Tony and Janice Still Playing House

1
Melfi tries, with little, if any success, to get Tony
to delve or reveal more about what he and Janice
really were up to (incest?), when they played house
as kids?

Instead, Tony makes a deal to have Janice get
Ginny's dream house for half-price, while Carmela,
who certainly was more convincing, devoted
and concerned during the bedside vigil when
Tony was in his coma, gets the shaft from him,
when it comes to making her spec house a
business success.

I'm not going to say more about this episode
until I watch it again, except Chase better write
all the remaining episodes.

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Re: Tony and Janice Still Playing House

4
The sessions with Melfi were "tantalizing" (to borrow a word from the boss) indeed! Puting them together Melfi may be tugging at a new thread that may help unravel the deepest part of Tony we all crave to see. Hopefully she can keep digging, with these "playing house" sessions to bring Tony's past psycholgical demons (the ones that have been eluding her and us for years) out in to the light of day.

On a related aspect, I didn't think that Tony was being completely truthful with Melfi about Janice's babysitting tape recording incident. Tony told Melfi that Janice, left in charge as a babysitter, secretly tape recorded Tony and Barbara "fighting" (or arguing, I don't recall exactly), and that she used the tape to blackmail Tony into doing things for her (lest she reveal the tape's contents to Livia and Johnny Boy).

But would Tony really be afraid of his mother and father hearing a tape of he and Barb simply fighting or arguing? Wasn't arguing and fighting between family members a pretty common occurrence in Johnny Boy's house? Didn't Tony describe the relationship between the kids and Livia as "Every man for himself?"

Because of this I got the feeling that Tony and Barbara may have actually been doing something other than fighting or arguing. This suspicion was amplified when Tony appeared to be "shading" the truth by a hesitation and carefully chosen words. Now I am not saying that I think that Tony and Barb were "playing house", but, the manner of this discussion and the revelations by Tony (in the manner that he made them) present that possibility.....a possibility that may hold some keys to the ultimate Tony Soprano psychological riddle.



</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p098.ezboard.com/bthechaselounge ... ac72261</A>
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at: 5/15/06 2:00 pm

Re: Tony and Janice Still Playing House

5
Frankly I thought the motivations for Tonys actions towards both were revealed in the episode, and in some cases not very subtly either.

Tony was complaining about the spec house with Dr. Melfi, talking about how Carm "wasn't there".
It was also rather obvious he was pissed when dinner wasn't ready, and even moreso when he was trying to comfort Meadow and only made things worse.

In fact it was right after the scene with Meadow that we see Tony instruct Sal not to bother going to see the building inspector.

Everytime Carm sees Angie, she feels jealous and becomes motivated to get her spec house rolling again, and everytime Tony fails to help her out.

Melfi even commented saying that "You seem ok with her pursuing her interests as long as it doesn't conflict with your needs" or something to that effect.

No mystery there.

As for Janice, again I thought this was laid out rather directly.
Tony admits to Melfi that he makes Janice and Bobby "eat shit" I think is how he put, or any rate thats paraphrasing it.

And he confesses to Melfi that he does so because Janice took off while Tony stayed and dealt with Livia, and cleaned up the mess.
As he said, "He has the scars."

I think that after his session with Melfi, he realizes that she is right, that they ARE family, and that he needs to get over this.
We've seen since the beginning how Tony can be motivated by guilt, and how generous he can be when he feels guilty about something with someone.
Thus the deal with Janice.

This isn't the first time he's come to bat for Janice either, the situation with Richie Aprile comes to mind.
Also the situation with the Russians.

Just my .02 by I don't see any lingering mystery concerning Tony's actions towards both parties this episode.



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Re: Tony and Janice Still Playing House

7
The Ledger of Justices:

A Hungarian family systems therapist and theorist named Nagy had a way of looking at family pathology in terms of accrued justices vs. injustices. He posited that how one perceives his or her bottomline of fairness equity within the family determines an individual's, as well as family's, overall mental health. In this episode we see how both Tony and Janice reported the experience of injustice at the hands of the other, and how this legacy has played itself out to the detriment of their relationship. Janice reports being shortchanged and continuously victimized by Tony. Tony relates how Janice reneged on family responsibilities, only to later exact her own perceived entitlements. Quite honestly Nagy's premise is beautifully exemplified by all that we see and learn in the Tony-Janice dynamic (in his office, with Melfi, etc.). Now this construct, for my money, is not nearly as sexy as psychodynamic deconstruction of personality, but it is yet another way of looking at how a person becomes what he/she is.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">(I was not sure where to place this...this felt to be simpatico with "Playing House"...)</span>

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