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Sopranos Final Season

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from: Timothy Noah
to: Jeffrey Goldberg

Week 3: And What About Paulie Walnuts?

Updated Monday, April 23, 2007, at 6:10 PM ET

Timothy Noah chatted with readers about The Sopranos on June 7. Read the transcript here.

Tony's dad and young Uncle Junior

Dear Jeff,

This is the first Sopranos season I'm experiencing in high definition. That means, among other things, that I got a really good look at what Phil's boys did to Doc Santoro's right eye. Much more disgusting than Moe Green's bullet through the eyeglasses in The Godfather, but I take your point. The Godfather references are coming fast and furious. These include not only Doc Santoro's obliterated eyeball and, as you mentioned, the tomato-patch foreshadowing of Tony's possible death, but also last week's christening of Christopher and Kelli's baby, with Tony standing godfather. This may foreshadow Christopher's death because in The Godfather, Michael Corleone stood godfather to the son of his sister Connie and brother-in-law Carlo, then almost immediately had Carlo garroted (for helping the Barzini family lure Michael's hot-blooded brother Sonny to his death at a toll plaza off the Long Island Expressway).

As you note, Uncle Junior resurfaced in last night's episode, and that, too, evoked the Corleone saga, for hard-core fans anyway. That's because three decades ago, the actor who plays Junior (Dominic Chianese) played Johnny Ola, Hyman Roth's No. 2, in The Godfather, Part II. It's Ola who tells Michael,

One by one, our old friends are gone. Death—natural or not—prison—deported. Hyman Roth is the only one left, because he always made money for his partners.

That evening, Ola and Roth try and fail to kill Michael inside the Lake Tahoe compound. "In my home," Michael fumes afterward. "Where my wife sleeps. Where my children come and play with their toys."*

But I digress.

In this latest episode, we get a glimpse of an old photograph of Junior and Tony's dad, Johnny Boy (buon' anima), posing in front of Satriale's pork store. What struck me about this photograph was that Junior didn't look like Johnny Ola (i.e., Dominic Chianese many years ago); he looked like what Junior (as distinct from the actor who plays him) would have looked like many years ago. Note the characteristic frown, the wrinkled brow, the hat to cover his thinning hair; everything about him says that this guy will never rate as a mob boss. (When his time comes, in Season 1, Tony will have to give Junior a gentle push to the side.)

I feel skeptical about your suggestion that Junior may pose a future threat to Tony. True, Junior has twice tried to kill his nephew, for whom he harbors sincere affection—Junior's a complex guy—and the third try is often the charm. And Junior, as you say, shows signs of life in this episode—telling dirty jokes to his fellow inmates in a hospital for the criminally insane; hosting illicit poker games; even beating up an inmate who gets on his nerves. But by the episode's end, Junior's looking pretty dazed from the meds he's taking to control his aggression and from a severe beating at the hands of his disillusioned nuthouse protégé Carter Chong, an angry young man from a wealthy family who has some father issues to work out. (It's strongly hinted that he killed his own.) I sense the lights are going out on Junior, just as they seem to be going out on Tony, Paulie Walnuts, and (possibly) Chris-tuh-fuh. (Don't you miss how Adriana, buon' anima, used to pronounce her beloved's name?)

The show's creator, David Chase, seems to want us to think that Tony will get whacked by the self-loathing Phil Leotardo (for whom the apparent last straw with Doc Santoro was when the new mob boss reached across a dinner table to eat from Phil's plate; another example of this show's beguiling subtlety). But of course the Leotardo menace could just be Chase distracting us from the true cause of Tony's demise, if demise there will be. I like your theory that Tony's sister Janice will do him in. She's fully capable of it, as we learned several seasons back when she plugged her fiance, Richie Aprile (Tony got rid of the body for her). And as you note, this is a show more about family life than about mob life. I continue to wonder whether Tony's fuckup son A.J. will bring this house of cards down, probably through some sort of malevolent blunder.

