I love when Melfi finally realizes that Tony has used insights to be a better gangster and that she's basically become just another one of Tony's criminal operations. It's our moment as the audience where we realize we've been rooting for a monster. I always feel like Tony Soprano was as relatable and even likeable as he was because Gandolfini's genuine warmth seeped through during just such moments. This is basically where AJ stops being a likeable kid and becomes a lost, hopeless douche. I mean AJ is annoying throughout, yet the scripting is quite good at showing why that is, and how he's disillusioned with a life of unearned luxury earned by a psychotic, highly dangerous father. That mob website Meadow showed AJ was hosted by Geocities and took 8 mins to load. I love how meadow gave that I told you so look. Also AJ looked so innocent & naïve and I loved the way Jimmy/Tony winked at his son, it gave me warmth. That closing shot of AJ and Tony looking at each other at the funeral always breaks my heart. The decision to make peace by giving Junior the title of caporegime, if in name only, was such a brilliant decision on Tony's part and lets the audience know that this guy isn't alpha dog only because of his imposing physicality, but that he's also intellectually superior to other gangsters around him.
Review of Meadowlands
Meadows face at the funeral is the greatest "see I told you so," look in history
25 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers