WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Welcome back to another deep dive today. We are 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:05.120 We're not just talking about a television show, 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:07.519 right? It's way more than that Yeah, we are really 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.500 putting a cultural phenomenon on the operating 00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:11.779 table. We're looking at the Sopranos. Yeah, but 00:00:11.779 --> 00:00:14.380 you know, here's the thing Usually when people 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:16.559 talk about this show they talk about the endings 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.399 Oh always the endings the cut to black exactly 00:00:19.399 --> 00:00:22.160 the cut to black who got whacked the baked ziti 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:25.460 the whole The caricature of it the bottom being 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:28.390 of it all right? But looking at the source material 00:00:28.390 --> 00:00:31.530 we have today, which is this incredibly comprehensive 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:34.270 breakdown of the characters from the series and 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:37.609 the prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, I realized 00:00:37.609 --> 00:00:39.950 we need to look at this differently. I agree. 00:00:40.090 --> 00:00:42.950 Because this isn't just a mob story. It's a sociological 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:47.369 autopsy. It's about a decaying institution and 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:52.070 the deeply flawed, tragic human beings who are, 00:00:52.130 --> 00:00:54.789 well... trapped inside it. I think that is the 00:00:54.789 --> 00:00:56.950 perfect way to frame it for our listeners. If 00:00:56.950 --> 00:00:59.289 you look at the dossier we have, it's not just 00:00:59.289 --> 00:01:01.710 a list of crimes or a rap sheet. No, not at all. 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:04.730 It's a map of trauma. It's really about the impossibility 00:01:04.730 --> 00:01:08.370 of change. You have this family, both the biological 00:01:08.370 --> 00:01:10.909 one and the crime family, that claims to offer 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:14.030 protection, loyalty, and honor. Right. But when 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:16.010 you actually strip away the mythology, which 00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:17.909 is what we're going to do for you today, what 00:01:17.909 --> 00:01:19.750 are you left with? You're left with a meat grinder. 00:01:20.069 --> 00:01:22.420 A meat grinder that eats its own children. And 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:24.439 that's really the core theme here, generational 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:27.560 damage. And that is our mission today. We are 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.599 going to completely bypass the basic Wikipedia 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:32.700 summary. Please do. I want to understand the 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:36.430 why. We need to unpack the tragedy of the heir 00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:39.590 apparent, the surprising agency of the women, 00:01:39.829 --> 00:01:41.849 which, I mean, I think gets totally ignored, 00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:44.629 and the bloody inevitable collapse of the New 00:01:44.629 --> 00:01:47.450 Jersey crew. And we absolutely have to talk about 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:49.590 the toxicity of mentorship. That's the engine 00:01:49.590 --> 00:01:51.709 driving this whole par off the cliff. So let's 00:01:51.709 --> 00:01:54.989 start right there. The failed heirs. Because 00:01:54.989 --> 00:01:57.250 if you look at Tony Soprano, his biggest anxiety 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.060 other than the ducks leaving his pool, is his 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.459 legacy. He desperately wants to pass the torch. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.340 He does. And the person holding that torch, the 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.439 chosen one, is Christopher Multisanti. Christopher 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.000 is really the key to the whole tragedy. He's 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.139 Tony's cousin by marriage, Carmela's cousin. 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:16.210 But Tony calls him his nephew. Yeah, it's that 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:18.750 Italian family dynamic. Right. And the relationship 00:02:18.750 --> 00:02:21.669 is almost Shakespearean. Tony explicitly wants 00:02:21.669 --> 00:02:24.689 to groom him. He has this great plan to give 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:27.150 orders through Christopher to insulate himself 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:29.849 from the law. Which makes sense on paper. It's 00:02:29.849 --> 00:02:31.629 a strategic move. Or at least that's what Tony 00:02:31.629 --> 00:02:33.969 tells his therapist, Dr. Melfi. But is it just 00:02:33.969 --> 00:02:37.009 strategy? Because looking at the notes on their 00:02:37.009 --> 00:02:39.889 interactions, it feels way more like Tony is 00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:42.439 looking for a son he can actually mold. Oh, definitely. 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:45.479 Because his own son, AJ, isn't built for that 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.460 life. AJ is, you know, panic attacks and video 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:51.060 games. Christopher is action. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:53.360 It's deeply emotional. Tony loves Christopher 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.259 in his own twisted way. But the source material 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.280 highlights the fundamental disconnect between 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.139 them. Which is what? Tony wants a soldier. Christopher 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:03.180 wants to be something else entirely. Right. The 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.289 movies. Yeah, he wants to be a screenwriter. 00:03:05.469 --> 00:03:08.009 He wants to be famous. He has this creative impulse 00:03:08.009 --> 00:03:10.729 that is constantly being suffocated by his loyalty 00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:13.949 to Tony. And that tension manifests in addiction. 00:03:14.810 --> 00:03:17.110 The breakdown details his massive struggle with 00:03:17.110 --> 00:03:19.949 heroin and cocaine. It's so sad. It's not just 00:03:19.949 --> 00:03:22.830 partying. It's self -medication. He's numbing 00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:24.650 himself to the violence he has to commit on a 00:03:24.650 --> 00:03:27.009 daily basis. He's numbing the cognitive dissonance. 00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:29.129 He's trying to exist in two completely different 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.750 worlds. And this is where the movie Cleaver comes 00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:34.629 in. We have to talk about Cleaver. We do. The 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:36.969 slasher film he produces with Little Carmine. 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:40.169 It's terrible, right? A total B movie where a 00:03:40.169 --> 00:03:42.849 zombie mob boss kills people with a cleaver. 00:03:42.969 --> 00:03:45.330 It's a terrible movie, but it's a brilliant piece 00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:48.270 of psychology. How so? Well, Christopher writes 00:03:48.270 --> 00:03:50.389 a script about a mob boss who gets hacked to 00:03:50.389 --> 00:03:52.689 pieces. He's subconsciously screaming, I hate 00:03:52.689 --> 00:03:55.669 Tony Soprano. Wow, yeah. The villain is a boss 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:58.210 who sleeps with everyone's whys and uses people. 00:03:58.349 --> 00:04:00.509 He's basically putting his own subconscious on 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:02.990 screen for everyone to see. And Tony actually 00:04:02.990 --> 00:04:05.830 sees it. There's that incredibly awkward premiere 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:08.750 where Tony realizes, wait a minute, the bad guy 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:11.830 is me. Yeah, the realization on his face. The 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:14.669 source material points out that Tony feels betrayed. 00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:16.730 But he can't admit it because then he'd have 00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:19.009 to admit the movie is accurate about him. Exactly. 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:21.649 But even after that, Christopher tries. The sources 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.009 mention he goes to rehab. He really tries to 00:04:24.009 --> 00:04:26.329 get sober. He finds a sponsor, right? Yeah, he's 00:04:26.329 --> 00:04:28.410 trying to work the steps. He's making a real 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.269 effort. He does. And this is where the crab bucket 00:04:31.269 --> 00:04:33.629 mentality of the mob comes in. The environment 00:04:33.629 --> 00:04:36.430 just won't let him change. Not at all. There's 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:38.629 a specific breaking point mentioned in the files. 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:42.569 The episode Walk Like a Man. Oh, that's a tough 00:04:42.569 --> 00:04:44.949 one. Christopher is trying to stay sober. He's 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.310 planting tomatoes in his garden. Just trying 00:04:47.310 --> 00:04:50.089 to have a quiet, normal moment away from the 00:04:50.089 --> 00:04:52.170 bottom being... It's a rare moment of peace for 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:53.949 him. And then Pauly Gold here, he enters the 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:57.029 chat. Right. Pauly and the crew destroy his lawn 00:04:57.029 --> 00:05:00.110 with their car. They mock his sobriety. Because 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:02.470 they can't stand to see him improving. Exactly. 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:06.269 It highlights their own wretchedness. That bullying 00:05:06.269 --> 00:05:08.230 pushes Christopher right back to the bottle. 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:10.810 It's a direct line from their mockery to his 00:05:10.810 --> 00:05:13.889 relapse. Which leads us to the end. And I have 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:17.170 to say, reading the detailed account of Christopher's 00:05:17.170 --> 00:05:20.329 death again in the notes, it's chilling. It's 00:05:20.329 --> 00:05:23.269 not a blaze of glory. It's pathetic. It's incredibly 00:05:23.269 --> 00:05:25.310 grim. They're driving back from a meeting with 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.629 Phil Leotardo. Christopher is high, and he flips 00:05:28.629 --> 00:05:31.410 the SUV off the road. A terrible crash. Yeah. 00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:34.139 The baby seat in the back is crushed. Thankfully, 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:36.540 the baby wasn't there. Christopher is coughing 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.519 up blood, begging for help. And he says the wrong 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.000 thing. He says, I won't pass a drug test. Right. 