Reviews & Ratings for
"The Sopranos" The Strong, Silent Type (2002)

12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Christopher's dark places, 10 May 2008

Author: Max_cinefilo89 from Italy

For over three seasons, Christopher Moltisanti has been involved in some pretty dark stuff, but nothing can match the utter bleakness of his state of body and mind as presented in The Strong, Silent Type, which stands out as the best episode of the fourth series alongside the previous Whoever Did This.

In the aftermath of Ralph's death, Tony must avoid suspicions, as killing a made guy for personal reasons isn't permitted, and therefore leads the "investigation" concerning the murder. Soon enough, another problem emerges: Chris's drug use has gotten to an almost unsustainable level, seeing as he accidentally killed Adriana's dog by sitting on it, and so the ones who love him stage an intervention with the help of a certain Dominic Palladino (Elias Koteas). Things don't go as planned, though, as the particularly tense relationship between Chrissy and Paulie turns violent and old grudges emerge with devastating consequences.

The first show of the season seemed to indicate Christopher had finally found some peace; now, nine episodes later, we see him at a point of his life so low few people would recover from it. The central intervention scene is fundamental in allowing Michael Imperioli to try new things with his role: as there's been enough of the cocky, ambitious hit-man, it's time to show a more tormented side, and he does so with a heartbreaking realism, anticipating his Emmy-winning efforts in Season Five and proving you don't need blood to make a great episode of The Sopranos: five minutes of psychological violence are just as effective.

8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Margetis Review: The Sopranos, Episode 49 "The Strong, Silent Type", 11 February 2006
Author: Michael Margetis (pmargetis@cox.net) from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Although it doesn't match up to last week's episode, this is definitely one of the best episodes of The Sopranos ever created. I found my favorite part of this episode was the expertly written intervention scene guest starring Elias Koteas that is both very realistic and very humorous. Also, Chris sitting on Adriana's dog was very sad, and typical for a scag addict. I also thought the whole thing with Paulie keeping Tony's Pie-O-My picture, and having Tony turned into Napoleon was funny, and at the end of the episode, no matter how much Paulie altered Tony in the picture, it still haunted him, and Paulie still felt like he was being watched by the boss. I also thought all the other capos and soldiers opinions on what really happened to Ralph was interesting and fun to listen to. Especially Albert "Ally Boy" Barese's opinion on it, which refers to Tony being the one who got rid of Ralph, "What's next, I get clipped for wearing the wrong shoes?" All in all, it was a great episode that reminded all of us just why we watch The Sopranos. Teleplay by Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and Terence Winter; Story by David Chase; Directed by Alan Taylor. My Rating: 9.5/10

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
"You got too much time to think about yourselves.", 28 October 2010
Author: edantheman from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

In the first episode of the series, Tony asked "What happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type?" According to TS, "He wasn't in touch with his feelings-he just did what he had to do." As far removed from Tony's weak, outspoken 'Mr. Type A personality' as this persona is, T threw the phrase about many more times after this and early in this fourth season ('Christopher') we are reminded of it when he discusses race relations in the car with Sil and the boys. Here, Tone is given his long-awaited answer.

After a drug-addled Christopher accidentally sits on Adriana's bitch Cosette and eats some earlier -season 1 earlier- words of his, we find his junkie pal Eddie from the park to be the current owner of Rocco DiMeo's infamous leather jacket. Ade then tries to make him go to rehab but he says no... no... no (sorry, that won't happen again). His reply? A right hook to her cheek. It is this which triggers the drugs intervention lead by former addict and DiMeo crime family associate Dominic Palladino. After being warned that they should only offer non-judgmental experiences of how his heroin addiction has affected their lives, Paulie breaks the rules and makes it personal. This being 'The Sopranos', things soon turn violent and Chrissy is forced into rehab by his Uncle.

Meanwhile, Furio's return from Naples has relighted Carm's fire and they both pay a visit to each other's houses, staying long enough to give gifts and share a very important look, but not long enough for a cup of coffee. Furio connects to Carmela in a way that Tony can't and even though his improvised gift to her is balsamic vinegar, it means more than all the Saks Fifth Avenue dresses in the world.

Tony's not having any of that forbidden love crap though, as he shortly gets down to business with another foreign-born citizen on Junior's couch. Svetlana is Tony's Gary Cooper just as Fur is Carmela's, impressing him with her strong character who gets through life with one leg. He asks her how she does it and she responds by criticizing American capacities for psychotherapy, designer furniture and rehabilitation clinics much like Junior did on the same settee two ad breaks ago. According to this amateur sociologist, the American way is to "have everything, and still complain". Another revelation is made post-coitus when Tony discovers he is rejectable after Svetlana politely kicks him out for fear of alarming their significant others.

It seems the only people who've ever been their for Tony or Adriana whenever they needed them aren't people. Be it Ade with her maternal feelings for her canine companion or Tony with his perhaps matriarchal tendencies towards the equine 'Lady Pie', they were their strong silent types all along. It wasn't his nephew's drug addiction which really riled him, but Chrissy's admission of guilt over Cosette's death. "I ought to suffocate you, you little prick!" was a promise Tony would eventually fulfil.

But the strong, silent type isn't exclusively European humans or of the Animalian kingdom as we see other comparisons drawn within the crew. On the one hand is Paulie, blabbermouth supremo, who has just wrote a new gossip column for New York concerning the HUD scam; and on the other is Sil who covertly spreads disenfranchisement amongst the ranks with rumours of Tony "killing Ralph over a horse", possibly for his own political gain. As Paulie later hangs his new improved portrait of a Napoleonic Tone with Pie O My, one can't help but think 'his horse, his horse, his kingdom for a horse!'

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