I find this episode to be remarkably compelling and thought-provoking, with a depth that may be easily overlooked. The central storyline revolves around Tony's profound realization that his father possesses flaws and imperfections. This revelation challenges Tony's long-held perception of his father, forcing him to confront the possibility that his own actions may have contributed to his mother's coldheartedness-a realization he finds difficult to accept. As Tony grapples with these truths, he begins to draw parallels between his own life and the patterns he recognizes. He becomes acutely aware that he may have replicated the same harmful behaviors in his relationship with Carmela, ultimately exerting a similar negative influence on AJ. This introspection reveals Tony's struggle with selfishness, dishonesty, and manipulation-a poignant exploration of the complexities of personal growth and the consequences of our actions.
10 Reviews
I don't know if I'm ready for this one. Her face when she's singing...I don't know if I can bear it again
Neptune16518 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
One of the small moments I enjoyed was when, after Phil crashed his car, Tony plays it off as a concerned citizen with "Hey mister you okay there?" before quietly threatening him out of earshot of the bystanders. Made me laugh. Omg when Fran started singing "Happy Birthday" to Tony, it was soooo creepy. That actress did a great job of being soooo unsettling. If Furio had been there when she was singing, he would have noticed a bee on her hat. Mr. President scene is so disturbing for some reason, I'd rather rematch Paulie & Virgin Mary scene 10 times lol. JT was the one who sort of condescended to Chris when he lectured him about calling his sponsor before using. I'm sure that wasn't lost on Chrissy when he threw it back in his face later on, even using the line "there's no chemical solution to a spiritual problem" which I think he heard somewhere else first. Johnny on the spot where you showed Olivia hating Tony for good. Love how you point out that these characters, even the minor ones like Johnny boy and Franny are terrible people yet are written so well and are so human you can't keep your eyes off them.
That guy could have his own battleship
snoozejonc28 November 2022
Tony meets his father's gooma, whilst Christopher's relationship with a friend from rehab is complicated by a debt.
This is a very good episode with strong underlying themes.
A big part of the Sopranos has always been the existential crisis of certain characters. In this story we see a lot of reflection on the past by Tony and guest character Fran that involves a lot of rose tinted memories and suspiciously romanticised stories about people. Certain characters develop certain beliefs in life that seem at odds with reality.
One scene involving JFK's hat brilliantly shows reality fully dawning on Tony and it is very effectively made. Credit to the actress Polly Bergen (of James R Webb's 1962 original 'Cape Fear'), who has the job of embodying this in the episode's most notorious moment. I always found it interesting in a show that depicts subjects like murder, rape, infanticide, matricide, cancer, dementia, casual violence and infidelity, that many viewers struggle so much with this scene. Bergen is excellent throughout the episode.
Other characters such as Junior and J. T. have scenes where they start out in a seemingly positive place, but reality comes crashing down on them. These sub-plots have darkly funny moments, but ultimately they feel quite tragic.
Generally, I find the episode to be downbeat with very little hope or positivity in anything. Friendships and family loyalty seem fake and uncertain in the world of The Sopranos. The final sequence showing Tony looking at life through a haze of lies is quite powerful.
It is another well made episode, with great cinematography and editing. Some of the scene transitions are so simple and subtle.
This is a very good episode with strong underlying themes.
A big part of the Sopranos has always been the existential crisis of certain characters. In this story we see a lot of reflection on the past by Tony and guest character Fran that involves a lot of rose tinted memories and suspiciously romanticised stories about people. Certain characters develop certain beliefs in life that seem at odds with reality.
One scene involving JFK's hat brilliantly shows reality fully dawning on Tony and it is very effectively made. Credit to the actress Polly Bergen (of James R Webb's 1962 original 'Cape Fear'), who has the job of embodying this in the episode's most notorious moment. I always found it interesting in a show that depicts subjects like murder, rape, infanticide, matricide, cancer, dementia, casual violence and infidelity, that many viewers struggle so much with this scene. Bergen is excellent throughout the episode.
Other characters such as Junior and J. T. have scenes where they start out in a seemingly positive place, but reality comes crashing down on them. These sub-plots have darkly funny moments, but ultimately they feel quite tragic.
Generally, I find the episode to be downbeat with very little hope or positivity in anything. Friendships and family loyalty seem fake and uncertain in the world of The Sopranos. The final sequence showing Tony looking at life through a haze of lies is quite powerful.
It is another well made episode, with great cinematography and editing. Some of the scene transitions are so simple and subtle.
"She made all of us suffer instead"
MaxBorg8916 May 2008
Pine Barrens, Everybody Hurts and now In Camelot: all terrific episodes, all directed by Steve Buscemi, all dealing with relationships gone bad. In the first two, the concerned parties were Tony Soprano and the now deceased Gloria Trillo, now it's Tony's old man who was involved.