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:43.740 He's worried about losing his driver's license. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.920 That's his priority in that moment. Not his life, 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.360 not his daughter, his license. And Tony just 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:50.740 looks at him. And the source material asks a 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:55.420 dark question here for you to ponder. Was it 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:59.360 mercy? Or was it disgust? I think it was opportunity. 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.379 Tony pinches his nose shut and suffocates him. 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:05.899 He kills the very future he spent six seasons 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:08.660 trying to build. It's unbelievable. And the scariest 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:12.439 part, Tony feels relief. He goes to Vegas afterwards 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:15.639 and has a great time. He feels completely unburdened. 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.360 That's the sociopathy on full display. He's free 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:22.000 of the burden of Christopher. It's brutal. But 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.319 Christopher isn't an isolated incident, is he? 00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:27.889 If you look at the pattern in the notes, every 00:06:27.889 --> 00:06:31.269 single young man Tony touches ends up dead. Every 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:33.970 single one. Look at Jackie April Jr. Oh, Jack. 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:36.269 This is the son of his best friend, the former 00:06:36.269 --> 00:06:39.750 boss. Tony promised Jackie Sr. on his deathbed, 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:42.189 I'll keep the kid out of the life. But he doesn't. 00:06:42.189 --> 00:06:44.209 He gives him just enough rope to hang himself. 00:06:44.509 --> 00:06:47.550 Exactly. His influence is too strong. Jackie 00:06:47.550 --> 00:06:50.370 Jr. idolizes Tony. He tries to mimic him. He 00:06:50.370 --> 00:06:53.269 hears a story about how Tony and Jackie Sr. robbed 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:55.910 a card game. back in the day to get made. Right, 00:06:56.050 --> 00:06:57.990 so Jackie Jr. thinks, I'll do the exact same 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:00.829 thing. But he's incompetent. He's a college dropout 00:07:00.829 --> 00:07:03.290 who thinks he's a gangster. The robbery is a 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:06.370 total disaster. He kills the dealer, shoots furio 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:08.670 in the leg. It's absolute chaos. And the result 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:10.870 is inevitable. He's found hiding in the Boonton 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:13.410 projects. Vito Spadafore walks up behind him 00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:15.389 and puts a bullet in the back of his head. A 00:07:15.389 --> 00:07:18.149 kid Tony explicitly promised to protect. And 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:21.649 then you have Tony Blundetto. Okay. Played by 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.170 the incredible Steve Buscemi. Tony B is tragic 00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:26.589 because he actually had a way out. He was smart. 00:07:26.850 --> 00:07:28.790 He wanted to be a massage therapist. He had the 00:07:28.790 --> 00:07:31.230 uniform and everything. But Tony Soprano's guilt 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:35.329 and his jealousy kept pulling him back in. Tony 00:07:35.329 --> 00:07:38.949 S couldn't stand seeing Tony B go straight. It 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:41.610 threatened him. And eventually, the war with 00:07:41.610 --> 00:07:44.569 New York drags him under. Tony has to kill his 00:07:44.569 --> 00:07:47.009 own cousin with a shotgun to save him from being 00:07:47.009 --> 00:07:49.720 tortured by Phil Leotardo. So the lesson for 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:52.540 any young man in North Jersey is, if Tony Soprano 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:55.720 puts his arm around you, run. Run fast. He destroys 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:57.779 the future just to protect his present comfort. 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:01.459 OK, that's the men. Let's tivet. Because while 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:03.500 the men are destroying each other out in the 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:06.860 streets, the women are fighting a completely 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:09.120 different kind of psychological war. That's very 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.509 true. The source material has a lot to say about 00:08:11.509 --> 00:08:13.589 the Mob Wives, and I think it actively challenges 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:16.089 the stereotype that they are just passive victims 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:18.509 in Lippard print. Oh, completely. They are not 00:08:18.509 --> 00:08:20.730 just victims. They are accomplices. And the most 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:23.750 complex one is obviously Carmela Soprano. Carmela 00:08:23.750 --> 00:08:27.029 is fascinating. She walks this incredibly thin 00:08:27.029 --> 00:08:29.629 tightrope. She knows exactly where the money 00:08:29.629 --> 00:08:31.769 comes from, the blood money that buys the ladro 00:08:31.769 --> 00:08:33.929 statues in the speck house. But she has these 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:36.370 mechanisms to deny it. She compartmentalizes 00:08:36.370 --> 00:08:38.889 beautifully. The notes highlight her reliance 00:08:38.889 --> 00:08:41.450 on spiritual mentors. Remember Father Phil. The 00:08:41.450 --> 00:08:43.649 priest who loved the ziti. The snorer priest. 