@@Bretleir Sopranos actors have gone on record they pretty much have to stick to the scripts with little to no improv making the cuts. Same with Breaking Bad. Some guys just have a vision for their story and don’t want to deviate which is respectable.
I always did too, that line has stuck with me all these years since I first saw it. It rings so true if you know what he means. These genetic curses are no joke.
@@danzam40 Breaking Bad had some improvisation here and there, mostly physical. The Sopranos on the other hand had virtually no improv from what I have read.
I’ve legit had plenty of patients like that. Usually they move past it after establishing a rapport and become more comfortable in treatment, otherwise they will just request a discharge. But some talk about termination often despite us both knowing they don’t really want that. Often this is when the patient has a strong stigma towards mental health treatment and can’t shake feeling indulgent in some way. There’s a difference between feeling good versus giving yourself the freedom to feel good.
Amazing actor is an extreme understatement. Watching his preformance and his acting never felt like watching someone act. It felt like a camera crew set up cameras in the right angles and we were watching the insight to a real criminal organisation. I have no idea how every actor pulled it off. What they did was create art. Their performances and acting I believe will never be beaten or even come anywhere close to this level. It's still sad how this man lost his life. Imagine all the other projects we could have possibly seen him in. May he rest in peace. Absolute Legend. R. I. P to all the others whom have since past away that played a role on the sopranos. The sopranos set the standard so high. I don't think any show has ever come close. Possibly breaking bad, better call Saul, peaky blinders and Game of Thrones. But they still aren't the sopranos...
"Obviously I'm prone to depression. A certain . . . bleak attitude about the world." Tony doesn't understand himself like this in season 1. so it's not a *complete* jerkoff, people.
It was a jerkoff. But it was just Tony jerking Melfi off. Therapy doesn't improve the Tonys of the world as people. It makes them better at lying and evading.
@@Aivottaja While what you say can be true i believe strongly that Tony grows to understand himself way better than in S1 after years of working with Dr. Melfi. he knows why he’s feeling like shit all the time & he prolly would’ve killed himself cause he’s down very bad throughout the show. yup therapy doesn’t cure depression, it gives ppl tools to deal with it
@@tfswfan29 Yeah, he grew alright. To be a more effective liar and criminal. Tony by the end of the season 6 is worse than he ever was. He's greedier, more callous, more selfish and more ruthless.
@@Aivottaja right, but also that’s bc of the life that was chosen for him bc he was dragged into the mob, which sealed his fate bc it’s bound to end up in tragedy. therapy def helped him cope with the life given to him and which he later chose willingly cuz he’s such a nihilist
@@tfswfan29 He wasn't dragged into it. Nothing has been shown of Johnny Boy or Junior dragging him into anything. He chose it. AJ is just as much a mobster's child and he's not doing what Tony was doing at that age. Being nihilist has nothing to do with that. Plenty of people are nihilists without being criminals.
Feel good roz?? Do you feel better because you have to be a wise ass to someone who says they have depression? Feel better after you make a remark like you did?
What’s funny is I’ll bet that if he saw this comment/was made aware of this moment, he would regard it as a flaw and a failing. Guy was a professional and a perfectionist, on top of being a massive talent.
Part of what makes this scene so good is that it illustrates exactly what was wrong with Tony as a father. He feels empathy for AJ but can't ultimately take responsibility for why AJ ended up the way he is. Tony seems to still blame himself but he's doing it out of his own self-loathing and insecurity (rotten putrid fuckin genes), but he can't fathom the idea that it actually has to do with how good of a father he is. Which is ironic considering how much he perseverates over his own parents actions. Tony can only focus on the fact that he's a product of his environment but he'll never understand that his environment is a product of him and that's what the show is essentially about
Tony loves both his kids. And feels empathy towards his son. But that empathy goes away because of his frustration with him. He would have hit AJ as a kid given the choice but his wife wouldn't let him. I think it is very difficult for parents who have had it rough to show empathy because they did have it way worse. Imagine listening to someone whining because they are so entitled. And you feel you have tried to be nice by giving them everything. Tony didn't know how to effectively discipline. Only tool he had is getting beat and he was not allowed to do that. And became angry because his kid is rude,entitled, spoiled. The anxiety is due to genes. But the way he has learned to handle anxiety is down to his father.
