Tuesday, May 08, 2007

My Problem with the Latest Sopranos Episode   [John Podhoretz]

Don't read if you haven't watched it yet blah blah blah.

Sunday night's Sopranos was one of the show's best, until the penultimate scene when Christopher pulled out his gun and shot J.T. Dolan, the screenwriter and fellow A.A. member who wrote Christopher's slasher movie, "Cleaver," in a fit of pique. What Christopher did is entirely in keeping with his character. Despite his efforts to get his life together, he is easily the most monstrous and violent of Tony's crew — the one most capable of hauling off at a moment's notice in the most awful ways.

But what made no sense was the behavior of J.T. Dolan in the scene. He was cold, confrontational and nasty to Christopher, who he knew was drunk. Why doesn't this make sense? Because only a few episodes earlier, J.T. had refused a request from Christopher to cover for him with Tony — Tony having decided the portrait of the mobster in "Cleaver" was all him — and in response Christopher had smashed a paperweight into Dolan's head to get him to do his bidding.

After such a confrontation, is it likely that Dolan would treat Christopher with such cold scorn? He would have been scared out of his wits to see Christopher in his doorway. He would have invited him in, given him tea, offered soothing and comforting words and done everything he could to placate the goon who nearly cracked his skull open only a few weeks earlier.

The greatness of The Sopranos lies in the fact that its characters act in completely realistic ways at all times. This wasn't one of them, and it marred a great episode.

05/08 04:45 PMShare