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The Difficult Life Inside and Outside of the Mafia
Life isn’t easy for Tony Soprano. There is his demanding family with his growing children starting to rock the boat. There are relatives … depending on him, causing trouble and demanding whatever. There are his mistresses and one-night-stands … There are his employees in his nightclub … There are his subordinates concerning his activities in the Northern New Jersey Mafia … There are other Mafia families … There is the FBI although only hanging around on the horizon … There are many responsibilities, duties, liabilities – far too many.
So Tony sleeps badly, anxieties rule his life and there on and off panic attacks. Tony decides to look for a shrink, gets appointments and starts a therapy. Of course he never talks about his life in the Mafia and his crimes, especially not about himself murdering people.
The series accompanies Tony during some years when on the one hand his career in the Mafia flourishes and he becomes a don while on the other his life and his familiar surroundings get more messy and the FBI comes closer … until his end – is it really his end? (Later more about the famous end of the series …)
You may say that Tony is a family man: he loves his home, his wife, his children and the gathering of family and friends each Sunday for delicious Italian meals. He also likes to watch the History Channel … cares for his daughter when looking for college and university …
At the same time he rules his Mafia emporium with an iron fist. If somebody doesn’t deliver his share he doesn’t hesitate to order a punishment – physical punishment. He has no qualms to squeeze the last dollar out of a business owner who is in debt. Also Tony expects loyalty and silence when one of his guys falls into the clutches of police, FBI and prosecution. If somebody starts talking to save himself from prison, Tony gives no quarter – and the traitor will end in mortuary soon.
Tony kills. Whenever there is a threat to his Mafia Business in general or to his Mafia career Tony will react without mercy – sometimes by just ordering his guys, sometimes by himself in person. You must see that there are also other Mafia families ruling neighbouring territories so that a Mafia war is inevitable, even if in the beginning only a minor lapse of one of the parties happens.
Of course especially the FBI is keen to nail him for his crimes. However, the FBI guys are unfortunate figures who always seem to be too late.
At the end when Tony seems to have escaped all the trouble and a more quiet life with his family and in his business lays ahead … there is this intriguing end. Tony and his family have dinner at an Italian restaurant. There are some more people around having dinner, going to the restroom. The scene somehow reminds me of a scene in The Godfather. Tony’s daughter is late, arrives and walks to the restaurant, opens the door … Tony looks up from his plate … Then there is only a black screen. No voices, no noises, nothing.
There is no official comment to this end. Anybody may think whatever seems possible. Maybe Tony is shot, maybe Tony welcomes his daughter … Don’t forget that there is always somebody left after a Mafia war to take revenge … (As far as I know there were lots of discussions about this special scene at the end!)
What else?
The series is filled with crimes as well as funny scenes. Mafia guys are no supernatural beings, but more people like everybody having trouble with their marriages, with their income, with … whatever. Also The Godfather and some more of the classic Mafia movies are present to the Mafia guys – and they try to act like that – sometimes. In short: it’s fine entertainment.