“Tony can only focus on the fact that he’s a product of his environment but he’ll never understand that his environment is a product of him.” That is so fucking true, excellently said
I like how earlier in the show you feel like Tony is just like any other dad, but by now I had no sympathy. Tony is a big reason AJ turned out the way he dig because he cares a lot more about money than his own family. Thats pretty clear when he lowballs Carmella.
Exactly. Tony cared about his son. He hated to see him so depressed after Blanca dumped him. Like any caring father. I remember my first broken heart and it was equally traumatic for me and I had to deal with it alone.
@@carladaquila8190 It wasn't just from him being dumped though. Throughout the show you discovered that AJ inherited alot from his father. Like the panic attacks
"It's like when they're little and they get sick...You'd give anything in the world to trade places with them so they don't suffer." People had the impression that Tony hated AJ sometimes but I don't think that was ever the case.
I think Tony loved AJ because he was his son, but he hated who he was as a person. If AJ had been anyone else’s kid, Tony would’ve seen no value in him. That’s how my mother seemed to feel about me - if I hadn’t been her son, she would’ve written me off as garbage. I can only imagine how confusing that must be for a parent, having a kid that you love but basically hate.
This shot at 2:15 in incredible. You can vividly tell how deep James Gandolfini got into his own head here, thinking about his son Michael Gandolfini. At 2:37 he’s says “It’s like..” without Tony’s accent and quickly turns it back on. That’s an incredible performance.
@@MoskHotel @C S From what I see, its a strong, feminine figure so a Madonna of sorts....Tony both times stares at it in contempt I believe because its NOT what he had in his life (a strong mother figure) and of course his mother issues are really the foundation of the series. In the end, AJ inherited basically all the worse traits of Tony and Carmella; Carmella's entitlement, lack of real ambition, and he's even small in stature and frame like the men on Carmella's side (Tony even brings this up in an episode). And of course from Tony's side is the depression and self pity (the features Tony hates most about himself). Gary Cooper AJ is not. He's more like a young male equivalent to Livia especially in the later seasons, except the gas lighting and emotional manipulation. The more I watch and analyze the series over the years the more obvious it becomes to me that there really are no answers. Basically everything here is open to interpretation. Brilliant writing, direction, acting, all of it. So this is just mine.
Definitely. Reminds me of John 3:16-21 or Romans 5:6-11 that points to the ultimate example of this for all of humanity. Blessings, peace, and grace to you!
What a beautiful scene. Tony sees inside himself and the despair is overwhelming. He trusts Melfi a lot to expose his vulnerabilities like this. He loves both his kids a lot. He sees his own failure in his son. Curiously, he neglects AJ, the same way his own father neglected him, but is unable to change that broken record of habit. All he had to do was spend time with AJ. But he avoids him, preferring to love him from an emotional distance. We see that Tony is not a psychopath devoid of emotion, but a sociopath who has strong emotions of love and nurturing for his kids. Very poignant. Zen in its simplicity of the scene.
he's so good it's like sometimes I notice the other actors in the scene break character for a couple of seconds like they're thinking "jesus christ, this guy is so good at this"
I like how by the 6th Season the charm of Tony Soprano began to wear away and we saw the miserable, whining, sociopath that he truly was (and to some extent evolved into)
Tony Soprano was a monster, and it's the therapy that helped him see it for himself, or at least begin to internalize it. He's not a good man, and it's good to see a bad man humanized in a scene like this. Good and evil both see their resolve tested, it's how we see it dealt with in this show that's part of the reason I love it so much.
Nah Tony was always this horrible, I’ve always been of the opinion that you can’t get to that point in the mafia and still have some shred of decency. I think it’s just a matter of all the stress of him being boss is what makes him more and more despicable as the series goes on but he was always the horrible person we see him as in the final season.
@@Vanished_Mostly Is that all there is? Is one of my favorite old songs by Peggy Lee. She had a tough childhood and had an alcohol problem as an adult and when she sings that song you feel her pain. Incredible singer/ performer.
@R Dude I swear I didn't, but I'll get a new minifridge cuz the door on this one is broke now. I'd talk to Chrissy about it he left in a hurry right before...
The scene where he's coughing blood with a smile on his face after beating up his bodyguard is my personal favourite. It's shortly after he gets back to work after being shot by Junior, and begins to worry the crew are beginning to see him as weak, so proceeds to put his bodyguard in hospital to prove a point.
@@notrekvlt4431 You sound way too upset, bro. I said it was “one of” the best scenes. And no shit you see similar comments everywhere... The show is a masterpiece. Get over it. Go outside.
