Tony Soprano’s Most Significant Therapy Sessions (And Why!)

[@thatpart]

"Depression is rage turned inward" stuck with me from the first time I heard it in the show. It also really helped me accomplish a breakthrough in my own therapy. Amazing how a random bit of show dialogue can do that.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@thatpart It’s so very true about the dialogue. The way they’re able to articulate and put into words a feeling or an idea that we may not have put into words but that deeply resonates with us.

[@NotQuiteFirst]

David Chase had plenty of therapy. Melfi was based on/inspired by one of his therapists. That line/insight is likely something that his therapist told him.

[@thatpart]

@@SopranosBlueprint That's a great way of putting it. It's kind of random, the stuff that "sticks" along the way.

[@thatpart]

@@NotQuiteFirst Oh, nice! That's awesome. This is also reminding me that I need to read The Soprano Sessions

[@NotQuiteFirst]

@@thatpart I'm currently about to finish it, would certainly recommend!

[@gabbyhyman1246]

You rock, as always. I was really taken by how young Gandolfini looks in the early sessions compared to the bloated, spent guy he was at the end. In this compilation of yours, I was really struck by Tony's effort to comfort her after the rape. He stands and takes halting steps toward her. Incredible given his violently getting in her face after she spelled out his mothers borderline personality. It remains an enigma whether Tony was capable of genuine compassion. Btw, they did a great job of casting the young Livvy.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@schrisdellopoulos9244]

Good insights, but I know these men. I grew up with them, and some other things. Anyway, maybe it's that he has empathy or compassion towards Dr. Melfi, as much as he sees his self-definition as a protector of women & children. Tony sees himself as the aggressive dog defending Melfi just as much as she does in her dream. This is, of course, part of his hypocrisy because he causes pain for anyone, including women and children. (Children by being without a parent because of organized crime.) In the end, it's not an enigma whether Tony is capable of genuine compassion. He is not capable.

[@gabbyhyman1246]

@@schrisdellopoulos9244 Thank you. 👏 👏 👏

[@KRS2000]

The one session I liked was when he finally came clean about what happened to him the night he was supposed to be with Tony B. He was in the stages of a panic attack, and he tried brushing it off as indigestion, and then he just let it all out that he had a panic attack and passed out. The other one I liked was when he was talking about AJ after his suicide attempt. How a parent would switch places with their child when they're sick so the child wouldn't have to be.

[@davidmajer3652]

This episode is like orange juice concentrate. It is taking the pain of seven seasons and concentrating them into 12 minutes. Orange juice is easy to drink, but the concentrate is too intense. That was one serious concentration of pain. These scenes, while entertaining over several hours, are quite intense taken in one dose. But it was worth watching, and to paraphrase the Dude, your video really tied the Series together.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@davidmajer3652 Thank you for the comment, as always🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 Re: OJ, you mean you like it with SHUM CONCENTRATE?? 😉😆

[@elvisprez6005]

@@SopranosBlueprint Either way, he's no less of a running=back

[@TheBoss-pb1gd]

Brilliant show. Watched most of it live when it aired being half italian myself half of my family lived for this masterpiece. Im watching it again for the 20th time. Find new things every single watch through.

[@brnrik500]

Great video!! It’s nice there are other Soprano’s fans out there, but these videos take it to a whole new level!👍👏

[@SopranosBlueprint]

Thank you so much!! That really means a lot 🙏🏼 so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@therodentryresistance95]

I like the Jimmy Smash one, not only because it's a very funny scene but also because it seems that Dr Melfi realizes right there that Tony is the same bully he was when he was a teenager and that he most likely would never change, you can see the disappointment in her face at the end😅. I also like the one where Dr Melfi tells old people are like children, and that sometimes they have to have the illusion of being in control. Then Tony proceeds to manipulate Junior so that he can have a lightning rod. Very cool too

[@SopranosBlueprint]

Those are two great ones for sure! Re: Jimmy Smash, I felt really badly when Tony mentioned that he went home and cried himself to sleep every night. 🙁

[@danieljohnson2005]

What are you talking about? Tony didn’t show that he’s still a bully and I never saw disappointment in her face. Tony showed real remorse when he talked about Jimmy going home and crying himself to sleep every night. You could see it in his face and how he talked about it, he felt bad about what he did.

[@sbu_englishclub]

“I want your skin” ah yes the classic pickup line, can’t believe Melfi didn’t go for it

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@sbu_englishclub 😂😂😂 He sounded a bit like “Hannibal Lecture” there for a moment…

[@johnclay2716]

There are alot of women in the world that line would work on sadly

[@psychobiddy]

The one where he admits that on the night Tony B. got arrested he was having a panic attack and that's why he wasn't there with him and he'd been lying to everyone (including himself) for 15 years that he'd gotten jumped. That was probably the first time he said that huge thing that was weighing heavily on him for so long out loud and it was very powerful.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

Yes!!! I’m so annoyed with myself because I had that one included and then I took it out because I thought I’d gone over 10 and turns out it was actually at 10 so that’s why there are only nine 😂😂😂

[@thatpart]

This was my favorite moment in their therapy sessions, save the very last one.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@thatpart I think I’m gonna have to do a separate video touching on that session because it really was an important one and also another example of Livia’s influence on Tony’s life (though ironically, in that instance, perhaps it was better he ended up missing the job to avoid prison).