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:47.470 The sexual tension there was palpable. It really 00:08:47.470 --> 00:08:50.269 was. But Carmela uses him. She feeds him, they 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:52.870 drink wine, they almost kiss. But it's not just 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:55.350 about romance. No, she's using the church to 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:57.610 launder her conscience. Exactly. If the priest 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:00.070 eats her food and validates her, then she can't 00:09:00.070 --> 00:09:02.230 be a bad person. It's completely transactional, 00:09:02.269 --> 00:09:04.370 just like her marriage. But she does rebel in 00:09:04.370 --> 00:09:07.470 her own way. The sources detail these intense 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:09.830 emotional affairs. Yeah. Not physical cheating, 00:09:10.049 --> 00:09:12.710 usually, but emotional betrayals. Right. She 00:09:12.710 --> 00:09:15.009 craves the emotional intimacy that Tony can't 00:09:15.009 --> 00:09:18.250 give her. Look at Furio Giunta. Oh, Furio. He's 00:09:18.250 --> 00:09:21.629 the enforcer from Italy. Ponytail, silk shirts, 00:09:21.809 --> 00:09:24.049 makes his own mozzarella. Carmela falls hard 00:09:24.049 --> 00:09:26.659 for him. That scene where they dance at the housewarming 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.960 party. The tension could cut glass. And Tony 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.759 is standing right there. It's electric. And it's 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:34.679 incredibly dangerous. The notes mention that 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:37.460 Furio actually contemplates killing Tony. Yeah, 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.899 at the helicopter. Right. He's standing by the 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:42.799 helicopter rotor. Tony is drunk and urinating 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.899 near the blades. And Furio thinks about pushing 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.580 him into the prop just so he can be with Carmela. 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.259 But he doesn't do it. He runs away back to Italy 00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:53.179 because he knows it's a death sentence to stay. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.460 And then later, she manipulates Robert Weggler, 00:09:56.580 --> 00:09:58.580 the guidance counselor. No, that's a darker turn. 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:00.919 She sleeps with him, but then you realize she's 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:03.480 basically bullying him into giving AJ better 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:06.419 grades. Yeah, she uses the relationship as leverage. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.480 When Weggler calls her out on it, says, I'm being 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:12.620 used, she drops him completely. She learned that 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:15.379 move from Tony. She uses people. But if you want 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:17.120 to talk about a character who actually learns 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.840 the game and wins, we have to look at Angie Bonpensiero. 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:23.820 Oh, Angie? This is one of my favorite arcs in 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:26.600 the whole dossier. Angie is the ultimate counter 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.360 argument to Carmela. She starts as Pussy's miserable 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.399 wife. Very miserable. She's depressed. He treats 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:35.860 her like garbage. But after Pussy has disappeared, 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:38.220 she doesn't crumble. She evolves. She takes over 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:40.759 his auto body shop. And not only does she run 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:44.879 it, she turns it into a legitimate, well, semi 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.399 -legitimate powerhouse. She becomes a real earner. 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:49.039 She's putting money on the street. She's buying 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.360 her own Corvette with her own money. I love that 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.590 detail. There is this specific aha moment the 00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:57.250 source describes. Carmela goes to the body shop 00:10:57.250 --> 00:11:00.470 fully expecting to pity Angie. She wants to play 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:04.009 the benevolent lady bountiful. Exactly. And instead 00:11:04.009 --> 00:11:07.370 she sees Angie is the boss. She's barking orders 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:10.070 at the mechanics. She looks great. And Carmela 00:11:10.070 --> 00:11:12.929 is just jealous. She's furious because Angie 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:15.809 proves that a woman doesn't need a man to provide 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:18.129 for her in this world. You can survive the life 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:21.039 and actually come out on top. It shatters Carmela's 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:23.460 entire justification for staying with Tony. But 00:11:23.460 --> 00:11:26.440 for every Angie, there is an Adriana La Cerva. 