The Sopranos 6x18 Reaction
Added 2025-05-29 23:51:34 +0000 UTC
Comments
I read it being a bit like eastern religion. There’s no judgement from a greater being. There’s is no good and bad. No heaven and hell. There’s just duality and poles of the same thing. Don’t grasp the past , don’t strive for the future to be something. That’s a cause of suffering. You’re infinite and the present moment is the only existence. So, he stopped seeking to be something he’s not.
John
2025-06-05 14:04:48 +0000 UTC'i get it' infamous scene up to many interpretations, one of my favorites is. He gets it. He can do whatever he wants and not worry about the consequences. He killed his nephew, made his niece fatherless. He's cheating on Carm again. And he's striking gold, winning big. There are no more limits on his selfishness anymore. He's done trying (or at least pretending to try) to be a good person. its like peyote did the one thing therapy could never do for him, and that is to accept. He will never change and now he officially mentally lets go.
Bishop
2025-06-04 04:38:21 +0000 UTCTony was on demon time the entire episode trying to justify what he did to Chrissy. Especially with the “baby sheet” detail.
Daniel_
2025-06-01 20:36:36 +0000 UTCI mean it's always gonna eventually happen. I don't know why people are always eager to get ahead of their feelings towards a particular character instead of just letting them form their own opinions from watching the show unfold.
IanJ
2025-06-01 09:35:04 +0000 UTCgod I can’t wait for the finale
cheech
2025-06-01 00:47:09 +0000 UTCYes she is an escort/dancer. That's why Chris said to look her up if Tony goes to Vegas. He wouldn't have said that if she was a goomar.
ArtVandalHey!
2025-05-31 10:11:26 +0000 UTC“I DIDN’T!!!!!”
Running red
2025-05-30 20:01:06 +0000 UTC"The child is grown, the dream is gone..." Honestly, out of all Pink Floyd references in the show, this is my favourite one. So incredibly sad, but so fitting.
AndyB
2025-05-30 19:20:24 +0000 UTCwild they cut that, completely changes the tone. I never got the impression chris had many or any connections outside the mob at this point besides like, the writer guy he kills and his baby daughter
Kara
2025-05-30 19:16:10 +0000 UTCOh man. What a show it is. And these two ladies are going to be absolutely obsessed with Sally. (and the show as a whole)
Mitchell
2025-05-30 18:47:38 +0000 UTCThere was a great scene that was originally going to play at the start of this episode, but was cut (for time, I hope). it shows tony arriving unannounced at Christopher's house while he is hosting a get-together with his neighbours and legitimate friends; non-mob associates, actual decent people. to me it shows how Chris is now completely out from under Tony's thumb, and how when Chris is free to host events he chooses not to invite tony. Chris lies and tells tony that the little party "just fell together", but tony knows that Chris had specifically chosen to cut tony out of his personal life now. I think it's important to note that Chris is completely sober in that scene, but after Tony leaves, he angrily rants to his wife about how Tony ruined the party (or something like that). I like to think that this encounter is what caused Chris to be so high when he's in the car with Tony in the beginning of this episode. Like one of the guys said, "he's been working the program very dedicated since he threw little Paulie out that window". To me, this shows that this is a separate relapse from the one in the previous episode; and that it is one entirely caused by Tony.
kingsley scanlon
2025-05-30 18:23:10 +0000 UTCCan I just say how happy I am they finally realized Carmella is a piece of shit just like everyone else. They were so high on her throughout this series and just overlooking all the hypocrisy and self-righteous BS she spewed for over 6 seasons. Sure, she may not be a sociopathic murderer like the rest of them, but she's a fucking snake in the grass.
BND
2025-05-30 17:11:11 +0000 UTCI don't live in NJ anymore but yeah it was a pretty boring state, but some people like that. It has some really nice suburban areas and I could see myself living there when I'm older and want to live a nice quiet life.
BND
2025-05-30 16:51:34 +0000 UTCactually paulie was saying something important, even though he had differences with him he mourned chris' death more way more than tony
Josip
2025-05-30 14:36:14 +0000 UTCMight also just have not recognised the english word, it is their second language
joster
2025-05-30 10:40:35 +0000 UTCI think L&M are probably too young to know what asbestos is. Back then it was a big deal, and well known as a material commonly used for insulation and a fire-retardant, but is no longer used as it causes cancer. Lola was talking about the symbolism of dumping in the clean lake where there should be ducks, and also of cancer being symbolic of mob influence throughout the show, and this is a pretty direct final example of it. It was widely used in the 20th century as a building material until the health risks became known, so around the end of the century there were a lot of projects to safely remove and dispose of it. As such, it's a parallel for the mafia: a big feature of boom-time America in the mid-20th century, but it's had it's heyday and now it's on its way out.
