Tony's literacy (why did Melfi make fun of him?)

[spbrew]

I think the scene when Dr. Melfi reads Tony?s letter and points out his poor spelling and grammar added absolutely nothing to the show. What is the point of showing us (the viewers) that Tony has a poor education? As small of a moment in the grand scheme of things as it may be, I found it to be the most disturbing moment in Soprano?s history. No s---. I hated it and wished it had not been done.

Perhaps it?s my own fault for growing so envious of a terrible, terrible man. Maybe that was the point.

What do you think?


</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flyonm elfiswall>FlyOnMelfisWall</A> at: 3/29/04 8:34 pm

[starvingkitty]

I think it adds a new dimension to his character.

Besides, it's so totally something that Melfi would do, point out his bad grammar and spelling like that. Makes her look like a judgmental bitch more than it makes him look stupid.

</p>

[bishop null]

I thought it was hilarious that she savaged his poor spelling.

Also, having post-graduate degrees myself I know that many people with advanced degrees (including me) make fun of people who are not as educated in exactly the way that Melfi did. It is petty and cruel but many doctors and professionals will do it. So to me it was a blessed bit of realism on the show.

Also, given that most people in the series are not educated intellectuals, I thought it was great to show that the psychiatrists do have different ways of looking at the world and making judgments on how people express themselves. Again, it's realistic.

I think given that she would point out the poor spelling that Tony used in his apology note shows how different Melfi and Tony are and that she would never, ever fit into his world despite whatever fantasies she may have.

I agree that it was also the writers' (who are undoubtedly more like Melfi and her shrink than Tony and his crew) having a bit of fun with Tony's lack of education to make him appear less "powerful". Making fun of the Soprano crew for mis-using words been in the show throughout, like in Chris's use of "hair apparent". In almost every episode, one of the characters is mis-using a word or mis-names something. (Paulie's recent Machiavelli/Matchabelli malaprop is another of many examples).

Finally someone else pointed out that "fowl language" may be a clever reference to Tony's beloved ducks.

</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

I absolutely LOVED that scene. For one thing, it was some of the best acting Lorraine Bracco has ever done on this show. I have found her vocal delivery at times to be overly stilted and unnatural, even allowing for the notion that some of that is appropriate for the character while interacting with patients. And she can be a little over the top in those moments where she really gets a big, juicy line, as in the "I won't break the social compact" speech to Elliot in Employee of the Month. But her dry, sarcastic, ridiculing tone in that scene was absolutely, hilariously note perfect.

Of course, Melfi always comes across differently in her sessions with Elliot vis-a-vis Tony, and that's to Bracco?s credit as an actress. With Elliot, Melfi is far more herself -- the cynical, somewhat foul-mouthed and temperamental colleague with a palpable amount of peer competitiveness at the ready.

Her reading of Tony's letter inspired great laughter and great pity all at the same time. How can one not laugh at Tony's mangled and pretentious syntax and spelling? He so wants to be a man that she can respect that he doesn't realize how he will only drown by swimming in waters that are clearly over his head. He could have managed a simple, "I'm sorry I cursed at you and called you a c---. You hurt my feelings, but that's no excuse for what I said." Instead, he tried to appear articulate and literate, because he felt that was necessary to impress her, and constructed these elaborately atrocious clauses and elliptical references to what transpired between them.

Of course, that's why it was also so pitiful and why the scene is so much more important than it may appear at first blush. He DOES want her respect, and she did hurt his feelings -- badly -- with her frank and largely correct judgments about his character. And so he is in an entirely vulnerable position with her and, in my mind, is showing subtle signs that he would like to really change, to show her the "other" Tony he feels somehow represents the "real" him but that is rarely in evidence to others. That he would even venture any kind of verbal expression of his feelings is a huge step forward for him, whereas in the past, jewelry or flowers or expensive things have always been left to do his talking and apologizing for him.

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Besides, it's so totally something that Melfi would do, point out his bad grammar and spelling like that. Makes her look like a judgmental bitch more than it makes him look stupid. <hr></blockquote>

Oh I strenuously disagree with this. It was really unlike her to be condescending and intellectually arrogant towards Tony. Throughout their history, she has never flinched when Tony issued one of his frequent malapropisms or otherwise revealed his ignorance about the world in general. She has never made fun of Tony?s lack of education or knowledge or intelligence to Elliot or Richard or to anyone else before, nor has she ever betrayed that she would ever be a candidate to do so. In fact, in A Hit is a Hit from season one, what separated her from Cusamano and the intellectual and cultural elitism their cronies were engaging in at Tony?s expense (the ?goombah? marano glass) was her willingness to stand up to it and to reveal it as the cheap, mean-spirited condescension it was.

