The Sopranos 2x06 Reaction

Just an FYI, but I love the longer reactions. The previous one, at over an hour, was great. The outro discussion for this one is typically great, but the episode itself gets only about 10 minutes. Just my two cents, but the longer ones are greatly appreciated.

David Wilkins

He was the Terminator from terminator 2

robert klein

I'm not saying he has a good moral code, I'm just saying he at least gave the guy a few opportunities to walk away.

Damien Fenton

Richie has a lot of very funny lines to me, like "I wanna buy a boat with three propellers" lol, but I was probably too damn terrified of him to pay attention to anything he said on my first watch through

Ben G

I feel like even if all that was the case it doesn’t really change that the episode played with Tony’s intention here. That was the point i was trying to emphasize originally. What happens if David said fine the first time Tony denied him? Or the second and third time? A lot of mob bosses wouldn’t even have denied them the first time. Would Tony have actively brought it up again? It didn’t really seem like it. Keep in mind I’m talking specifically the framework of THIS episode. I don’t disagree overall.

Veya

I'm reading an interesting book on psycholgy and I encountered an interesting concept that I think describes Tony's behavior: projective identification. "This unconscious way of getting rid of a disturbing emotion by making others feel it is called projective identification." "This happens below the level of normal consciousness. It's an extraordinary psychological phenomenon, whereby an emotionally immature person copes with unconscious, disowned emotions by arousing them in another person." This seems pretty on point with what L and M were saying in the outro commentary.

Marcus Cato

That’s still no moral code. It’s a vulture preying on a man’s addiction whilst knowing it will ruin his own and his family’s life. And he justifies his actions by blaming the addict because he made a ‘choice’, to absolve himself of any guilt. Anyone knows the addict would keep wanting in and wouldn’t walk away. That’s why they’re an addict. An actual moral code would help the man and thus his family.

John

The store owning gambler is best known for being the terminator in terminator 2.

John

You can see Tony's feelings on Davey change after his conversation with Richie. He tells Tony that not only is Davey in debt to him, but also goads Tony for protecting him. Tony doesn't want to see Davey in the hospital like Beansie, but he reaches his limit with him, especially after Davey borrowed 40 grand while Tony was asleep. Davey later saying 'our kids go to the same school' sparked him into hitting him. He's tired of protecting people from who he is. Same with him admitting to want to hit Melfi when he could've just said 'I'm angry' or something. He resents the 'happy wanderer' who never has to worry about that.

Mark M

The problem with Tony is that he has a conscience. If he was a total sociopath like a traditional gangster, he would not have these issues. He has a heart and that's what causes him trouble.

Karan Verma

I disagree. Chris notes that David grabbed "another 10" while Tony was asleep to get up to $45,000, which means he was ALREADY in debt for $35,000 that Tony was fully aware of. When he woke up Tony was surprised at just how deep the hole was, but it was already too deep to dig out of when he went to sleep. Tony denied him originally, but once he let him in he went big.

JBK405

Great move by Junior to distract Tony with that shocking news about an uncle he didn't know existed. He drops a bomb, watches tony get all distracted and then begins negotiating knowing tony is still processing the news. Shrewd move.

Karan Verma

Agree with Veya, Tony very reluctantly gave him just one box of 5k. If he had lost that, Tony would have sent him packing. But Tony fell asleep, and David lied by telling Chris that Tony okayed it.

ODIS

Also just realized Tony wanting to watch Silvio meltdown and lash out at others (which tbh is very hilarious) is a light reflection of his own meltdowns and him wanting to see others get brought down as mentioned. Don't think he realizes this himself, though.

Veya

>Tony, however, let's him dig his hole as deep as he wants. The show played with this idea though. Remember David technically asked for more money while Tony was asleep. His expression afterwards was genuine surprise when Chris told him. It remains a more open question if Tony would have let him borrow that amount if he was awake. I'm sure David would have kept asking and maybe Tony would have relented (given that he ultimately let him in the game) but it's not explicit in this case.

