The "Happy Birthday" scene is hard to watch, but I love the reaction shots of Tony.  It reminds me of the Mad Men episode where Sal does Bye Bye Birdie in front of his wife, as the reaction shots are similar.  A slow tide of "what the fuck did I get myself into here, I've got to make a change!" washes over the face.

*spoiler*

It's probably been a year or so since the last time I watched season 5, but I recall Lorraine kicking up to Little Carmine.  Carmine died leaving no clear successor, so Johnny Sac and Little Carmine started feuding over who would be boss.  Lorraine chose Little Carmine, so Johnny Sac sent Phil over to tell her that…

I'm just saying, he never did have the makings of a varsity athlete.

The Game's entire catalog consists of name-dropping.

Plus I'd like to see similar accountings of when eggs have been referenced without deaths, or deaths that occurred without egg references.  I assume both would be equally as lengthy.

"Love everything about Tony B.  Love that he's so much more witty than everyone around him.  Love his arc and his history with Tony.  Love him playing pinochle at Uncle Pat's farm.  Love the Livia impression his mom is doing."

**SPOILERS (for Mad Men too) **

I think I've always been more sour on Carmella than most.  I don't buy the "at some level, she's perfectly aware…" angle.  She just IS aware, and consciously chooses to ignore it or lie about it at her convenience.

***SPOILERS***

That's a difficult morality balancing act you're getting into… what are the different shades of moral culpability?  Is a person who murders with his hands less moral than a person who pulls a trigger?  Is a person who murders by pulling a trigger less moral than than a person who orders another to commit murder?  Is a…

****SPOILERS***

Touche.  I suppose I meant that in the context of the world he's in.  He's a murdering thief, but he has a sense of honor among other murdering thieves.

He's a dick, but I think I love him because he doesn't do or say much that I don't sympathize with.    Just about all of Phil's gripes that I can recall are legitimate, even though they could be handled in other ways.

Yes, while sipping a dry martini and polishing my monocle.  AJ's a bitch.

Rich powerful alpha male who can do anything he wants regardless of the law, is fawned over and deferred to by everyone around him, has easy access to drugs and other thrills, and who surely hides his most egregious traits/orders from his girls.  Of course he has hot women tripping over themselves to sleep with him.

Not that it makes Christopher & Paulie saints, but they didn't kill the waiter for giving them lip.  They simply intended to smack him around a little.  When the waiter hit the ground and started convulsing, though, they had to put him down.    They had to either put the waiter down to relieve him of the misery of…

"Fortunately, they’ve got Steve Buscemi’s Tony B. and Phil Leotardo (one of the best late-addition characters in the history of TV) right around the corner."
Damn straight, I've been waiting for these recaps to get a dose of Phil.

Season 1 is brief, introduces the characters, and has a couple of the series' classic episodes/scenes (the sherpa, Busey & the beach).  Season 2 is good beginning to end, imo.  If you quit after season 2, you've seen the best of what the show offers.

Before anyone mentions it, I really don't find the Sopranos episode "Christopher" to be that bad.  It's certainly not my favorite, but it also doesn't stand out as a bad episode to me.  Just a relatively silly, comedic episode.