So why did she so uncharacteristically and nastily make fun of Tony? Consider that a news article that appeared right after Two Tonys aired contained a bucket of harsh criticism from real-life shrinks for how Melfi ultimately handled Tony?s advances. Most of those quoted felt that she had destroyed Tony?s trust and sabotaged any chance at working with him therapeutically again because she had violated the supposed maxim that a therapist is to always remain morally non judgmental with patients. Some folks defended her conduct on the grounds that Tony would not take ?no? for an answer, would not accept the perfectly valid professional reasons she gave him for not wanting to date him, and literally forced her to give her personal reasons.

I think there was a very telling acknowledgement by Chase and company in ep 4 of exactly this ethical dilemma. When Melfi growls that Tony?s letter still fundamentally blamed HER for his cursing her out, Elliot gives a rare look of distinct disagreement or disapproval. He doesn?t say it, but you can almost read his mind: ?Jennifer, what do you expect when you suddenly tell a guy that?s grown to trust and even love you after four years of kid glove treatment that you think he lacks the capacity to love and respect other people?? Elliot obviously disapproves, on a professional level, of how Melfi handled the rejection and understands that her honesty was just a tad provocative.

Moreover, a supposed expert on sexual boundaries in therapeutic relationships was quoted in this article, saying that a therapist with a sexual attraction to a patient may often feel anger toward the patient because of the attraction. Such a therapist has to be careful not to push the patient away or otherwise exhibit belligerence because of the unacknowledged and unfulfilled sexual desire.

What I saw from Melfi in the 4th ep seemed to fit perfectly with this manifestation of anger. She STILL hasn?t been candid with Elliot (or herself, really) about her attraction to Tony. She never told him about the dream. She lied to him when he asked early in season 2 if she was sexually attracted to Tony and gave a grudging, minimized account in ep 1 that ?at first I found him a little sexy?. But she wasn?t truthful with Elliot about why she ?had to let Tony down easily?. She let Elliot think it was all out of fear about how Tony would handle rejection when a big part of it was her own inability to look Tony in the eye and tell him that she didn?t find him attractive. Which would?ve been kinda hard to do when she?d just dreamed she was grinding on top of him.

So I read her nastiness as growing from her frustration and disappointment in herself that she actually LIKES this illiterate thug and would secretly love to roll in the sack with him. Her need to humiliate Tony in Elliot?s eyes seemed a more urgent way of lying about and disclaiming that desire. And I also think she feels guilty, in a professional, ethical sense, for speaking so judgmentally to Tony. So the Tony put downs and dismissive claim that his "apology" essentially blamed HER seemed like Melfi hoping for some kind of professional reassurance from Elliot, which never came.

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flyonm elfiswall>FlyOnMelfisWall</A> at: 3/30/04 2:15 am

[Soda drink]

I'll just say this in Tony's defense - Tony is one of the smartest )if not THEE smartest) in HIS world. In his world, learning how to spell correctly and using correct grammar and using big words don't mean squat sh-t in HIS world. Whereas with Melfi knowing these things are important to her-NOT to Tony.

Melfi would crumble in his world, as would most likely Tony in hers (ours).

So don't take her criticism to heart, we know Tony is a very well-educated, if they gave degrees in the Mafia - Tony wouldn't have enough room in his wall to hang all his PH.D's

</p>

[badabing187]

You guys also notice when Carmella is on that date with Weggler, he says something that Carmella TRIES to write down but she gives him a look and a smile like she didnt know how to even spell the word. I hafta rewatch the episode to catch what she is writing down. She knows that he is WAY out of her league and she is also like Tony in that she is smart when it comes to 'her' world, like scamming money from Tony.
More to show that these two were meant for eachother and might get back together.

</p>

[bishop null]

I thought it was interesting the way Carmella tried to keep up with Weggler in their conversation as well. She thinks she would really like to be with a man who is like that. Whether she woulds actually like it if she tried is another thing and maybe one that we will find out this season.

