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****Sopranos Season 5 Season Guide (Spoilers) (1 Viewer)

JonZ

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Even though theyre sometimes very ignorant, they know how to do there jobs.

Bobby is a great example of this. Where hes talking about Quasimoto making predictions of the future/connection to Notre Dame one minute and settling union affairs another.
 

ZacharyTait

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EDIT: I should have read page 3 before trying to answer the question of "Were black guys hired to kill Meadow's boyfriend" DOH!
 

Jason_Els

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This was a fantastic episode. I know I bitch about the "personal issues" episodes but this one was perfectly balanced. One of the finest episodes I have ever seen. So many layers at work here and each part advanced the plot to some degree but where it will lead we don't know.

The title of the show, Unidentified Black Males, isn't really about racism. It's about scapegoating personal responsibility. In this micro-culture the UBMs are bogeymen, flimsy diversions used to deflect scrutiny (as Tony B. does), hide from reality (as Meadow does), veil the truth (as Tony S. does), or to divert blame (as Vito does).
Even Finn does it claiming he doesn't want to take a job a minority could get which implies that he thinks he's a better candidate than any minority could be.

What we have here are the characters beginning to realize that these UBMs aren't working any more. The truth hidden by the shared fantasy of UBMs is beginning to fester and can't be ignored.
 

Chris

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Yep. Basically, he implied that small work was best suited for minorities.

The show did one heck of a job with it..

Started off right at the top with Tony B saying his limp was from being jumped by "black guys"

And it kept piling it on. Scapegoats. Very effective about it as well.
 

LaMarcus

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Excellent description of the racial content of this episode fellas.

Sean A., bravo!
 

Daniel DeLawter

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Oct 3, 2001
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I don't know about anybody else, but I consistently root for Johnny Sac and Frank Vincent's crew over Carmine Junior and Frankie Valli's group. Vincent Curatola is such a great actor and he *steals* episodes with his scenes. And I echo others' sentiments that the scene with him and Tony in the limo was masterful and proabably pivotal to the whole series. (Although didn't we all think that in the last episode of last season?)

Obviously now, though, Tony will most likely have to kill him off or whack his cousin - sad, in my mind, when Curatola leaves the Sopranos, it's as good as over for me.
 

Rob Speicher

Supporting Actor
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Nov 24, 2000
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I rewatched episode 9 last night and I was reminded that the bear (from ep 1) showed up again while Carm was talking to the first lawyer on the phone. It wasn't mentioned again, what gives?
 

Chris

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Great episode.

Chris Realizes he's on the outs.
Tony can't let go and has to drag Janice back to the pack.
The thing with John heats up as he just doesn't buy it and pinches Tony..

I thought the thing with Chris was very intresting as to where that is leading.. He's got an axe to grind with Tony B now, and he may get a chance to push it... soon.
 

RobertW

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Feb 27, 2000
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someone earlier mentioned the idea that the bear was a metaphor for tony's presence around the house: big hulking beast shows up out of nowhere, raises havoc around the house, and then disappears. i'd say this was another example of that, with tony's presence looming over carmela, and creating her difficulties with the lawyers.
 

todbnla

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Say it ain't so, only 3 episodes left for this season!!! :frowning: I bet getting hit in the head with a shot glass hurts!
 

JohnnyN

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Sep 10, 2001
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hurts enough to cause some hearing loss... gotta love that anger management though... we are all just cattle being prodded till we moo our asses off.
 

Dave Scarpa

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Yeah Great Ep, as soon as I saw that guy at the Bing I Knew he's take a beating. I bet he's in back of the bar again next week. Only Three more episodes for two years folks.
 

CharlesD

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Brilliant episode. Tony couldn't stand to see Janice making some progress with her issues so he deliberately provokes her. Great bit with Chrissy and the stupid jokes the Tonys were making. He's still a dork though with the HumVee and thinking he could have a career as a male model.

Seeing Janice beat up the other soccer mom was hilarious as was the clip on TV of her being tackled by a cop. Like Dave said as soon as they showed the bartender at the Bing I knew he was going to take (yet another) beating. Too funny.

Edie Falco was great as usual, the look on her face after saying she was getting back with Tony was amazing, no wonder they did that slo-mo bit...

This ep was a great combination of humor and character study, I'd say its the best episode of the season.
 

Patrick Sun

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"Pushing Buttons" that's what they should have named this epsiode.

Loved how Tony mangled the "Revenge is a dish best served cold" adage with "Revenge is like serving cold cuts".

Also enjoyed the tackle of Janice by the cop.

This felt like a season 1 Sopranos episode.

The dynamics of 3 people busting on one another never lasts for long without feelings get hurt.
 

Erik.Ha

Supporting Actor
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Dec 24, 2003
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Did the bartender at the bing get the tar knocked out of him once before??? or was that a preview im thinking of?
 

Sam R. Aucoin

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Jul 5, 1999
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This was the FIRST episode where I truly, truly disliked Tony Soprano. Look up the word "sadist" in the dictionary and his picture should be next to it. Unfortunately, I KNOW people like him - people who cannot stand the idea of someone else with a problem, actually resolving their issues and becoming a better person.

BTW - Buschemi showed tonight just how much talent he possesses as an actor. If you closely look at his facial responses during this episode, you really cannot tell if or when he is telling the truth or when he is lying. Does he truly love Tony S? What does he really think about Christopher? The list goes on . . .

Minor complaint: too much jumping around with Tony's family. Last week, one of the biggest episodes (regarding Vito and Finn) occurs, and this week, the only mention of them is whether Tony and Carmella will give them an engagement party. The beginning of the season, we start to see more of AJ and how his family life is really beginning to take its toll on him as a person - now, he is basically off the radar screen; we went from vandalizer at the school, to drinking pranks resulting in no eyebrows, to "mommy, mommy", to . . . nothing.
 

Michael Ballack

Second Unit
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May 30, 2000
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It seems like he's Tony's whipping boy. There's the episode in season one where he can't figure out how to put Tony's mom on hold, finally out of frusturation Tony pistol whips him with the phone. Was it last season where Tony was pissed that the bartender was letting the ice melt therefor loosing money for Tony, and he beat him with a ice bucket? Let's not mention the time Ralphie was drunk playing "Gladiator" and hit him in the eye socket with a chain. I'm sure there is a few other times i can't think of at the moment. I kind of feel sorry for the guy :D
 

Herschel

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Jan 30, 2004
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My read on it was that he wasn't really mad at Tony B, he just felt that with both of the Tonies back together, he was a) going to get picked on a lot, and b) no longer the "teacher's pet", as another character put it. My guess is that he just might try to take Adrianna up on her suggestion of trying to get out of there.
 

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