Line #31 Recap/TheSopranosS6E19TheSecondComing


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/episode_image_320x180_8.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Surely some revelation is at hand;\
4	Surely the Second Coming is at hand.\
5	The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out\
6	When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi\
7	Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert\
8	A shape with lion body and the head of a man,\
9	A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,\
10	Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it\
11	Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.\
12	The darkness drops again; but now I know\
13	That twenty centuries of stony sleep\
14	Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,\
15	And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,\
16	Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"''
17	-->-- Creator/WilliamButlerYeats, [[LiteraryAllusionTitle The Second Coming]]
18
19	A.J. is developing an increasing intellectual awareness of the world around him, but it goes hand in hand with growing cynicism and despair at the same time. He admits to feeling hopeless and traumatized to his psychiatrist. He also confides his hopes and fears to Meadow.
20
21	He comes down to the kitchen to eat, and Carmela kisses him goodbye before leaving. He attempts to commit suicide by tying a cinder block to his ankle, tying a plastic bag over his head, and then casting the block into the pool. But the rope to the block is too long to hold his head under water. He ends up tearing the plastic bag off and thrashing and screaming for help. Tony arrives home and hears A.J. He dives into the pool and saves A.J.'s life once he realizes what's going on.
22
23	A.J. is admitted to a psychiatric ward afterward while Carmela and Meadow are sobbing. Tony goes back to Satriale's afterward. The other mobsters are initially silent. But they eventually try to make Tony feel better by relating how their own children have their own issues and struggles. Tony and Carmela afterward get into a massive argument where they blame each other for A.J.'s attempted suicide. Tony afterward admits to mixed feelings about the whole affair to Dr. Melfi.
24
25	Tony and Carmela have a joint therapy session with A.J. A.J. reveals that his issues are in large part because Livia told him there's no point to life, and no happiness to expect.
26
27	Dr. Melfi in turn is having a session with Dr. Kuppferberg. He tells her a study about how psychiatric talk therapy actually enables sociopaths to become better criminals rather than breaking them out of their destructive behaviors.
28
29	Tony tries to renegotiate the asbestos issue with Phil. But Phil, well aware that he has the upper hand, takes the hard-line and refuses to budge. Tony retaliates by having Silvio pull the no-show jobs for Butchie and Coco for a joint construction project. The pair beat the foreman who breaks the news to them.
30
31	Meadow is on a date in a Little Italy cafe with Patrick Parisi, Patsy's elder son. Coco notices her (recognizing her as Tony Soprano's daughter) and harasses her with several lewd remarks that upset her greatly. Tony becomes beside himself with rage when Meadow reluctantly tells him about the incident. Tony soon walks into Coco's restaurant, and pistol whips him repeatedly. Butchie tries to get Tony to stop but backs off when Tony threatens him. Tony places Coco's teeth over the edge of a wooden step, and then curb stomps Coco's teeth out before leaving.
32
33	Little Carmine arrives at Satriale's, and convinces Tony to make business concessions to Phil to try and head off a war between New Jersey and New York. They show up at Phil's house, only for Phil to harshly rebuff them and effectively declare war on New Jersey.
34	----
35	!!Tropes:
36
37	* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Sexually harassing Meadow was just plain stupid on Coco's part, drunk or not. But it was apparently helped along by the Sambuka that Meadow smelt on his breath.
38	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: You have to hand it to Patrick: it took balls on his part to be willing to stand up and have a go with a much larger and stronger Coco in Meadow's defense.
39	* AwkwardSilenceEntrance: The other mobsters go silent once Tony enters Satriale's, after A.J.'s BungledSuicide.
40	* BearerOfBadNews: The foreman breaks it to Butchie and Coco that Silvio has pulled their no-show jobs. He gets a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for his troubles.
41	* BigWhat: Tony is incredulous when he hears about Coco's "tuck her in at night" comment. "Tuck you in??!!"
42	* BlameGame:
43	** Tony and Carmela get into a massive argument where they blame each other for A.J.'s BungledSuicide.
44	** It becomes a three-way fingerpointing affair when Carmela and Tony participate in a joint therapy session with A.J.
45	* BungledSuicide: A.J. attempts to commit suicide by tying a cinder block to his ankle, tying a plastic bag over his head, and then dumping the block into the swimming pool. But the rope to the cinder block is too long to keep A.J.'s head underwater, and A.J. ends up tearing off the plastic bag and thrashing and crying for help. That buys enough time for Tony to arrive home, hear his cries for help, and then save his life.
46	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When Tony and Carmela are in a therapy session with A.J. and he brings up the incident where Carmela called him an "animal" after he was caught smoking marijuana at his confirmation party, Carmela does not remember it.
47	* BystanderSyndrome:
48	** A.J. admits to his psychiatrist that he felt powerless to stop the two Jasons from beating the Somalian cyclist [[Recap/TheSopranosS6E18KennedyAndHeidi last episode]].