[@casualblogger3810]

Absolutely love your content and your thoughts are always interesting. It’s nice to see someone deeply explore the themes of Sopranos and how relevant it still is today. The show left a huge impact on me and still remains my favorite one over the years. There’s something comforting about it for me. The dialogue, rich character work, emotional impact, hilarious dark comedy, oh it’s beautiful.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@casualblogger3810 Thank you so much. That really means a lot to me, and I can tell through your words just how much you “get it” - you summed it up so well with “The dialogue, rich character work, emotional impact, hilarious dark comedy” 💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 Thanks again 😃😃

[@PicaPauDiablo1]

This was amazing girl

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@PicaPauDiablo1 😊😊Thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼 So glad you enjoyed it!

[@TooLooze]

Melfi was the weakest character in the series. She saw Tony as just one more psycho under her subspecies. She was not very observant, sacred, or propane. Thanks, Blue, you nailed it again.

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@TooLooze “What part of the boot you from, hun?” 😎❤️😜

[@JamesDomenicoGrabban81]

I have mixed feelings about therapy; it's not for me, but if it helps others, so be it. I always thought the natural ending for the show was Tony having Melfi killed for exposing the weak, emotional, and vulnerable side of his personality. I guess David Chase couldn't bring himself to write it.

[@Gigibaby88]

That would be a horrific ending IMO. I don't mean that to insult your idea, I just mean I would be personally horrified having to watch that! Melfi is one of my favorite characters 😢

[@johnclay2716]

You can’t be serious

[@JamesDomenicoGrabban81]

Almost always.

[@ooodIbooo]

Since the ducks left xD

[@SopranosBlueprint]

Here we go, here comes the Prozac!

[@davemoss9505]

Nice choice for the young Livia

[@elvisprez6005]

What is it T says? Something about mothers are the vehicle that get us here, drop us orf - but the problem is we keep trying to get back on the bus. Maybe that's the problem. We keep trying to look for a root cause of our demeanour (the search for this cause being therapy's essence, maybe), like our upbringing, etc.: but maybe there is none. Maybe you get dropped orf, and from then on its a trip of sorts. A pretty beautiful one at that, some may argue. Maybe the search ("therapy") for a problem, a cause, paradoxically makes one manifest. T trook shrooms to come up on this theory, but what the fup do I know?

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@elvisprez6005 That’s another great session. When he says “I saw, for pretty certain, that this…everything we see and experience…is not all there is,” it’s a very powerful moment, indeed, along with everything you mentioned in your comment. 💯

[@Gigibaby88]

I'm pretty sure the mother/bus theory was before he took shrooms. It's in an earlier season if I'm not mistaken.

[@tcwilson815]

Tony know he was out of order when he tried to make out w Dr Melfi 😂 im surprised she let him get that close

[@SopranosBlueprint]

@@tcwilson815 I was, too! She was (admittedly) attracted to him and also perhaps intimidated based on how he’d gotten really aggressive with her in the past while up close and personal.

[@jamesmorant1406]

Tony got worse as the series went on he was never gonna change Dr Melfi finally saw that at the end thats why she dropped him as a patient

[@Jasonification2]

nice but i like the dream one wbere he saya hes murdered friends

[@theodorebelmont7922]

To be honest I don't think the Sopranos needed Dr. Melfi on the show. Maybe for season 1, but after that she was kinda useless waste of TV time.

[@bilalashraf1611]

Nah, she was pivotal to helping Tony understand himself and the world better. She introduced him to the art of war. She was a bit thrilled in the beginning of it, but was ultimately disgusted with him by the end. Basically, she’s there to show the audience how one gets charmed by a sociopath. She blurred the lines between therapist and patient a lot, but so did Tony. She wasn’t perfect but she wasn’t completely a wasted character.

[@bilalashraf1611]

Also, she was one of the only women Tony wasn’t able to seduce

[@behzadshariati1297]

You gotta look at the “character arc” in the words of Chrissy boy. They both started the therapy relationship in good faith, but slowly Tony started to exploit Melfi. After her tragic event, MELFI started to exploit Tony. At that point, the relationship became corrupted, like EVERYTHING else that Tony touched. It was only after she was mocked by her colleagues that Dr. Melfi dismissed Tony. He outlived his usefulness to her and she ruthlessly disposed him. You could truly see what a jaded, bitter character Dr. Melfi became in that last therapy session. It was the complete opposite of the warm, caring healthcare provider we saw in Ep 1. If you think about it, Dr. Melfi made a Heisenberg-level transformation before there was ever a Heisenberg.

[@bilalashraf1611]

@@behzadshariati1297 I think Melfi was always a little corrupt, maybe naive in the beginning. She was infatuated with Tony and saw him more as an “I can fix him” type. But after she saw him for what he was, and like you said, outlived his “usefulness” to her by getting her mocked by her colleagues, she drops him. She would act all morally superior to him when she was kinda just as immature and childish in her own way. She should’ve recommended him other therapists once her feelings started getting involved, though I guess they always were to an extent.

[@Gigibaby88]

​@bilalashraf1611 she was one of my favorite characters actually for all the reasons you list & how even though she does keep her ethical boundaries with him in more than one way, she really struggles with both her attraction to him, her semi addiction to him in a way & her repulsion of him. And I think seeing him in therapy is both fascinating and imperative.

[@Gigibaby88]

Really enjoyed your video. Melfi is one of my favorite characters & I'm absolutely fascinated with both her and Tony's actual sessions and also seeing how much having him as a patient effects her personal life.

[@schrisdellopoulos9244]

Affects, not effects. The former is a verb, the latter a noun.

[@thisgirlisoverit]

@@schrisdellopoulos9244no one cares