GREAT episode but ONE idiosincracy

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The boat that Tony and Paulie are on is leaving the harbor and Paulie wears a skeptical expression as flashback shots of Pussy getting whacked are shown. To me, that sort of gave it away that nothing was going to happen to Paulie whereas if no reminder was given at all of that infamous event Season 2 finale (Funhouse), I the viewer may have been feeling more suspenseful. It was still a great part, the whole tension when Tony kept asking Paulie if he told Johnny Sac about Ralphie's joke, but when T was looking at that axe while standing behind Paulie, I knew nothing was going to happen. Just my personal take. That being said, all through the entire series, Chase always succeeded for the most part on keeping us all guessing and surprising us all. Sometimes the unexpected would happen and sometimes the obvious would happen as well. Always an incredibly unpredictable series.

Re: GREAT episode but ONE idiosincracy

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I enjoyed the scene on the boat but since it happens after Tony has learned that the immediate threat to his security has passed and they can comfortably return home, I couldn't see why Tony might still go so far as to kill Paulie.
Sure the episode showed his irritation with many aspects of Paulie's personality and behavior, but even if it was known for certain that Paulie had revealed the joke to Johnny Sac was that really a "hanging offense"?
I think the idea of presenting the possibility of whacking Paulie may have been a subtle foreshadowing of the murder of Chris, to show that the assasination of a close, long-time, loved associate who hadn't crossed the distinct line of betrayal as Pussy and Adriana had was definitely within the realm of Tony's behavior.

Re: GREAT episode but ONE idiosincracy

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It was more to show how unhinged Tony had gotten, I think, than just to ramp up suspense. I agree the flashback is kind of unnecessary, though I do think it's very nicely integrated -- no words, just images of the guys' traumatized faces after tossing Pussy in the water.

This is one of my favorite episodes. Every scene with Uncle Jun is hilarious and sad at the same time, and I love the Tony-Paulie stuff because there's nothing more fascinating than Tony in total "fuck people" mode, or Paulie in total annoying "heh heh" mode, laughing at Three's Company. The road-trip odd couple dynamic between the two is almost reminiscent of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, with Paulie standing in for John Candy's character...

Great little moment: Tony and Paulie pull up to the motel in Virginia that used to be a favorite haunt of theirs, but it's changed. Tony calls over some poor, foreign kid pulling a luggage cart, asking "this place, is it new?" Guy's clueless: "I think maybe, I dunno." Tony: "Fuckin' guy."

Re: GREAT episode but ONE idiosincracy

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I read some things yesterday that shed new light for me on the boat scene as it related to an overall theme which helped my understanding and perpective, so I thought I'd add it here. The concept is that what we're being shown as Tony is tempted to whack Paulie is the result of Tony's subconscious repressed anger toward his father - who he couldn't consciously criticize. Paulie was closely associated with Johnny Boy and, in part, as a father-figure to Tony; Tony's reply to a woman who says that she initially thought that Paulie was his father was "sometimes I wished he was". So the motivation is more generated by resentment toward his father than by any of the conscious issues Tony had with Paulie.
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