Barbelith Underground > Film, TV & Theatre > UK Sopranos Season 4: "Trust only blood..."

Okay, here are my notes from last week's episode (I'm so bad at getting round to finishing this sort of stuff):

‘The Weight’ seemed to be almost nothing BUT foreshadowing: Johnny Sack couldn’t keep his family and ‘business’ life separate, and look at the huge potential consequences that stemmed from a tiny, offhand, personal remark. You look at the apparent insignificance of that trigger, and then you think about what a minefield Tony’s family life is (all their personal lifes are, really). There are so many potential ways in which something could blow up and put Tony in a deeply fucked-up situation. Most obvious being Carmela and Furio, followed probably by Ralphie and, y’know, everything/one he touches. I found it quite chilling that even though he can’t stand Ralphie personally and has been friends with Johnny for years, he was willing to have Johnny whacked once Carmine gave the order. How… professional. Of course, the huge irony is that Johnny's feelings for/about his wife are probably the most likeable aspect of his character we've seen...

Other brief thoughts on specific characters in this episode:

Christopher – feel the sting of irony as he says “You never know, T.” His and Silvio’s scene with the elderly hitmen and their creepy house was also priceless.

Ralphie – oooh, so close, Ralphie, so close. I’m wondering if there’s more to this stuff about Ralphie being a “foppy cocksucker” (some of his outfits are fantastic, or fantastically bad, or both) and being into the kinky stuff than just comedy value – it’s telling that he’s worried enough about the possibility of what he and Janice got up to getting out that he pre-empts this by telling his crew the dildo/role-play stuff was her idea and that he was so averse to it that he broke it off with her (whereas in fact the implication in ‘Christopher’ was that even his last girlfriend had to cater to Ralphie’s “needs). He’s also, of course, an idiot for slagging off his boss’ sister – he’ll never learn…

AJ was just great comic relief – “I’m so bored I feel like crying”, locking the kid in the garage.

Furio himself - he’s kinda sweet in a dumb way (like a more innocent Tony? Would explain a lot) – “my hands in the earth, the smell of olives” – he’s like someone out of ‘Allo, ‘Allo! – but there’s one moment where he’s genuinely really sweet to Bobby Bacala.

When Carmine says “Is it safe?”, was that a deliberate Marathon Man reference?

Junior again brilliant in his brief scenes. Wearing a suit for the sit-down in which no-one can see him, not realising Johnny stormed out the room – and then his conversation with Tony, with the anvil-like foreshadowing of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? – “he used all his lifelines by the fifth question!”

Tony’s brand of racism is very well handled, I think – what a contrast with NYPD Bleu, which was on afterwards, in which Sipovitz is a hero for managing to channel his bigotry so that he only verbally and physically abuses black criminals, which is fiiiine! I found that Meadow’s ability to rib him about his job in a way that was still pointed, yet didn’t lead to an argument, was actually a very accurate representation about what conversations with your parents which raise big issues you disagree on can be like.

NB: I am reaching that point in the season where not looking at spoilers is an unbelievably challenging act of restraint.