5.20 sopranos

[djoyce003]

Good episode.

I've thought for a few weeks that the war with NY is inevitable and it appears to be the case now.

I think the writing on the Phil character is excellent. Phil is all about ego and not about business at all. He consistently makes unwise business decisions because of ego. Case in point the asbestos thing. He wants a much larger cut than the previous guy was taking, and he's unwilling to negotiate, he thinks he can just dictate terms.

Even in the conversation, he said something to the effect of, those were my terms, it wasn't an offer. Basically take my terms and screw off. He doesn't appear to realize he's talking to another family boss, he clearly sees Tony as an underling/beneath him. I think this is going to ultimately be a VERY large mistake.

This time, Phil's unwillingness to bend lost his guys their no-show jobs, which makes them more vulnerable to prosecution, loses them health insurance, etc. He doesn't take into account the consequences of his actions, he just goes by ego alone.

The problem with Phil is that his hate for Tony is so large because of the Blundetto thing. Despite Tony killing his own cousin for Phil, Phil still can't forgive him. Tony was out of line by beating up the made-guy for what he said. Regardless of what he said and who he said it to, it should have been a discussion between Tony and Phil first. Then if they couldn't come to a resolution, Tony at least could say he tried. That didn't happen here, and a lot of it had to do with the previous Phil unwillingness to negotiate. It's on now so to speak.