The Sopranos 1x08 Reaction
Added 2024-09-09 15:06:41 +0000 UTC
Comments
I too often forget to comment because I'm floored by your insightful analysis. Twenty years later someone points out to me that the title of this episode could be more than a clever play on words. Before we get too far in someone should start keeping a list of all the dream sequences (and entitle music).
Thomas Fahey
2024-10-16 04:11:25 +0000 UTCThe scene where Christopher shoots the baker boy in the foot, is a homage to the movie Goodfellas where his character gets shot in the foot by a mobster. So when the baker boy says “you shot my foot”, and Christopher says “it happens”, he’s referring to his character in that movie
Jihn
2024-10-12 17:51:53 +0000 UTCI agree, Godfather is a great movie.
Floweyyyy
2024-10-11 13:06:19 +0000 UTCI totally disagree with the notion of The Godfather being an "action" movie. Its anything but that. Its not what one would think of a traditional mafia movie which is why it has been so influential.
Karan Verma
2024-09-21 19:30:44 +0000 UTCAnd that opening scene with Chris having a very very strange, incomprehensible dream is everything they never showed men to be in since the first widely watched movies til like .... maybe the 90s? when tf did we get some more multi-dimensional men main characters>
Ben G
2024-09-11 09:58:43 +0000 UTCThat scene of Chris in the bakery suddenly becoming the tough alpha male is straight out of an old western, and a good example of him role-playing as the "important" and powerful gangster/cowboy in the movies that makes the normie movie-goers awe over
Ben G
2024-09-11 09:47:39 +0000 UTCIn the first episode Tony mentions the long prevailing role model of masculinity: Gary Cooper, the strong silent type, which is prolific in the most popular American movies...like probably even before Casablanca (early 40s)...in which men were smart, savvy, heroic, and had no real emotional feeling toward anything, or if they did, it was buried so far deep in their psyche that you couldn't even see it based on their facial expressions. And it's not just Chris struggles filling in these shoes, even Tony fails to live up to those widely spread masculine roles in American culture. I think a lot of men still fail to understand that those films only show so much of a person, that they're more one-dimensional than multi-dimensional, and that really, men can traumatised or be chemically wired a certain way that fucks them up, and that they have emotions that need to be regulated, cared for, and balanced out to stay healthy. For a very long time men worked with their hands, did physical work, but comparatively, suddenly the kind of work men do in the information age has become far less physical and labor-related, but mental, language/communication-based, high order thinking. I bring this up because for one, I think it's a tragedy that Americans are so fat and that exercise and physical work is not a big part of men's lives anymore (although for the past five - ten years the surge of gym goers has sky-rocketed), and two because in the modern world, we are now far more literate about emotions and we can diagnose our feelings in words for our brain to comprehend, and even find different ways to think or understand things/others.
Ben G
2024-09-11 09:34:52 +0000 UTCThe song over the last scene and end credits is ‘Frank Sinatra’ by Cake. This ties to the overarching theme of Italian-American identity questioned by various characters throughout the episode. When discussing great Italian-Americans, Tony references him with ‘Francis Albert (Sinatra)’ with a smile and Carmela stops and smiles back at the thought. Frank Sinatra would be considered by many to be one of the greatest Italian-Americans, and he also famously had ties to the Mafia, even specifically in New Jersey, where he was from. He’s a great middle to the duelling schools of thought on the glorification of mob in media.
Darrach
2024-09-10 20:42:25 +0000 UTCWho told Milena that The Godfather is an action movie 😂 the biggest complaint the average person would have with the Godfather is that it’s too slow and has too much talking. Scarface is perhaps more of an action-thriller movie about gangsters, but certainly not movies by Coppola and Scorsese, such as Godfather Part I, Part II, Goodfellas, Casino. I really think the girls would love those movies. As Melfi’s son says in this episode, classic American cinema, and is considered as such for good reasons.
Darrach
2024-09-10 20:13:34 +0000 UTCOne of my favourite parts of the show!
Darrach
2024-09-10 20:11:17 +0000 UTCThe Godfather 1 and 2 are excellent movies. They have great storytelling and characters. They are masterpieces. I don't consider it as action movies instead they're more like a crime drama. I'm sure it will surprise you and you will enjoy it.
refo44
2024-09-10 16:23:44 +0000 UTCDamn this show is 20+ years old yet the way they do dream sequences still hasn't been outdone by anything else shown on TV or movies IMO
Jeezleberry
2024-09-10 12:56:31 +0000 UTCHilarious how much they almost predicted the episode with all the Chris talk. Also I'd recommend Goodfellas to them or anyone enjoying the Sopranos, it's just an awesome movie, well worth a watch on your own time.