Abacus
2025-05-30 10:23:17 +0000 UTCThe song right before he kills him: comfortably numb. As it pans to Christopher’s face and goes: “Hello? (Hello, hello, hello) Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me Is there anyone home?” And you know there is literally no one there, he is empty, a broken man beyond redemption. Then obviously the big line: the child is grown the dream is gone. You often hear that Aj is the one who never had a chance and to a lesser extent Tony. I wholeheartedly disagree, Christopher is easily for me at least, the tragic figure in this show that never had a chance. When your surrogate father drowns you in your own blood and almost feels offended that people care you died, what kind of chance did you have? The glimmer and feint smile on Tony’s face when he’s ranting in his fever dream about his relief in regards to Chris’ death…… again what kind of chance did you have if the person you modelled your life after and idolised to no end saw you in that fashion. I often think back to season 1 when Chris refuses to do the truck job with his friend…. “There was a time in my life where being part of the Tony Soprano crew was all ever I dreamed of” Then he follows it up with the idea of being loyal to middle management. Then he goes: “ we have to stick together, why be in a crew? Why be a gangster” He always saw the familial camaraderie as one the great aspects of the mafia, that disillusion still haunted him six seasons later. He was by no means a saint, but he never had a chance, father died while he was young, mother a raging alcoholic who couldn’t put the bottle down to be there for him, surrogate father mired in his own demons. “Fuck Tony, that’s a quote” -Associate Brendan Filone.
Edward. M
2025-05-30 09:32:02 +0000 UTCR.I.P. Scott
Abacus
2025-05-30 08:50:49 +0000 UTCThis season really is about Tony's spiritual decay. By killing Chris, someone who shares the same "disease" as him, Tony symbolically destroys the vulnerable and damaged part of himself. In doing so, he rejects the emotional weight and consequences of his own mental health struggles. Instead of confronting the shared pain that binds them, he chooses power and self-preservation. The last vestiges of Tony’s humanity died with Chris. Similar with how in the previous episode, Chris killing JT Dolan serves as a tacit admission that he will never have the courage to leave this life behind. As someone who usually takes Chrissy's side over Paulie in most episodes, his funeral outshining Nucci's funeral really is a darkly hilarious way to end their rivalry.
IanJ
2025-05-30 07:26:20 +0000 UTCYou're dumb then and didn't understand themes and symbolism being tied in from earlier in the show.
Nicholas
2025-05-30 06:24:40 +0000 UTCGreat comment. There's even that reference to Crime and Punishment by the Therapist Carmela goes to in season 3. I also believe Tony and in extension Carmela are the anti Raskolnikov and anti Sonya. Tony instead of facing the consequences of the evil he has committed like Raskolnikov, chooses to instead further embroil himself in evil and avoid his actions. Carmela instead of help lead Tony to some kind of redemption (turning him in, leaving with kids), like Sonya, instead chooses to enable his evil crimes.
Nicholas
2025-05-30 06:22:57 +0000 UTCi think the girl is an escort
Zach D
2025-05-30 06:00:47 +0000 UTCThe beacon from the coma dream is also referenced as Tony is killing Chris, when he looks up and sees the headlights from a passing car just at the moment that Chris departs. The beam of light as the car passes makes a side-to-side sweep like the beacon, it's a nice link.
Abacus
2025-05-30 04:48:23 +0000 UTCOne element I think might have been missed in the “I get it” final scene: the flickering sun is a direct reference to the light beacon from the coma episodes. A moment that should be a beautiful connection to the soul and the world beyond, reduced to the selfish desires of complete sociopathic freedom.
Evander
2025-05-30 03:57:04 +0000 UTCTony says the exact thing "Can't we all just get along" in season four as well (after Pie-Oh-My dies). I only remembered because you mentioned Rodney King and Tony called him "reverend" back then, clearly conflating him with Martin Luther King Jr.
