful girl -- brainy and exotic, stripping to pay for college -- as his Fool.

Editor's note: Thanks to all those Sopranos viewers who wrote to catch the flub: At the end of the episode Tony Soprano does indeed say "I get it!" (and not "I did it.")

(Photo courtesy HBO)

Comments

[Chuck Ungar]

Nice article but he said "I get it" at the end not "I did it".

[Yagur]

A smart take on a challenging episode, but that's not what Tony shouted in the very last shot. Here's the episode summary from HBO's website:

One of Stefano's trucks pulls up to a marsh and dumps a load of asbestos. Meanwhile, Tony and Sonya have driven out to park overlooking a stunning desert canyon. Standing at the edge of the world Tony shouts out: "I get it!"

[Ted Herrmann]

The closed captioning has Tony screaming "I get it!" but I like "I did it!" better - it makes more sense.
This episode makes me think maybe they're gonna go for a really violent finish to the series - maybe culminating in Tony's suicide? That would be breaking all the rules.

[W. Grayson]

A. Previous comments were correct regarding the "I did it" vs "I get it" line at the end. Today's commentary on the Sopranos seems WAY off like a joke using a punchline from another joke as a payoff.

B. We've seen time and time again Tony's heartless decisions to cover up his wrongdoings. While I have to admit last night's murder of Christopher literally left me breathless, I had little or no sympathy. Remember at the end of LAST week's episode Chrissy senselessly murdered the writer.

I don't know why I 'm hooked on this. This is the one time I'm expecting the protagonist of the series to die, much like a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy.

[Mike]

Will they just end this series already? The writing has become f'n terrible. Season 6 was a complete waste. An entire season based on a gay wiseguy?
Terrible. It should have been a 2-3 episode story at the most. This season is dragging along slowly. I was expecting a full blown war between New York (Phil Leotardo's crew) and New Jersey (Soprano's crew). AJ is just now becoming a tough guy? His whole coming of age should have happened at the beginning of last season when the show focused on a queer gangster. We would at least have a decent side story to follow. At this point in the series, AJ's character is totally irrelevant. This show has fallen a far distance from the genius it created with the first 3 seasons.

[Tully Moxnesst]

I don't mean to be rude, but you could use a copy editor for your posts. At the very least, a quality spellchecker would be a big help.

hyprocacies = hypocrisies

see Albrecht, who shepherding "The Sopranos" to air and had his own fall-from-TV-grace last week, which has landed him in rehab, to say nothing of show business jail

This is a fragment that needed editiing.

[Michael Corleone]

Leave it to the LA Times to totally not get it. Tony doesn't have to apologize for anything. He kills because it's the right thing to do. Tony isn't wrapped up in all the emotion concerning his life or his ways like this writer is. This is Tony's life and his business. Killing Christopher was a smart business move - and that's the discipline (to steal a line from another famous Italian crook). It doesn't matter who threatens the family business, they must die, even if they are family.

And by the way, Tony "got it". Too bad this writer doesn't

[Mr Bad Ideas]

They caught Al Capone for income tax evasion. Will the Sopranos end with the EPA getting Tony for dumping Asbestos?

[Dave]

I've never understood the oft-noted phenomenon that the success of The Sopranos is that the characters do such evil things, yet we in the audience “sympathize with them” or “find ourselves rooting for them,” especially Tony. Sure, I recognize that Tony faces some of the same challenges that many of us face in life from time to time, and I indeed do find it interesting watching how a man like him deals with such things. That is certainly a large part of what makes this such a great show. However, I and anyone I’ve ever talked to about the series have NEVER sympathized with Tony. He’s a liar, a thief, a murderer. I am compelled to watch Tony (and virtually all of the other characters, for that matter) like I am compelled to gawk at an accident on the freeway. But I never root for him. I want to see him lose. I want to see the FBI arrest him, a jury convict him and a judge sentence him to jail for life. So I’m glad to see that this author finally thinks that Tony is “beyond empathy.” But what show have you been watching for the past five seasons? He’s been beyond empathy since he threw that first punch on the poor deadbeat in the first episode.

[Teresa]

Well, I for one didn't feel sorry for Christopher. This is the same "nice guy" who murdered the writer of his movie in cold blood, for no reason, just last week. Christopher was also the one responsible for Adriana being whacked. He should have never told her all that he did; he should have kept her ignorant of the details, as Tony does with his wife, so that she COULDN'T have told the feds anything.

[Arnie Tracey]

Here's the thing in a nutshell: Chase is wringing a damp washcloth. It's dry already.

As for sympathy for the devil that is Tony? No way. We watched Tony in horror. The violence perpetrated in the show was like a tasty morsel Chase threw us. A sop. A bone for sticking through the entire episode. Or season.

Then he hits you with genius: Tony sick, talking fish, Big Pussy begging for his face. As if he was going to make it back to a casket ashore.

Chase lost his way after season 3. 4, 5 and 6 are dogs.

[Arnie Tracey]

Here's the thing in a nutshell: Chase is wringing a damp washcloth. It's dry already.

As for sympathy for the devil that is Tony? No way. We watched Tony in horror. The violence perpetrated in the show was like a tasty morsel Chase threw us. A sop. A bone for sticking through the entire episode. Or season.

Then he hits you with genius: Tony sick, talking fish, Big Pussy begging for his face. As if he was going to make it back to a casket ashore.

Chase lost his way after season 3. 4, 5 and 6 are dogs.

[s saunders]

A few observations: Tony needs to die ... he cannot turn state's evidence. We need to see all the ghosts resurrected to torment Tony and haunt Paulie. I think when Tony said "I get it" he was acknowledging he needs to kill those around him who are negative or depressing. That could be anybody. This season has been confusing ... Carmela has not been true to character. She would have left him for the way he insulted her over the real estate deal. I think AJ's going to committ suicide and send Tony into a suicidal battle with Phil.

