The Sopranos 3.12

Amour Fou

Tony and Gloria get back together but things continue to be a roller coaster ride for them. Tony tries asking Dr. Melfi about Gloria but she won't discuss Gloria with him. Gloria encounters Carmela at the Mercedes dealership. Gloria offers her a ride home as a professional courtesy. Carmela has no idea who Gloria is and accepts. Gloria quizzes Carmela about her life on the drive there.

Jackie Jr. to try to make it big time. He asks Ralph for advice and gets a story about how Jackie Sr. and Tony Soprano robbed a card game back in the day, before they were made men. Jackie Jr. starts getting ideas. He decides they should rob a card game. He picks one run by one of Ralph's men, partly because he's tired of Ralph telling him what to do. He's convinced that robbing the card game is the ticket to easy street.

Carmela thinks she's developed ovarian cancer. She thinks that God is punishing her for staying with Tony. She talks to a priest about it. He talks her out of her theory and into going to see a doctor.

Jackie Jr. and two of his friends go through with the robbery. They wear ski masks to disguise themselves. Chris and Furio are at the card game. One of Jackie's accomplices gets nervous and starts shooting.

The shooter gets killed as does one of the participants at the card game. Furio gets a bullet in his thigh. The getaway car driver gets nervous and drives off. Jackie Jr. escapes but his other accomplice does not. Chris recognized Jackie Jr. He tries talking Tony into letting him go after him. Tony leaves the matter for Ralph to deal with.

Tony finds out that Gloria interacted with Carmela. He goes ballistic and tells Gloria that its over. She tries a number of tactics but her threats only lead to him making more serious threats. He talks to Dr. Melfi about Gloria again. He finally sees what Dr. Melfi was trying to tell him, that Gloria is just like his mother.

Thoughts

This is a dark episode.

Jackie Jr. can't see the world around him. He has this sense of entitlement that blinds him to reality. He loves the stories he hears and thinks his life should be just like the stories. He thinks he deserves to win it all. His inability to see the world around him is going to be his downfall and he doesn't have much time left.

Gloria is a little harder for me to figure out. I don't think she is a fully rounded character. She is an emotionally wounded character. She's either high on life or in the depths of despair. She can't stomach Tony's rejection of her. It leads her to do stupid things.

This is a very well made episode but it is not a happy one or one that I enjoyed rewatching. It is a piece of the puzzle.