Veya
2025-05-30 03:50:14 +0000 UTCalways saw this episode as a sort of anti crime and punishment. our protagonist commits a heinous crime but instead of feeling remorse ends up being empowered, instead of submitting to God ends up reinforcing the opposite—that his actions will find no cosmic retribution, no karma, and instead will perhaps be even rewarded. He is at peace and at complete acceptance of himself and himself alone.
Erin
2025-05-30 03:43:05 +0000 UTCThis is a seminal episode for obvious reasons. But I don't really know what to make of the second half of it. And honestly I don't think the writers knew either.
Julien
2025-05-30 03:30:32 +0000 UTCimagine those girls turning back and arriving to see tony smothering chris.... jesus. dont even wanna contemplate what could happen there...
Kara
2025-05-30 03:17:11 +0000 UTCHey at least the next one’s fun! 😁
Bxb
2025-05-30 03:03:10 +0000 UTCTony's gambling cold streak ending after he kills Chris is such a perfect moment of anti-karma. David Chase is a cynical son of a bitch. The episode title ("Kennedy and Heidi") refers to the teenage girls driving the oncoming car that Chris swerves to avoid. They're a split-second distillation of the self-interest that is motivating Tony's actions after the accident. Instead of going back to call for help (and saving Chris's life, probably) Heidi is more worried about losing her learner's permit 🤷♂️ Funny to hear that comparison to "Ozymandias" at the end of the conversation, because Shelley was 100% an influence on Yeats and "The Second Coming". HOF shows and naming the antepenultimate episode after one of the most famous poems in the English language -- name a more iconic duo.
Mike
2025-05-30 03:00:42 +0000 UTCI really don’t remember this episode being so dark holy fuck
Elijah Glory
2025-05-30 02:43:40 +0000 UTCStructurally this is one of the most ambitious episode of the show. Dense with a lot of past symbols, foils, and beats that fold in on itself causing mini loops throughout the episode: - can hear ducks in the background of the dumping scene but never actually see them. echos the first episode but also 'Sopranos Home Movies' where Tony doesn't notice one fly behind him. - Tony and Paulie were linked through the wind in the beginning of 6A, showing how they took different lessons from it. Paulie repairs his relationship with someone close to him, Tony does not. It's paid off here by the fact that both of those people die and it contrasts how Paulie genuinely mourns (even for Chris) and Tony doesn't. - you can hear a crow in the background when the episode cuts from Kelli screaming to Tony waking up. Chris saw a crow in the episode where he becomes made and has referenced it as a bad omen a number of times in the show. - multiple things happens twice causing mini loops in the episode's flow, the significance of this isn't clear and probably means different things depending on which scenes are being looked at: two therapy scenes for Tony, two funerals, two gambling scenes, the driving loop (i think two of them even uses the same exact shot), AJ gets two therapy scenes as well, and two scenes at school, two visual symbols of 'Cleaver' that Tony sees, two scenes where Tony is drinking red wine alone (white he shares with Shaw from POI), Tony zones in on two lights (in the bathroom and the sunrise). There's probably even more I'm missing. - Tony feels too little and AJ feels too much. The episode deliberately cuts from AJ's breakdown to Tony in the next scene doing drugs (maybe trying to feel something, maybe not). - Lola pointed it out, this episode is basically a sequel to "Irregular Around the Margin". The car crash link, but also Tony goes and sleeps with a girl Chris has been with. They connected it to the lady from The Good Wife, but given that there was ultimately more drama surrounding the Adriana triangle and Chris almost died in that episode, I think it's more of an echo of Tony's desire/fondness for Adriana. Could be both though. I think this is easily one of the best episode of the show but I think the next one can rival it in terms of thematic depth.
Veya
2025-05-30 02:29:33 +0000 UTCTo hell with the rest of the series. This is the episode I’ve been waiting for
CHX2176
2025-05-30 02:09:04 +0000 UTCDoesn't surprise me that this episode was written by Mathew Weiner lol, given how much you love Mad Men. I think he has some of the best episodes of the later seasons (well maybe not the Luxury Lounge episode).