Also, Flyomelfiswall's description of the complexities of Melfi's scene with Elliot seems right on to me.

I truly admire the layers and layers that go into the scene of this series very much. Like the review on one of the dvd boxes says, The more you look, they more you see.



</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>So don't take her criticism to heart, we know Tony is a very well-educated, if they gave degrees in the Mafia - Tony wouldn't have enough room in his wall to hang all his PH.D's <hr></blockquote>

OMG, soda that is classic, LMAO!! Very well said, and of course I agree with you.

There are many kinds of intelligence (I think psychologists now classify 7 types -- spacial, analytical, verbal, social, etc.) However lacking in verbal intelligence and education, Tony is definitely smart in some respects, and I think Melfi knows this. She was only making fun of him because she can't handle her attraction to him and was perhaps a little too hurt by him calling her the "c" word.

</p>

[Bucky Aprile]

I dont remember all the exact wording of the letter, but I thought it was a little too stupid to be from Tony. I hope the shows producers are not going to make him into a Homer Simpson like buffoon. That letter sounded like something little Carmine might send, and Tony is way more literate than that dummy. When he is struggling with his emotions Tony often uses complicated words incorrectly, but that letter seemed over the top. TS has never displayed the total disdain for education that his mob friends show. I think he knows its "managed", not "manuged".

</p>

[jgants]

Read "Way of the Wiseguy" by Joe Pistone. There's a chapter where he talks about how bad the mob guys mangle the English language. Part of it is bad education, part is just the way they talk (dialect/slang - like Ebonics).

</p>

[spbrew]

What is Tony's educational background? Was it diploma and done? Did he even receive his high school diploma?

Perhaps somebody with the Sopranos Family History (I don?t know the actual title) book knows these answers.


</p>

[ObservingEgo]

Jennifer's ridicule of Tony's letter is her own psychological attempt at disowning that part of her that is attracted to him. It speaks to her own ego defense mechanism triggered by the complexities of her unresolved countertransference in her treatment of T. In her ongoing peer supervisory sessions (Or, are they her personal psychotherapy sessions? I am not sure.) with Elliott we see this nagging theme endure...it remains the central theme of her own sessions. She is attracted to Tony...an attraction that at some level she both loves and hates.

At the same time, I also notice Elliott's counter-countertranference in regard to the Tony-Jennifer thing. I sense his own jealousy and possessiveness issues (of Jennifer), of course couched in intellectual rebuttal and therapeutic confrontation.

</p>

[Luban]

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>What is Tony's educational background? Was it diploma and done? Did he even receive his high school diploma?<hr></blockquote>From the HBO site:
www.hbo.com/sopranos/fbif...rano.shtml (http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/fbifiles/tony_soprano.shtml)
<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Tony attended two and a half semesters at Seton Hall University and then dropped out to join the family business. <hr></blockquote>ETA: But he never had the makings of a varsity athlete.

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luban>Luban</A> at: 3/30/04 12:13 pm

[spbrew]

I see, I though Junior was referring to high school, which is why I didn't understand Tony's response re: the guys from Seton hall being "7-feet tall".

</p>

[SofiaGiovanna]

The crux of it for me was this: in her previous sessions with E., Melfi has never really said anything that she REALLY wouldn't have wanted to say in front of Tony.

Would she have mocked him in this way--or anything close to mocking him in this way--to his face? No.

This suggests to me that there is something reassuring to her about being the object of his attention, and not just in terms of the Barone sanitation business. Remember during Employee of the Month, what she relished was the fact that if she wanted to, she had this man at her beck and call that would positively annihilate any enemy of hers. It also makes sense that this woman would relish the fact that this enormously powerful man, a man who is surrounded by all kinds of women, wants HER. In some ways, Tony's a type of safety net for her--her makes her feel safe, smart and sexy.

</p>

[IlGato]

She wasn't certain what to write down when he gave her the name of the author of "Madame Bovary," Gustave Flaubert.

</p>

[spbrew]

We'll probably see her in the next show "trying" to read that book.

</p>

[NYY21]

I thought the letter from Tony was a bit overdone... maybe if the letter had been written by AJ or Little Carmine or even Christopher(who thought the Cuban Missile Crisis was just from a movie in the "Pine Barrens" ep.) you could expect grammar like that, but I've always thought Tony was a bit more educated than that. That scene did provide an interesting contrast though with Tony's solution for getting Feech out of the picture without having to whack him and risk the fallout- He may not have Melfi's "book smarts" but he can more than hold his own when it comes to "street smarts"!