49	** Butchie [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Knew When To Fold 'Em]] when Tony stopped by the restaurant to pay Coco a visit.
50	** The restaurant staff don't lift a finger on behalf of their boss, Coco, even as he's being [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutalized]] by Tony. To be fair, the staff knew that Mafia business was going on before their eyes and that it would have been dangerous to involve themselves.
51	* CallBack:
52	** A.J. recalls being deeply affected by Livia's comments that life is a "big nothing" and, "in the end . . . you die in your own arms" when he visited her in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS2E7DGirl D-Girl]]". A.J. also recalls Carmela calling him an "animal" for smoking marijuana at his confirmation, which occurred in the same episode. It is notable that in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS2E13Funhouse Funhouse]]", Tony, after waking up from the dream that he burns himself alive, says "It's all a big nothing... Life." to Carmela.
53	** Dr. Melfi had previously quoted from Yeats' The Second Coming in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS5E10ColdCuts Cold Cuts]]", reciting two lines of the poem not heard in this episode: "The centre cannot hold" and "The falcon cannot hear the falconer".
54	* CementShoes: A.J. tries to kill himself in a similar manner.
55	* CharacterDevelopment:
56	** Bobby seems to have taken on a harder demeanor, suggesting that he's embraced his rise in TheMafia and the baggage that comes with it.
57	** A.J. actually starts to take an interest in reading and secular knowledge. But it leads to his DespairEventHorizon and BungledSuicide.
58	** Meadow has firmly decided to go into law instead of medicine. Another step towards becoming an AmoralAttorney for the mob, and DaddysLittleVillain.
59	* ChekhovsClassroom: Dr. Kuppferberg tells Dr. Melfi about a study that indicates psychiatric talk therapy actually enables sociopaths (like her patient Tony Soprano) to become better at their destructive behavior, rather than helping them break out of it.
60	* ContinuityNod:
61	** During their fight, Carmela angrily mentions the incident when Tony's father accidentally shot his mother through her beehive hairdo, as told to her by Janice in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E13SopranoHomeMovies Soprano Home Movies]]"; Tony hates the anecdote because it makes the Soprano family look "dysfunctional."
62	** When Carmela visits A.J. in the psych ward, she notices a blond girl constantly pulling at her hair. [[Recap/TheSopranosS3E6University Just like Meadow's college roommate, Caitlin]].
63	** Tony appeals to Phil to negotiate and work together, in front of all the mobsters referring to the peace-making conversation they had in the hospital after he had suffered a heart attack, which happened in "[[Recap/TheSopranosS6E12Kaisha Kaisha]]".
64	* CrapsackWorld: A.J. is sinking further and further into viewing the world as such.
65	* CurbStompBattle: A very literal example. Tony [[PistolWhipping Pistol Whips]] Coco into a bloody mess on the floor. Tony then forces a barely conscious Coco to bite the edge of a wooden step and then stomps his bloody teeth out.
66	* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Meadow was reluctant to tell Carmela and Tony about dating Patrick Parisi for fear of getting this kind of reaction.
67	* DeadpanSnarker: Tony to the FBI agents, "Thanks for stopping by. Next time we'll have party hats."
68	* DespairEventHorizon: The more A.J. learns [[CrapsackWorld just how awful the world is]], the more filled with despair and hopelessness he comes.
69	* DirtyCoward: Butchie [[Recap/TheSopranosS6E12Kaisha previously]] acted like TheNapoleon towards Tony when he had several other New York mobsters watching his back and Tony was by himself. When Tony shows that he's deadly serious and PistolWhipping Coco and Butchie is the only other one there? Butchie backs down like a whipped dog.
70	* DirtyOldMan: Coco comes over and makes several lewd remarks to Meadow, which upsets her greatly.
71	* DoubleSpeak mixed with plenty of [[MetaphoricallyTrue half truths]] and {{Understatement}}: You could insert translation subtitles for when Tony reassures Meadow as follows:
72	-->It's alright. It's ok. ''(I got this taken care of)''\
73	He's an idiot. ''(For ever thinking of perving on my daughter)''\
74	But he's harmless. ''(At least compared to me he is)''\
75	I'll talk to somebody. ''(I'll get in a few 'Motherfucker!'s and 'My fuckin' daughter's while I'm pounding his face in.)''
76	* DrivenToSuicide: A.J., after he soaks in a lot of information about what a CrapsackWorld he lives in.
77	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
78	** Tony shows absolutely no hesitation in diving into the swimming pool and saving A.J. once he realizes that A.J. is in real danger of drowning. He then swings back and forth between being angry at A.J. and trying to comfort and console his son.
