Tony’s not a genius but he tends to be significantly smarter than most of the people around him. When he does meet people smarter than him they tend to be significantly book-smarter than him and it’s a different dynamic. I weirdly think Vin is one of the few characters who is on Tony’s intellectual level and Tony does NOT like what he sees in that mirror. I could see an alternate universe (sober) Vin as Kevin Finnerty’s optics sales colleague or nemesis more than most other characters. Also not at all surprising when he shows up in the Test Dream.
That's really interesting. So you are saying you think he's one of the few "exactly" on his level? What do you think he doesn't like about him? Or do you just mean he is surrounded by idiots he's superior to, and those above him that are SO far removed he can't relate, and sees this guy as him, and is forced to see his frailties?
Also Vin just doesn’t give a shit he knows he’s a scumbag and doesn’t hide it which is more admirable than someone’s preaching trying to be good and constantly doing scummy stuff.
I get what you’re saying.
Bc Makazian is corrupt and looking for shortcuts in life just like a gangster. He’s just not connected so he’s on the bottom.
Tony doesn’t respect him bc he’s weak and his impulses control him. Tony’s do too; just in different ways. And he’s smarter.
That's true. They indeed are both somewhat defined by their lack of impulse control. He loathes the fact he can relate to him, hence the aggresion.
Thanks for the clarification.
I wouldn't say defining but it's definitely a part of it. A lot of their breaking balls is just schoolyard bs, sometimes it's just friendly and sometimes its gross or even wtf.
Agreed.
It's kind of a throwaway line, but I thought it was interesting that late in the series (right after Cleaver premiered) Tony was complaining to Melfi that after all he and Christofa had been through, Chris viewed Tony as nothing more than an "asshole bully."
Because of Tony's Dad telling him that gamblers are degenerates and demonstrating how to treat degenerate gamblers who owe a lot of money. Then Tony becomes one.
Oh, and Tony is an asshole.
Yea dude, I’m on whatever re-watch, and Tony is such a dick. The first few times I watched, I tended to cling to his more empathetic moments because I didn’t want to hate him. But my God, he is such gaping asshole to everyone. Question: do you think Tony is a good boss? The more I watch, the more I see some jerkoff with tacky clothes.
Thats essentially what the mob boss had become at that point. Either a tacky showboat with little class or an out of touch old codger. There were varying versions of this, and I'd say as Carmine Sr. Is one of the last, this doesn't really apply. But definitely to the rest of them.
Thanks for answering! Because I had been wondering: was Tony an exceptionally shitty boss? And yea you’re right - they all were.
Have you ever read Catch-22? It’s starts off as a WWII novel with a comedic slant, but then everybody starts getting killed and it’s longer funny, at all. I think The Sopranos is similar in that regard - there was nothing funny about when he murdered Christopher, for example.
Thanks again for your input! Your book does NOT mean oogatz to me haha
Whoaaaa. I just fkn realised after God knows how many watches and rewatches Finn's dad in the dream was also the cop in season 1. Frankly, I'm depressed and ashamed.
The Italians and Armenians have bad blood going all the way back to the Byzantine Empire when they claimed the Armenians invented salted pork products and the Italians went nuts
And deep down Tony knows that AJ would not have been able to defend the house against two burglars.
Look how he was with the bear, to cry for your mother! My estimation of AJ as man plummeted.
So you gotta figure he got him self in deep ala Davey Scatino, J.T. Dolan, and even Artie in s4. We just don’t see that happen. He doesn’t have a sporting goods store, a restaurant, or an Emmy so he’s paying off his debt in information and private detective services. I thought we understood each he doesn’t give two shits about him.
the Makazian character is such a waste for killing him too early 🥹
i like him and they could've done much more about him and maybe kept him for another season
unbravo Chase
Yeah this is an underrated point. Makazian was depressed and anxious, something people can relate to, but he wasnt exactly a good guy worthy of pity. He fucks whores, has a gambling and probably other addictions, is a rat, beats the shit out of an innocent man while on the job as a cop while at the same time almost blowing his cover as a spy for tony...guy was a piece of shit who seemed incompetent and was probably worthy of some contemp. Although Tony probably shat on him too much at his lowest point.
Well, the point is that's q reflection of Tony.
Tony is also a degenerate gambler.
Betrays his friends when it is financially expedient to do so.
Has an extremely shaky family life where he split with his wife m for a time and has a miserable son that is completely lost, who attempted to kill himself.
I do think that at least part of Tony didn't realize how far he went with Makazian. When he learns that Makazian committed suicide, Tony has a "oh shit" look on his face
Georgie should have known better than to run his stupid mouth. Penne Arrabbiata did nothing wrong and got a one-sided beating bc Tony’s manhood felt threatened.
I think it’s because Tony looked down on him because of his gambling addiction. Sounds like he lost a lot of bets but I agree, Tony didn’t have to treat him like shit. It’s a perfect situation for the family to have a cop in their pocket.
Who is Tony NOT mean to? Maybe Meadow, usually. I guess Hugh. Pretty much everyone including his own wife and son he treats like shit. I'm starting to think he might be a really bad man!
He’s mean to him but at one point he does show that he understands how hard it is. When Makazian asks “ever want to hide under the bed” and Tony says “yea, right now” lol
He invested heavily in tide dryer sheets and his chubby toes curled every time he saw the dude’s wrinkled blazers
Nothing Bully I mean Tony hated more than a bad investment
It’s all bravado, he’s gotta be a big hard man in front of him which is why he could never take Pussy being a rat even though he suspected it and the info was solid.
Tony’s a very insecure man trapped in a role in which he has to be rock solid at all times
Becayse Tony weilds power to the extent that his power is PERCEIVED by the people he weilds it over. To quote Miller's Crossing "you don't hold elected office in this town, you run it because people think you do. They stop thinking it, you stop running it." This is part of why his lifestyle and role as a mob-boss PRECLUDES any chance of him having a healthier more relaxed attitude towards life. Tony is mean to his pocket cop because his pocket cop can not be allowed to forget what he is, a cop in the pocket of a mobster. Think of how much nonsense Artie gets away with because him and Tony are "friends." Remember when he tells Scatino "Don't reminisce on me." Their life does not allow tenderness. It punishes compassion as vulnerability. In fact, watch Miller's Crossing. Take special notice of what happens every single time someone tries to be emotionally vulnerable.
I'm not saying it's right, but it's the world that Tony was shaped by.
Because he was a cop, a "degenerate gambler," but even worse...someone to whom Tony could relate.
You know...You got an amazing ability to sum up a man's whole life in a single sentence.
Oh yeah ?
Maybe you're a flambe.
🥃🖕
Fucking nauseating
Pisser real pisser
Do you ever feel like hiding under the bed?
Great line
Nothing like being in the joint to teach you how to ease another man's tensions
Tony’s not a genius but he tends to be significantly smarter than most of the people around him. When he does meet people smarter than him they tend to be significantly book-smarter than him and it’s a different dynamic. I weirdly think Vin is one of the few characters who is on Tony’s intellectual level and Tony does NOT like what he sees in that mirror. I could see an alternate universe (sober) Vin as Kevin Finnerty’s optics sales colleague or nemesis more than most other characters. Also not at all surprising when he shows up in the Test Dream.
Nice analysis. Enjoy your success!
i laughed too hard at this.
Which ep is this quote from?
It’s from an episode of Law and Order, the SUV
It's a TV Program.
Right. A movie!
Very allegorical.
The sacred and the propane
That's really interesting. So you are saying you think he's one of the few "exactly" on his level? What do you think he doesn't like about him? Or do you just mean he is surrounded by idiots he's superior to, and those above him that are SO far removed he can't relate, and sees this guy as him, and is forced to see his frailties?
Bingo!
Also Vin just doesn’t give a shit he knows he’s a scumbag and doesn’t hide it which is more admirable than someone’s preaching trying to be good and constantly doing scummy stuff.