Mark M
2024-09-10 07:13:06 +0000 UTCMany therapists can and do make exceptions for life-threatening and emergency situations, from Tony’s perspective a brush with prison time for his crimes is essentially equal to a near death experience but she doesn’t equate the two in severity Her storyline in the episode is focused on her choice to take and keep Tony as a patient despite his criminal lifestyle. The family therapist describes Tony’s outburst as his “subhuman side” but Tony’s outburst isn’t especially different to the kind of behavior Melfi might see regularly
space colon
2024-09-10 04:30:31 +0000 UTC@space1999 Charging for a missed session without previous notice is standard for most therapists, has nothing to do with her view on criminality and whatnot. I don't understand how you even got to that conclusion.
Gaboxxy
2024-09-10 03:27:35 +0000 UTCidk i feel like the show basically touches on this in the future, not sure if it needed to be said here tbh
Veya
2024-09-10 02:44:34 +0000 UTCShe can be at times, but the hate towards the character was still ridiculously disproportional. I think part of the issue (aside from breaking bad becoming more popular than sopranos post netflix and with a younger crowd) is that i think sopranos does call carmela out more for her flaws than bb did for skyler. Carmela still got some hate though and obviously both of their flaws don't even remotely touch their husbands. Also I saw a list a while back, not sure if it's the same one they're usually talking about because it also included hated male characters (GoT joffrey topped the list, well deserved lol) but I remember it was on reddit and it was a ranker list. In that case, skyler ranking above sopranos and other characters (i think from walking dead as well) is more likely because Breaking Bad (and Game of Thrones obviously) are the most popular shows so their characters will get more votes. It's kind of like imbd, it skews more popular because you can vote without watching other shows on the list. So i don't necessarily think it's always the case that she was more hated than some of the soprano characters, especially by people who watched both shows, she will just get more attention and votes.
Veya
2024-09-10 02:17:57 +0000 UTCI think it shows her stance on criminality, she’ll still charge him if he was gonna miss sessions because of potential criminal punishment
space colon
2024-09-10 02:06:42 +0000 UTCPsychoanalysis and freudian based theory aren’t practiced in most of the world anymore, Argentina and Austria are the only countries where most therapy has these as a basis
space colon
2024-09-10 02:04:24 +0000 UTCI think melfi didn’t give tony an answer because she felt very uncomfortable and wasn’t going to be threatened in giving an answer. I took it as her way of standing up to him.
Cole
2024-09-10 01:26:42 +0000 UTCYeah, it's *not* an action movie. I think it would really surprise them (the same way this series has).
Mike
2024-09-10 01:20:33 +0000 UTCLola your comparison with your expectations of High School with Chris's expectations of the Mafia touched on what I thought of the show's premise. The Mafia aspect is just there as an interesting flavor to a show about normal problems everyone goes through. I'm only a few episodes ahead of you guys so I'm interested to see how long the show will stick with daily life as a focus.
Shivering King Banana
2024-09-10 00:46:50 +0000 UTCOne interesting thing about the Godfather is that, according to prominent ex Mafia member at least, the movie influenced the real life mafiosos more than the other way around. After the movie came out, gangsters started to copy a lot from it, from the suits they wore to the way they behave and talked, and the concept of the "reasonable" gangster was adopted by many due to the character of Vito Corleone.
Gaboxxy
2024-09-10 00:10:29 +0000 UTCAlso the main spreadsheet showing what the girls have/haven't watched is fully up to date.
TeaDrinker3000
2024-09-09 23:33:02 +0000 UTCI don’t think the therapy melfi gives tony is the type of therapy someone like him needs. He would need something like intensive behavioural therapy where they focus on his actions and reinforcing positive behaviour. The psychotherapy melfi does is dangerous and on the verge of immoral for a psychologist. I would be very surprised to find a psychologist or therapist that wouldn’t recommend melfi to either drop him or refer him to a different type of therapist. it’s what makes her character so interesting is that she doesn’t even consider that.
Cole
2024-09-09 23:25:21 +0000 UTCHey girls, you mentioned having a list of films to pick from. Following Isaac and Robert's advice to do so, I made a Spreadsheet outlining the best 30 to pick from. If you follow the link, it's the sheet labeled Movie Suggestions. The list is based on suggestions from those of us in the Discord, as well as from the top suggestions around the time of the Hereditary post. The spreadsheet will tell you if the movie is animated, the year and country it's from, its runtime, and a short description of each film so you can decide if it's to your tastes or not. I didn't include The Godfather or Lord Of The Rings because those are obvious at this point. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15H4Q4j_in5l02iWMWCcnf8KiHiXOv-C4D1_pS9gV_zg/edit?usp=sharing
TeaDrinker3000
2024-09-09 22:56:30 +0000 UTCJohn Cassavetes? You've gone up a notch in my book.
TeaDrinker3000
2024-09-09 22:47:25 +0000 UTCIf you two ever do watch movies I have to recommend A woman under the influence by John Cassavetes. It has the best performance ever put on screen and a movie you two would like very much cuz of its themes of mental health and gender roles.
Cole
2024-09-09 22:14:02 +0000 UTCthey won't relate to your opinion (which it is, as opposed to fact)
ODIS
2024-09-09 21:52:30 +0000 UTCI personally have never considered Godfather to be in the action genre. More of just a crime drama. Like The Sopranos.