79	** Tony gives severe PapaWolf retribution to Coco in the form of PistolWhipping and [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] his teeth out for sexually harassing Meadow.
80	** We never see Phil and Coco spend any real time together onscreen. But it's heavily implied that they were close friends. Tony's brutalization of Coco is what spurs Phil to declare war on New Jersey.
81	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Butch is visibly nauseated by Tony's brutal beating of Coco.
82	* EvilIsPetty: It is implied that Phil stonewalling Tony is motivated as least by spite over past slights.
83	* FeudEpisode: Tensions rise between the Jersey and New York families, but especially between Tony and Phil.
84	** Phil totally hardballs Tony on the asbestos issue.
85	** Tony retaliates by having Silvio pull the no-show jobs for Butchie and Coco on a joint construction project. The pair respond by giving the foreman a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
86	** Coco the DirtyOldMan sexually harasses Meadow while she's on a date with Patrick Parisi.
87	** Tony in turn [[PistolWhipping Pistol Whips]] the hell out of Coco, and then [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps]] his teeth out.
88	** Phil afterward threatens to shut down a mall project that is shared with the Jersey mob.
89	** Phil rejects Tony's peace offering and effectively declares war on New Jersey.
90	* GoryDiscretionShot: Coco's head is hidden behind Butchie's table when Tony [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps his teeth out]]. The most we see are a few of Coco's teeth hitting the floor of the restaurant. And we never see what condition he's in afterward, although we are informed that he barely survived the assault.
91	* InelegantBlubbering: A.J., after Tony pulls him out of the pool.
92	* ItRunsInTheFamily: Tony ascribes A.J.'s issues with depression and anxiety to the Soprano family curse.
93	* ItsAllMyFault: Tony sometimes blames himself for A.J. feeling DrivenToSuicide.
94	* KneelBeforeZod: Little Carmine cajoles Tony into Kneeling Before Phil in the wake of Tony's NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and [[CurbStompBattle CurbStomping]] of Coco.
95	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Butchie backs down whenever Tony threatens him, even as Tony is PistolWhipping Coco and then [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps]] Coco's teeth out.
96	* LargeHam: Phil, and at Tony's expense during their sitdown.
97	* LivingLieDetector: Tony knows something is up despite Meadow initially saying nothing's the matter.
98	* ManlyTears: Tony sheds some after saving A.J. from suicide.
99	* MeaningfulEcho: A.J. is convinced his medication isn't working. "Why can't I catch a fuckin' break!" Very similar to what Tony said [[Recap/TheSopranosS6E1MembersOnly at the start of season 6]]. LikeFatherLikeSon.
100	* MiddleEasternTerrorists: Tony identifies Ahmed and Muhammad in the photographs that Agents Goddard and Harris show him.
101	* NeverMyFault:
102	** Tony, as he has previously, blames Carmela for coddling A.J. for the BungledSuicide. But he admits to Dr. Melfi that on a deeper level, he actually blames himself.
103	** And A.J. for his part blames his parents for his issues during his joint therapy session.
104	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown:
105	** Coco and Butchie give one to the foreman on a joint construction project they share with the Jersey family.
106	** Tony walks into Coco's restaurant, and [[PistolWhipping Pistol Whips]] the hell out of him. He then straddles Coco's teeth over the edge of a wooden step, and literally [[CurbStomp Curb Stomps his teeth out]].
107	* OutOfTheFryingPan: A.J.'s issues seem to have gotten worse precisely because Tony connected him with the two Jasons.
108	* PapaWolf: Tony [[PistolWhipping Pistol Whips]] Coco to a bloody mess, and then [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps]] his teeth out, for daring to make lewd comments to Meadow.
109	* PetTheDog:
110	** Tony, when he saves A.J.'s life and then comforts him.
111	** The other Jersey mobsters break out of their awkward silence and genuinely try to comfort Tony over A.J.'s BungledSuicide.
112	* PistolWhipping: Tony's method of giving Coco the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
113	* PoliticalOvercorrectness: Tony again relates to Dr. Melfi that softer more modern approaches to raising children are not conducive to instilling discipline and maturity. It's a given that he sees Carmela as having been too coddling towards A.J.
114	* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Arthur Nascarella (Carlo Gervasi) is promoted to the main cast and billed in the opening credits but only for this episode.
115	* TheReveal: Meadow's "mystery date" is revealed to be Patsy's eldest son, Patrick Parisi.
116	* RevengeBeforeReason:
117	** Played with in Tony's instance. Tony's CurbStompBattle on Coco is what precipitates the MobWar between New Jersey and New York in earnest. But perhaps Tony was concerned Phil would just laugh him off if he went through the proper avenue of a sitdown. It was on the heels of Phil hardballing him on the asbestos issue after all, where all he got was Phil cracking jokes at his expense before dismissing him.