</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Jennifer's ridicule of Tony's letter is her own psychological attempt at disowning that part of her that is attracted to him.<hr></blockquote>

OE, you hit the nail on the head, and in about 5 less paragraphs than it took me.:-)

Since it's pretty clear you are involved in the psychiatric field, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how Melfi ultimately handled Tony's advances in ep 1. The article I mentioned above featured a LOT of professional criticisms of her by real therapists.

It seemed to me that part of Jennifer's anger and demonstrative ridicule with the letter was because at some level she agreed with those critics and felt she had probably gone too far into the realm of judgment than was necessary, had indulged her own need to purge those pent-up thoughts and feelings to Tony's face.

My own view is that Tony practically forced her to reveal what it was about him personally that she found repugnant. In his own words, he'd become "half" a stalker, was calling and showing up at her office and bribing her with increasingly sensational gifts and offers. Given his history of extreme physical intimidation of her twice before, and her own rape for that matter, she was right to be a little wary about how this pattern could escalate if it continued.

He repeatedly broached the issue of whether something about him "personally" was off-putting to her, and I submit he knew what it was, deep down, before he asked. In visit #1, Tony #1 calmly assures her that he only wants her honesty and invites her to tell him if she doesn?t like him personally or is merely turned off by cosmetic things like his face and body. Even after she admits that she "likes" him and without any other expression of disapproval, he ends that encounter by essentially telling her to ?forget? that Tony Soprano makes his living by extortion, theft, gambling, and usury, backed up by frequent assaults and occasional murders. He wants her to see the ?other? Tony, clearly an acknowledgement by him of what the barrier to their relationship really is. In visit #2, as Tony #2 is starting to take over, HE pushes the issue beyond the legitimate ethical impediments Melfi articulates. With his volcanic temper bubbling underneath the surface, he relentlessly presses her with his ?help me understand? and ?like what? questions and false assurances that ?it?s okay? for her to be truthful.

Frankly, I believe Tony?s transparently doomed attempt to romance her was partly an unconscious effort to force a crisis of self-examination that he has thus far avoided at every turn. On some level, he WANTED to hear what she told him. And it?s certainly something he NEEDED to hear if he?s ever going to change for the better (which I?d argue may have already started to happen as the result of her candor).

I have only two minor criticisms of how Melfi handled it. First, she could have made a lot more mileage out of the very legitimate ethical concerns. Tony's "Dr. Phil" citation and Elliot?s short shrift notwithstanding, my Internet research indicates that sexual contact with former patients is, by the guidelines of major psychiatric associations and the applicable professional ethics rules in all states, uniformly discouraged. One association and a couple of states flat out prohibit it. So she would at the very least likely injure her reputation among her peers.

Second, if she was more concerned with making sure the door to therapy could remain open than with venting, she should have softened the blows just a tad more, leaving it at, ?I can?t be in a personal relationship with someone who steals and uses violence to make a living.? That would have hurt less than her remark about him not ?respecting? people, which he interpreted as an indictment that he was incapable of love.


</p>

[Vesuvio]

Many of you have shared a lot of insightful comments about Tony's letter, and I agree with a lot of them.

I agree that Melfi is not an intellectual snob, and normally would not pick apart Tony's grammar for the fun of it. I think she did it to convince herself that the two of them can never be together because they really are from two different worlds (as someone mentioned). On that note, I think she also tried to reinforce to Elliot that her feelings for Tony were just in passing and have now gone away.

Finally, there is some merit to whether DC was trying to show the flaws of the typical mobster (such as bad grammar and spelling). Then again, he had a purpose for having Melfi be the one who did the criticizing; it would have been more natural for the FBI to chuckle over his bad use of language on one of their tapes of him.