It's crazy how such a barbaric character can make you want to laugh and cry at the same time. Hearing Tony talk about his genetic defects and how it's his "gift" to his son was a beautiful monolog.
Beautiful and beautifully ironic at the same time. He truly cares about his son, and does feel like the depression is his fault, but he's utterly unable to fathom that it could be caused by his actions and parenting. When he's at fault, he almost always attributes it to something out of his control, like his genes here.
If it's one thing I've learned in life it's that everyone is human in their own strange, incomprehensible fucked up way. The good doesn't cancel out the bad or vice versa, it just is what it is.
Excellent quote. That is the real dynamic of humanity. Those shades of grey. It's funny how the average human thinks they have nothing in common with a murderer, until you talk about raising kids.
What a fucking brilliant scene. "Is this all there is?" Practically every major character at some point in the series asks that question but in a similar form.
The most human Tony has been the whole series. And that couldn't of been done by no one other than James Gandolfini. The man was a gem of an actor and human being.
“Is this all there is?” I asked the same question of my shrink years ago. His answer was, “The truth may hurt at times, but it’s ALWAYS your friend.” I’ve never forgotten that. And I’m glad I found my friend. I’m never going back. Life is basically suffering with a few joyful, awe filled moments thrown in. Learn to accept it and live it as gracefully as you can. That’s it.
Something I noticed is that Christopher earlier this episode talks on how his alcoholism was passed down from his parents, specifically talking about "the great Dickie moltisanti". Christopher destroys the image of Dickie by painting him as a druggie who passed on a disease to him and I think that is where Tony gets the idea that he passed on his depression to Aj and turns it into self guilt.
Yep it made the episode come full circle. Tony shot down Chris’s takes on hereditary struggles, addictions, etc and then he came to therapy saying the exact opposite of what he told Chris
I know it's normal to hate AJ but I did relate to some of his character traits. 1:40 this whole part feels like what I imagine my father would say to a therapist about me, jesus.
A lot of parents would say that about their kids, like the therapist says, just because other people look better off than you doesn't mean they are, you don't know their story.
I've often said that A.J. gets too much hate. He's no more of a dumbass than most teenaged boys, and compared to the psychopaths on this show he's practically St Francis of Assisi.
Thinking back to the very pilot episode when tony was doing the same thing staring at the statue at 0:03 and now in the final season you can just see any and all joy has left Tony’s life just by his facial expression
@@citomakaveezly I thought Bryan Cranston as Walter White in Breaking Bad was the greatest performance in a TV series. But rewatching these clips of The Sopranos I forgot how amazing Gandolfini was and his portrayal of Tony Soprano is the greatest performance in a TV series just a shame we lost him too early...
fun fact , this is an example of “all or nothing thinking” typically found in patients with anxiety or depression. CBT is actually something that helps people with this issue and has over a 60 percent success rate. :)
The way Tony is truly devastated and concerned but still a deeply angry sociopath is masterful and Gandolfini made it look effortless. He’s torn up, he blames himself for what’s happening to his son, but at the same time he can never take responsibility for his actions and blames it on his genes then gets angry.
Tony’s voice becomes much more guttural and high-pitched in season 6 as he strays further and further from redemption. And the overall color palette is so bleak and gray. All these little details that makes this series- Season 6 in particular- so fantastic.
The way he express his parental emotion talking about his son was absolutly real, and when you think this is not real, this is just acting, you feel like oh God! Gandolfini is like a proffesor in acting academy.
Some of that Tony said reminded me of how I once felt. My mother was chronically depressed and suicidal. I too suffered from depression from time to time. I was a afraid my kids would get it. I seemed helped and took the advice and it appears to have skipped the next generation. It was not in our DNA or blood but how poorly we were raised. I never dumped my issues ion my kids like my mother did to my siblings and me. My sisters broke the cycle too. The cycle can be broken.
Fuck James was incredible wasn't he. He was living that scene heart, mind and body. Watching it so many times, and it's always the same. Brilliant, but I don't tear up everytime now for some reason. Rest in power James.
@Nick Cox It can seem like magic when you aren't exposed to the grim reality all the time. Like I was watching some documentary about FBI/law enforcement that have to watch CP 24/7 to see if they can get a glimpse of the perpetrators and victims. Imagine experiencing that all the time and having happy feelings about the magic of our existence.
