Continued in the extended post, so we won’t bore the rest of you…

Well. I think that was the episode we’ve been waiting for all season, and I think in this case, it’s pretty clear the build-up, as aggravating as it was sometimes, was worth it and necessary. (Except for that dream…the length of it, I mean. Five minutes of intense symbolism would have sufficed – my favorite being the horse in the living room – “You can’t have the horse here if you’re going to come back…” read “whores” for “horse,” and you get it.”

I don’t think I breathed much the last twenty minutes.

There’s always been a lot of discussion regarding what this show is “about.” Those of us with a tendency to look for values have sometimes described it as a depiction of some sort of struggle between good and evil. Well, it’s not, because the cold fact is, there’s hardly any good in it at all.

One of the tropes of the show has been to sometimes amusingly juxtapose the work of mobsters alongside their “ordinary” suburban life and family concerns. Some have criticized this, saying it works to normalize the evil of the criminals. I saw last night that really, intentionally or not, the effect is the exact opposite. This is what I mean.

It’s almost as if we, the viewers, have been lulled into seeing the “good” side of these people so that we’re brought to a point when the evil of everyone of them, from Tony S. to Christopher to Silvio to even Carmella can be then thrown in our face, unadulterated, and we’re left, ourselves accused, tried and convicted of hiding our own eyes from the reality of evil.

This comes, most shockingly last night, I think in Silvio and Christopher. I may be wrong, but I don’t know if we’ve ever seen Silvio actually do anything really awful. He’s been on the sidelines, and I recall seeing him volunteer to do some difficult wacking once in a while, only to be turned down. He’s mostly worked as the most cartoonish of these characters (a close race between him a Paulie Walnuts), him with his helmet of hair, his almost stereotypical sneer and swagger and the viewer’s sly shared knowledge that whispers, “Bruce! E-Street Band!” every time he appears.

And then in this episode, his brutality is exposed as he takes a weeping Adriane (sp?), under the pretense that Christopher has OD’d, supposedly to a hospital, but really to the dreaded clearing in the woods where he rips her from the car where she’s clinging to the steering wheel once she’s realized what’s up, and shoots her as she desperately crawls away, the bruise marks from Christopher’s engraged reaction to her confession, still bright on her neck and face.

I have to tell you, as I alluded to a minute ago, I felt accused and convicted after that scene. I’ve watched the show, pretty resistant to the mobsters’ “charms,” but somehow, I’d let myself forget the truth.

And to me, the reason it’s worth talking about is that it simply speaks to the broader issue of excusing and glamorizing evil in our culture. No one is guilty of anything anymore. Read newspaper accounts of crimes, and those who know the perp, and perhaps even the perp him/herself will say, “I don’t know how this happened. He’s really a good father, a good kid, a great friend..” Things “happen.” No one is responsible. Being a “good kid” somehow covers a multitude of sins.

I think the Sopranos is partly about throwing that truth about ourselves in our face.

Random thoughts, welcoming yours:

The reconciliation…the mending of a broken marriage is supposed to make us happy, right? Then why does Tony and Carmella’s reconciliation feel so filthy? Because they have their reasons. Tony’s trying to escape responsibility and further connection with his Crispy Mistress, and Carmella…well, she made her deal. Sold her soul, one more time.

Christopher…in a way, we’ve wanted to believe in him, haven’t we? That there really was something for Adriane? Should have been obvious, though…what this season was building to in terms of his character was his absolute need for Tony S’s approval and his resentment of Tony B’s rise, and the fact that, when push came to shove, there was no way he was going to choose Adriane over Tony.

“This is the man I’m going to hell for.”

Best line of the series…sums up the whole thing.

And now, just for David Chase, I offer him the last scene of the last season of The Sopranos. No charge. At least not much. Came to me last night…perhaps it’s just want I want to see…Tony Soprano’s dead face being showered with garbage at a New Jersy landfill.

Yup.