Tony Soprano versus Phil Leotardo



You could almost feel the tension coiling and unwinding in the undulating waves off the Florida beach as Tony paused, for a moment, on the hotel balcony in the last of the first three episodes of the end of "The Sopranos". There will almost certainly be a brutal war between Phil Leotardo's Brooklyn and Tony Soprano's New Jersey. Leotardo, as he warned in the second episode of this season will "take no shit." From Slate:

"So we have the first concrete sign that The Sopranos is really, truly coming to an end—no more HBO shenanigans allowed (which is to say, no 'Season 6, Part 3;' no Bobby Bacala sitcom). The sign: Tony stops to smell the tomatoes. You recall, of course, Vito Corleone's demise, while trailing his grandson in a tomato patch. Tomatoes + Mafia = Death. (This is Einstein's formula, not mine.) If Terry Winter, who wrote last night's script (and who is responsible for a disproportionate number of the best episodes and who, by the way, I'm hoping joins our dialogue again), wasn't foreshadowing Tony's death, I'll burn my Fila tracksuit.

"This wasn't the only Godfather reference in last night's episode: Doc Santoro, the obnoxious, newly minted Brooklyn boss, gets the Moe Greene special, courtesy of Phil Leotardo, who is solidifying control of his family, in order, it seems, to take final revenge on Tony Soprano for the death of his brother."


Oh, it's on; it's on like Gray Poupon! (Slate)