Lol this is my favourite Paulie episode he was legit freaked out that he actually threatened the priest of his church with no more donations unless he gets a place in heaven 🤣
@@theportugueselegend Actually that ghost he's talking too is someone else. If you notice he turns his head when he starts addressing the Sonny ghost. The first spirit he speaks too is never addressed after and is likely just some person that Paulie has victimized. (like the waiter he and Chrissy kill)
Also love that Paulie's reaction to supernatural fear is to turn his back on a life of Catholicism because he sees it as a protection racket which is no longer protecting him
Also Mikey managed to scare the fuck out of Paulie he was so freaked out he went straight to a priest and said his donations to the church should guarantee him a bed in heaven and he kept waking up at 3am screaming in his sleep I’d say Mikey Palmice got the best of Paulie 🤣🤣
This scene does such a good job of subverting audience expectations. You go in thinking it’s gonna be the usual trope of “obviously bullshit psychic uses cold reading to fool gullible idiots”, and it actually does sort of lean into that at first. But then it suddenly pulls backs and says ‘no seriously, this guy is the real deal and is legitimately talking to the ghosts of Paulie’s victims.’ What a mindfuck.
It's a unique twist that makes the scene interesting, adds more development for a character, results in a funny joke and even adds in world-building to the show hinting that the super-natural exists in this universe. And all this within a single 3 minute scene.
That's what I love about the show. It doesn't need a plot to drive it. Writers pull stuff almost out of thin air and it's still engaging and somehow helps develop the characters, the world around them and basically contributes something to the show.
Not to mention the bold decisions to do all these things that people wouldn't expect in a drama show like this. So many things about the show are almost like experiments and all of those actually work. What baffles me is that no show afterwards has tried most of those unconventional things. At least not one I have seen. The only thing that got common was the anti-hero\villain protagonist.
It's a great scene, because the show conditions you to see the psychic as a fraud with all the vague stuff about the guy's dead dad. Then suddenly he's looking right into Paulie's soul and talking about 30 year old murder details. It's one of those magical realism moments that leaves you feeling a bit shook and uncertain.
It’s pretty clear that in the world of the sopranos, the supernatural and afterlife exist to an extent. Even if we ignore the psychic scene, think about all of Tony’s dreams. The White house. It gets bigger each time we see it. Every time tony directly or indirectly kills someone. Tony’s coma “dream” too. That was meant to be hell. Not a dream. What I don’t get is why some people are in denial about these things existing in the show lol all of those things add so much to the show. It’s amazing
@@rowmagnvs there were much more compelling bits that Tony's dreams which could be down to interpretation. The moving wine glasses, pussies reflection in the mirror, virgin Mary at the bing etc
The problem is Paulie knows what he did and they are coming for him if I was murdered in cold blood nothing would satisfy me than to watch my killer die.
@@versalifekon6610 but the weird thing is that didn't seem to change him after that in the show... one would have thought he felt more spooked after that
"This guy seemed to be legit in his ability to speak to the dead (in the universe of the show)." I don't think so. The show takes place in (basically) the real world, but with fictional people, which means this power doesn't really exist. I think the scene was meant to show how it feels if you can't figure out how a psychic works (i.e. you're the intended audience) and they trick you. That's what it would feel like, like the guy just brought out some really specific information from nowhere. In other words, Paulie's a superstitious guy, so it works on him as if it really is a working magical power, and this is how it looks and feels TO HIM.
In the fictional universe of "the sopranos" there is an after life and the psychic does have real powers. There is no way he could know about the poison ivy. That is not cold reading or lucky guess. That is a legit supernatural power (in a TV show, of course)
***** I highly doubt that Paulie would have talked about his kills with his mistress. There is no way she could have known about Sonny Pagano (Paulie's first hit).
"Charles" - Miss! "Oh, you're with your son" "(Paulie) I aint got no kids" - Miss! "Oh, Sonny" "(Paulie) Pogano?" Hit! "Charles Pogano" "(Paulie) How the fuck d'you know that?" Cold reading. The "Psychic" offers vague, ambiguous phrases and it's the job of the audience to make them fit.
Cold reading techniques didn't give him Sonny Pagano's real first name (Charles) or tell him about the poison ivy that Paulie got on him when killing Mikey Palmice. Within this show's universe, this guy is a legit ghost-talker.
