Grid Effect

Little late this morning but an improvement on the rest of the week, I was contemplating posting this next Friday as there isn’t a new episode for another nine days. But what the hell? I have nothing else to write about. onto the recap…

Asbestos is rotting/steaming/dissolving in a marsh outside the city. This shit is either going to end up being the downfall of Tony Soprano or Al Gore made some self-indulgent alterations to the scripts.

Tony and AJ are sleeping soundly until both are woken by AJ’s blaring alarm, “Ridin’ Dirty” Chamillionaire. This is the first psuedo-shout out to my home state since Paulie was jailed in Youngstown in season four. The heart of it all, baby.

Tony walks downstairs and sees Carm opening a watch he had sent to her from Vegas. She’s grateful and implies he probably cheated, “I don’t know what its for”, Tony claims its for having to go to Vegas to handle Chris’ business. And in a way, it’s not a lie. Depending on how relative of a term you feel “business” is.

Asbestos, Stefano offers to shake Bobbys hand, he refuses, Bobby is cold, pissy. I think I preferred jovial, wide-eyed Baccala. This new contemptuous Bobby even gives Stefano shit for not having an envelop for the money. I suppose it’s the one case you would actually demand an envelop, what with the hydrous magnesium silicates that are flying around.

AJ’s in therapy, finally telling his therapist about the beating of the Somalian. “Why can’t I catch a fucking break?” He rhetorically asks, almost mimmicking his father verbatim. AJ bitches about Israel-Palestine and other somewhat volatile cultures/conflicts. AJ regals a bunch of morbid shit and compares their durress to the extreme comfortability to Americans at The Mall of America and his parents. “She’s not black…she’s pretty tanned”, is AJ’s response when his therapist suggests Blanca might be related to all these observations.

Tony walks into Satriales while Silvio reads “How to Clean Anything”, this is an appropriate read for Silvio on a number of different levels. The mafia all had a picture of Chris framed while on the set of “Cleaver”, Tony looks displeased. Tony really reminisces passionately about his peyote experience. Paulie starts rattling on and on about some story, while everyone sits there expressionless.

At dinner, Kelli and Caitlin is with Carm and Tony when AJ comes downstairs, and he explains how they spray chemicals on American beef, instead of cleaning rat shit out of the plants. AJ says, “Fine, bury your head in the sand” is his response to his parents disinterest. Tony tells him to give it a rest since he’s upsetting people who’ve “been through a tragedy”. I find it amazing that AJ’s parents can use any situation and converse it into a motive for appropriate behavior. When AJ vandalized his high school’s swimming pool, his fathers outrage stemmed from the fact he did it on Carmela’s birthday. Anyhow, the scene ends with this gem from Tony: “Twenty years he won’t crack a book, now he’s the foremost authority”.

AJ is mesmerized by “The Second Coming”, A Yeats poem that can be applied to any bleak situation/outlook. His teacher reads the first half in class the camera cuts to him reading the second half in bed.

Tony talks with agent Harris and his lacky, he seems annoyed, almost regretful he ever talked to them in the first place. They ask about the two Arabs Tony gave them information about and shows him pictures for verification. The FBI is not even sure if they’re still in the country. Crack work there, boys.

Tony, Bobby and Sil go to New York to meet up with Phil, he manages to hold Tony responsible for his Brothers death once again by simply sending his condolences to Kelli, saying, “The grieving process takes longer, the closer you are to somebody”. Tony nods in acknowledment, not wanting to have the same conversation again.

To business matters Phil is refusing to budge on the 25%. When Tony asks why he isn’t going to even consider his new proposal, Phil is smug and obnoxious. “You made an offer which I considered, and rejected”. Tony recalls his moment with Phil in the hospital, “There’s a point where business, bleeds into other shit, makes shit financially unfeasible”. Phil, still defiant, replies with a nonsensical joke, “Charles Schwab over here”. Tony resents the wiescracks; Phil explains his prison experience about how sometimes compromising is more than we always expect.

