Grid Effect

We are really running low on topics here, people. We are down to three series we consider appointment television here at Grid Effect, and one of them is The Office, which has its season finale tonight. After that we’re down to three episodes of The Sopranos and Entourage before we’re officially out of material.

Oh, I know. We usually keep it fairly light-hearted round these parts, but since last Sunday’s episode of The Sopranos was overloaded with more symbolism and subtext about human nature and the American experiment than any other episode since “The Test Dream”, why don’t we go over some metaphorical references that are at the heart of the series?

(Note: If your primary concern is who killed who then this post will bore you to tears. Also, it goes without saying: indicting spoilers)

1) Comfortably Numb: For the second week in a row, the Pink Floyd track has been referenced in the series. Last week with Tony lugging down the steps in the morning to find his depressed son watching cartoons and this week Chris played the Van Morrison cover on The Departed soundtrack. Nevermind the irony of Chris referring to the album of a film about the police infiltrating organized crime as “killer”, I cannot think of a better state of mind to describe Tony with than comfortably numb, particularly by episode’s end.

Tony said he turned, what? 47, in “Sopranos Home Movies”. And in “Remember When” he claimed to have killed Willie Overall when he was twenty-two. That’s a solid quarter-century of maiming and murdering. The body count on Tony, for murders that he either ordered or carried out himself has to be through the roof right? Even if he is responsible for only one a year (we know this is a gross underestimate), that’s twenty-five lives burdening his conscious. Really, what else could he be other than numb? And considering it’s either part of his genetic makeup or he has been conditioned (or both) to be a soulless, degenerate sociopath, he’s comfortable with it. Comfortably numb is an apt description for the bulk of the characters on the series, actually.

2) The Babyseat: Tony seemingly used the shattered babyseat as a sort of moral justification for murdering his nephew. The thing about Tony is, he never needed any moral quotient or outside approval to murder anyone before, and I don’t think this is any exception. Him trying to invoke the babyseat into every conversation with anyone who’ll listen wasn’t an example of him seeking approval for executing Chris, it was Tony attempting to convince himself that he still has a degree of ethics, that his intentions are not always selfish, that indeed he is sometimes selfless. Which we know is bullshit, but when you’re pure evil, its hard to be honest with yourself. Him saying, “See, see, its a good thing he’s dead, he was an endangerment to his child” is just Tony pretending he had motives for what he did/does/has done other than self-preservation.

3) “I get it!”: And yes, he said “I get it”, not “I did it”. He already claimed “he’s dead” in the casino, and for a man with an infinite amount of secrets, this is the closest he has ever come to any sort of non-theraputic confession. Peyote is a helluva drug, apparently.

The significance behind this revelation is that he doesn’t need to adhere to any sort of moral criticism. His “getting it” is that he’s going to hell anyways, so he might as well do everything he can to keep himself alive. When he was shot, and in that coma induced dream/metaphysical experience, he believed he visited hell As he said to Hal Holbrooks character, “I went some place…And I don’t want to go back”. In previous episodes, he’s contemplated killing Paulie, Bobby, and only carried out the murdering of Chris because the opportunity presented itself.

Now, in a chemical induced epiphany, he’s decided relentlessness is his only chance of prolonging the inevitable. He realizes he’s going to hell, and his trepidation about it is going to result in either mass carnage (New Jersey, New York, it doesn’t really matter so much as it keeps him tickin’) or pandering to those who are a threat to his survival. And since he realizes his lifestyle for the last twenty-five years has taken him past the point of redemption, and his ego is so much that he’s incapable of humoring his enemies, I am fully expecting the former. A true narcissist. Tony Soprano is one of the few people wherein the more murders he commits, the more likely he is too avoid incarceration. Paulie, Silvio, Phil, are much greater threats to his life and freedom alive than they are dead. In their last conversation, Chris suggests Tony give Phil the 25% he wants for dumping asbesstos on his property. “Life’s too short” is his rationale. Tony’s response (paraphrasing), “Its too short to be a fucking lacky, too.” Doesn’t sound like the, “everyday is a gift” jargon that we heard immediately post-coma. The pointlessness of change is a major theme in this series and something I could write a fucking book on.

But this is all vintage Chase, I cannot conceive a more cynical outlook on humanity than the one he portrays on this series. I’ll discuss the significance of Kennedy and Heidi in tomorrows recap, but it only further expresses it. In fact, there is so much more symbolism that deserves to be at least noted and I’ll try to get to most of it tomorrow in the recap. I just thought these were some major philosophical points that deserved their own post, as they are so brilliantly conveyed.

So, any other theories? Dissecting this series works much better with a multitude of voices. Am I going wrong anywhere? I haven’t even touched on AJ in this episode, anyone actually predicting a positive outcome for this kid? Feel free to discuss in the comments.