Undoubtedly one of the best and most original scenes in The Sopranos. I laugh my ass off every single time. Thank you for the memories Mr. Sirico. Rest well✝️
Woah that was trippy I saw your comment said 8d ago and the comment above you was 8y ago and I automatically assumed you’re was 8y ago as well until I read it. Just got done watching this scene during a rewatch and I laughed too but how did the guy know!?
Indeed! He was a freakin’ legend. Besides him in The Sopranos, I’ve seen him one time in Goodfellas, his voice acting in the Fairly Odd Parents as Big Daddy, and Vinny in Family Guy. We’ll truly miss him to this day. May his soul Rest In Peace. 🙏
It's the fact that the psychic seems like he's talking BEHIND Paulie that gets me. Like it's implying the spirits of the dead are constantly following behind Paulie's back. Gives me chills.
In the later seasons I wish we could’ve seen Tony happen upon this guy and be all confident thinking it’s bs, but then he starts making comments that hit too close to home…
Because you don’t expect him to do anything, just like Paulie. Obviously a show about gangsters is going to mimic the real world right? But when the psychic does it throws you off balance. A mob show that contains a CONFIRMED supernatural element to it is just-unsettling. And the fact that they don’t give any conclusion other than to show you it exists means it lurks in the background. It ends up being very creepy in its own right. A brilliant and risky decision by the writers
It’s amazing to me that this scene can make me switch so quickly from being deeply unsettled at the “poison ivy” part, to laughing hysterically when Paulie throws a chair at the “ghosts” and calls them queers.
Paulie was terrified. If there can be ghosts, then there can be judgment for his sins after he dies. If I were him, I would have started repentance and a new life pronto after that experience.
+Kermit F Yeah, I've watched the Sopranos more times than I care to admit, but I can't figure out how the psychic new all this stuff. The poison ivy itching him...?
I don't think it was ever explained, though I never felt that they needed to. I think that in the world the characters live in, the supernatural is real and exists. (Remember how he also saw the Virgin Mary in season 6?) For these mobsters, the idea that the dead can still hang around and follow you around can probably really mess you up inside... just look how much it affected Paulie throughout the rest of the show. (3am, the cat, etc.) hahaha. I love how it gave much more depth to his character.
This scene is terrifying in hindsight. There's so many dream sequences, but this clearly isn't meant to be one. There is no way that psychic is aware of Paulie's body count, unless this show always had an underlying, supernatural element. Makes you wonder about that Virgin Mary appearance in the Bing.
@Pepi Roni Roni The bench dream scene where he got a chronic case of the shits after going for a curry, could be included, albeit a dream and not strictly supernatural..
@@grundian yeah they’re always talking about God. They’re Catholics who donate to the church but break the law and the whole concept of the teachings of Jesus and the church, all the time.
I always thought of the sopranos as a supernatural/spiritual show. If you really pay attention to it, there’s a lot of themes based on God/the spiritual world.
The episode where Tony dies briefly and is gravely ill, is almost entirely set within his experience of "crossing over" in the after life. Also his name is no longer Tony, but Kevin Finity which I assume could be Infinity. In this scene it takes him a long time to realise where he is, and that he's dying. As soon as he does realise it, he begins to fight it, and not too much after, he returns to his hospital bed.
"He wants to know if it still itches" HAHAHA even in the fucking afterlife Mikey taking potshots at Paulie, laughing from beyond the grave. One of the best scenes in the earlier seasons ever
First time I realize he is throwing the chair at the ghost and calling them queers. I always thoguht he referred to the resto of the people attending the meeting. Awesome show, so many leveles, you always pick up something new.
The funniest part about this scene is that the ghosts of the Mafia Goombah Wise Guys that Paulie killed totally interrupted the other ghost delivering an important message to a loved one to start breaking Pauline’s balls. LMFAO amazing writing - still degenerates even in death.
He wouldn't have been fed the info, a little later in the episode Tony asked his about it, which Paulie replied "I used a fake name and called from an outside line"
David Chase has had many interviews about religion and he's always seemed to intimate about there being more of an "underworld" more than a heaven and a God.
haunted maybe but i think he’s protected especially with seeing the virgin mary at the bing. he’s always had good luck over and over again compared to everyone else and got out alive at the end
@@annanicole5494 funnily in this same seen @1:47 when they show another corner a ghost is in there is a virgin mary statue clothed/standing in same way as actual virgin mary at the bing
The Sopranos wasn’t a show with supernatural premises and concepts. But you’ll usually get creepy, fleeting hints of something supernatural. An apparently genuine spirit medium, a black bird who shows up at Chris’s made man ceremony, and of course the unexpected and unnerving Marian apparition. It’s all done very well, but not done that often.