Veya

I like the type of endings where they show the expressions of characters but it's not too clear what exactly they're thinking. If you guys ever watch Mad Men in the future they'll make good use of this as well. Was Tony realizing that his actions indirectly benefited Meadow? She gets the solo that increases her chance for college. Was he actually pondering if he's in any way related to Eric quitting? He seemed oblivious enough to give her a car her friends used to own and Carmela also didn't immediately put it together at the end. Did he just have pangs of guilt for a moment? Or was he thinking about the therapy sessions with Melfi and why he's angry all the time and make a connection? Melfi kept needling Tony towards opening up, but we see here in this episode there's too much of Tony's personality to wade through to get to anything more meaningful. He tells her he's angry all the time and can't stand happy people but in addition to the fact that he's ruined a "happy wanderer" ( and "happy" is debatable given that man has a gambling addition), he can't seem to make the connection that his job is directly linked to making others miserable and he indirectly gets what he "wants" anyways, but clearly adds to his general stress (he's mentioned this before) and stifles his empathy when needed.

Veya

Ohhhh, the Executive Game. This game gives a lot of insight into how Tony and Richie both operate. I don't like to be charitable to Richie since he really is violent and mean, but once David Scatino fell behind on his payments Richie cut him off. He may have had pragmatic self-centered reasons, but it gave David a chance to catch up and get back on his feet. Without losing more money at new card games, David could probably pay off his debt in a few months, and Richie won't have to risk losing the money by roughing him up over it. It's a smart, low-risk, steady-reward decision. But that also means that Richie doesn't have an opportunity to dig his hooks into David deep. David owes him $8,000, but ONLY $8,000. Tony, however, let's him dig his hole as deep as he wants. Under the rules of this game, unless David gives him $45,000 all at once the debt never goes down. Giving Tony that car didn't cover David's debt, that just covered THIS PAYMENT. David still owes him the entire $45,000. Next week he'll need to pay Tony another $2,250 just for the interest, and again the week after that, and again the week after that. Unless he can get somebody to loan him the entire amount, or at least a significant chunk of it, he will literally NEVER buy himself out of this debt. So after one night, Tony essentially owns his entire life. That bit of restraint and decency Richie showed to Davie is why Tony is The Boss and Richie is barely a Captain. The guest at the game that some of the characters were fawning over was Frank Sinatra Jr., who played himself. His father (Frank Sinatra) is reputed to have had many Mafia-associations in his life, with various levels of confirmation. He definitely knew many Mob members, and had family members in organized crime, but whether he "knew" them or just "I sang at a club a few times where they were in the audience" is another question. Franks Sr. and Jr. were both born in NJ, despite being popularly associated with New York City. If you notice, the "straight" players -- Frank and the doctor etc. -- immediately get up to leave as soon as Richie gets violent at the game. That perfectly shows how people like a little taste of the criminal life (Just like us watching this show), but we don't want to actually be there when things really happen.

JBK405

The greatest anti gambling PSA you'll ever see haha. One thing I find interesting at the end of the episode is that the whole debacle with the Scatinos ended up giving Meadow the opportunity to perform a song solo, which is what she wanted to do since the beginning. It's a great summation about what Tony said to Meadow, that this family thrives on the misfortune of others.

IanJ

I know the actor Robert Patrick (Davie) from Terminator 2, X-Files, and True Blood

BNJ

@RuthKrit thanks so much, i got them mixed up

a. tree

Not saying you're wrong about Tony somewhat having a moral code, but there's an upcoming episode with Davey that says otherwise with regards to why Tony even lets him in to the game.

IanJ

This is a spoiler. That specific flashback hasn't happened yet in the show.

IanJ

a. tree

Robert Patrick has some serious range. From the steely cold terminator to the sweaty desperation of a gambling addict.

Mike Conlin

This is a fascinating episode. It is interesting that Tony gives David multiple opportunities to walk away and warns him that the life isn't for him. But the moment David commits, Tony doesn't give him any leeway. Objectively, Tony is a scumbag, but he also has moral code (as bizarre as that sounds for a murderer). A more unscrupulous gangster would have immediately seen David as an easy target and taken advantage of him from the beginning, but Tony gave him multiple opportunities to walk away before getting involved.

Damien Fenton

You probably recognize him from his role as the T-1000 in Terminator 2. Even if you haven't seen the movie, his image was eeeeverywhere for years because of that role.

Michael M

finished binging the haikyuu episodes/reactions i was behind yesterday and binging the sopranos' ones now. i'm a whole season behind but i'm having more time to watch now, so i hope that i can catch up in a few days. ps. i rewatched beetlejuice last week and i'm currently watching schitt's creek and now this. should watch succesion and this would be like rewatching home alone 😂 joe pesci being on it only makes this funnier.

sand_fl

Ohh the gambling addict episode..one of my favorite episodes of this season :)))

Jack SV