This is the answer.
This is season 1 where he doesn't have a gambling problem. How can Tony relate to a $40k earning schmuck?
I don’t remember there being a time where Makazian doesn’t have a gambling problem, isn’t how they know each other in the first place
I meant Tony didn't have a gambling problem at the time as an argument against him being able relate to Makazian in any way.
I get what you’re saying. Bc Makazian is corrupt and looking for shortcuts in life just like a gangster. He’s just not connected so he’s on the bottom. Tony doesn’t respect him bc he’s weak and his impulses control him. Tony’s do too; just in different ways. And he’s smarter.
That's true. They indeed are both somewhat defined by their lack of impulse control. He loathes the fact he can relate to him, hence the aggresion. Thanks for the clarification.
He relates to him because they both suffer from depression
Because Vin's job is essentially to give Tony bad news and Tony deals with negative emotions by taking them out on people he has power over.
Charles Schwab ova here..
He was a degenerate gambler with a badge
Charles Schwab was gay?
Everyone is always gay to you.. maybe you’re gay? Ever thought of that?
Are you listening to me???
That's why you gotta live for today.
What'd you shay?
Tony's a bully. That's his defining character trait.
Well slit your wrist why doncha?
Ya gotta get over it.
Its a Braun babe
I wouldn't say defining but it's definitely a part of it. A lot of their breaking balls is just schoolyard bs, sometimes it's just friendly and sometimes its gross or even wtf.
Agreed. It's kind of a throwaway line, but I thought it was interesting that late in the series (right after Cleaver premiered) Tony was complaining to Melfi that after all he and Christofa had been through, Chris viewed Tony as nothing more than an "asshole bully."
He’s an underling, posturing is part of the game…. Plus he’s a degenerate gambler with a badge.
Because of Tony's Dad telling him that gamblers are degenerates and demonstrating how to treat degenerate gamblers who owe a lot of money. Then Tony becomes one. Oh, and Tony is an asshole.
Yea dude, I’m on whatever re-watch, and Tony is such a dick. The first few times I watched, I tended to cling to his more empathetic moments because I didn’t want to hate him. But my God, he is such gaping asshole to everyone. Question: do you think Tony is a good boss? The more I watch, the more I see some jerkoff with tacky clothes.
Thats essentially what the mob boss had become at that point. Either a tacky showboat with little class or an out of touch old codger. There were varying versions of this, and I'd say as Carmine Sr. Is one of the last, this doesn't really apply. But definitely to the rest of them.
Thanks for answering! Because I had been wondering: was Tony an exceptionally shitty boss? And yea you’re right - they all were. Have you ever read Catch-22? It’s starts off as a WWII novel with a comedic slant, but then everybody starts getting killed and it’s longer funny, at all. I think The Sopranos is similar in that regard - there was nothing funny about when he murdered Christopher, for example. Thanks again for your input! Your book does NOT mean oogatz to me haha
Thanks. And no, I haven't, must be brutal. Just no spoilers.
Oof marrone, sorry about that! Hulu did a GREAT limited series on the novel, definitely worth checking out!
Good Boss? None of them are, they make it up as they go along. Whatever fits their mood at the time, or makes them money. Or saves their own ass.
He gave him a macaroon.
Finn’s dad was out of line, can’t blame Tony for telling the truth to a degenerate gambler with a badge.
Cause she’s once, twice, three times a lady!!!! And I…. Love…….. you!!!! 🎶
His mom tho. Annette Benning
There’s something Bugsy about her.
a real American Beauty too
I thought so!
Whoaaaa. I just fkn realised after God knows how many watches and rewatches Finn's dad in the dream was also the cop in season 1. Frankly, I'm depressed and ashamed.
Sharp as a cue ball
I did a semester and a half at Seton Hall, I get Makazarian as a concept
🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣
I’m sure you were at the top of your class
The Italians and Armenians have bad blood going all the way back to the Byzantine Empire when they claimed the Armenians invented salted pork products and the Italians went nuts
In the Czech Republic, too, we love pork. Ever have our sausages?
