I thought that when Tony kissed her so unexpectantly, she would be taken back to her rape, but she tells him "don't do that" she does not move away from him. Her body language to me makes me think that a part of her enjoyed it, but the more level headed, moral part of her wanted him to stop.
Two Jennifers
Two Tonys

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandf ... anogirl</A> at: 3/10/04 12:03 am

Good summation, sopgirl. I agree.

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One thing that kinda bothered me, but really illustrates Tony's vulnerability during the tickets scene is when he's trying to justify his reason for asking her to go with him. When he says "Well the guy couldn't use them and he gave them to me and what do you want me to do with them? Throw them away?" Just the way these three sentences in one just roll together so quickly and nervous. Its just not Tony.

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I liked that scene a lot. I thought it was Tony. He is a wreck right now. What made it so good was that it was so human. Tony has always had problems as far as the women in his life are concerned. They have always had power over him. I didn't view this as any different. He is just more desperate, and as Chase says, "Not a Lion in winter", he is still pretty damn close to rock bottom. I would say he hits bottom about the time he gets to Livia's.

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We're talking about Tony Soprano here. A made man. The boss of the family. I mean it's Davd Chase's character so the direction is up to him, but I had a hard time watching Tony turn into a little bitch. If he wants her then fine, but I don't see a character like Tony Soprano going after her in that manner.

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Cody knows what I was talking about. Of course its Tony, I could SEE it was him. But it just isn't the same Tony that we all are used to.

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I had no problem at all recognizing it as Tony. It's the Tony that latched onto those ducks and cried over them leaving in the very first episode of the series. It's the Tony that fantasized all day about Melfi and thought he was in love with her in "Pax Soprano". It's the Tony that tenderly told Carm she was his life in that same episode. It's the Tony that feared his son becoming like him in "Down Neck" and told Melfi in "Army of One" that his children needed to get far away from him. It's the Tony that was so pitiful when he related his fantasy to Melfi in the car in "Isabella".

There has always been an incredibly sympathetic, vulnerable side to the character, though he seldom let's it be seen fully unmasked. The first scene in her office was that Tony. The second scene featured his transformation from that Tony into the other one.

IMO, it's this fascinating yet unmistakably authentic dichotomy that drives this series and makes it possible to give a damn what happens to him.

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Any discomfort I felt in watching Tony get gushy, or crude (at the end) with Melfi I think was meant to mirror Tony's own discomfort...and Melfi's...at the revelation of their sexual feelings so openly. Melfi *doesn't* push away the kiss, and she doesn't deny her attraction to him. It's the double edged sword here...they know that the sex would be great but after the sex, then what?
Tony comes to live in Melfi's world? Melfi in Tony's?
Tony finds sexual sobriety? Melfi finds her soulmate?
Maybe...but it's probably more like The Prince of Tides,
where Streisand "heals" Nolte, and yeah sleeps with Nolte, but doesn't get the happy ending WITH Nolte.
That happy ending belongs to Carm...for better or for worse.

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From another thread, ObservingEgo wrote:

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Episode I - Melfi's Erotic Dream: In that the dream is a message to ourselves from ourselves, Jennifer was accessing that sexual experience, characteristically curtailed by her conscience. It was pure id. At the same time, and after closer inspection, it emerges as a possibility that Tony (during their coitus) may be dead. Even in her id state, Jennifer cannot escape the knowledge (message to and from herself) that, if the patient truly changes, that the old essence that enthralled her, would fade from existence. Essentially, she was f______ a dead man. As a result of the change, the old Tony had ceased to be. But, this is just my interpretation.<hr></blockquote>

OE, I love how your take on this dovetailed with the discussion of Tony changing in another thread. If we assume Melfi's subconcious was somehow trying to explore the conditions under which she would actually be willing to act on her fantasy (Tony changing), your interpretation makes perfect, brilliant sense. My only hesitancy at this interpretation is the fact that Melfi hadn't seen Tony in such a long time, she would have had no reason to suspect he'd changed. Still, we agree that his capacity to change is emerging as a dominant theme for the writers, so, recent interaction or not, it's very possible they had Melfi confronting this issue herself.

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