Paulie Walnuts makes his long-awaited return not long into “Watching Too Much Television,” and Tony and the boys throw him a proper welcome party at the Bing. Soon enough, though, he’s griping to anyone who’ll lend him an ear (namely, Johnny Sack). Still unhappy about his treatment (or lack thereof) while in the can, Paulie still seems intent on instigating a coup.
It certainly can’t help that Tony doesn’t throw any prime jobs his way, as he finds a new business partner with deep pockets in the U.S. government. After an off-the-cuff remark from Carmela’s cousin (and new Soprano financial advisor), Brian gets the gears working in the big man’s head as he, Ralph, Assemblyman Zellman and a charity head scam HUD by buying crack houses and selling them at intentionally inflated prices.
Meanwhile, the episode’s title manifests in a great tongue-in-cheek sequence in which Adriana learns from the boob tube that she wouldn’t have to testify against Christopher if they were married. Their discussion of marriage also forces Adriana to admit she may not be able to have children, a thought that sends Christopher into another heroin binge. But after some advice from the boys, he decides Adriana is too good to let go of.
“Watching Too Much Television” spends much of its time dwelling in the same didactic no-man’s land that made “Christopher” a burden to watch. While the episode realistically confronts the vicious cycle of inner-city crime and drug use, its overall treatment of the issue comes off as heavy-handed and silly, especially in Tony’s wistful monologues about Italian neighborhoods being reduced to centers for substance abuse and prostitution.
The message comes off as hypocritical as well in its pairing of scenes of crack house shoot-em-ups with scenes of Christopher doing a little shooting up of his own. Drug abuse is portrayed as an incurable plague that feeds the violence of ghettos, yet Christopher has not yet been made to suffer any major consequences of his addictions.
This installment has problems on top of its muddled messages, though. Tony’s actions are again inconsistent and without clear motivation. The problem reaches a peak in the episode’s final scene, in which Tony mercilessly beats Assemblyman Zellman with his belt for seeing his ex-girlfriend, after just having approved the relationship.
Somebody, beat some sense into this show.
Best line: “Marriage and our thing don’t jive.” (Paulie telling a worried Christopher why he should cut it off with Adriana.)
