ADN

It's no secret that the dream episodes are an important part of the show. They often let you inside the mind of Tony Soprano. So, I thought it might be fun to discuss them, discuss the symbolism.

Here are a few things that I, and a few others, picked up while watching Sunday's episode.

This week wasn't so much about "mistaken identity" as last week's. It was more about Tony's final fight between life and death. Tony makes two decisions in the episode.

The first decision involves the monks: repent for what he has done, or continue down his current path. When the monks said someone has to take responsibility, Tony said, "I can't do that," choosing his current path over repenting.

The second decision involves his life. He goes to the reunion to find Tony B. standing in the parking lot. Tony B. welcomes Tony, and as Tony slowly makes his way toward the steps, he sees a figure in the doorway: his mother. I believe the house represents hell, and inside are all his family members that have died.

Tony B. tells Tony that he can't go inside with his suit case, but Tony is reluctant to give it up, telling Tony B. "my whole life is in here." He's especially reluctant after he hears voices coming from the trees. The voices belong to Carmela and Meadow.

In the end, Tony chooses life by not entering the house (uncle Pat's farm).

Shit, I don't know how I missed this...

First things first, what gave you the notion that was his mother..? I thought that may be her, but up until that point, he had been talking to people that weren't familiar to us...He was talking to his wife, but it wasn't Carm, and if I'm not mistaken, his kids...They were doing things that they don't do, I believe I recall him saying something about Meadow and volleyball..?

Also, the issue with the briefcase...At first, he said that it wasn't his...But, in the end, he was telling Tony B that it WAS his...He wasn't Finnerty, what did he care if he took the briefcase or not..?

The monk thing, that I am still mulling over...There's something else to that element of it that I haven't caugtht onto yet, may need to check over the on demand and watch them again...

I don't know... when I first saw her standing in the doorway, the first person I thought of was his mother. No other person entered my mind, just his mother. lol A lot of people at the Sopranos site think it was his mother, too.

Yeah, nothing about that dream gave me the inclination that was his Mom...That was someone else...Who, I can't think of just yet, but I am almost certain it wasn't his Mom...He didn't recognize Tony B when he got there...The greeted each other as strangers...

There is a womain in Tony's life that we're not thinking about that fits into this shit perfectly...

Maybe a story they told about the farm that we can tie it into...Cause when Tony first saw her, he was really curious about who she was...Even at a glance, we could all recognize our Moms, eh..? And, as I said, he didn't recognize Tony B, nor did Tony B recognize him...Indeed the house represented death, but by the end, something had transpired, and he'd either given into the idea of being Finnerty or that was simply the dimentia loop coming into play...

Well, David Chase has said that not everything in the dreams makes sense. Here's a small clip from an article:

"Chase, who scripts most of the dream sequences, acknowledges that "because we do a psychiatric show, (the dreams) are interpretable." However, the symbolism doesn't always come out intentionally.

Chase and the writers try to let the dream imagery "come from our subconscious," he said. While he was writing "Funhouse," the image of Tony riding a bicycle to a fish market came into his head, and then he remembered the success he had on "Northern Exposure" using digital technology to create a talking dog. From there, he wound up with Pussy as a talking fish, which in turn evoked the old "Godfather" line about sleeping with the fishes.

"So you have to wonder why, in my mind, subconsciously, he rode up to a fish market. I wasn't thinking, 'Let's do it, it'll be cool because he sleeps with the fishes.' It just started with this guy, he's riding somewhere, he's on a bicycle, and it turned out to be a fish market. And to me, that's kind of like a real dream. And then I realized, 'Oh, he sleeps with the fishes.' And then that led to the whole thing where (Pussy really) went into the ocean at the end."

Bening pops up in "The Test Dream" because, as Chase figures, "Tony watches mob movies, and he would've watched 'Bugsy.'" Vin Makazian isn't there because of his role in Tony's past, or because his first name sounds like Finn's, but simply because Chase missed working with actor John Heard."

I mean, the only other woman in Tony's life is Charmane. I doubt he'd be dreaming about the Russian or Gloria or Valentina.

It could maybe have been Ade...

I doubt it was Ade. Aside from Irregular Around the Margins, there hasn't really been anything between them.

This last episode...

Seemed like another transition...I think we have moved beyond the "VU" portion of the show, and into more now the blood and guts fo teh series...The beginnings of teh seasons always start off meaningful, but this one was the most meaningful yet...

I wonder if the woman on the phone in teh dream was Melfi...He wasn't to fuck her so bad, and the more I watch the show, the more I don't blame him...May have even been that chick that killed herself over Tony...

I'm actually kind of glad that they've moved to the mob aspect of the show. All the symbolism and shit was getting to be too much. Major overload, man. lol

One thing I can't help thinking about when watching the show, and maybe you're thinking it too, is Tony's gonna die. I keep waiting for it. I don't know. I just have this uneasy feeling. I really think he's going to die. He wouldn't survive in prison, and I don't think he could ever leave the life. As much as he has come to appreciate his life because of the incident, the mob life is in his blood.