I loved this scene so much and Paulie's paranoia after Christopher warns him and Tony about what awaits them. It was such a great element to add to this show. The fear of what these men did and the judgment they'll someday have to face for these actions. And their warped views of how (in Tony's words) hell is for pedophiles and serial killers.
korlu01 Was it hot? The heat would've been the first thing you noticed, Hell is hot, that's never been disputed by anyone. You didn't go to hell, you went to Purgatory my friend!
@@yamaotostrike if you chedck that scene where paulie is with his gumah, you can hear shit clinging right at 3 o clock sharp. that was their sign that they were taunting paulie. not so bad though, they gave tony a heads up for his death. paulie just get's taunted. no biggie.
For me, this scene felt like one of the realest in the entire series. Superb acting by the leader of the seance. You can tell this is the moment Paulie truly starts to believe in the paranormal. He even thought Chrissy was visiting him as a cat!
There are just enough clues in this show to hint at the supernatural being real: this scene, Pussy's reflection, Phil turning into a house, the Virgin Mary sighting. It can't all be explained away.
Even from the dead they were still wise guys bullying the other ghost just so their voice could be heard!!!! You could tell they were interrupting the medium to make sure they got their message across….Incredible writing!!!!!!
The psychic had to know that a good majority of The murdered souls by the hands of Paulie were also murderers in the previous life. Just one big, negative, foul mouthed cloud of angry murderous energy that came with this one guy that he never met. No wonder he was asking him to leave abruptly🤣 Such a great scene, btw. Went from seeming like such a sham to just plain creepy. How @00:48, the psychic is being interrupted while talking to the other spirit by Paulie’s spirit. (most likely Charles “Sonny” Pagano) How the psychics eyes fixate around the room, as if more and more spirits are huddling around Paulie, realizing that he has a person in his house that murdered a lot of people. Loved how these isolated but memorable moments of creepiness were snuck into the sopranos to fuck with the viewers mind.
You could tell that the psychic was distracted by something in Paulie's general direction when he was trying to communicate with the first guys dad. It was the hell bound souls of the people Paulie killed over the years. Just incase anyone doesn't know, the afterlife is canonical and real within the Sopranos universe and it's heavily connected to REM sleep, near death experiences and psychic personalities.
makes me wish they you could actually see how many ghosts are in the room with Paulie... could've been 10 or could've been 100 lmao but thinking about Mikey's grim reaper smile after being able to communicate with Paulie still has me laughing to this day
Its kind of hilarious how the first dudes reading was like all these real psychics. Pure fishing, stuff that can be found with a simple trip to the medical records with a cheeky £50 note. Then Paulies reading is filled with shit he couldn't possibly know.
A "real psychic" will often insist that you give no information whatsoever to them. This medium was meant to be real on the show. I don't know why people are saying he wasn't. All of Paulie's victims coming through and Mikey with the poison ivy. I sometimes question the intelligence of the average Soprano viewer.
@@charlotte87xskeptics will remain skeptical, nothing we can do about it, until they each experience the same shit Paulie did, and even then they'll still find ways to dismiss it
After years of loving this scene and this show, I only just now realized he’s throwing the chair at the ghosts and calling them queers. I originally thought it was just him lashing out at all the people there, but now it’s a million times better.
Paulie in an act of seemingly divine intervention, is faced and confronted with the fact he has killed so many people, I like that when soprano’s characters actually take the time to question their moral character they get supernatural forces telling them the content of their sins, and then they go back to refusing to face it, this is why I love the show.
I love how paulie’s ghosts are literally talking over the other people’s so to speak. The way the psychic keeps looking over at Paulie cracks me up he’s clearly being distracted lol.
Its cool to imagine every time Paulie fucks up on the show the ghost of Mikey is stood behind him laughing about it. I suspect he was pissing ectoplasm when Paulie lost his shoe in the snow.
I love how the start the psychic out by him looking over at Paulie a few times until he sees and heard more and more spirits talking to him and he just eventually gets up and ignores the first guy he was talking to to go straight to Paulie. Really starts a conversation with the audience