Veya
2025-05-30 02:08:57 +0000 UTCI think you two would have a great time in Jersey! There's much to see and do! Just...y'know...don't try to recreate the show. Nobody predicts Chris will go out like this, in this episode. They all expect some sort of gun battle, or direct drug overdose. Something DRAMATIC. But a drug-induced car crash where Tony coldly smothers him with one hand, at the beginning of the episode....nope. There's a theory kicked around by some people that Chris had flipped after the end of the last episode, and was wearing a wire in the opening scene here. It's not very widely held, but this theory points out that Chris hasn't worn a baseball cap since the very beginning of the series, but suddenly he's wearing one now, and we saw last season that the FBI has a microphone-in-baseball-hat recording device that they use to infiltrate the Jersey mob. I said this in a comment a few episodes ago, but I think the difference between early-series Tony and now isn't that he's necessarily a worse person now, it's that now he has completely stopped trying to be better. In the early seasons he at least TRIED. He never succeeded, and he was always reprehensible, but that idea that he WANTED to change made us able to root for him. Now he doesn't even have that. AJ saying "Can't we all just get along?" is a reference to the beating of Rodney King in 1991. The incident was one of the sparks of the LA riots at the time, and he made a public plea to end the riots by saying "Can we all get along?" The reference is obvious with AJ saying it after seeing another black man beaten pointlessly. BTW "Jersey Boys", the show that Paulie's mother was seeing when she died, is the life story about the band The Four Seasons. That's Frankie Valli's band, and the story is very intertwined with the Jersey mafia.
JBK405
2025-05-30 02:07:46 +0000 UTCThis may be an overdramatic way to state things, but there is something deeply evil at the core of this episode. No other television episode has made me feel so needing to cleanse myself after. My fav episode of the show
Evander
2025-05-30 02:01:21 +0000 UTCAs someone who is from New Jersey.. don’t come here lol ain’t nothing to do and it’s a pretty boring state. People who live in NJ usually spend their weekends either in NYC or PA. Usually the summers here are when it’s most active but yeah as someone who is from New Jersey and is moving out of this state soon.. fuck NJ lol now regarding the episode.. this episode is somehow weird to me because I wasn’t expecting Christopher’s character to end that way.. plus Tony’s reaction is just so disgusting. At this end point of the show is when I feel people tend to feel similar to you girls regarding his character. And the “ I get it” part is up to interpretation tbh.
Jack SV
2025-05-30 02:01:14 +0000 UTCGreat reaction when Tony says I get it he accepts that he does not have to pretend or try to act like a good guy anymore he accepts that he killed Chris and it benefited him. He laughed at the casino cause he saw Chris as his bad luck and with him gone he finally starts doing good in gambling so no matter what he does he can get away with it there is no need to pretend any more.
Jackson
2025-05-30 01:53:03 +0000 UTCI always assumed that the cops would come, book him, and then it would get back to Tony's crew (cops on payroll, friends-of-friends, people in the jail Vito goes to etc). Obviously being drunk helps getting booked.
Kara
2025-05-30 01:41:57 +0000 UTC100% agree. One of my fav things about final seasons (that know they are final seasons) is the writers can really cut loose. I think there would have been insane push back from the writers room and the HBO execs to do this at any point before now.
Kara
2025-05-30 01:40:55 +0000 UTCGreat reaction! This is my fav episode of S6. By this point S6 was really feeling like a slog for me, then this happened and I was like okay yeah, the writers get it. Any goodwill people still had for Tony should be shattered by this, and then the way he mopes the whole episode because people are grieving and supporting him in his fake grief... just phenomenal. IT's a devastating cavalcade with so much good in it... Tony trying to repeat Chris' vegas antics, old man's hallucinogenic illusion of solving reality, the fakeout psych scene so we can compare to the real psych scene for differences, Tony's inaction resulting in poison being dumped in his community... I mean come on. That's Writing. James Gandolfini is an incredible actor and a hugely lucky piece of casting and I genuinely don't think that Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Mad Men would have lasted as long if their productions didn't massively luck out on casting actors who can carry the weight and themes of a season on their backs.
Kara
2025-05-30 01:39:47 +0000 UTCHuge respect to David Chase obviously but I often disagree with his takes on Tony. He was very surprised by the audience reaction to Tony especially by S6, was shocked people would be rooting for his downfall after spending 6 seasons with him. I think David Chase fundamentally believes proximity equals empathy and that you have to feel for a despicable person if you understand them having spent 6/7 years watching them. I think it's useful retroactive context that Tony Soprano inspired Walter White who is the ur example of the antiheroic villain who viewers (mainly men) accidentally idolize. "Death of the Author" is a concept for a reason, sometimes writers/showrunners are too close to the characters to make objective judgements. I think it's a testament to Chase and the writers room that they write Tony so authentically nasty even though some of them have (imo) an over-abundance of empathy for him. You believe Tony in part because they believe Tony.