A more manageable question, I think, is what will happen to Paulie Walnuts. In last night's episode we learned that Tony has figured out that Paulie moonlighted for Santoro's predecessor, Johnny Sack, and we saw Tony do a slow burn as Paulie ran on at the mouth to some Miami prostitutes about mob business. " 'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation," Tony finally growled. Memory is the enemy. In various ways, Chase has been sounding this theme throughout the series, but especially in this last season. To live as Tony does requires him to live in a constant state of amnesia; that's a big part of what sent Tony to his psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi, at the very start of the series. The burden of memory, apart from its metaphysical and psychological dimensions, poses a practical problem: Reminiscence, when voiced out loud, can get you locked up in the pen. And so Tony is giving serious thought to whacking Paulie. Paulie knows it, and he does precisely what I'd do if I were in his very white shoes: He sends Tony an expensive espresso machine. Paulie dreams about Big Pussy, a fellow capo and intimate friend whom Tony and Paulie had to rub out because he was ratting to the feds. Big Pussy once haunted Tony's dreams, too. His murder spooks the characters in The Sopranos more than any other. Maybe that's because he was such a big friendly fella. I'm inclined to think it's because he had the best nickname.

Which brings me to our most urgent business of all. Did you know that in Italian there are at least nine very rude slang terms for pussy? There's fica, fregna, frigna, mona, patacca, piscella, pisciatella, pucchiacha, and quaglia.

Has Eve Ensler been alerted?

Etymologically,
Tim

Correction, April 27, 2007: In an earlier version of this exchange, Timothy Noah inadvertently dropped the phrase "come and" from this quotation. (Return to the corrected sentence.)

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from: Timothy Noah
to: Jeffrey Goldberg

Week 3: And What About Paulie Walnuts?

Updated Monday, April 23, 2007, at 6:10 PM ET

DISCUSS

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Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for the Atlantic and the author of Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror. Stephen Metcalf is Slate's critic at large. He is working on a book about the 1980s. Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate. Brian Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. Terence Winter is a writer and an executive producer of The Sopranos. His teleplay "Pine Barrens," written with Tim Van Patten, won the 2001 Writers Guild Award and the Edgar Award.

Slate home page cover, June 11, 2007: Still of James Gandolfini in The Sopranos by Craig Blankenhorn © HBO. All rights reserved. Still from The Sopranos of James Gandolfini on Slate's home page; still of: James Gandolfini; Edie Falco and James Gandolfini; Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, and Tony Sirico; James Gandolfini and Edie Falco; and Robert Iler all by Craig Blankenhorn/courtesy HBO. All rights reserved. Entry 9: Still of Tony with a tomato, and Entry 10: Tony's dad and young Uncle June © HBO. Entry 21: Still of Tony Sirico as Paulie "Walnuts" by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 27: Still of Robert Iler and James Gandolfini by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 30: Still of James Gandolfini and Sarah Shahi by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 38: Still of Steven Van Zandt and James Gandolfini by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 40: Still of James Gandolfini and Edie Falco by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 45: Still of James Gandolfini and Steven Van Zandt by Craig Blankenhorn. Entry 48: Still of Dominic Chianese and James Gandolfini by Craig Blankenhorn.

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Remarks from the Fray Editor:

As a basic cable slum-dweller, the Fray Editor has been following the discussion of The Sopranos with admiration and envy. The passion, erudition, and insight of the show's fans—Slate's commentators and Fraysters alike—proves the case that this series is not to be missed. Below, Fray poster lucabrasi considers how the 6.5 season story arc has led the show inevitably to the present moment.

May this weekend's finale exceed your wildest expectations. My prediction? Paulie Walnuts in the Bing with a shoe buffer.—G.A.

Remarks from the Fray:

I must salute the excellent close of the mob wars arc that started way back in Season One.

