Re: More predictions....
 

The storyline with Carmela and AJ's teacher was necessary to bring Carmela to a place where she would take Tony back.

The dream was only about 20 minutes long and was necessary to set Tony's mind on a new track vis-a-vis Tony B. and Johnny Sack. It probably could have been done more efficiently, but I enjoyed the whole sequence, so I'm not complaining.

The "Finn and Vito" storyline and the "Janice in Anger Management" storyline were arguably unnecessary, but they were so funny I'm glad they included them. I watch the show to enjoy myself, not to mark time until some sort of idealized Godfather/Goodfellas/Scarface fantasy episode in which everybody blows each other up and Tony rains down destruction on the five families.

Re: Chris thought about flipping
 

Nope, because she couldn't have kids. So they were never going to be that anyway.

Siragusa appeared a few episodes back when Tony S. showed up at BigPussy's wife's auto-shop.

By the way -- I just realized something: Benny Fazio (the guy on Tony's crew who beat Chrissy up during the intervention and beaten up by Gene Pontecorvo on the contruction site while Finn was watching) is played by Max Casella, who played Vinnie on Doogie Howser.

Johnny's lack of respect is what's does not work for tony.

Telling him that they won't be having those meetings anymore.

My 2 cents here...

I was expecting to see Chris next to Tony when he called Adriana from the plaza. I liked the money-counterpoint between Chris getting his $70K Hummer gassed up and watching The Mullet Family getting into their Citation...as we've seen over and over again, the prime motivation for every character in this show is selfishness. And yeah, as it's been mentioned, even that wasn't an option with Adriana being unable to conceive. Interesting oblique foreshadow...she had a problem w/pooping, and it turns out she was living in a world of poop.

It looked to me like Tony wanted to kill Johnny on-the-spot but decided against it. OK, no more poop-puns.

Carmella has, once more, shown she's all about the money. In terms of arcs, she has not moved one bit since the start of the show. More depth, but still the same person. Selfishness again, pretty much all I've ever seen in her.

Tony, on the other hand, is trying desperately to make right with things- his arc's moving full-swing...but keeps getting dragged through the mud. My guess is when he gets where he thinks he ought to be, he'll be killed.

Sure - I don't blame her either since she was going to get 'raped' in any divorce. This was pretty much her only option unless she wanted to live from alimony (what little that would have been) check to alimony check.

I see it going further back though...sobbing "Forgive me father, I'm in pain because my husband is a bloodthirsty thug and I fear for his soul" while living in a house that costs more than mine squared.

That said, I don't see her character as having any other options...she knows that she can't really hook up w/anybody given her ex- particularly since Tony will own her anyway money-wise.

Unrelated...Maybe Tony sent Sil as a polite gesture to take care of business...Paulie Pantysniffer probably would have raped her first...

I liked the end scene of Tony and Carm in the woods. She's planning on buying the $600K lot and building a house. He knows he'll have money problems (and worse) with the upcoming 'war' with Johnny Sacks crew but he wants his family together enough to deal with it.

I don't believe Chris will run to Johnny Sack... for one thing, Johnny doesn't even respect Chris. He never has, and he never will. Plus, Sack might be angry at Tony, but I can't see him disrespecting him to the point of accepting his nephew into the NY family. Also, Chris is #2 of the Sopranos family (even if it's not official), and he would be far down the ranks over in New York. The way Chris hungers for power, I can't see that happening.

I was actually hoping Chris would flip, even though he is my favorite character and it would probably cost his head. I thought he was going to once he stopped choking her. That's how they got me up until driving out to the middle of nowhere. Tony's phone call didn't tip me off, but I did think they found him way too fast after attempting suicide, and suicide didn't seem like something he was going to do at that point.

I loved when Tony knocked Chris on his ass for feeling sorry for himself. The whole family seemed pretty close to Adrianna, especially Tony. It will be interesting to see the aftermath.

Re: Re: Chris thought about flipping
 

I thought Adrianna wasn't SURE she could have children...I don't think she was positive she couldn't have them. And I'm sure she would have wanted to adopt.

Chris didn't want to become an "average joe". He wants to be a man of importance - no matter what the costs.

Why did Christopher pack her suitcase full of clothes and throw it where ever it was that he threw it when there was already a perfectly suitable suitcase full of her clothes in Silvio's car?

Also, isn't it above Silvio to be killing someone like that? Now he has to dig a big hole in the woods, throw her in it, cover up the hole, etc, all by himself. Sounds like work for soldies, not a consigliere.

Which is what makes the earlier episode this season of Tony having a thing with Adriana much more poignant.

I'm thinking that Tony's downfall will be his own health. I think they've been setting it up that way, and it would be consistent with the series. He'll have a heart attack by the pool, and his ducks will come back as he's lying there looking up at the sky.

The suitcase was ditched so that it won't be found in her apartment. The same suitcase in Silvio's car was Adriana imagining her being in her own car driving far far away from the mess she was in.

To speculate on the second question, she could be in the trunk.

Re: Chris thought about flipping
 

Agree. But hey, if she doesn't get a nom. for this there's always Joey, right? ;)

Is it possible Carmela is somehow playing Tony, that she doesn't really plan to "get back together" but is just setting herself up financially only to leave him for good? I mean, Tony's "apology" was hilarious, basically saying he'll of course cheat on her again and again but just will work very hard to make sure she doesn't get any more jilted girlfriend phone calls...

:slaps self on forehead: Duh, of course the suitcase was only there in the imaginary part of the car ride. I think I was still asleep when I posted this morning :)

That was Ade's car that Chris parked at the airport at the end, right? To make it look like she got on a plane and took off somewhere?

I hope we see more about Adrianna's story in the next episode. It would be cool to flashback to see how Chris told Tony that Adrianna was working with the Feds, what Tony's reaction was, and what Chris thought of Tony's plan (if it was indeed his plan).

I'm not sure if she is playing him, but I think she realizes that she might not have made the right decision. After dinner, when tony is sprawled on the couch watching tv, she is doing the dishes and staring him down and realizing, perhaps, that she is not happier this way. I'm not sure if this is gonna last.

I hope she has something up her sleeve, otherwise their whole breakup will end up having been a huge waste of time. He always made some effort to keep her from knowing about his affairs, so now he'll just try harder? BFD. There's gotta be some consequences from the breakup. Maybe Carmela will kill Tony :D

Plus Tony never told carm that he would end the affairs only that he'd keep it out of her sight or something to that effect.

I forget, which one is her uncle - is it Sil or Paulie?

I said after Janice's anger management episode when Tony was such a jerk to everyone that I wouldn't be surprised if someone close to him, such as Chris, Janice, or even Carm, killed Tony. I think that's why, especially with Chris, the writers are going out of their way to show the lack of respect he gets from Tony. I really believe Chris will be the one to kill Tony. I'm not saying he will join Sack's crew, I just don't think he will be able to take the abuse much longer, especially if he's doing H again.

Yep. The feds were talking about it at the end of the episode (speculating where she could have run off to).

China!