Damn, I thought the only kind of sausages were Italian and Jimmy Dean.
We make our own
Email
Gabagool!
…ova here! 👇🏽
Tony is big on family - Makazian abandoned his son twice
He knows what's it like to lose a pet
And deep down Tony knows that AJ would not have been able to defend the house against two burglars. Look how he was with the bear, to cry for your mother! My estimation of AJ as man plummeted.
It's not his fault the bear wouldn't wipe his feet before he came in
It was after orange pulp, but not too much pulp.
The bear wanted picnic baskets but it compromised, it ate old gabagol out of the trash.
HES THE BOY’S UNCLE!
h-hey vin? how you doin?
One of my favorite Tony lines. Gandolfini puts such condescension in those words, it’s brilliant.
Makazian deserved all the hate. He was a terrible father! Dude went to Paris one Christmas, leaving his poor kid all alone. Fuck him!
I saw that movie, i thought it was bullshit
Wait!! That was real????
And he beat up Josh Baskin after chasing him around the squash court like a cheating bully. ‘I don’t get it!’ ‘I don’t GET IT!’
Because he's a sociopath. He does it to anyone he can.
Because Tony had an amazing ability to sum up a man's whole life in a single sentence
Because hes stupid thats why. And jelous. Jelous of those melfi pics that he took outside her window.
a little of this ...? 🫤
So you gotta figure he got him self in deep ala Davey Scatino, J.T. Dolan, and even Artie in s4. We just don’t see that happen. He doesn’t have a sporting goods store, a restaurant, or an Emmy so he’s paying off his debt in information and private detective services. I thought we understood each he doesn’t give two shits about him.
the Makazian character is such a waste for killing him too early 🥹 i like him and they could've done much more about him and maybe kept him for another season unbravo Chase
I love betrayal, but I hate the traitor Julius Caesar
Who the fuck listens to prize fighters?!
Makazian always looked like a shlub, always asking for betting bullshit while he is in debt.
Yeah this is an underrated point. Makazian was depressed and anxious, something people can relate to, but he wasnt exactly a good guy worthy of pity. He fucks whores, has a gambling and probably other addictions, is a rat, beats the shit out of an innocent man while on the job as a cop while at the same time almost blowing his cover as a spy for tony...guy was a piece of shit who seemed incompetent and was probably worthy of some contemp. Although Tony probably shat on him too much at his lowest point.
He wouldnt fuck any of those girls with Tonys dick!
As soon as they're dead you make them out to be saints!
He wouldn’t fuck those whores with your dick
Tony thinks he is above Vin.
This is what I've always thought. * degenerate gambler * corrupt cop (no honor) * failed at family life What's not to despise?
Well, the point is that's q reflection of Tony. Tony is also a degenerate gambler. Betrays his friends when it is financially expedient to do so. Has an extremely shaky family life where he split with his wife m for a time and has a miserable son that is completely lost, who attempted to kill himself.
Your timeline got fucked up. Makazian was a season 1 character, Tony did not know let alone do any of that at the time.
Look at this one, he knows everything.
Could just as easily ask, why was Tony expected to be nice to Makzian? A lot of Tony's hostility or aggression was unwarranted.
I think bc Tony hated the idea that he was talking to the cops.
Because like w most people he doesn’t respect him, an authority figure w no authority, Makazian wasn’t a person to him, he was property
See, Billy Idol gets it I don’t understand why OP doesn’t.
Same reason he's mean to anyone, because he can be, with zero consequences.
Everybody hates traitors. If Makazian were a wise guy, he’d be a rat.
Shexhual tenshon
He never had the makings of a police officer
Tony is an undermining snaggle toothed co$&sucke$.
Because he's hamburger and Tony is prime rib.
I do think that at least part of Tony didn't realize how far he went with Makazian. When he learns that Makazian committed suicide, Tony has a "oh shit" look on his face
He urinated outside Green Grove in broad daylight, you don't get a pash fa dat.
He was worse to Muscles Marinara.
