For the life of me I cannot remember her name (did not record the episode either, unfortunatley) so I apologize for that.

In any case, anyone else find her death kind of silly? I certainly hadn't seen enough of the character to care much about her, and I'm not really sure what purpose it served.

It seems clear that she died of natural causes, so I'm assuming it was done to show how Tony has further evolved into a heartless bastard, barely consoling poor Hesh and coldly telling him, "Here's your money." Unless this situation between Hesh and Tony is expounded on more in this week's episode, I'd have to say it was a very sloppy plot point to throw in, in my opinion.

Her name was Renata.

I am floored by how many people have such widely different interpretations of Tony's motives and state of mind when he paid back this money.

For the most part, I saw Tony as feeling awkward in the face of Hesh's overwhelming grief. He may have been acting a little nervous or awkward but I can't see anything in his words, actions or facial expressions to indicate that he was acting or feeling anything resembling evil towards Hesh.

I watched the scene 3 times when he left the house and studied his face very carefully. I saw nothing mean or evil in his face. Mostly I just saw a blank expression - maybe indicating he was feeling a big weight due to his friend's tremendous grief. Sure, Tony had acted like an asshole towards Hesh during that week. But he and Hesh have been friends for many years. I don't see Tony just tossing away that friendship for no good reason.

Remember the episode in Season 5 "Cold Cuts" where Janice got arrested and she went for Anger Management and Tony came to dinner and at the end of the episode, Tony pushed her buttons at dinner and caused her to lose her cool and come at him with a knife? When he left the house after that, I saw some kind of smirk or grin on his face - as if he enjoyed causing Janice to lose her cool. I don't think he liked Janice going around acting like she had achieved some great state of control over her anger and he wanted to see whether he could make her come undone. When he left the house, I did see some kind of smirk or grin on Tony's face.

But I saw nothing at all like that when he left Hesh's house. As he left the house, he looked like anyone might look whose friend was suffering a huge blow of grief. He looked a little awkward - maybe with a big weight on his shoulders. But where do people get this idea that Tony was somehow taking pleasure by rubbing it in to Hesh? I couldn't see one scrap of evidence like that.

Tony has no idea what to say to people at times like this. I am not sure, but on some level, Tony probably thought repayment of the money was a good thing, not the ironic twist that it turned out to be.

Tony has NEVER been good at consoling people. Whenever he visits people in the hospital, his talk ALWAYS revolves around money, saying something like "Don't worry about the the cost. The longshoreman's union will cover these expenses" I recall him saying something similar to Valentina, Benny, Hesh's son-in -law(?), Christopher and several others. The only time he had anything meaningful to say was when Phil was in the hospital and he shared his NDE "life is a gift" speech. It is odd that his finest bedside moment is reserved for one of his biggest enemies, while his consolation of friends and family members is so terrible.

He has been even worse consoling his family members, even point blank telling Meadow one time "you know who's really good at talking about this, your mother". His consoling of AJ in the past and Vito Jr. this week were equally bad. I don't see him doing any better with AJ this week now that Blanca has dumped him. I think the whole reason for the Vito Jr. story is to prepare us for the AJ story. AJ is just as much a "whack job" as Vito Jr., who has no one to turn to. His girl dumped just as he proposed marriage. Both his mom and dad are tired of his irresponsibility, which will increase without Blanca. There has to be a major story about AJ in the next few weeks or else why have we spent several weeks going through all the father issues?

tomahawk wrote:Tony has no idea what to say to people at times like this. I am not sure, but on some level, Tony probably thought repayment of the money was a good thing, not the ironic twist that it turned out to be.

Tony has NEVER been good at consoling people. Whenever he visits people in the hospital, his talk ALWAYS revolves around money, saying something like "Don't worry about the the cost. The longshoreman's union will cover these expenses" I recall him saying something similar to Valentina, Benny, Hesh's son-in -law(?), Christopher and several others. The only time he had anything meaningful to say was when Phil was in the hospital and he shared his NDE "life is a gift" speech. It is odd that his finest bedside moment is reserved for one of his biggest enemies, while his consolation of friends and family members is so terrible.

Excellent point about Tony's lack of consolation prowess, somehow I overlooked that. Even so, I am going to have to re-watch the episode, because I believe he had a slight smirk on his face as he was leaving. But I could be wrong (lord knows I have many times before)

Splishak wrote:
I watched the scene 3 times when he left the house and studied his face very carefully. I saw nothing mean or evil in his face. Mostly I just saw a blank expression - maybe indicating he was feeling a big weight due to his friend's tremendous grief.