Silvio pulled some Jersey jobs from NYC. Butchie and his cohort beat the shit out of the messenger then rob him of $320. Who ever said mobsters were petty.

Meadow talks with AJ and tries to break the ice with Borat, he, in his newfound wisdom, doesn’t think it was fair to the people involved. He is really blue and has dropped out of school. She tries to turn off his radio, he snaps. His voice starts to crack when he explains that he doesn’t even know why he’s upset, or rather, why everything is afflicting his conscious. While Meadow is trying to offer him advice, he randomly blurts out that we’re going to bomb Iran and that Bush will do it before he leaves office. She just concedes not wanting to argue foreign policy because it’s not the issue at hand. She assumes he is surfing the web for porn and that would actually be preferred, because he is on an Al-Jazeera website. Meadow suggests that maybe he moves out, he claims he is too ill and needs his moms cooking. AJ calls Meadow “their pet”. Meadow says, “We’re Italian AJ, you’re their son, do you have any idea what that means? You’ll always be more important.”

Carmela has made AJ some hideous looking things called “Lincoln log sandwiches”, they appear to be hot dogs on white bread draped in Cream Cheese. She leaves and he looks out at the pool.

Cut to AJ sitting on the diving board with a tear streaming down his face and the cover half-removed. He has a brick tied to his ankle and throws a plastic bad over his head, sealing it with a rubber band. he throws the brick in the water and follows it. Naturally, he has a change of heart and swims back up (He cut the rope too long) but the length of the rope doesn’t allow him out of the center of the pool. Tony comes home to the same sandwiches and hears AJ screaming, he looks out through the window and sees AJ holding onto the diving board byu his fingertips. As he’s walking outside with the sandwich and can’t figure out what is going on, AJ slips back under the water and Tony jumps in, grabbing him. He puts AJ’s elbows on the edge and gathers the brick from the surface of the pool, lifts him onto the surface, all the while AJ is is bawling. He gets him on the surface and screams, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” before cradling him in his lap repeatedly saying, “You’re my baby” or “You’re alright, baby” or some variation of those two. Jesus.

At a psych-ward, AJ is being rolled into the hospital and is full of valium, he has a very non-emotional reaction to the parting from his family. Carmela and Meadow are devastated.

Tony walks into the Bing and no one says anything. He takes it upon himself to bring up the “500 pound elephant in the room”. It’s good to see even in times of calamity, Terrence Winter goes out of his way to be funny. They all lament their own kids emotional issues. Except for Paulie, who blames it on all the toxins in the environment, this coming from a swell of guys who are dumping asbestos into marshland.

Tony walks into his kitchen and claims to his wife that he is depressed and she runs down the Soprano hiostory of depression, and claims AJ didn’t get it from his side. They had this argument before in season one with they speculated that AJ might have had ADHD. They attack each others lineage, she calls him out on his bull shit because he was so jovial in high school, he replies, “Oh poor you, you got married under false pretenses.” She calls his depression a “card”, he takes real offense. She asks if he has any idea if he knows what it is like to spend day after day with someone who constantrly complains. I think he does, Carm. “Fuck you”, Tony replies. “I don’t need thy watch” Carmela expresses. And by “expresses”, I mean “physically hurls”. Tony throws it back in her direction but without any physical malice.

In therapy, Tony is ashamed of AJ, it could have been a cry for help, suggests Melfi. Tony, in so many words conveys that he believes AJ’s botched attempt is a result of his mental defeciences more so than a subconscious expression. He blames Carmela’s over nurturing ways, “wiping tears off on her apron”, Gotta love that imagery. Tony says he is ashamed of him, calling suicide the cowards way out. She says that whoever said that doesn’t understand depression, but Tony does. He looks like he understands and agrees, but it pains him to acknowledge that heredity would have anything to do with this.

Carmela visits AJ, he seems disconcerned, more agitated and bitches about the food. She offers “chicken parm” with a hopeful smile and he says it’s not allowed because of the bulimic girls. Asks if dad is still mad. She reassures him that he was never mad, just hopeful and loving.