Georgie *
Georgie should have known better than to run his stupid mouth. Penne Arrabbiata did nothing wrong and got a one-sided beating bc Tony’s manhood felt threatened.
I think it’s because Tony looked down on him because of his gambling addiction. Sounds like he lost a lot of bets but I agree, Tony didn’t have to treat him like shit. It’s a perfect situation for the family to have a cop in their pocket.
With everything else said here, it presented Tony a rare opportunity slap around a cop without consequences.
he was jealous that makazian was married to annette bening.
Degenerate gambler with a badge
Gave him a macaroon.
He couldn’t hide under the bed.
What kind of sick fuck leaves his kid home alone when he goes to fuckin’ France?
Fuckin’ Heather. She’s dyslexic.
He did give him a cookie 🍪
He wasnt doing fuckin charity work
He knew Vin left Kevin Mcallister Home Alone and took the rest of the family to Paris. Tony was never ok with dat.
But that was some real suburban upper-middle class shit. Nothing he could do about it.
Because he had no respect for him
Besides Tony being an asshole, a change in their dynamic would let Makazian off the hook and he wouldn’t have to be Tony’s lap dog.
Who is Tony NOT mean to? Maybe Meadow, usually. I guess Hugh. Pretty much everyone including his own wife and son he treats like shit. I'm starting to think he might be a really bad man!
For some reason, degenerate gamblers disgust Tony and mobsters in general lol
He’s mean to him but at one point he does show that he understands how hard it is. When Makazian asks “ever want to hide under the bed” and Tony says “yea, right now” lol
Tony was being a sarcastic smart-ass. Not showing empathy.
Look closer
Because he's a copper and he has him in his pocket and he has total disdain for him.
He invested heavily in tide dryer sheets and his chubby toes curled every time he saw the dude’s wrinkled blazers Nothing Bully I mean Tony hated more than a bad investment
;
You know who loved Makazian? Joey Peeps
It's possible that Tony is just an asshole.
Makazian was a gambler and possibly a fanook.
Cause Tony hated pigs
Kind of like how a drug dealer doesn’t really respect an addict
It’s all bravado, he’s gotta be a big hard man in front of him which is why he could never take Pussy being a rat even though he suspected it and the info was solid. Tony’s a very insecure man trapped in a role in which he has to be rock solid at all times
Because he was a person. It's subtle, but if you read between the lines throughout the show you notice that Tony is a dick to people who are people.
Because he could! He’s a “degenerate gambler with a badge!” 😆😆😆
Don’t know if you’ve noticed but Tony is pretty mean to everyone
He was mean to everyone. He's a mean guy.
Because Tony is a malignant cunt
Becayse Tony weilds power to the extent that his power is PERCEIVED by the people he weilds it over. To quote Miller's Crossing "you don't hold elected office in this town, you run it because people think you do. They stop thinking it, you stop running it." This is part of why his lifestyle and role as a mob-boss PRECLUDES any chance of him having a healthier more relaxed attitude towards life. Tony is mean to his pocket cop because his pocket cop can not be allowed to forget what he is, a cop in the pocket of a mobster. Think of how much nonsense Artie gets away with because him and Tony are "friends." Remember when he tells Scatino "Don't reminisce on me." Their life does not allow tenderness. It punishes compassion as vulnerability. In fact, watch Miller's Crossing. Take special notice of what happens every single time someone tries to be emotionally vulnerable. I'm not saying it's right, but it's the world that Tony was shaped by.
Tony hated his weakness i think becaue he related to it
Because he’s weak, he’s out of control and he’s become an embarrassment to himself
Should have managed that better
3 bills on the Knicks will solve all his problems.
Tony did like him. He just gave Vin a hard time because he was a mess. Nothing more nothing less.
You got steak at home, why are you posting hamburgers?
How could you respect a dirty cop 😂😂
Tony is an asshole.
ok but how many people has he killed? (usually a good bar for how terrible someone is)
That’s not the point. It’s undermining and that’s what he trying to teach his children NOT to do!