</p>

[ObservingEgo]

Fly, I have no idea how Dr. Melfi's interventions are being critiqued by real life mental health professionals these days since Glen Gabbard and Company folded their collective tents. But, per your request, these are my reactions to her intervention(s) in Episode One of Season Five:

In all mental health disciplines there are ethical prohibitions against social/dual/sexual relationships with patients. Violations of these kinds are the most frequent cause for loss of license. Dr. Melfi knows/honors this all too well. The simplest, most direct and least complicated response to Tony's ongoing pursuit of her would be a simple, " I do not date my patients." Again, "I do not date my patients." Although she knows that this clear and neutral response would send the least ambivalent message, she demurs. Why? She (subconsciously, mind you) does not want to be "Love's Executioner" in her own dynamic with Tony. Instead, she responds with an unclear and overly intellectual "explanation," leaving Tony with many loopholes and openings (that essentially only encourage further challenges). She knows that his is an antisocial character organization. Inherent is this personality type is the penchant for finding the loopholes and exceptions to the rules. In taking a chance by offering Tony the intellectual response, as opposed a tighter unequivocal response, she erred, and we all witnessed his narcissistic wounding with subsequent rage and explosion. Also, she lost control of the therapeutic frame.

Now...do I think less of Melfi clinically? No, I do not. These complicated transference-countertransference issues do occur, and they are painful. We are reminded that therapy is not an exact science; nor is it without its complications for the clinician. Although she is a beautiful and sensual woman in her prime, Melfi lives alone and, moreover, sleeps alone. The men in her personal life are cerebral as opposed to primal. She cannot allow herself to emphatically close the door on Tony's pursuits, because to do so would dim the possibility of the realization of "the" fantasy.

Yes, I agree, Tony is in a love crisis. I like that conceptualization.

</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

ObservingEgo, thank you for that fascinating, incredibly insightful post! I'm archiving it for future reference offline.<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

Do you think that Melfi's ability to honestly rely on ethical grounds for not dating Tony was severely impaired by the simple fact that Tony is now a former patient? It seemed that on the phone with him she came close to the unequivocal response you proffered. I think she said, "that's very thoughtful of you, but because of our prior clinical relationship, I just can't do it". Is it your opinion that that was still not adequate because it placed responsibility for the refusal onto extrinsic factors rather than on a strict personal policy? Or did the wording make the refusal sound a tad reluctant?

I noticed they cut to a closeup of her when Tony told her he had seen Dr. Phil on television, LOL, and a sudden look of distress came across her face, like she knew she couldn't bluff him anymore about absolute ethical prohibitions in their circumstances.

I couldn't find any posts from you in the Two Tonys forum, perhaps because that ep aired before you started posting. But I had some difficulty interpreting Melfi's sex dream. The specific post referencing this is stamped (3/8/04 4:29 pm) on this page:

pub132.ezboard.com/fsopra...ID=6.topic (http://pub132.ezboard.com/fsopranolandforumfrm31.showMessage?topicID=6.topic )

If you have any insights regarding the questions raised about the dream in that thread, I'd be delighted to read them.

Oh, and regarding the Gabbard-led Slate discussions. I actually emailed Glen Gabbard right before ep 1 because I hadn't seen any indication at Slate that he would be returning. He told me they had never contacted him about resuming the discussion for season 5, and the day after ep 1 aired I realized that that was because they'd replaced the shrinks with mob writers. Geez! Of all the times to change THAT.


</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flyonm elfiswall>FlyOnMelfisWall</A> at: 3/31/04 4:33 am

[retibro]

imo, melfi reading the letter and hanging onto every mistake is out of character. she has never rediculed any1 including tony in any previous episode but rather frowned at the topic. i think it was a scene used to bring humor and portray a fact about mobsters: they are not well educated.

</p>

[SofiaGiovanna]

Perhaps Melfi and Tony are at least slightly codependent or have a codependent-narcissistic relationship? Clinically speaking, he could have and should have moved on to a behaviorist in season three. She wouldn't let him. They're clinging on to each other in a way, aren't they? Which makes for great television, of course...<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D">

some interesting links if you're bored silly and have nothing better to do than cruise the net (like me at 8am)

www.recovery-man.com/coda...ndency.htm (http://www.recovery-man.com/coda/codependency.htm)

www.allaboutcounseling.co...ndency.htm (http://www.allaboutcounseling.com/codependency.htm)

samvak.tripod.com/faq66.html (http://samvak.tripod.com/faq66.html)

sofia





</p>

[bishop null]

>>>>imo, melfi reading the letter and hanging onto every mistake is out of character. she has never rediculed any1 including tony


While I agree that in part that Melfi's ridicule of Tony's note was to address her own turmoil via the fascination/revulsion she feels toward him, I think it's overstating it to suggest that because we've never see her make fun of his lack of education before that this is a totally new thing for her.

