Chasing It

Like others have reviewed, the shaky cam here is much more obvious than it has ever been in other episodes. And while I'm not a hater of the handheld style of cinematography, it unfortunately sticks out in The Sopranos. If you remove the "prestige" and history of the show's techniques used during filming, the cinematography is NOT BAD. The issue is that it really doesn't mesh well with the rest of the series. It makes it feel very different. As if it was warning that the shows that would be made 2 decades later would all more or less end up using this style of camera work. I Can respect the creative decision but criticize the use throughout the entire episode.

In Season Five, Tony was shown gambling in one episode as an attempt to get over Carmela. The sixteenth show of Season Six, Chasing It, returns to that territory in an effort to prove Tony is precisely as flawed as the people (Chris, Bobby, Paulie) he's considered killing in the past few eps. And the effort works.

While hanging out on business with the rest of the crew, Tony keeps playing roulette, confident that his newfound luck won't desert him. The theory is proved to be untrue, as he immediately has to deal with a new problem: Vito Spatafore's widow, Marie, wants to move away from Jersey so that her son Vito Jr. won't be bullied anymore. As it turns out, the kid has become a little monster: he dresses like a Marilyn Manson fan, gets in fights and even vandalizes cemeteries. Only a joined effort on behalf of Tony and Phil can solve the matter for the best.

Chasing It is a rather low key episode, but that doesn't mean it's any less satisfying than others: the lack of meaningful plot developments is compensated by the ever quotable dialogue and the usual solemn acting, especially a fine double act between Gandolfini and Frank Vincent, which is more than enough to prevent the series from slipping into the "average" zone.

Tony's gambling starts to affect his relationships with various other characters.

This is a difficult but very well made episode with interesting character moments.

There is one aspects of the plot that feels contrived and it's the issue of Tony's gambling problem. It comes relatively out of left field to cause problems for all around him. The writers, filmmakers and James Gandolfini do a fantastic job of showing a character self-destructing. Some aspects were set up nicely in the previous three episodes, but it feels here like he's dropped off a cliff towards rock bottom. All that said, even when character development feels slightly forced, The Sopranos does it incredibly well.

To get the most out of 'Chasing It' you need an interest in the Vito Junior subplot. It can feel like time-passing in moments, but I think it's important to see the fallout from a character's death and the impact it has on families. The writers do it with good character interactions and address issues like tough love camps.

All actors are excellent as always, especially Edie Falco, Jerry Adler, Frank Vincent, and Brandon Hannan.

Visually it's an uncomfortable watch, particularly the handheld cinematography, close up and one gross out moment. As ever though, the story is told very well by the camera.

My main point in commenting on this episode was a previous poster who wondered why Tony just suddenly started gambling "de novo". David Chase doesn't just pull these plot lines out his arse. As a fan of the series I noticed in Season 5, after Tony and Carm had split, Tony was hanging out at the Bing a lot and there were scenes of him on the phone betting on games. His life started to spin out of control since he didn't have Carm as his anchor--he started gambling, he was doing coke and nearly slept with Adrianna. So trust me, I get paid the big bucks on my job to pay attention to the small details---Tony started gambling heavily in Season 5.

Like I'm watching season 1, the actors make mistakes all of the time, the director is cutting the camera angle at the wrong moments and all is glued at the worst moments possible when the transition is not matching. The changed the Antony's character like they want some quick end of this 6 season soap drama. Gambling addiction? That simple huh? How about the other characters, why Paulie is not planning something, Chris not being addicted anymore? His psychiatrist use to be a major part, even she had her own crisis, now she is okay with him stopping coming? You can tell the writers just want to wrap this up with the lowest effort possible.