Haha yeah the FBI do watch CP but I don’t think it’s to find perpetrators. I’ll give you a hint, some of them don’t actually mind that stuff. They didn’t just happen to find TERABYTES laying around for investigative purposes lol.
This scene ties neatly with the moment right after Tony saves AJ from his suicide attempt and AJ breaks down sobbing. He comforts him and adresses him as "little baby", because he sees him as a sick small child, not as a 20-year-old
For everything that Tony has done , and the damage inflicted on him by his life , he still loves his kids . You can see when it comes to AJ and Meadow, he would do anything for them . That’s why I always think there is a hope for them
Meanwhile, he murdered Chris, who was more like a son to him than AJ was. People seem to have trouble with this in shows with villainous protagonists, Breaking Bad gets the same treatment. No matter how much terrible, selfish and outright monstrous behavior, people want to make them out to "still have a shred of good", despite the actual message of the show. Tony doesn't have hope. He's a sociopath, you can't cure sociopathy. The point of him going to Dr. Melfi is to show the real world concept that Dark Triad personalities (psychopaths, socipaths and narcissists) generally get better at being a psychopath, sociopath or narcissist because of therapy. The whole imagery of the bear in the Sopranos' backyard is supposed to make you think of Tony. He has become the bear. The whole point of this show is that the mafioso is not a character to be idolized, they're not cool like in The Godfather. They're boorish thugs with aspirations towards a concept of honor they can't even understand trying to imitate caricatures of people who never really existed that way.
@@BH-wh2vo I understand what your saying , but Christopher was not a son to Tony . While they had a connection up until Ade , Christopher was a fuck up who was constantly on drugs or worried about “Hollywood “ . Even the creators have said the only reason Christopher stayed on the show was cause M.I. Was a great actor . Christopher should have been killed in season 4 or 5 . Don’t get me wrong , I know Tony is a criminal and over all he is evil , but there are parts of him that can be salvaged . What I took from the show was that Tony is stuck in a purgatory of not going fully evil or fully good . Once he starts trying to be “good “ he becomes uncomfortable and unsure of himself because he is self aware and knows he is a mob boss who murders and extorts people ,so he reverts to evil , when he goes too evil , he is self aware enough to know what he is doing is evil and wrong , and so he feels unsure and and uncomfortable (unless he has all ready justified it to himself ) and reverts to the middle or to trying to do good deeds to make up for it . The crux of Tony sopranos character (to me anyways ) is that he is smart enough to be aware of his actions and the consequences, but not strong enough to commit to being fully good or fully evil and finally change . The other gangsters (other then maybe Christopher) all accept who they are generally and are happy with where they are at .
Part of unresolved trauma is that it leaves parts of your psyche in a state of arrested development. The part of you that has to failed resolve the trauma quite literally remains "arrested', stuck, in that moment in time, and if it happened during an early stage of your development you may quite literally become childish when those emotions are called forth.
This is exactly the way I describe sociopaths, and it's what makes them so dangerous. It's normal for a child to go through those phases because they lack the agency and physical power to usually cause real damage. Bruise a toddler's ego and they thrash around on the floor; bruise a sociopath's ego and they might fucking kill you.
My youngest daughter is going through a spell of anger and frustration. Something I know all too well. Came back here have some catharsis and to see if I could shed a tear.
Gandolfini cycles through about five different emotional states here and it's absolutely mesmerising to watch. For all of Tony's sociopathy his one remaining connection to humanity is love for his kids. When he's tearing up he's not shining Melfi on. He's confronted this implacable problem that he can't intimidate, bully or murder his out of and when the anger disappears the self loathing kicks in. The resigned slump and the 'is this all there is?' and the ambiguity about whether Tony's talking about therapy or life itself.
On first watch, I thought Tony was a decent father with a bad son. On my second watch I’ve realized Tony started out as kind of a shitty father and only got worse as the series went on. He rarely shows AJ affection in anything but sporadic periods, his idea of discipline is just slapping him around and verbally demeaning him, cause that’s how he disciplines his underlings, and in uncle junior’s words “he’s so wrapped up in that f***ing head of his” that he’s never able to truly emphasize with his son, the few times he attempts to do so. With that said, AJ still is a lazy sh*t and it seems like Meadow got all of Tony’s ambition.
