My thoughts exactly

@I HATE RATS!!! Yeah, none of the characters in The Sopranos genuinely loved each other, with the exception of Sill and Artie, who were both shown to genuinely matter to Tony and vice versa. Every other character would have each killed their fellow mobsters for any pretty reason they could get.

​@I HATE RATS!!! Well that's relationships for you, 1 minute your trying to keep a painting of your boss next your away to whack him. Check how most of the other characters died lol best friends 1 minute next your in a ditch. Paulie was just doing what they all did almost

@I HATE RATS!!! Watch some true crime. Irl if you get murdered it's usually your spouse or close friend that did it.

Paulie seems like a sentimental guy

In Italy he wasn't seen as Italian lol

That's the point. He didn't even have that.

@@JOEFABULOUS. Full on American. Even his likely parent is the WonderBread Wop Russ Fegoli

Family? They’re a glorified crew!

"All he had was his job. Of which, he was a captain..." And bear in mind "his" crew was Tony's old crew (Puss, Chris, Furio, etc.) which he got when Tony became Underboss. It's not like he put together "his" own crew.

@@ernesttrosman The quarterback of Notre Dame.

Isn't it ironic that Lou Gherig got Lou Gherig's disease?

@@tbx59you gonna make that same stupid joke every time that comes up?

Who did what?!

LOL right

Nah. Best line was AJ on the first episode. “So what, no fucking ziti, now?” 😂

"Guy Was an Interior Decorator!"

@@aretnap365316 chechen rebels

There are far too many in this show to pick just one. One of my favorites is Syl with the Joey Peeps headstone. 'Fucking Jason...he's dyslexic.' Tony: "What the fuck does that have to do with it??" HAHAHAHA!!

Good lord im a diehard fan and i must admit i never thought of that..great spotting. Thats why i love our sopranos community. Peace from mongolia

interesting point about the fire

This was beautiful!!

Man I really wish I had the smarts to spot parallels like this . Genius writing .

Wow, I've never EVER heard this parallell before, and I consider myself a superfan of the show. Fascinating!

"youre all he's got, T."

Exactly

Yes, agree. This explains the 'lawn jockey' uniform: that it was Napoleon, instead of say Washington (more appropriate if reverent) foreshadowed treachery.

I think it just boils down to "the painting was worth something". If he truly cared for Tony that way, he would have had photos on the wall with him and the guys or something. But nope.

Going back to the importance of image to Paulie, making it prevalent that his image is more important than Tony, which leads to his betrayal in the final episode.

Watch it Renny

@@Ezio999Auditore hehe there he is Marijan boy!

The way he points with his pointer finger and his little finger kills me.

@@everythinggeekdotcom I know right! Tony does it too sometimes

Tony seemed to have a good amount of legitimate revenue from rackets (I think, can't remember the details) his father had set him up with. I'd also discount Hesh as his wealth came from the music business. Think he made around 200k from his waste management "position" that was "clean" money. The fact is that even if a wiseguy made a lot of dirty money, they just can't spend it on tangible assets like apartments or cars. Instead they spend it on women, booze and fancy dinners, things that the IRS can't track as readily.

Tony was no idiot, he knew how to make money, remember he learned from his dad who was a street boss.

He metions in one of the later seasons that either through strong arming or negotiation he got that house for a fraction of the price.

This is absolutely true. Chris and Paulie live like poverettos. Hand to mouth.

That's because Chris was an addict. He did drive nice cars. Junior always owned that house. He was rich. Look how much he spends on lawyers.

Disrespectful how he changed it. If he didn't change it, Tony might have let it slide and let him have it.

@@purge2--u--nite342 🤔Comparing a general to a mob boss arguably disrespectful to a general not the other way. Plus intent should count for something

@@stevenhill3136 cause it was Napoleon 😂 ... When referencing him, you always think crazy, even though he was a smart dude. Also he was small, so yea Tony wasn't having that 😂😡😠.... In regards stolen valor, good point... Yea this series makes you think 💬🤔 and break it down.

@@purge2--u--nite342 Except Paulie never told Tony about the Napoleon idea, just the artist

You would have preferred Tony letting Paulie keep the painting

Yeah he did I think Tony always knew what Bessie said about Pauly he just needed to hear it out loud

Beansie was a punk,he should have called the police and got the guy sent back to prison,no more headaches..

@@garythegman9680 no, that would have got him killed. Immediate contract on him. And calling the cops is the punk ass move, stunad! Especially for connected guys. Are you fuckin nuts?

@@garythegman9680and you think that would’ve ended well for Beansie? 🤔

This theory makes the most sense out of all the ones I've seen in the comments so far. Paulie's sense of honor from being recognized by Carmine (at least according to Johnnie Sac ofc) is similar. Paulie didn't necessarily have any aspirations to lead, but he DID want to be respected and recognized as important.

Very interesting observations. Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

May he be at peace.

I'm sure they will wait some more years for stuff to come out. That leather jacket Ritchie took would be great to have 😂😂

@@purge2--u--nite342 that jacket was hideous but its a museum piece

In a Sotheby's warehouse next to a shine box

You can buy prints of it

@@purge2--u--nite342the jackeeeeeet

1 hour 3 minutes if you go via County Road 539 S

Respect due☝🏻

Rip

Patsy Parisi's still around

@@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan Yep. Patsy and Paulie conspired against Tony and the DiMeo crew with New York to get rid of a few mutual enemies and shake up the power positions, and ultimately New Jersey would then get absorbed into the New York crew with Patsy operating as the new boss, but really it was more run by New York as a satellite crew than anything else. They were always the underdog to New York anyway.