[Bill]

I don't see the horror in this.

Tony has been suspicious of Christopher for quite a while now, as he said always afraid he would "drop a dime" to the FBI on him.

Chris' getting them into an accident and admitting he was high at the time was just the last straw, combined with the image of the destroyed baby seat in the back seat. It just reached a point where Chris was too big a liability to all around him, plain and simple.

It doesn't make the killing evil or maniacal, just simply logical in the Sopranos frame of reference.

[Lionel]

In the Vanity Fair interview, with David Chase concerning the final season, Mr. Chase commented that he did not want to have the series end on the old cliche, "crime doesn't pay." I expect a surprise twist, such as Tony getting immunity from the Feds by thwarting a terroist attack, or that Adriana returns and Sal is secretly working for the FBI. There is rumor of a Soprano's movie, so Tony has to live on.

[Tim]

I have to say that I think the whole article is way off base. Watching the episode I really did feel for Tony. Chrissy has been a dissapointment and a thorn in his side from day 1 (remember the kid driving the new Lexus who can't even catch a small time gambler)? The heir apparent to Tony's empire has finally gotten what he deserved.

Tony's actons were not vile, they were good business sense. Chris was going to get the whole family whacked or pinched. I say, "good for you Tony." If Chrissy ascended Boss, New York would have run roughshod over all that Tony has worked for in his life.

[Shag]

People who become members of organize crime, from gangs to the mob, are sociopaths.

[Sheryl]

Christopher was dead the minute he told Tony he wouldn't pass the drug test.

The whole baby-seat moment aside, Tony told Chris when Tony had to kill Adriana that if he found out Chris was on drugs again, Chris was a dead man. That pause in dialing 911 was Tony remembering that promise.

And the one thread that has made Tony Soprano a sympathetic anti-hero is that he f***ing keeps his word, no matter what; within the confines of his incredibly skewed world, Tony is an honorable guy. It's what allows him the limited love he has for his wife and his kids, that sense of honor. It's the same sense of honor that had him killing 'the rat' in that first season epi.

No, Tony realized that didn't have any choice but to kill Chris, and the other guys know that Tony did it. That's why they were all lined up at the couch that way, staring at them. His 'I don't remember anything after' was an acknowlegement that he'd done the deed. Tonyhad asked every single one one of those guys to trust his judgement that Chris would stay clean and that he would not pose any threat to any of them when they killed just Adriana, not the both of them.

I think that 'I get it' in the desert was about Tony realizing that there's going to have to be more killing if he's going to continue to keep faith.

I think the question of the next 3 hours is whether Tony's going to survive the slaughter.

[Cafe-Risque.com]

oh i don't know... christopher completely encapsulated the narcissistic self-destructive sociopathic addict who leaves nothing but destruction in his path. I didn't really feel that much pity or empathy ... actually since the demise of adrianna, sympathy for the 'devils' in this melodrama has been hard to come by for this viewer -- who watches enthralled and captivated and mesmerized any way... it's so much more complex than whether we feel sorry for them or identify with the characters.

The show so perfectly symbolizes all that's possible and yet all that's evil and corrupt about the dark hearts of men -- more so about this decaying country in particular if you ask me... Perverse love indeed.

[Mik9]

I'm sorry. This is about a year too late to post, but I feel someone needs to actually let people in on what The Sopranos is about. No one will probably ever read this, but you never know.

What is this show about? Family. And maybe a little further of an explanation might be the psychology of family, but that's it. The mob, Italian-American stereotypes, immigration - all these topics are secondary to the idea of "family". It is a series about mothers, fathers, their children and how they affect their children through their choices. To understand the series and realize that David Chase wasn't 'wringing a dry washcloth', you have to go back and see the entire series. Probably multiple times.

Yes, Tony killed Chris because he's a snivelling drug-addict and a disappointment. But throughout the series, Chris has always "been like a son" to Tony. Chris is Tony's MOB son. And he kills him. Is it SO weird? Well, not if we look at Tony's upbringing. Tony's personality, choices, characeristics are all driven by HIS parents, namely his mother. She may have died at the start of season 3, but trust me, she lives on forever in Tony. Who else do we know that tried to kill their son. Maybeeeee Livia Sopranos in Season 1? How ironic that Tony, who couldn't believe a mother would try to kill her own son, KILLS HIS SYMBOLIC SON because he's disappointed with him. See the connection? Think it's the only one? Why do all the women Tony falls for look alike? He even admits it to Melfi. Dark hair, very Italian. Who do they look like? Maybe....his mother? Look at Livia in the flashbacks. He even gives special treatment to his daughter because she is the kind of woman he prefers. And in turn, she ends up with an Italian lawyer who's father's in the mob. She's back where she started. And AJ with Rhiannon? Blonde, thin, Carmela-ish? You think those are coinsidences? These are writers who KNOW what they're doing. They all try to get away from it (Meadow's aAfrian-Jewish boyfriend, AJ's Bianca) but they can't escape.

Anyway, you see what I'm getting at. Ok, one more. Season 1. The only memory Tony can come up with to describe his "happy, fuzzy warm memories of his mother" is when they were at the shore, his dad fell down some stairs and his mother laughed at him. She loved it. Aaaaannnd 2nd last ep. of season 2. Tony's leaving his mom's house after Janice killed Richie Aprile. He falls down the stairs and his mother laughs at him. Creeeeepy. Oh yeah, and his gun falls out. But I'll leave that to your sexual metaphors.

Do yourself a favor. Go back. Watch it from the beginning as quickly as you can so you don't forget the details.

Ok, one more. Both Tony and AJ say "Why can't we all just get along?" while in therapy.