Meadow is at a coffee shop with someone I don’t quite recognize, and some NY mob guy named Coco approaches her and comments about cream on her mouth and says to random guy, it must be nice to tuck her in at night then laughs like a moron. Meadow looks horrified and random guy looks confused.

Meadow is explaining what happened to Carmela, when Tony walks in and she reluctantly shares it with him. Tony is absolutely livid and his restrained rage is uncanny, “Yeah…what else he say?”. Meadow does some sort of motion with her hand and after sharing the cream comment. Tony tries to put her mind at ease and Carmela changes topics by asking who she’s dating, she says it’s Patrick Parisi, brother of Jason (one of the two AJ was befriending) and son of Patsy (The guy who pissed in Tony’s pool in the season three premiere. Tony storms off, indifferent about her new boyfriend and steaming about Coco, claiming he has a meeting with Silvio. Meadow has also decided to go to law school, at least for the time being on account of medical school being too hard and Patrick’s psuedo-passion he uses to describe the justice system as a means to get laid.

Melfi… back on her own therapy. She subtly refers to Tony and Elliot drinks water out of the most elaborate bottle I’ve ever seen. She explains to Melfi that therapy often enables sociopaths, which I guess Tony technically is. I casually refer to him as such occasionally around these parts, but is there a more appropriate clinical term to apply to someone such as Tony Soprano?

Tony walks into Coco’s restaurant and beats him mercilessly with the butt of his gun. Butchy tries to step in while he repeatedly and intensely repeats, “My daughter, my fucking daughter”, Tony is really tempted to kill Butchy. He places Coco’s teeth on a ledge (resembling a curb) and stomps on the back of his head. Storms out while a restaurant worker mundanely says “get a mop” like its something that happens everyday.

AJ is in group therapy with Tony and Carm, he is recusing all blame and pinning it on his parents. He has really refined his skills. Tony says “poor you” and calls him a mama’s boy. I think a firm hand could be helpful, but really I have no idea. He talks about Livia and how she told him it’s “all a big nothing”, Tony cannot deny it, even though he wasn’t there. AJ refers to Green Grove as a nursing home which causes Tony to put his face in his hand in annoyance. Its a retirement community, AJ. Fucking idiot.

At Satriales, Patsy says they’re not too young to be grandparents and suggests they get dinner. Carmine sends his condolences about AJ and says, “You’re at the precipice, Tony, of an enormous crossroads”, Jesus. Even Tony looks confused. When Carmine mentions Phil will shut down some project, he says its easy for him and Tony takes offense. Carmine then says he was being prudent but Tony calls himself out on his own bull shit, and that the timing of Coco’s nonsense factored into his over-reaction.

In therapy, Tony claims he is a good guy, “basically”, and that he loves his family. Tony gives an insight into his peyote trip and explains how he knows of an afterlife, asks/assumes Melfi has done acid, she assures him she hasn’t. He uses an analogy that our mothers are like buses, they drop us off and go on their way, and we keep trying to get on the bus instead of leading our own lives. Melfi claims it to be insightful and I suppose coming from Tony, it is.

Carmine and Tony go to meet Phil and Butchy answers the door saying Phil refuses to see anyone. This seems like an old mob trick to assert dominance, have the party in question go out of his way to meet you and then refuse to see him once he arrives. As they’re walking back to the car, Phil screams from his window screen on the top floor of his bizarre house, its all very Monty Python-ish, as Carmine pleads with him to resolve this civilly.

AJ sits in the hospital and watches some made video with a Lincoln impersonator talking about insomnia.

Tony walks into the hospital, pizza in hand before a nurse tells him no food is allowed in the “unit”. He leaves it and walks inside while some song entitled, “Ninna Ninna” by an unknown artist plays as he puts his arm around a seemingly mellow AJ. Fade to credits.

Good, solid episode. I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of AJ or Meadow, and two weeks seems like an awfully long wait in between episodes. Enjoy the extended weekend, see you Tuesday.