I agree. You said exactly what I was thinking and about to post myself.

Thank you very much!

true....Rummy is one helluva guy

Same... Early mid 2000s the street artists were flowing with these kinda pictures. By far them street artists need to be found cause of the talent. I waited almost 2hrs at flea market for dude finish and its great, still hangs in my living room.

Frickin' Ralphie????? "Small potatoes" 👎🏻

Idk if I agree with your theory about Tony, accepting his role, finding peace with family, etc. I think Tony's good luck after killing Chris was meant to be interpreted by Tony as a sign that killing Chris was the right decision. I don't believe it was symbolic for the fact that it WAS the right decision, but rather is simply a coincidence that Tony is intended to treat as a justification for his actions. There's also other layers to it, like for example that Tony was lucky to survive that crash, that Tony was lucky to be given such a simple solution to the problem Chris presented to him, and that he's lucky enough to get away with Chris' murder without any issues. All-in-all, I think it fits the theme from the final season that Tony, as a sociopath, looks for external signs that he can use to rationalize his otherwise unacceptable behavior (ie like how he uses therapy to excuse his own vices rather than improve them).

@@jcjvcjc98 Well I think you may see it differently if you take a few steps back and look at Tony’s story arc in the entire series. Keep in mind that in the final episodes Chase was wrapping up much more than a storyline - or season - but an entire epic story of a character. So I think it’s safe to assume Chase was looking to make larger points than simply ‘Tony uses outcomes of his choices to judge or justify those choices.’ After all, everyone does that, not just criminals or “sociopaths.” Remember, in the beginning of the series Tony was littered with angst over a variety of issues leading to his fainting spells. He was conflicted over his role as a mobster and having come from a mobster family - and all it entailed. This is seen in his issues with his mother, recounting his unusual memories from childhood, and his wrestling dominance from Jr. Tony also, as is common among mobsters, had a “am I a bad guy?” complex which he nursed by embracing deep empathy for animals (ducks etc.) and the unthreatening weak (i.e. the stripper Ralphi killed). After that his angst with Melfi orbited around Tony’s normal midlife recognition of all he would NOT become in life and his questioning if the grass was greener. This can be seen in his occupying different occupations in his coma dream and in many of his affairs such as his musing with Melfi “what if” he left his wife for Adriana. The last set of issues Tony dealt with were external threats such as the FBI and NY, both of which he ultimately bested. And so where Tony’s story ends, after all his adventures, is him having dealt with his ancestors, vanquished his enemies, evaded the Feds, and resolved all his angst. He’s passed all his doubts about choices and simply comfortable and confident in his own skin and place. He is sitting with his family, centered mentally, emotionally and in life like no other time in the series. He has finally accepted his place, and thereby has come to know it for the first time. This happy ending for Tony bothers some who see him as a ‘sociopath bad guy’ who must suffer in the end. But I think that the fact that Tony had the “am I a bad guy?” issue was Chase’s way of dismissing simplistic caricatures of Tony as a “sociopath” as sociopaths never experience the questioning or guilt that motivates such compensating behavior. Instead, Tony was employing cognitive dissonance, which is ubiquitous in all people to varying degrees. And this is why so many loved the Sopranos, Tony and Gandolfini, because we could relate to his angst and doubts - his emotionality. If he was a lizard-like sociopath, like Ralphie, no one would care about him, his story, or ultimately Gandolfini. Yet in the end, they are all beloved and missed. And the Tony haters, with their closed judgmental hearts, are left frustrated by this undeniable obvious reality.

@Marcus there are things I agree with you on and things that I disagree on. I do agree that Dr. Melfi's therapy helped Tony to reconcile some of his internal issues that prompted his panic attacks. As the series progresses and Tony's panic attacks become less frequent - essentially disappearing by story's end - we see Tony progress through his character arc and the various conflicts that still plague his psyche. In the end, Dr. Melfi comes to realize that her therapy may actually be helping Tony become a better criminal rather than a better person as is evidenced by the paper Elliot recommends to her. Instead of providing Tony insight into how he can improve his character traits, she simply offers him a supportive outlet to help rationalize them and accomplish his misdeeds. I also agree with you that Tony, by virtue of his inner conflicts, demonstrates that he isn't simple a run-of-the-mill sociopath who lacks any conscience, but the series' ultimate season makes very clear that it is because of Tony's sociopathy that he cannot truly benefit from therapy. He doesn't WANT to change, he simply wants to be the person he is without having to feel any of the associated conflicting feelings. Either way, the point they're driving home is that in helping Rony alleviate his panic attacks, Dr. Melfi was actually helping him to become a better bad guy rather than become a good guy. When Melfi realizes this, she abandons Tony for good.

@@jcjvcjc98 I think we agree on Tony - therapy helped him to become an emotionally healthy criminal and Melfi ultimately realized her therapy did not cure him of his criminal nature but rather his angst.

20 seconds, 20 millennias, 20 milliseconds..... mayhaps 20.... years????

Maybe but I think a big part of the meaning of the painting is what it meant to Tony vs. what it meant to Paulie. Tony loved the horse. That horse was gone, and the painting reminded him of it, leaving only himself in the frame and Tony is a self-loathing individual if anything. Paulie on the other hand LOVED Tony, at the time especially, and he also loved to idealize himself as a soldier following the lead of a strong, charismatic leader. I do think that would have been a better idea for the artist to convert the painting into, and we all know Tony is a huge history buff (specifically WW2 and that whole era of history) but the real reason Tony hated that painting is it reminded him of the horse he loved so much and lost so brutally.