I am surprised no one noticed the coincidence
of Tony sleeping with the Russian woman, Svetlana, and
the Napoleon theme. Napoleon's empire fell when he tried
to invade Russia. We have the metaphorical "invasion"
of the Russian, followed by shots of Tony dressed as Napoleon,
and it ended with war drums. I think Tony is like an emperor
about to fall. Disloyal troops like Paulie and Furio (at
least at heart) are threatening Tony's stability, during
the very time he is about to start a war with New York.
Not to mention I have noticed the Russians (maybe they
are just babysitting, maybe they aren't) are around Junior
more than I would be comfortable with.
I think Tony will try to align with the
Russians (this season and next) to win the war with New
York, and everything will fall apart. Also, the title
of the show, "The Strong, Silent Type" - look at the gender
in that. That's a phrase typically reserved for men, but
in this show all the strong characters were the women.
Carmela silently fighting her attraction
to Furio, Svetlana being strong in the face of adversity,
Ade finally pushing Chris to rehab (she could have stayed
scared or not told Tony, but she did what she thought
she had to do), even Janice giving advice, and Meadow
AWOL in school.
Meanwhile, the weaknesses of the men were
exposed: Tony's misrepresentation of himself and lack
of self control, Chris's drug problem, Paulie's disloyalty
and guilt, Furio's passion (which, while I find tears
strong, are a weakness for him in the organization).
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