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:29.580 The true innocent of the show. Her story is just 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:32.240 heartbreaking. She's not malicious. She just 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.320 loves Christopher. But she gets caught in the 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.860 gears. She really does. The source details how 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.539 the FBI targets her because she's the weak link. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:44.460 Agent Deborah Ciceroni goes undercover as her 00:11:44.460 --> 00:11:47.110 new best friend, Danielle. It's a violation of 00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:50.070 trust on every possible level. Adriana is squeezed 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:52.669 so tight, she's terrified of prison, but she's 00:11:52.669 --> 00:11:55.090 even more terrified of Tony. She lives in a state 00:11:55.090 --> 00:11:57.909 of constant panic for two seasons. She's developing 00:11:57.909 --> 00:12:00.649 ulcerative colitis from the sheer stress. And 00:12:00.649 --> 00:12:02.830 when she finally confesses to Christopher, thinking 00:12:02.830 --> 00:12:05.110 that maybe, just maybe, they love each other 00:12:05.110 --> 00:12:07.090 enough to run away and start over, what does 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:10.289 he do? He chooses the family with a capital F 00:12:10.289 --> 00:12:13.070 over his family. He almost kills her right there 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:15.720 in the apartment, but then he goes to Tony. And 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.500 the betrayal is absolute. They sell her a lie. 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:20.320 They tell her Christopher tried to kill himself 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.000 and she needs to go see him at the hospital. 00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:24.059 And Silvio picks her up. Silvio picks her up. 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:27.159 Yeah. And that drive into the woods. The realization 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.379 on her face when Silvio turns off the paved road 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.940 onto the dirt track. Does she know? She knows 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.480 right then. She's crawling away on her hands 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:37.419 and knees. It's one of the hardest things to 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:40.200 read about or watch. And it proves that in this 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:42.960 world, love is completely secondary to the code. 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:45.889 And the irony, of course, is that the code itself 00:12:45.889 --> 00:12:49.009 is a total myth. Right. That brings us to the 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:52.269 internal rot of the DeMeo family. They kill Adriana 00:12:52.269 --> 00:12:54.549 for being a rat, but half the organization is 00:12:54.549 --> 00:12:56.830 already talking to the feds. Let's talk about 00:12:56.830 --> 00:12:59.149 that, the rat trauma. It really starts with Big 00:12:59.149 --> 00:13:03.269 Pussy, Salvatore Bonpensiero, Tony's absolute 00:13:03.269 --> 00:13:06.049 best friend. He was an informant for years, since 00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:09.210 95 or 98. He was running a wire at AJ's confirmation. 00:13:09.450 --> 00:13:12.789 Tony is in denial for so long because he genuinely 00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:15.870 loves Pussy. He even has that fever dream where 00:13:15.870 --> 00:13:18.529 Pussy appears as a talking fish on a display 00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:21.710 counter. Four dollars a pound. Exactly. His subconscious 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:23.730 is screaming at him. He's sleeping with the fishes. 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:26.090 But when they finally find the wire hidden in 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:30.529 the cigar box, the execution is it's just intimate. 00:13:30.710 --> 00:13:33.210 It's not a hit. It's a heartbreak. Tony, Silvio 00:13:33.210 --> 00:13:35.350 and Polly take him out on the boat. They share 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:37.450 a tequila. Pussy knows exactly what's coming. 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:39.860 He asks if he can sit down because his heart 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:41.820 is pounding. And then they shoot him and dump 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:44.980 him in the ocean. No burial, just gone. But the 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:46.960 betrayal just keeps happening. Look at the crisis 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.259 of identity with Vito Spadafore. This is a major 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.279 storyline in the later seasons. Vito is a top 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.299 earner, a quintessential tough guy. But he's 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:59.279 living a complete double life as a gay man. When 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:02.379 he gets caught, he flees to New Hampshire. And 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:04.500 for a minute, you get this beautiful glimpse 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:07.179 of an alternate reality. He meets Johnny cakes. 