Everything kicks off at a funeral Tony attends: at the cemetery, he spots a woman that's visiting his dad's grave, and decides to have a word with her. After discovering she was his father's mistress years before, he starts spending time with her, seeing as she provides enjoyable company and countless anecdotes on her former lover, not to mention priceless details on his strained marriage to Livia (and flashbacks in previous seasons have more or less confirmed what they both think about the late Mrs. Soprano). This story is juxtaposed with the latest misadventures of Christopher, whom Buscemi used quite prominently in Pine Barrens: this time, instead of almost freezing to death in the woods he makes the mistake of introducing an old friend from rehab, J.T. Dolan (Tim Daly), to the world of gambling, with results that mirror Tony's falling out with a childhood buddy (Robert Patrick) in Season 2.
Less overtly quirky than Pine Barrens, In Camelot is actually more alike to the previous episode of this season, Peter Bogdanovich's Sentimental Education, in the sense that it is mostly calm, warm and far away from crime, only to shock us at the right point with some of the worst consequences of belonging to the mafia. That last aspect is duly covered in the J.T. subplot, which obviously recalls a similar story from past years (see above) but also shows the program's makers at their most brilliant: to play Dolan, one of the most tragic individuals in the series, they cast Tim Daly, the actor another character kept complaining about in a Season Three episode. Sheer, unadulterated genius.
Everything kicks off at a funeral Tony attends: at the cemetery, he spots a woman that's visiting his dad's grave, and decides to have a word with her. After discovering she was his father's mistress years before, he starts spending time with her, seeing as she provides enjoyable company and countless anecdotes on her former lover, not to mention priceless details on his strained marriage to Livia (and flashbacks in previous seasons have more or less confirmed what they both think about the late Mrs. Soprano). This story is juxtaposed with the latest misadventures of Christopher, whom Buscemi used quite prominently in Pine Barrens: this time, instead of almost freezing to death in the woods he makes the mistake of introducing an old friend from rehab, J.T. Dolan (Tim Daly), to the world of gambling, with results that mirror Tony's falling out with a childhood buddy (Robert Patrick) in Season 2.
Less overtly quirky than Pine Barrens, In Camelot is actually more alike to the previous episode of this season, Peter Bogdanovich's Sentimental Education, in the sense that it is mostly calm, warm and far away from crime, only to shock us at the right point with some of the worst consequences of belonging to the mafia. That last aspect is duly covered in the J.T. subplot, which obviously recalls a similar story from past years (see above) but also shows the program's makers at their most brilliant: to play Dolan, one of the most tragic individuals in the series, they cast Tim Daly, the actor another character kept complaining about in a Season Three episode. Sheer, unadulterated genius.
Surprised by this episode's notoriety
KinoCynic21 June 2021
Sure, Fran Feldstein is a hard to watch character, but that feels intentional. She's a reminder of the pain and toxicity caused by Tony and his dad's life of excess and infidelity. The Sopranos uses flashbacks expertly, and this episode is no exception. Livia Soprano is made into a more complex character when Johnny and Tony lie to her face after her miscarriage. Even as a narcissist, Livia was still capable of being hurt. Perhaps it was moments like this that doomed her into being a cold and lonely old woman.
Phil Leotardo's relationship with Tony is also really interesting in a more spectacular way, with Phil treating Tony like a kid, and Tony pushing his car into a crash.
My only criticism is the JT storyline feels a little to similar to Davey Scatino from Season 2.
Other than that, awesome episode with a stylish and contemplative ending.
Phil Leotardo's relationship with Tony is also really interesting in a more spectacular way, with Phil treating Tony like a kid, and Tony pushing his car into a crash.
My only criticism is the JT storyline feels a little to similar to Davey Scatino from Season 2.
Other than that, awesome episode with a stylish and contemplative ending.
Liked the last scene
gabrielsantanafelipe29 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Tony in this episode realize how wrong he is about who you father was.
He meets a woman in the cemetry, she was one of his father mistress, on his first impression he is delighted with her, like his old man once was, until Hesh told him she was a whore, he doesn't agree, after that on her house, he starts to believe in this "whore thing", the director add a "happy birthday to you" dance so annoying... with that dance I felt all this anguish of knowing about all the times his father abandoned the family just to be with "some whore".
But talking with melfi, he don't put his fault in his father and blame her mother about that. After all, she expeled his old dog from home when he was a child.
And in the last scene you don't see a denial. He just know everyone don't care about anyone, and try to be like the father he pretend to have, a bad ass womanizer.
He meets a woman in the cemetry, she was one of his father mistress, on his first impression he is delighted with her, like his old man once was, until Hesh told him she was a whore, he doesn't agree, after that on her house, he starts to believe in this "whore thing", the director add a "happy birthday to you" dance so annoying... with that dance I felt all this anguish of knowing about all the times his father abandoned the family just to be with "some whore".
But talking with melfi, he don't put his fault in his father and blame her mother about that. After all, she expeled his old dog from home when he was a child.
And in the last scene you don't see a denial. He just know everyone don't care about anyone, and try to be like the father he pretend to have, a bad ass womanizer.
