u/Ok-Scene-1317

The more I rewatch the Sopranos, the more it seems to me like the Mafia version of Seinfeld, a show about nothing. We follow characters expecting a big arc, growth or showdown when in the end nothing happens.

For example, we never see AJ grow or evolve; he only goes down dead ends. Richie Apriele is presented as someone ready to have a final showdown with Tony, only to get shot by Janice in a domestic dispute. Christopher is always fucking up things; his last moment is him having a car crash.

AJ seemed to personify the millennial existential doom as he could not seem to find his way or calling in life. Would he have found himself in his adulthood?

If we are talking about his depression, then probably yes as he seemed to overcome his parental issues.

If we are talking about his sociopathy, then obviously no. Although Tony never saw a problem with it, so he never bothered to fix it despite Melfi’s attempts to do so.

Yes I know the whole history of Gus and the cartel, but it seems stupid they would employ him after shooting his business partner/lover in front of him. No matter how much he may hide his feelings, someone should have known that at some point, Gus would take revenge for what happened. That he is calculating means he would just plan it out long term.

I drift my eyes
I let myself haze
In the Desert of the Real

Actions are active
Let them flow through you
Let them be blowing
Let them bend you

There are no pauses 

Temporality 
The Flow of Time

Some see me handsome
Patient and wise —
Let that feeling help
Your wishes, your woes

Others will see ugliness 
Let that blur vision
You stretch and abuse
Be shorn as a ruse

I am part of the Whole
Among those with roles
Who brings a new expanse 
With many-masks, one-face

It seems that before Furio, Carmela understood the implicit tradeoff to being a mafia wife. In exchange for money, power and status, she would have to tolerate Tony having goomah’s on the side. She seemed happy or thought she was.

After her dalliance with Furio, she realized that she could be loved and entitled to a certain respect. She also probably saw how ugly Tony was compared to the relatively cultured and exotic foreigner.

That’s why any instance of cheating afterwards by Tony was so intolerable. She knew a new side of herself and resented Tony for not allowing her to reach it.

Some see me handsome
Patient and wise —
Let that feeling help
Your wishes, your woes

Others will see ugliness
Let that blur vision
You stretch and abuse
Be shorn as a ruse

I am part of the Whole
Among those with roles
Who brings a new expanse
With many-masks, one-face

I drift my eyes
I let myself haze
In the Desert of the Real

Actions are active
Let them flow through you
Let them be blowing
Let them bend you

There are no pauses

Temporality
The Flow of Time

Tony makes comments that he has a 136 IQ and from the way he gets respect early on in leading the family, it would seem so. However, overall, I get the impression he is not really intelligent and his success is more about “street smarts”, which any mafioso can have.

For example, an obvious indication is when he says he dropped out of Seton Hall after a year, his hilarious misspellings in his letter to Dr Melfi (foul spelled as fowl), various malapropisms, etc. Realistically it’s him becoming more greedy, more selfish, etc. without any large strategic goals or how he might be perceived by his crew. For example, if he was smart, he would make sure to placate Carlo instead of insulting him towards the end, thus causing him to turn state evidence.

I grew up with diagnosed autism when I was 4. I later was said to be ADHD given my interest in so many things. I also had to deal with an abusive family (mainly my father though my mom enabled him at times to preserve the facade of family). I was severely bullied in high school (rich suburban high school) and in college. People would gossip that I would shoot up the place one day.

Despite all that, I got a Masters degree in computer engineering and became a data scientist. I now work as a senior data scientist at a major company, have a wonderful gf, and have a good life now. AMA.

A year ago, an older person approached me and asked me: “What is the meaning of life?” After we became friends, she told me of a psychology group that she was part of. I met the organizer and after some back and forth I agreed to join. They called the group “School” and said that it promoted a “second education”. They claimed these groups had been around for centuries and were the transmission of esoteric knowledge for a select few while the ignorant masses were “sleeping humanity”.

I had fun for a year reading and discussing psychology, philosophy and spirituality. The crux of the group was the “5 week aim”, where we would state an aim, like artwork, poetry, cleaning, etc. and do it within 5 weeks. I personally was given a person who I would call three times a week as he would help me with my work in fulfilling my aims. There was some disquieting things though like keeping silence before and after our meetings, having to cover our books, etc. The group members also made kooky claims like the Founding Fathers being part of a “school” along with Shakespeare, etc. We were not even allowed to tell our spouses what we did in the group. Being nosy, I couldn’t help but research the people who were in it and I found out that the leaders were married to each other.

Further research led me to see that this group was the Odyssey Study, a cult organization started by Sharon Gans in the 1970’s in San Francisco. The group had a history of child abuse and abuse of cult members that was exposed by the newspapers, so they closed shop and moved to the east coast. Further research showed a history of controlling behavior, use of cult members for construction projects where many were unqualified for, pocketing of tax free money through “tuition fees”, isolation of outsiders, forced marriages and divorces, etc. Blog posts by formers members showed that the cult seduced people for the first year or two with love bombing, after which they started to demand more time with threats of ostracism, use of manipulation, etc. The people we worked with turned out to be sharing our information with the group despite promising it was confidential, using such information to manipulate us and making us believe they were all knowing.

I have an IQ of 152 and was brought up by an abusive family. I also was severely bullied in high school and college. I’ve only just been able now to feel my full potential after creating my own life. AMA.