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:09.840 The volunteer fireman who's making pancakes. 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.460 It's peaceful. But he can't hack it. The source 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:15.960 notes his inability to handle the quiet civilian 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.440 life. He's looking at his watch, waiting for 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.960 the day to end. He misses the action. He misses 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.639 the hustle. So he chooses to go back to Jersey 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:25.779 thinking he can just buy his way back in. Which 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:28.340 is a fatal miscalculation. He thinks money solves 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:31.879 everything. He offers Tony a huge cut. And Tony's 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:33.580 actually considering it. Because he's greedy 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:36.360 enough to overlook the honor code. But Phil Leotardo 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:39.139 isn't. Phil Leotardo, the dark shadow hanging 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:42.639 over the end of the series. Phil is Vito's wife's 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.200 cousin. He takes Vito's sexuality as a deeply 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.559 personal insult to his family honor. He hunts 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:51.899 Vito down in a motel room. And it's a hate crime. 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:54.600 It's absolutely brutal. Phil watches while his 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.820 men beat Vito to death. And that brutality really 00:14:57.820 --> 00:15:00.200 sets the stage for the final act. We have to 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.240 talk about the war. The New York versus New Jersey 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:05.620 conflict. This is the end game for everyone. 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:08.899 Throughout the history we have, New York, the 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:12.279 Lupertazzi family, is the big brother. They have 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:15.799 more men, more money, more power. Jersey is just 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:18.639 a glorified crew in their eyes. When the old 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.179 boss, Carmine Sr., dies, the leash snaps entirely. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.679 You get this massive power vacuum. First you 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.039 have Johnny Sack, who was always the pragmatist. 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:29.220 He was a reasonable one for years. The power 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:31.379 corrupts him, or maybe the sheer pressure just 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.940 breaks him. He becomes completely paranoid. He 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:36.519 creates chaos over personal slights. Remember 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:38.600 the joke Ralphie made about Johnny's wife? The 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:40.840 weight joke. Yeah, she had a 95 pound mole on 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:44.059 her. Well, you know. Johnny was ready to sanction 00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:47.080 a hit on a top earning captain over a cruel joke. 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:49.759 It just shows how incredibly fragile their egos 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.500 are, but Johnny Saks' end is honestly just sad. 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:54.879 He finally gets the crown and the feds kick down 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.179 his door immediately. He dies of cancer in a 00:15:57.179 --> 00:15:59.559 prison hospital. Watching his family's assets 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.200 get seized by the government, he dies totally 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:05.080 powerless. Which leaves the door wide open for 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:08.480 the ultimate antagonist, Phil Leotardo. Phil 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:11.629 is pure bitterness. He did 20 years in prison 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:14.409 for the can, as he calls it. He reminds everyone 00:16:14.409 --> 00:16:17.330 constantly. I did 20 years! He feels the world 00:16:17.330 --> 00:16:20.570 owes him. And he has a legitimate grievance. 00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:23.970 Tony's cousin, Tony B, killed his brother Billy. 