In Camelot (#5.7)
ComedyFan201020 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
At a cemetery Tony meets a woman at his father's grave. She turns out to have been his mistress and Tony spends time with her finding out bout his father. Chris meets a friend at a rehab and they send time together he takes his friend gambling and he develops an addiction to it so Chris need to get money out of him.
The Chris story reminded me too much of the story in the past when Tony had let his childhood friend play poker and then beat the money out of it. Too much of repetition.
But the story about Tony dealing with the memories of his parents was pretty good. Especially the memory he had of his mother miscarrying when his father was with his mistress and when he covered up for him. One kind of feels more for the mother after that, she probably wasn't so bad at first until his father drove her into it.
The Chris story reminded me too much of the story in the past when Tony had let his childhood friend play poker and then beat the money out of it. Too much of repetition.
But the story about Tony dealing with the memories of his parents was pretty good. Especially the memory he had of his mother miscarrying when his father was with his mistress and when he covered up for him. One kind of feels more for the mother after that, she probably wasn't so bad at first until his father drove her into it.
An example of the show's decline
Bigideas_Baggins18 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Sopranos always suffered from a "character of the season" vibe, with examples being Mikey Palmice and Richie Aprile.
Here, however, we have a good example as any of how it's become a character of the week sitcom. Christopher's friend appears out of nowhere, but they seem to be best buds for years, and for some reason he is allowed to incur a staggering $57000 debt in the poker game, after which Chris becomes his nemesis in collecting the money. So basically the same as David Scatino before, only there Tony always had a plan if David could not pay his gaming debts. Here, are we really supposed to believe they would let a guy they know just left rehab stack up a debt that high? I would imagine they'd let him have $5000 or maybe $10000 and then be like, "hey fella, you now owe us this much, leave now and pay us, then you can come back". Also, Scatino's story was at least developed over several episodes, here it's just lightning speed with another side character. Speaking of which, the mistress is even worse. Here is a person Tony has apparently never met before, but within hours of meeting her he is strongmanning Johnny Sack, Phil Leotardo and Hesh for large amounts of money, not for himself, but just to give her without question. It would be nice if we could get some continuation with a character that is apparently that important to him. I mean, the earlier seasons showed so much depth about his relationship with his mother; here would be a good opportunity to get back to that, or maybe discover the issues he had with his father. But no, what was I thinking, she is just this weeks plot interest, no need to get back to that. One minute of dr. Melfi asking if he wanted to sleep with her just about covers the impact she has on his life.
I would really like the show to develop it's main characters like Sil or Paulie, who are basically at a standstill, instead of this sitcom style guest actor of the week stuff. My feeling is that the earlier episodes did have more of a through line and the show has become weaker and weaker with the seasons. Oh, and when I said develop, I don't mean stuff like Sil having a random interest in Columbus out of nowhere that is also never referenced again, I mean actually show something of him having a character instead of being a background stereotype.
Here, however, we have a good example as any of how it's become a character of the week sitcom. Christopher's friend appears out of nowhere, but they seem to be best buds for years, and for some reason he is allowed to incur a staggering $57000 debt in the poker game, after which Chris becomes his nemesis in collecting the money. So basically the same as David Scatino before, only there Tony always had a plan if David could not pay his gaming debts. Here, are we really supposed to believe they would let a guy they know just left rehab stack up a debt that high? I would imagine they'd let him have $5000 or maybe $10000 and then be like, "hey fella, you now owe us this much, leave now and pay us, then you can come back". Also, Scatino's story was at least developed over several episodes, here it's just lightning speed with another side character. Speaking of which, the mistress is even worse. Here is a person Tony has apparently never met before, but within hours of meeting her he is strongmanning Johnny Sack, Phil Leotardo and Hesh for large amounts of money, not for himself, but just to give her without question. It would be nice if we could get some continuation with a character that is apparently that important to him. I mean, the earlier seasons showed so much depth about his relationship with his mother; here would be a good opportunity to get back to that, or maybe discover the issues he had with his father. But no, what was I thinking, she is just this weeks plot interest, no need to get back to that. One minute of dr. Melfi asking if he wanted to sleep with her just about covers the impact she has on his life.
I would really like the show to develop it's main characters like Sil or Paulie, who are basically at a standstill, instead of this sitcom style guest actor of the week stuff. My feeling is that the earlier episodes did have more of a through line and the show has become weaker and weaker with the seasons. Oh, and when I said develop, I don't mean stuff like Sil having a random interest in Columbus out of nowhere that is also never referenced again, I mean actually show something of him having a character instead of being a background stereotype.
one of the worst
tdero25 October 2019
Peruse the internet, this episode is considered one of worst by hardcore fans...fran felstein is beyond irritating..they really needed her to sing HAPPY BDAY, MR. PRESIDENT ? Tony looks like he wants to smack her around a couple times, and he should have...the flashbacks of tony's dad. he's a lying slimeball pos.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
