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The Sad Clown

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:19 pm
by misterie
In the aftermath of the car accident, Tony's face has two very noticeable circular red marks, one on each cheek. This clearly gives him the look of a clown -- specifically the "sad clown," which is often depicted as having red marks on their upper cheekbone area. This harks back to the whole "sad clown" thing which has been referenced so often in the series. The monstrous, red-faced Tony also brings to mind his appearance in Whoever Did This after he kills Ralph, and Soprano Home Movies after the fight with Bobby. In all cases he takes on this clownish yet monstrous look right after harming a dear friend or Family member, though only with Chris and Ralph does he kill them, too.

In fact, Kennedy and Heidi may be a callback to Whoever Did This in several ways. Both feature narratives that pare themselves down to a chillingly minimal extent following an unexpected murder committed by Tony, with virtually just one story by the end of the episode. And it may be worth noting that Chris, the only one besides Tony who really knows what happened to Ralph, would be later murdered by T, leaving no witnesses. Chris even references Ralph's murder in the previous Walk Like a Man (and Tony also asked him specifically if he ever told Ade about Ralph in All Due Respect).