The part where he acknowledges the feeling that the gift he gave his son was a poisoned soul was particularly keen because, in the end, he utterly failed with Meadow as well. An undercurrent in he and Meadow's interplay throughout the series was him desperately hoping that she would turn out to be an ultimately good person "A doctor..you know, someone who helps little babies.." That final dinner scene between the two of them during one of the last episodes where that dream dies was a really powerful extension of this scene.
The only shitty thing Tony does as a parent is cave in to AJ with buying him gifts and spoiling him. Kind of like a lot of parents these days. Therefore,AJ is a crybaby bitch who can't stand on his own two feet and goes into depression over every little life challenge presented to him. Granted,a break up with a girl he really loves can send even the strongest of men into a tailspin,but all the other times,he's just a spoiled wimp. Carmela is also complicit here too.
Meadow also got all of Tony's pride it encouraged her to do better,AJ was simply an afterthought and "not good enough" which is why Meadow turned into something and AJ didn't he doesn't know what it's like for his father to be proud of him so he doesn't chase that feeling like Meadow does
AJ always knew what he wanted to do but nobody ever cared,the kid wanted to be a football player but nobody ever asked(AJ always wanted to be a football player because that's the only time his father was ever proud of him in the series)
The Sopranos is the best show of the 21st century and still has not been topped. Not by Breaking Bad, not by The Wire, not by Game of Thrones. The Sopranos still stands alone.
dont go that far .. i mean yeah it is better than game of thrones and the wire but not breaking bad .. breaking bad season 5 was better than the sopranos whole show .. rewatch breaking bad and you well agree
BB is probably the best show ever made, but Sopranos surpasses BB with it's characters imo Also if you want more top-tier television check out Mr. Robot, it has the same quality as breaking bad
@@paquitolpm6419 honestly have to disagree. Yes Mad men is incredibly well done but it’s literally obnoxious 60s racist misogynists hurting each other & smoking in office spaces. it’s much harder to watch bc it’s literally shot in sets only. Sopranos is exciting while grounded
@@tfswfan29 it’s the same thing as watching mobsters murder cheat and steal from everyone and each other. The characters arnt supposed to be good people. It’s interesting that it’s easier for you to watch actual murder than people be passively racist on screen occasionally.
"after all that's said and done... is this all there is?" ...and then the scene ends. We don't get an answer. Because like real life, sometimes thing are left unresolved and ambigious. And it is all there is to it. It's a tough pill to swallow. Man I love this show because it is able to hit me like a truck with only small subtle scenes like these.
"Is this all there is?" No breakthrough, no massive realization, no revelations, just a long dark road ahead. Tony couldve learned some coping mechanisms or started to alter his behavior and attitude but he was expecting a climax. Like his gambling and whoring and business, just waiting for another payout.
Only if don't include murder and violence, which Tony has done plenty of, personally and through his orders. There was never hope for him, he choose the life that made his life terrible as it was but loved its money and power too much to realize it before it was too late.
The writing in this scene. The way melfi says "boys"--you're not sure if she's talking about the gangsters or their sons. And then Tony talks about AJ as if he's talking about himself.
3:22 "I know this is difficult, but I'm very glad we're having this discussion." "Really? Cos I gotta be honest-I think this f***kin' SUCKS!!!" Such a genius exchange perfectly delivered by Gandolfini
I guess the color motif was invoking Tony's transformation from an anti hero in the first season to a full blown villain in the last, the joy had been zapped from the world as the colors began to lose their luster and brightness.
I went through that depression after being put into a place with disabled people it went on for 4 years it took a long time to recover but I got through it believe you me
3:35 that wasn’t James Gandolfini that was James Gandolfini being David Chase . Chase saw a therapist in real life before the show and that gave him the idea to write it .
This is a typical trait of every italian mafioso.they are ruthless brutal and cruel with anyone ( children too) but their children are sacred. Its the only form of love they feel,the family.maybe because the family in the end is just an extension of themselves
*"I know this is difficult, but I'm very glad we are having this discussion"* *"Really? Because I gotta be honest, I think it fucking sucks"* This simple exchange summarizes their entire relationship
I know wholeheartedly that Tony was a miserable sociopath when all is said and done…but I can’t help to believe that he did genuinely care about his family (or at least his children)
Tony was so human for that moment talking about feeling for when his kids would get sick. He is mostly evil but has these moments of really compelling humanity. That's why The Sopranos is one of my favorite shows ever.
with depression, Its brutal knowing that after all the outbursts, crying, 'letting it all out', in the end the only option you have is to suck it up and move on.