ODIS
2024-09-09 21:51:12 +0000 UTCOh, and for who's-who: "Big" Pussy is the guy who helped Chris dispose of the body in the first episode. In this episode he is the one who said "You know who had an arc? Noah!" Paulie is the guy who had the actually-sweet conversation with Chris in his home where Chris laid out his hopes for an 'arc'. Jimmy hasn't done much to stand out, but he's the one who asked Chris "when did you get your wings" when they were at the wedding. Silvio is guy with the hair who owns the Bada Bing strip club. Georgie is the guy who works AT the Bada Bing and does all the low-level jobs with Chris in this episode. Searching for bugs, helping him move the body, etc.
JBK405
2024-09-09 21:50:19 +0000 UTCWhen it comes to psychiatrists 'only caring because they're being paid', that's true. But that's also true for ALL doctors. if you break your leg, are you going to refuse a doctor's help because they don't REALLY care about your leg? No, you're going to take the painkillers and let them set the bone. The fact that they're being paid for it doesn't undo the fact that your leg needs to be fixed. It's the same for psychiatry. I like to describe "The Godfather" as 'What mafia fanboys THINK they are'. I like to describe "Goodfellas" as 'What mafia fanboys ACTUALLY are'. "The Godfather" is unironically one of the greatest films of all time. I heavily recommend Part I and Part II to everybody I know because it is so good that it transcends genre expectations. I 100% endorse you two watching it yourselves. I'd love to see a reaction, but even if you just watch it on your own time I'd love to hear your thoughts afterwards. "Goodfellas" is not AS good as "The Godfather", but it is so close that it is just a step down from 100 to 99. That's how good "Goodfellas" is as well. "The Sopranos" is often viewed as being a 'sequel' to "Goodfellas" since they cover a lot of the same themes. They also share a LOT of the same cast. About half of the cast of "Goodfellas" have roles in "The Sopranos", of varying sizes and importance. Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish-American gangster active in the '30s and '40s. He was a member of "Murder, Inc.", a group of Jewish criminals and hitmen that worked with the mafia in that era. It's very common for descendants and distant relatives of famous gangsters from the '20s-'50s to brag about their connection in the modern day. A few years ago I actually watched an interview with the son of one such figure who talked abut his father's role in anti-Nazi activities in NJ in the '30s. The Star-Ledger, the newspaper that Chris's name is finally listed in, is a newspaper based in and focusing on Northern New Jersey. So it's the "local" paper (Unlike the New York Times), but the BIGGEST local paper. Him finding his name in there is big for his area.
JBK405
2024-09-09 21:38:36 +0000 UTCI feel with the Sopranos the themes are one of the strongest part of this show. This is one of my favorite episodes of this season since we explored more of Christopher character’s a bit more in depth. Is somehow relatable since I do also find the normal-ish of life sometimes just overwhelming or sometimes when you are used to a routine, they can be just too much. Also, Tony’s relationship with him and the others with Christopher is something that I can’t wait for you girls to see more in this show.
Jack SV
2024-09-09 20:33:45 +0000 UTCskylar was ANNOYING, thats why everybody hated her
Josip
2024-09-09 17:47:50 +0000 UTCWhen Paulie name-drops Richard Kimble, he's talking about The Fugitive. Great movie and right up your alley. Add it to your queue if you ever get around to filming movies regularly :)
Michael M
2024-09-09 17:37:10 +0000 UTCYou know who had an arc? Noah.
Alexander
2024-09-09 17:27:26 +0000 UTCWith Carmela you don't need to worry, she's one of the best written female characters, it's rare to find someone who doesn't like her. The women who are hated by the Sopranos audience really deserve to be hated (like fucking Livia). It's very different from Breaking Bad where there are the biggest misogynists I've ever seen.
ashton
2024-09-09 17:18:54 +0000 UTCthe next episode and the one after that are also very good, but I can't wait for the reactions to 11, 12 and 13 they are the peak of the season
ashton
2024-09-09 17:01:35 +0000 UTCAfter Sopranos S1 you should watch at least Godfather 1, both 1 and 2 if you end up enjoying 1. I think it's much more artsy with great characters as opposed to anything like a big action movie so I think you'd enjoy it. It's a great movie on its own but will really help with the Sopranos reactions since they directly and indirectly reference it a ton throughout the series. The golden age of the mob that Tony refers to and feels he missed out on is pretty much The Godfather
JClark
2024-09-09 16:33:18 +0000 UTCI just realized the funny connection with Goodfellas when Chris shot that guy in the foot. Those of you that saw that movie will know.
BNJ
2024-09-09 16:00:12 +0000 UTCHaha true
Graphic310
2024-09-09 15:39:48 +0000 UTCI think you two would actually like the Godfather. And if you watched it the number of obscure-references-per-episode would drop by 23%.
Nick P
2024-09-09 15:20:14 +0000 UTC
