Just watched The Sopranos S3E4, âEmployee of the Month,â and I genuinely need to sit in silence for a minute because what the hell was that.
That might be one of the most insane episodes of television ever made, not because itâs loud or flashy or trying to shock you for no reason, but because it puts you in the worst possible emotional position as a viewer.
The entire time, you know exactly what Tony Soprano is capable of. You know what would happen if Melfi told him. You know he would not call a lawyer, file paperwork, or wait for the system to correct itself. He would handle it in the most Tony Soprano way imaginable, and the terrifying part is that the episode makes you want him to.
Thatâs what makes it so disturbing.
The show spends years telling you Tony is a monster, then creates one situation where you catch yourself begging for the monster to be unleashed.
And then Melfi says no.
That final ânoâ might be one of the strongest moments in the entire series. Not dramatic. Not cinematic revenge. Not some Hollywood justice scene where everyone claps. Just a woman sitting across from the one person who could destroy the man who hurt her, choosing not to hand her pain over to a gangster.
Itâs brutal because it denies the audience the exact thing we think we want.
Most shows wouldâve turned that episode into revenge porn. The Sopranos does something way more uncomfortable. It forces you to sit with the fact that justice doesnât always happen, rage doesnât always get release, and morality is only real when it costs you something.
Dr. Melfi could have crossed that line and nobody watching wouldâve blamed her.
But she doesnât.
Thatâs why this episode is so fucked up and so brilliant. It makes Tonyâs violence feel tempting, then reminds you why giving in to that temptation would mean losing something even bigger.
This show was operating on a level most television still hasnât caught up to.
If you call yourself a conservative and you're staying quiet about all the money Trump is making off the presidency after all your whining about the Bidens, the Clintons, and the Obamas, you're a fake-ass bitch or you're truly in a cult.
I assume both.
I am officially nominating Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) for the Nobel Peace Prize.
No President in History has ended the same war so many times.
Our Dear Leader has ended the war with Iran at least 38 times by CNNâs count.
No President has ever done this before.
And he is nowhere near finished ending it.
Itâs a record worthy of the Nobel committeeâs recognition. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
We had a really mean python at work and I gave him back to his owner and was like âhe was trying to kill meâ and his owner said âwell, he only has so many ways to interact with the world. All he has is a faceâ and it Moved Me