118	** Played straight by Phil, who declares war on New Jersey and rejects any peace offerings made by Tony, even though their joint business ventures will now grind to a halt.
119	* SelfServingMemory: Carmela vehemently denies calling A.J. an animal at his confirmation party even after he repeats her insult word for word.
120	* ShoutOut: Tony [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] Coco's teeth out on the wooden step is practically a reenactment of when Derek did the same thing to a Black gangbanger on concrete during ''Film/AmericanHistoryX''.
121	* SlasherSmile: Tony is wearing a big one once he's decided what exactly he's going to do to Coco.
122	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Coco had very limited screen time in all of two episodes. The background is that tensions have been building for some time between the New Jersey and New York families. Tony PistolWhipping Coco and [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] his teeth out is the match that lights the whole thing on fire, and precipitates the MobWar between the two families.
123	* SmugSnake: While Dr. Kupferberg does have a valid point to make to Dr. Melfi, he is being rather smug and self-righteous in how he delivers it. And Dr. Melfi tries to call him on it too.
124	* SoapboxSadie: A.J. becomes an unusual variation, with a heavy emphasis on being TheCynic. His realization that he lives in a CrapsackWorld has him railing against almost any and every human activity that occurs, yet he has few if any solutions to offer.
125	* StrawNihilist:
126	** A.J.'s soaking in of info about what a CrapsackWorld he lives in pushes him harder and harder into this territory, especially in combination with the [[Recap/TheSopranosS2E7DGirl seeds planted inside of him by Livia]] when he was younger. So much so that he ends up feeling DrivenToSuicide by the resulting DespairEventHorizon.
127	** Tony admits to Dr. Melfi that he himself is wondering if there's any point to life or existence.
128	* SuicideIsShameful: Tony tells Dr. Melfi that he believes this, citing the belief that it's the coward's way out. Melfi retorts that whoever said that never understood depression.
129	* TakeBackYourGift: Although there isn't a breakup, Carmela takes off her gift watch from Tony and throws it on the floor.
130	* TeamSwitzerland: Little Carmine tries again to resolve tensions between New Jersey and New York in the wake of Tony [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] Coco. Problem is, Team Phil doesn't want to play.
131	* TemptingFate: How could Coco possibly think it was a good idea to perv on Tony's beloved daughter?
132	* ThisMeansWar: How Phil reacts to Tony's PistolWhipping and [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] of Coco.
133	* TooDumbToLive:
134	** Even if the New York family is more powerful than the Jersey family, Coco couldn't possibly be anything other than colossally stupid for thinking he could sexually harass Meadow without triggering Tony's PapaWolf instincts. He was lucky Tony let him lie on the floor barely alive after getting his teeth smashed out on the step.
135	** An inversion with A.J., whose suicide attempt fails because he made the rope he tied to the cinder block that was supposed to drown him too long, making him Too Dumb to Die.
136	* ToxicWasteCanDoAnything:
137	** The way Bobby reacts to even the prospect of touching asbestos, you'd think it was the same thing as touching radioactive waste. Asbestos apparently has {{Phlebotinum}} properties in-universe.
138	** Paulie goes CloudCuckoolander while trying to comfort Tony. And apparently, every trace of toxin in Earth's biosphere can drive kids to suicide.
139	* TranquilFury: Tony can barely contain himself as he listens to Meadow describe Coco sexually harassing her.
140	* TheUnFavorite:
141	** A.J. feels Tony and Carmela favor Meadow over him.
142	** Ironically, Meadow retorts that being Italian-American inherently means that [[CultureJustifiesEverything sons will always be favored over daughters]].
143	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Albert mentioning Coco's name in front of Meadow condemns him to a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and CurbStompBattle at Tony's hands.
144	* WhamEpisode: A.J. has so far over the course of six seasons done little else but be an eternal DumbassTeenageSon. Now we see his character go into whole new directions that lead to him feeling DrivenToSuicide. Tensions between the New Jersey and New York families explode, heralding a MobWar to conclude the series.
145	* WhiteShirtOfDeath: A very downplayed and unusual example. Tony is having a joint therapy session with Carmela and A.J. He notices one of Coco's bloody teeth lodged in the ankle cuff of his pants. He discreetly brings his leg into a sitting crossed-over position and gets rid of the tooth while Carmela and A.J. aren't looking at him directly.
146	* YouAreFat:
147	** Tony explains that he couldn't fit "Tony" into the engraving on the back of the watch he bought for Carmela. She says "I can believe that" and then pats him on the stomach.
148	** Carlo cracks a joke about Bobby having a whole platter of mushrooms to himself.
149	* YouAreWhatYouHate, combined with CallBack: Tony mocks A.J. during the joint therapy session with "Poor you", without realizing that's what Livia said to him so many times.

Context Recap / TheSopranosS6E19TheSecondComing