Please post all grades, reviews, and general or abbreviated comments about the episode in this thread. Use individual threads for longer or more substantive thoughts/discussion points.

there were to many dreams in this episode so i gave it a 9 instead of 10 but this was a very good epidose

Who is the guy that's in the hotel at the end of Funhouse? The guy smokin' cigarettes, about to pass out. The rest of the people they are showing are recognizable.

levi, going from memory only here, so take this with a grain of salt. But I think the purpose of showing the junky/homeless-looking guy slumped over in the motel was to show the decay of that business in the wake of Tony and company essentially "busting it out" as they did Scatino's sporting goods store that same season. All the ancillary "businesses" that come with having a guy like Tony as your silent partner were taking its toll on the place . . . drug dealers, bookies, prostitutes, etc. I don't think the guy in particular was meant to be recognized, more just what he represented to the depreciation of that business.

FlyOnMelfisWall wrote:levi, going from memory only here, so take this with a grain of salt. But I think the purpose of showing the junky/homeless-looking guy slumped over in the motel was to show the decay of that business in the wake of Tony and company essentially "busting it out" as they did Scatino's sporting goods store that same season. All the ancillary "businesses" that come with having a guy like Tony as your silent partner were taking its toll on the place . . . drug dealers, bookies, prostitutes, etc. I don't think the guy in particular was meant to be recognized, more just what he represented to the depreciation of that business.

For what it's worth, that's exactly the way I also took that shot in the hotel at the end also.
BTW I always get a kick out of seeing David Scatino's car all packed up and heading out of the parking lot of the motel/apartments to the "Wild, Wild West." He was a great character IMO, although I couldn't stand his son Eric.

carpetbeggar wrote:For what it's worth, that's exactly the way I also took that shot in the hotel at the end also.
BTW I always get a kick out of seeing David Scatino's car all packed up and heading out of the parking lot of the motel/apartments to the "Wild, Wild West." He was a great character IMO, although I couldn't stand his son Eric.

That makes perfect sense. I tend to look at things too literally, thank you both.

I may just be paranoid, but did Pussy try to poison Tony in order to resolve his problem with the FBI?

It seems like it was just Indian food, but seeing as how this is shortly before Pussy gets clipped, and as it sparks the series of dreams where Tony sniffs out the rat in his subconscious, it seems plausible to me.

Or am I forgetting something here (I'm only part way through the episode so don't know if it was clearly determined what caused the food poisoning).

Good episode so far. 8

Edit: My theory doesn't hold up. Artie calling Pussy to find out that Pussy didn't fall ill like Tony did, was the last straw in Tony's mind. This last point might've triggered a paranoid though in Tony's mind and set him off piecing together in his dreams all the suspicions he's had about Pussy being a rat in the last few months.

My theory also doesn't make sense because if Pussy really wanted to somehow end his inner conflict between his mob allegiance and his FBI allegiance, he could've used a stronger poison to actually get the job done. Anyway... finished watching the episode and it was damned great. 10

Two things I noticed after watching this on HBO sg last night.

Tony says "everything's black" after he wakes up from his dream the first time...hmm...

In "Remember When," Paulie has that dream where he asks Pussy "When my time comes, tell me, will I stand up?"

In "Funhouse," just before his time comes, Pussy asks if he can sit down.

Some writers over at the AV Club do a round table discussion of this episode and I thought those around might like to read it if they have not already done so. It is here. It amazes me (and makes me happy) that this show is still talked about so many years after the fact. Shoot, this was season 2.