Sopranos "The Ride" episode

I think Chase is treading an extremely difficult path with the denouement of this series, because it seems that he's saying that the colorful drama of these guys' lives is basically bs. It was their fantasy of the life and our fantasy of that life. It's unsustainable. These dudes are going to go out by have an addled old family member shoot them in a demented fog, or via prostate cancer, or via some method far less glamorous than any they've imagined for themselves.

The buzz of the quick heist, the heightened taste of the wine, the high a marriage and impending birth ... boy, they all lose their fizz pretty quickly when there's no real investment of the soul. And then you're left like poor Tony and Chris in the second basement scene. The only things to be said can't be said; the feelings are simply corroding their insides.

I loved the way Tony amended his "Every day is a gift" line by saying he just wished the gift was not always socks! Every day is a gift. . .of socks :-(

Another good post:

Tony and Christopher do have a bond but it's not one either one could every be expected to be able to articulate.The two of them are very much alike: they're both just smart enough to be dissatisfied with their lives -- and this alone makes them very different from everyone around them. But at the same time, neither one is smart enough -- or emotionally equipped -- to do anything about it.

Because they are also both terribly alike in their desperate need for love. Both have idealized 1950s visions of home and family in their heads that they try to build in real life. But, besides the fact that the idealized 1950s family never really existed except on TV, there's also the fact that they're trying to build their dreams on a rotten foundation -- you can't build healthy families on lies, murder, theft, bullying and deceipt.

On some dim level, they both know this. So no matter what they do, they're unhappy. Tony is the boss of North Jersey, he's got the big house, the wife & kids, the captains bowing & scraping to him. But no matter what he gets or how much, it doesn't satisfy -- it's a gift of socks. He sleeps with other women -- dissatisfying. He tries to stay faithful to Carm -- dissatisfying. He tries to recapture the 'fun' of his youth with a quick heist, but the flavor soon turns sour."

Paulie is used as a subtle swipe against the Bush Administration.

Obviously, there's Tony's reference to Hurricane Katrina in the bathroom confrontation with Paulie -- You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie.

There's also the fact that Paulie tried to save money by not providing adequate safety for the children at the carnival. More symbolically, he refused to make the $50,000 donation to the Church in order for the Saint to wear its hat during the procession. A hat, the priest pointed out, that Italian parents/immigrants had donated their wedding bands to make. The extra money, the priest also pointed out, was needed for after-school programs.

During the procession, just as someone in the crowd asked, "where's the hat," a father introduced Paulie to his son, whom the father said had made two tours in Iraq. In the missing hat, the unsafe ride, Katrina, and Iraq, the greed of old men takes precedence over the safety of children.