In Chasing It, we discovered that T had a gambling problem. Not a gambling problem where he would bet money and let it ride so that he’d just keep going because of the adrenalin rush or anything, but he’d win and since it seemed like his luck was beginning to change, he would keep it going, and then he’d lose it all. It looks like Tony is about to fall and fall hard.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, Christopher makes plans with his new father-in-law to sell some stolen power tools. Quick-like, by a show of hands, tell me who sees that ending badly? I thought so - me too. While Chrissy is trying to stay all clean and sober, it’s not doing any favors for his career path in the family business, and neither Paulie nor Tony seem to care too much. It’s like he’s been ostracized and no one told him about it. Poor kid. So when Little Paulie decides to take a few extra tools from the store, Chris decides that he’ll just take care of it himself - he throws Paulie out of a window. Sweet. That’s what we’ve been waiting for - a little action!
Unfortunately, that’s pretty well all that happens. Paule comes back and does donuts on Chris’ front lawn. Donuts on the lawn! What has happened to the mob? They take out lawn gnomes? Good grief!
Of course, Chris is doing nothing more than causing Tony grief, which Tony doesn’t need because of his gambling issues. So Tony sits Chris down and they talk about their issues. Then Chris has a drink. Or three. Then he goes to visit his old buddy J.T., who he seems to think had everything to do with this problem - since he “wrote” the screenplay that caused the whole downward spiral, it must be his fault, after all - and that must be where it all ends. So Chris shoots him in the head. Some more action? No, that’s pretty much it. We don’t really see anything more mentioned of it. Chris just goes home.
Back at work, Tony tells his G-Men buddies about the towel-headed buddies, in the hopes that it will help him get off. While they don’t seem to care, it seems like perhaps it will help in the future. Seems to me like more fluff to fill in the time slots until the finale, where hopefully something will happen.
As all this is going down, A.J. has broken down again. Blanca has decided to dump him. Apparently he wasn’t doing it for her. Or maybe he was. Frankly, I don’t know that it was ever really addressed. She just kicked him to the curb and know A.J. is on the verge of a breakdown. Tony does force A.J. to go to a party at the Bing, where he gets together with some of his old buddies, but that’s just so that they can use him - he meets some people who apparently aren’t paying their bills, and he gets introduced as “Tony Soprano, Jr.” - sort of like an introduction as the muscle. It seems like A.J. sort of likes it. Maybe he’ll be stepping into the old man’s shoes.
Maybe he’ll snap. Geez, I just wish that something would happen, because I’m about to go nuts here.