00:16:24.549 --> 00:16:26.809 That animal blundetto. Phil won't even say his 00:16:26.809 --> 00:16:28.850 name out loud. Right. Phil doesn't care about 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:31.009 the business anymore. He wants blood. He orders 00:16:31.009 --> 00:16:33.509 the decapitation of the Jersey leadership. This 00:16:33.509 --> 00:16:36.350 is where the story gets incredibly dark. Bobby 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:39.110 Bacalla, the sweetest guy in the entire organization, 00:16:39.490 --> 00:16:41.590 the one who never wanted to hurt anyone, is shot 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:44.710 to death while buying a vintage toy train. Silvio 00:16:44.710 --> 00:16:47.110 is gunned down outside the Badabing and left 00:16:47.110 --> 00:16:49.429 in a coma. Tony is sleeping on a mattress in 00:16:49.429 --> 00:16:51.929 a safe house, clutching an assault rifle to his 00:16:51.929 --> 00:16:54.629 chest. The entire structure has collapsed. But 00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:57.809 Phil overplays his hand. He's so toxic that even 00:16:57.809 --> 00:17:00.409 his own people turn on him. Butch DeConcini, 00:17:00.529 --> 00:17:03.210 the New York underboss, realizes Phil is just 00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:05.930 bad for business. He sits down with Tony in that 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:08.130 freezing warehouse. And basically says, do what 00:17:08.130 --> 00:17:10.589 you gotta do. We won't stop you. And the detail 00:17:10.589 --> 00:17:13.910 of Phil's death, it's not cinematic. It's grotesque. 00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:16.950 It's fittingly undignified. He's at a gas station. 00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:20.150 Walden Belfiore, a minor soldier from Jersey, 00:17:20.630 --> 00:17:23.700 shoots him. And then... The final indignity. 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.900 His wife is in the car, hysterical. She forgets 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:29.740 to put the SUV in park. The car rolls forward 00:17:29.740 --> 00:17:33.779 and crushes Phil's head. The big bad boss, flattened 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:36.480 by his own gas guzzling SUV right in front of 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.240 his grandkids. There's no glory there whatsoever. 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:42.200 None. It completely underlines the total lack 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.559 of romance in this life. So what does this all 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.240 mean for you listening? We've looked at the failed 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:48.720 sons, the complicit wives, the rats, the wars. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:51.160 When you step back and look at the source material 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.650 as a whole, What is the final verdict? We are 00:17:54.650 --> 00:17:57.509 left with a picture of total desolation. The 00:17:57.509 --> 00:17:59.589 source material paints a world where loyalty 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.190 is a fairy tale. It doesn't exist. Family isn't 00:18:02.190 --> 00:18:04.369 a safety net. It's the most dangerous thing you 00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:07.049 can be a part of. The organization eats its own. 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:09.450 I mean, look at the scoreboard at the end. The 00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:13.069 DeMeo family is a graveyard. Silvio is a vegetable. 00:18:13.430 --> 00:18:16.309 Christopher is dead. Bobby is dead. Pussy is 00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:19.799 dead. Tony is sitting in that diner. And even 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:22.480 if he doesn't die in that exact moment, Carlo 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.519 Gervasi is actively testifying against him. He's 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.440 going to prison for the rest of his life. He's 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.740 the king of nothing. He won the war, but there 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:32.740 are no spoils. Just silence. It really makes 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:35.259 you think about who the actual winner was in 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:37.759 all of this. And I have a final thought on that, 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:39.920 based on the notes. Something for everyone to 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.440 mull over. Let's hear it. We made fun of little 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:44.599 Carmine earlier, the guy who made the slasher 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:46.759 movie. Everyone in the show mocked him. Tony 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.230 called him brainless the second. Yeah. He messed 00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:51.750 up his sayings. He was goofy. Sure, the court 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.170 jester. But look at where he is at the end. He's 00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:56.410 alive. He's alive. He stepped completely out 00:18:56.410 --> 00:18:58.329 of the race for boss. He said, I don't want it. 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:00.769 He's living in a big house in Miami. He has his 00:19:00.769 --> 00:19:04.369 wife, his kids, his health. He realized that 00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:07.769 the title, the power, the respect, it wasn't 00:19:07.769 --> 00:19:10.509 worth the price of admission. That is a profound 00:19:10.509 --> 00:19:13.579 point to end on. in a world of tough guys who 00:19:13.579 --> 00:19:16.460 all ended up dead or in a cage, the fool was 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:18.920 the only one smart enough to realize the only 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:21.819 winning move is not to play. Yeah, he broke the 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:25.059 cycle. The only one who actually escaped. Something 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:26.900 to think about the next time you hear Don't Stop 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:29.539 Believing. That's all the time we have for this 00:19:29.539 --> 00:19:31.720 deep dive into the Sopranos. Thanks for listening. 00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:32.720 Thanks for having me.