Re: References to Future Episodes

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I'm in process of reviewing each episode, paying close attention to detail that I either missed the first time or didn't realize the importance. I'm about half way through second season. During a scene in the first season the lamp with diamond shapes that Sil was working to repair in one of the last shows is shown in the background. It's the one Tony smashed as things were falling apart. Speaking of lamps, has anyone figured out why Chase spent so much time bugging the lamp in Tony's basement only to have the storyline drop when Meadow took the lamp to college? I suspect it was just the first of many plots dropped similar to the missing Russian. As we review all of the shows keep an eye out for dropped storylines.

Re: References to Future Episodes

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I guess this could be considered an inconsistency or perhaps just a mistake. In the pilot, the schlub known as Mahaffey (with his taffy) couldn't possibly have accrued $250k in gambling debts to Hesh. IMO Mahaffeys kneecaps would have been long gone well before he got into them for a quarter of a million.

Yet down the road in "Chasing It" when Tony "borrowed" $200k from Hesh it was like a BIG deal.
bobC
---

some will win, some will lose,
some were born to sing the blues,
the movie never ends,
it goes on and on and on and on........

Re: References to Future Episodes

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mperkins605 wrote:I'm in process of reviewing each episode, paying close attention to detail that I either missed the first time or didn't realize the importance. I'm about half way through second season. During a scene in the first season the lamp with diamond shapes that Sil was working to repair in one of the last shows is shown in the background. It's the one Tony smashed as things were falling apart. Speaking of lamps, has anyone figured out why Chase spent so much time bugging the lamp in Tony's basement only to have the storyline drop when Meadow took the lamp to college? I suspect it was just the first of many plots dropped similar to the missing Russian. As we review all of the shows keep an eye out for dropped storylines.
I think that was just another sign to show us how lucky Tony has really been over the years. In retrospect very few of the plot lines that Chase brought up really had a huge impact on the show. I mean, look at the Furio story. Really...his sole purpose was to create a sense of friction between Tony & Carm. Nowhere near what we were expecting. This story is driven by characters, not plot. Which is different then any other show I've seen. Despite the FBI's best efforts, Tony was never caught (to the best of our knowledge). And the important part is the dramatic irony that this gives the viewers.

Re: References to Future Episodes

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Universal Polymath wrote:
- As Tony prepares to tell Carmela about his therapy and Prozac prescription, he utters the line "Always with the drama" (after she puts her wine in position to "throw in his damn face"). In the finale, as Carmela explains what could happen to A.J. if he joined the army, he also replies with, "Always with the drama". I can't name the episode, but I know Johnny Soprano also said this to Livia, I can hear his voice and line reading in my head. Perhaps "Always with the drama" was to Johnny as "Poor you" was to Livia?
Hey. The episode in question is Down Neck, during the final flashback scene where Livia threatens to smother the children if Johnny takes them to Nevada. At least I think so. I just finished watching the first season.

Re: References to Future Episodes

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bobC wrote:I hope I'm not going overboard here, but I just became aware, after watching it maybe ten times, of the song that played over the credits as The Pilot ended. Here are the lyrics to "The Beast In Me." Very interesting song Chase used to end the first episode.
Beast in Me Lyrics - Nick Lowe

The beast in me

Is caged by frail and fragile bonds
Restless by day
And by night, rants and rages at the stars
God help, the beast in me
The beast in me
Has had to learn to live with pain
And how to shelter from the rain
And in the twinkling of an eye
Might have to be restrained
God help the beast in me

Sometimes
It tries to kid me that it's just a teddy bear
Or even somehow managed
To vanish in the air
And that is when I must beware
Of the beast in me
That everybody knows
They've seen him out dressed in my clothes
Patently unclear
If it's New York or New Year
God help the beast in me
The beast in me


This has always been one of my absolute favorite songs from this show. And since the music Chase typically used, appealed to me, this is saying alot. I just feel like it epitomizes the series or at least Tony's character. Always loved this song, and always thought it would have been cool (if the series didn't end the way it did) for the final song to have been the same one.

My one complaint with this musical choice is a retroactive complaint. As FoMW has stated (and I will do my best to paraphrase here), Chase, as the series progressed, seemed to become discouraged by how many viewers saw Tony as in such a positive light. And this final season put the exemplified how Chase feels about Tony. And it itsn't positive. Well, if anything this song is a sympathetic, poem to an individual's frailty and the human condition. So, Chase planted the seed in viewer's minds of Tony as being a sympathetic anti-hero.

Now, these are all FoMW's points, let me be clear about that, but I completely agree, and I think this song is an excellent portrayal of how Chase might have felt in regards to Tony at the beginning of the series, but his opinion changed as the series progressed. Either that, OR Chase played us like a fiddle from the very beginning. Or perhaps it is a little of both.

Re: References to Future Episodes

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Have you guys heard the commentary track with David Chase and Peter Bogdanovich on the DVD of the Pilot? It was recorded back in 2000 and it clears lots of misgivings about the early mythology of the show. I'm listening to it as I'm typing this and its very interesting. I'm surprised by how few people with DVD's of movies they claim to love have never heard commentary tracks.
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