Looking back from today, with Tony's Jersey crime family indeed looking like a "glorified crew" in the eyes of New York, one can see it, almost clearly:

Season One: Tony's issues were of ascension in that smallish Jersey family. Jackie Sr. was dying; Uncle Junior was the designated "front don," and yet bitter enough about Tony's power to use Livia's ambiguous directives to hit Tony. Didn't work. Junior was exiled and took on Federal heat; Tony had the others killed.

Season Two: Richie Aprile gets out of prison. A theme begins: guys out of prison resent Tony, who never served. But Richie, too, is "local Jersey trouble." His escalating conflict with Tony is going to be dealt with rather easily -- Tony wants Richie hit, but Janice delivers a dose of even MORE "local" justice.

Meanwhile, I think NYC underboss Johnny Sack turns up living in Jersey, but promising Tony "I don't want to wet my beak."

The main NYC Don is Carmine Sr, an old school guy. Tony can deal with Carmine Sr, but Sack starts getting that lean and hungry look...

Seasons Three and Four: Other issues are on the table (Jackie Jr., Tony and Carm's marriage), but Tony's adversaries are manageable: made guy Ralphie and the ever-more-ambitious and angry Sack. Ralphie is eliminated, quietly (if NYC ever finds out...). Sack wants Tony to hit Old Man Carmine; Tony pulls out at the last moment. Sack looks to be vengeful.

Season Five: The big trouble all starts here, with the release of the "Class of '84". It's like four Richie Apriles. Tony has a lotta plates to spin: an old-timer named Feech who wants it all, locally, Tony's cousin Tony B, the "Rockford Guy" (Joe Santos) who Tony B idolizes as a father, and a real hothead named Phil Leotardo.

Carmine Sr. croaks. Phil joins with Sack against Little Carmine, Tony B joins with the Rockford Guy and Rusty in backing Little Carmine's play. Tony elects to back off and see how Jersey can benefit from the ensuing bloodshed, of which there is a lot.

During all this, two little matters occur: Seeking owed cash, Tony subjects Phil Leotardo to a body-breaking car crash and beats up Phil at the accident site as a "throw-in." Tony B kills Phil's brother Billy Leotardo.

In retrospect, these last two actions were perhaps...unfortunate.

Sack and Phil kill more guys than Little Carmine's team. Little caves ("It's a stagmire.") Sack ascends to Donhood. Tony can deal with Sack (having killed Tony B as a burnt offering), and Sack will stave off the still vengeful Phil Leotardo.

But right at the end of Season Five, the Feds nab Sack. Go directly to jail.

Season 6A: Sack's in prison, but the putative boss, with Phil fronting him on the outside. Tony's shot for a few episodes. The "gay Vito issue" gives Phil new reason for putting the pressure on Tony's Jersey boys. With Sack losing power by the day, Phil contemplates his rages against Tony: getting beaten up by Tony, paying money to Tony, brother killed by the cousin of Tony, gay Vito protected by Tony. Phil has a heart attack to match Tony's gutshot. Things seem peaceful between these two wounded warriors. But this guy Butch turns up, taunting Tony.

Season 6B. Tony's luck with New York runs out, via a series of crap outs: Sack dies of cancer; Doc kills Gerry; Phil kills Doc.. Phil is "the big boss man," finally, and the worst possible New York Don Tony Soprano could face. Filled with jailhouse vengeance and itching to consolidate power, Phil pushes Tony too far (with the sexual insult of Coco towards Meadow, ultimately). Tony retaliates (curbing); Phil says "there's nothing left to talk about," and here we are.

Now, I' m not sure how much of that was plotted early on by Chase and Company, but looking back on it, you see how this final, fatal gang war was literally years in the making. Tony Soprano fended off Jersey threats (Junior, Richie), kept the peace with Carmine Sr, dangerously dueled with Sack (the longest of Tony's strategic encounters), sat out the gang war to replace Carmine Sr...and ended up on the wrong end of Phil's bloody ascension to the throne of the New York Family.

Where things are now is where they HAVE to be. Inevitability.

--lucabrasi

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