Kara
2025-05-30 01:33:12 +0000 UTCOne of my all time favorite episodes from any TV show ever. Brilliantly written and directed. The silent moments contributes to the brutality and coldness of this show, especially in this episode. And the ending scene is the icing on the cake, making you sit there and just take in everything you witnessed. Also just killing off a major character, no matter how much you anticipate it, at the beginning of the episode is yet another great curve ball by David Chase. This guy was deconstructing TV tropes with this show left and right. Btw, this episode won best directing at the Emmys.
enchantertim
2025-05-30 01:21:51 +0000 UTCCan't wait to start watching Mad Men. It's one of those shows I've heard nothing but good things about but I've put off watching it for one reason or another.
BND
2025-05-30 01:20:12 +0000 UTCYou know it's shocking when the Serbian language gets deployed.
Huffster999
2025-05-30 01:04:26 +0000 UTCPeyote is a hallucinogenic drug. It comes from a cactus plant.
BND
2025-05-30 01:04:08 +0000 UTCI think Vito killed that guy on his way back because he was going to call the cops and he was drunk driving. Obviously insane and wrong but that was his reason.
Eric Viola
2025-05-30 01:00:22 +0000 UTCthe part you guys talked over when Paulie spoke about not doing right by Chris was actually not so much about what he said as much as how he was saying it
John
2025-05-30 00:54:02 +0000 UTCGirls we need a vlog from your vacation to beautiful New Jersey. Be sure not to spend too much time in the suburbs so you have time to visit some of the abandoned factories in Trenton.
Jack Hoff
2025-05-30 00:43:25 +0000 UTCThis is often considered one of, if not the darkest moment from Tony (and with good cause, of course), but what's interesting is that David Chase never showed to be very judgmental towards him because of it, matter of fact he is even a bit understanding. He's an extract of him talking about this: "If I was to admit any wrongdoing, maybe there was some unconscious feeling like he should have been gone a long time ago. See, ‘cause I sorta thought that. I sorta felt: 'How long is Anthony Soprano, boss of this family, gonna let this clown endanger everything? This is dangerous. What he’s doing is dangerous. He’s on drugs, he’s off drugs. He falls off the wagon, he’s back on it.' As I recall it, Christopher was supposed to have been picking Meadow up somewhere and also Christopher had a baby, and Tony looked into back seat of the car and a tree branch had completely destroyed the baby seat in the back seat. And if things had gone differently, Christopher’s baby would have been in that seat when that car rolled over eight times and that tree branch came through and he would have wound up killing his own child because he was so out of control and so weak. And I think that was all swirling around Tony’s head." Even though he also said that the scene of his death could make him cry due to the whole "father killing his son" theme, it's still surprising that his take on it is so "cold" and matter of fact. Me personally, even though Chris was objectively a piece of shit, I still couldn't help but love him and relate to him, which is a testament to how incredible this show is.
Gaboxxy
2025-05-30 00:37:42 +0000 UTCLike a lot of people I assumed Christopher would die at some point and even that Tony would be (directly or indirectly) at fault, but this was brutal beyond my imagination. I saw another reaction to this ep recently where, during Tony's split second hesitation to dial 911 they assumed he would just wait and let Chris die - and were immeditaly shocked when he went to actively suffocate him with that cold look in his eyes. It's interesting when Lola said "you've know him since he was a baby" - I've seen/read a couple pieces of art that juxtapose people who have known each other since youth but progress into violent conflict as adults and it always, always disturbs me. Something about lost innocence and the weight of the evil world intruding I guess.
jerry
2025-05-30 00:25:37 +0000 UTCI don’t think I’ve ever hated someone more in my life than Tony in this episode.
Cole
2025-05-30 00:18:31 +0000 UTCI have literally been waiting for your reaction to this episode since like Season 2 when the Tony and Chris relationship became more apparent/prominent. Despite knowing that Chris’s downfall is rapidly approaching before seeing this episode, it’s still such a dark and impactful moment. Probably the scene that stuck with me the most on my first watch through
Kitchener Leslie
2025-05-30 00:02:04 +0000 UTCJust in time for dinner
Jack Hoff
2025-05-29 23:56:58 +0000 UTCI can’t believe it’s almost over
LegacyFilms
2025-05-29 23:55:17 +0000 UTCDominos, right?
Isaac
2025-05-29 23:52:23 +0000 UTC
