Re: Episode Review and General Comments
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:12 am
I agree with what many of you have said regarding the theme of excess, loss of focus, and the plight of man. In an effort to enjoy this episode a bit more, I do what I do with every episode of Sopranos, I try to look at it from Chase's point of view. Specifically, what was Chase trying to accomplish with this episode. I feel many of this ground has already been covered in other posts, so I won't re-tread them.
What I will say, is that Chase has always wanted The Sopranos to be a series that focuses on self-contained episodes, as opposed to long-standing plot lines. If he would have stuck with this idea, who knows how the show would have taken. I really think this is the kind of episode which he would have preferred to make on a more consistant basis. What I mean is that, the episode is very self-contained. It tells 2 stories, basically. It also includes plot-moments to continue the bigger story momentum (Rusty's whacking and the terrorism theme).
With this show reaching it's pre-crescendo, you can tell that Chase wanted to tell these stories, before the end, and decided this would be a good time to slide it in, before the veritable shit starts to hit the fan. The stories it tells really aren't all that bad, but they do seem out of place and the Christopher story has been beaten to death. He is not meant to be in the movie industry...we get it! Again, from Chase's perspective, he probably wanted to show the excess of Hollywood, since that seems to be this season's theme, as has been mentioned. While the stories aren't horrible, they do confuse, because the momentum of the season is disrupted. I notice other episodes have done this as well, and are considered the weaker episodes of the series, such as the "Christopher" episode, "In Camelot", and "Cold Cuts". What is interesting to me is that this episode also promotes the loss of focus. "Luxury Lounge" is a loss of focus, of sorts from the regular span of the season, just as the episodes I already mentioned do.
Now, these self-contained episodes are not always "bad". "Commandatori" and "College" are both very self-contained, but also considered, by many, the best of the series. (Although to me, they are both significantly over-rated, but that is just me)
While many are professing this to be a horrible episode, and by Sopranos parameters, it might very well be just that. However, we should remember, that self-contained, crummy episodes have happened before. At this point, I just want this series to go out on a high-point, and not fizzle. So, it is my hope that the rest of this season will be a roller-coaster towards the final 8 episodes. Ok, well enough of my rambling, hope I didn't waste too much of anyone's time.
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What I will say, is that Chase has always wanted The Sopranos to be a series that focuses on self-contained episodes, as opposed to long-standing plot lines. If he would have stuck with this idea, who knows how the show would have taken. I really think this is the kind of episode which he would have preferred to make on a more consistant basis. What I mean is that, the episode is very self-contained. It tells 2 stories, basically. It also includes plot-moments to continue the bigger story momentum (Rusty's whacking and the terrorism theme).
With this show reaching it's pre-crescendo, you can tell that Chase wanted to tell these stories, before the end, and decided this would be a good time to slide it in, before the veritable shit starts to hit the fan. The stories it tells really aren't all that bad, but they do seem out of place and the Christopher story has been beaten to death. He is not meant to be in the movie industry...we get it! Again, from Chase's perspective, he probably wanted to show the excess of Hollywood, since that seems to be this season's theme, as has been mentioned. While the stories aren't horrible, they do confuse, because the momentum of the season is disrupted. I notice other episodes have done this as well, and are considered the weaker episodes of the series, such as the "Christopher" episode, "In Camelot", and "Cold Cuts". What is interesting to me is that this episode also promotes the loss of focus. "Luxury Lounge" is a loss of focus, of sorts from the regular span of the season, just as the episodes I already mentioned do.
Now, these self-contained episodes are not always "bad". "Commandatori" and "College" are both very self-contained, but also considered, by many, the best of the series. (Although to me, they are both significantly over-rated, but that is just me)
While many are professing this to be a horrible episode, and by Sopranos parameters, it might very well be just that. However, we should remember, that self-contained, crummy episodes have happened before. At this point, I just want this series to go out on a high-point, and not fizzle. So, it is my hope that the rest of this season will be a roller-coaster towards the final 8 episodes. Ok, well enough of my rambling, hope I didn't waste too much of anyone's time.
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