That is, usually we see her in therapy sessions with Tony where it would be completely inappropriate to display signs that she notices or is amused by his numerous malapropisms. Furthermore although we haven't see her make fun of Tony before to Elliot, this is I believe, the first time he's written a substantial document to her, and I think it's much easier to critique a written letter than comments made verbally.

In many ways, we still don't know how she feels about Tony other than that she continues to care about him and treat him when most people would have long since given up. Dreams aside, I don't necessarily think this means she really has strong desires for him. I think she knows how poisonous he would be for her and, despite his own misgivings about *some* of his behavior, how truly unabashedly horrible he is. Perhaps Tony is approaching a "love crisis" as FOMW suggests but after all the things that Tony did in season four, I have a hard time feeling the same sympathy for him as I once did. Melfi still hopes she can help him.

I guess we will find out by the end of season six if she can.


</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>I think it's overstating it to suggest that because we've never see her make fun of his lack of education before that this is a totally new thing for her.<hr></blockquote>

bishop null, I certainly agree that we can't always make correct inferences about offscreen character behavior merely from what we've seen onscreen. We only see 13 hours of these peoples' lives every 18 months, and very little of that 13 hours is devoted to Melfi's life. I also agree generally that many, MANY people in Melfi's position would enjoy laughs about his ignorance in private or amongst their own peer group for the simple reason that most people are always looking for ways to feel superior to others.

But we were specifically shown a sequence in season 1's A Hit is a Hit that I think shows Melfi's discomfort with elitism of any sort. She squirms when Tony is referred to as "the neighbor with no neck". And when Jean Cusamano laughingly ridicules the lack of class or taste reflected in the "goombah marano glass" in the Soprano home, Melfi soberly fires what came across as a missle in that crowd: "I like marano glass." The air immediately went out of the room as furtive glances were exchanged in the awkward silence.

In addition, even though she would not obviously betray any amusement in front of Tony, there are several ways that the writers and directors could communicate such to the audience, were that part of their character concept for Melfi, starting with something as simple and suggestive as a closeup (reaction shot) after he issues one of his infinite malapropisms. But I can't think of a single scene offhand where that occurs. (Someone help me if I'm wrong.) Whether he's quoting "the Reverend Rodney King, Jr." or comparing Gloria's eyes to those of a Spanish princess in a "Goyem", the scripts and direction never use techniques to show that she is secretly amused by his lack of education or knowledge or pretensions in that direction.

Even her snarky reading of the letter to Elliot came off entirely, IMO, as ridicule out of anger and not out of elitism. She never laughed. Her demeanor was stern and hostile throughout.

Then there's the fact that she's allowed herself to stay embroiled with someone like Tony for years in the first place when her colleagues (3 of them total) have repeatedly made the point that it's professionally futile and personally crazy to do so. So something in that conduct alone shows her to be very different, in some fundamental way, from her nominal peers . . . less willing to condemn, more willing to salvage the good in something, which are traits in themselves not terribly consistent with elitism.

So I really think the ridicule was very uncharacteristic of her and not similar in motivation to the examples of intellectual ridicule you cited earlier.

</p>

[bishop null]

Fly, you make a good argument that the motivation for this exchange with Elliot was motivated by her own anger not simple elitist humor.

I hope this is something that they follow up on this season. In my opinion it is unfortunate that the writers have seemed to have a hard time keeping the Melfi/Tony relationship as central to the series as it was in seasons 1-2. Hopefully when Tony inevitably returns to therapy these new aspects will be further explored.

The first season in particular to me was largely about how Tony sees and is seen by three women: Livia, Melfi and Carmella. With Livia gone and Melfi sidelined for most of season four, only Carmella remained as prominent in the drama. I thought it was the inclusion of Melfi back into the central tension in the series that made "Two Tonys" so exciting. The series is always good but it only really feels like a complete Sopranos experience with Tony in the chair in Melfi's office.



</p>

[FlyOnMelfisWall]

BN, I totally agree with everything you stated about Melfi's importance to the series. Her relative absence in season 4 was also one of my few laments about that season, even if I think it was quite justifiable in terms of realism and the fact that it mirrored Tony's growing disinterest in therapy.

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandforum.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flyonm elfiswall>FlyOnMelfisWall</A> at: 3/31/04 4:29 pm