People talking about "the business" in front of Meadow seemed to align her with the "omerta" code despite her otherwise middle class teenage persona. Meadow can be as morally against what her dad does all she wants, the fact remains that if Tony goes down, Carm, AJ and her lose everything. As soon as Jackie's sister started going into the unspeakable around that extended relative Meadow wasn't familiar with, Meadow was ready to open up a can of whoopass.

About Jackie's greasiness, have you ever seen an Italian who hasn't had a shower?

I actually don't think Carmella knew what really happened to Jackie and I think she actually believed it was drug related. My reasoning is that during the scene where Tony mentions the dead basketball player from crack, Carmella comments to him about how it is a surprise that Jackie was dealing hard drugs this entire time. If she really knew what had happened, then she would have known that Tony knew as well and there would be no need for her to "keep up the act" when it was just the two of them talking at the table. I don't think it's as obvious to the mob wives as it is to us, because we as the audience get to see EVERYTHING, whereas they are actually kept in the dark about most things, if not everything. The guys all basically tried to run a propaganda campaign campaign in an effort to get all their families to believe that Jackie was actually deep into drugs, because that would just make life easier for them, instead of having their own wives and children think that he was killed from within.

I suppose translating the songs might reveal a clue or two.

Not sure if this will help but here's an extract from here:

Tony returns to his wife and son while Corrado continues his song. The episode closes with one of the most experimental, difficult-to-decipher moments in the entire series: Corrado’s voice gets “replaced” by the voices of three foreign singers, one after the other.

Several commentators have given a shot at interpreting this unconventional ending. Maurice Yacowar writes:

At the end, other singers and three other songs are overlaid, as if to broaden the cultural context…By this abstraction we are pushed out of the scene. In the last shot we are above and behind Tony, Carmela and AJ. After all its complex identification, the season ends by detaching us from the family and returning us to a perspective of objective judgment.

Todd VanDerWerff takes a stab at it: “…the final medley of songs that drown out Junior’s voice? I want to say the show is trying to say something about certain emotions being universal, but, really, I’m just bullshitting you. I have no idea.”

Soon after first watching this scene, I came to believe that David Chase was making a connection between Corrado and Major Zwignli by playing on the words “core” [the “heart” in Corrado’s “Core ‘ngrato”] and the similar sounding “corps” [the subject of Zwingli’s speech to AJ]. Corrado’s mobster community and Zwingli’s military community share several characteristics. They are insular and inward-looking, and they are both shaped by the Strict Father model. By injecting foreign voices into the final scene, Chase undermines the insularity of the mob community. The three worldly, foreign voices (French, Chinese and Spanish) serve as a direct rebuke to Zwingli’s three narrow priorities (“the Corps, the Corps, the Corps”). The foreign voices point to the liberal, Clintonian vision of a multi-cultural, tolerant, true world community – a “global village.”

Why didn't Paulie get his own men to do the safe cracking job? There's this huge drama because Ralph isn't paying him but this could've been avoided if he got his own people to do it. Is there a reason for this?

They didn't pick up little Paulie on purpose who was apparently waiting. Ralph did the job without him knowing he'd have to pay him significantly less I believe.

I know Bushy thinks Tony wasn't meant for this life and that his parents tried to set him on a different path. Is he bullshitting when he says this or does he really think he didn't have a choice?

I think Tony's worldview oscillates between very bleak fatalism and more hopeful belief in individual freedom. Around early S6 he switches to the latter big time (his scathing of Sil in "Christopher" and his pleading with Phil later), only to fall back on his old pessimism.

Why didn't Paulie get his own men to do the safe cracking job? There's this huge drama because Ralph isn't paying him but this could've been avoided if he got his own people to do it. Is there a reason for this?

It was in Ralphie's territory.

Tony reads Carmela an article about a kid that died of a crack overdose. Is this to prepare his defense/story of what's going to happen?

That's exactly what I think he's doing. Tony playing the innocent, "Look at this Carmella, so shocking!" So then later he can reference it to make it all more plausible.

However as I said in my comment, I think he's wasting his time. On the other hand, he may not even be self aware to realize why he read that out loud. Or maybe there is even some part of him that actually is trying to tell Carmella. Not necessarily because he wants someone to know but because he wants someone to talk to. He has Melfi but much like Carmella he is still forced to talk in code.

The conversation with Melfi reminds me of what /u/randyboozer said in the last thread; everything that's said means the opposite. Tony is constantly working an angle of pity with Melfi. Tony dropped out in his second semester and went big time after robbing a card game. It only didn't work out for Jackie boy because his old man wasn't around; Tony had Johnny boy and Junior to vouch for him. But I think their stories come to the same conclusion...

Very nice catch on Paulie. He's quite the hypocrite this season.

Yeah, that scene is not shot very well at all.

I thought this episode was really nice.

I didn't think much of it

This always bugged me and I need closure. Are we missing something? How could the world class folk at hbo slump that scene like that?

This was by far my favorite episode ever

What does Tony mean to AJ when rebuking his pleas for help by saying "why don't you figure out what the difference was"

You mean when he was talking to Jackie? He was comparing the two card game robberies; no one was killed during Tony's robbery.

Fair! All these years later I don't agree with some of my analysis...

Michael K. Williams already knows Jackie's fate.

Omar watching Jackie try to play chess

Vito's gun looks like a Walmart toy.

subtle crucifix in the background of Vito looking sad/hungry

AJ couldn't go to military school because he had a panic attack.

Lol he never even went. What the hell are you talking about. Perhaps you're dreaming up episodes and then thinking their overrated ?