You are correct Splish. When I first saw the episode, I thought for sure I saw a smug look on Tony's face which eluded me to think he had something to do with Renata's death but after watching the episode 4 times now, there isn't a detection of a smirk, or evil look on Tony's face.

Yes the Renata thing.

Here is the reason I believe Tony payed back the money that day. He did not want Hesh to assume that he killed Renata and was sending Hesh a message that he was next if he kept "breking his balls" about the money...Morrie from Goodfellas comes to mind.

If Tony had Renata killed to send a message and Hesh never asked Tony about the money and Tony never repayed it, the obvious conclusion was that Tony was responsible for his death.

My theory is that NY killed Renata to drive a wedge between Hesh and Tony. They also believe, being the backwards "family of early man" that in their mind they could not be associated with Race-Mixing. Seems far fetched but for Renata to die of natual causes, she was certainly not old, anything can happen yes, but we were not made aware of any previouos medical condition and they never said how she died?

Phil having Hesh's girlfriend wacked in bed? That's really far fetched...

Yes I agree far-fetched....but I can't think of anyone else's death on this show where the audience did not know how or why they died?

Anyway I know you are online now and I wanted to see if you might know or remember what Agent Harris said to Tony, this past episode Walk LIke a.... when at Satriale Agent Harris said that he had busted Leotardo many years earlier for a rape or something like that?

He said "Phil Leotardo... My first assignment out of academy was in Brooklyn, never cared for him. He tried to set up this other rookie, female, for raping and beating" to be exact.
Got the divx's right here, since these episodes don't air on Norwegian television until fall or something.

The whole Hesh story acts as a great foil for Tony, especially regarding own relationship to money and also the part money plays in every part of his life, Carmella notwithstanding.

There are a few ways to read the end. 1: spite and a feeling of personal satisfaction that Hesh has lost someone. It could certainly work, and the last scene of him repaying the debt in full could have been a calculated attempt to add insult to injury. IMO, it is a little of that, but overwhelmingly, I think it's the breakthrough moment of the episode, especially after that moment of insight with Carmella in the bedroom. Giving the money back works three ways: it's respecting a debt, a subtle blow to Hesh, but also a release for Tony who could have paid the debt back slowly but instead chooses to give the money in full.

2: the other way to read the scene is seeing Hesh all alone with a bag full of money versus Tony who has now shared his assets with his wife. Not only does Tony have a feeling of increased security with Carmella having her own funds, there's also less reason to be worried. Half of the responsibility is hers now. It's a feeling of independence and autonomy in regards to carmella, but paradoxically, it brings the two of them closer together. And who knows how forthcoming Hesh is with money and his companion. I would infer from what we see of his character in this scene, that he might be just as tight. Anyways, there's a tradeoff in a lot of different ways. Tony trades in his need to chase it constantly for a greater ease in life as well as freeing up his energy to focus in on more important things.

Hesh is the perfect foil in this episode, a premonition of what Tony could have easily become. For the first time, I think Tony is able to see money for what it is. He wisely and generously pays for Vito Jr. knowing that geography isn't going to solve their problems. Not only is he taking more responsibility for the kid, but he also seems to be giving with a more open hand, not to mention immediately after he loses $$ betting. The money dealing Tony in this episode is a far cry from the Tony we see all throughout season 4 who uses money to deal with everything (T: See that's your problem: you equate money with love. C: No, you equate money for love). Yes, he's gambling like crazy, but he's also totally honest regarding his money matter with Carm.

There's also a release from seeing people as simply commodities either through what they have to offer or what they have as seen in the first house scene with Hesh - Tony is genuinely glad to be there and doesn't use this opportunity to ask for money. He wants a real connection, a real effort at a real relationship with this man.

The last thing I see in this episode is Tony's respect regarding debts and other people's possessions. Not only does he acknowledge that Carmella's money is her own, he pays the debt in full. All of these are things that unburden Tony. I mentioned already that by giving Carmella a little control and some of her own funds, there is a sense of sharedness and trust between the two. But what I also see is him taking responsibility and a clearer consistency between his actions and what he is willing to do about them.

Anyways, I could ramble on and on, so I'll close it with this. Hesh's companion and the ensuing death and relationship are mirrors for Tony and Carmella - nothing more, nothing less. Second, I feel like the Tony from this season is far more noble, progressive, and healthy than the other seasons. It's really kind of inspiring watching how he deals with everything this season. This episode is a clear mark for me that Tony is truly starting to rehabilitate. And it's not that his overall person has changed. He still has an inner schism, but it's almost like he's learning to find that 'balance' that he seeks in his life. From the pilot, he's talking to Carm and he says, "Lately, I feel like my life is out of balance."