Post by Patcat on Mar 26, 2009 10:05:30 GMT -5
Will air March 29, 9pm (EST) and March 30, 1am (EST) on the Bravo Cable Network. First aired May 29, 2004. 19th Episode of Season Three.
Written by Stephanie Sengupta and Rene Balcer
Directed by Alex Zakrzewski
Guest Actors:
Leo Fitzpatrick as Richard Chops Cozza
Mark Margolis as Mario Damiano
Frankie Nasso as Mikey Damiano
Austin Bassis as Louis
Synopsis: The murder of a witness in a Mob case leads Goren and Eames to a vengeful and dangerous young man.
Reference: Fico di Capo roughly translates as "Figs of the Head" It's a variety of Sicilian black figs with a dark red pulp.
Quotes:
Goren (on Chops): "He felt anger, he just knew better than to show it. Instead, he went blank, like he was flipping through an emotional Rolodex, searching for the socially appropriate response. But anger--that is his only true emotional response."
Deakins (about Mikey): "Now it's down to the runt of the litter."
Eames: "Is that your defense, Mikey...You're too dumb to pull this off."
Mario Damiano: "As I leave this world, I unleash him on yours."
Eames (to the trio in the basement): "You boys smoking cigarettes down here?"
Eames (also to the trio in the basement): "You getting a jump on trimming the tree?"
Goren (to Chops): "Hey, you got it. That's the appropriate response. Rage."
Goren (about Chops): "Hell. He's already there."
Questions and Queries:
The initial discussion of this episode (worth revisiting) suggested this episode contained Shakespearean and operatic elements. Does it? If this were an opera, who'd be the tenor? What composer should write it?
Is this episode a black comedy or a tragedy?
Was it just his teeth, or did Chops' Mom simply want to get rid of this child?
"Another hard luck story" Eames says about Chops, and she's clearly not sympathetic to him. But is Chops' life a "hard luck story"? The young man is bright and resourceful. Could things have turned out differently for him? Could he have been Robert Goren? Or could Bobby have been Chops?
Does Bobby, like Chops, have to search for the correct emotional response?
What will happen to Mikey and Louis?
Does Chops know that Mario Damiano is "Unleashing" him on the world?
Chops plays the police and the DAs against each other very well. How did he learn how to do this?
Comments: Another episode that I find more rewarding and interesting with repeated viewings. It's a very rich episode, one that perhaps tried to be too much. As several posters noted in our original discussion, this story of a dying Don, his crumbling empire, and a would-be usurper, is one worthy of Shakespeare. The young, would-be mobsters parade and posture in their uniforms of expensive warm-up clothes and gold chains, while the dying Don coughs his lungs away while wearing his silk robes and eating his blood like figs. The decaying and dirty mansion reflects the collapse of the Damiano empire while Chops circles it and manipulates the world he both hates and longs to be part of. Mark Magolis is quite good as the dying Don, and Leo Fitzpatrick is excellent as Chops. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for an actor to pretend to be pretending (g).
The episode also features scenes of Deakins and Carver working together to deal with the Byzantine politics of the NYPD and the New York City legal worlds, and some wonderful Eames snark.
When I reviewed this episode a couple of nights ago, I was struck by the parallels between Chops and Bobby. Both unwanted (I'm guessing with Bobby a bit) children; both rejected, or at least semi-rejected, by parents and the world; both intelligent and resourceful. So--to repeat the questions--Could Chops have been Bobby? Could Bobby have been Chops?
Submitted, as always, for your consideration and comments.
Patcat
Written by Stephanie Sengupta and Rene Balcer
Directed by Alex Zakrzewski
Guest Actors:
Leo Fitzpatrick as Richard Chops Cozza
Mark Margolis as Mario Damiano
Frankie Nasso as Mikey Damiano
Austin Bassis as Louis
Synopsis: The murder of a witness in a Mob case leads Goren and Eames to a vengeful and dangerous young man.
Reference: Fico di Capo roughly translates as "Figs of the Head" It's a variety of Sicilian black figs with a dark red pulp.
Quotes:
Goren (on Chops): "He felt anger, he just knew better than to show it. Instead, he went blank, like he was flipping through an emotional Rolodex, searching for the socially appropriate response. But anger--that is his only true emotional response."
Deakins (about Mikey): "Now it's down to the runt of the litter."
Eames: "Is that your defense, Mikey...You're too dumb to pull this off."
Mario Damiano: "As I leave this world, I unleash him on yours."
Eames (to the trio in the basement): "You boys smoking cigarettes down here?"
Eames (also to the trio in the basement): "You getting a jump on trimming the tree?"
Goren (to Chops): "Hey, you got it. That's the appropriate response. Rage."
Goren (about Chops): "Hell. He's already there."
Questions and Queries:
The initial discussion of this episode (worth revisiting) suggested this episode contained Shakespearean and operatic elements. Does it? If this were an opera, who'd be the tenor? What composer should write it?
Is this episode a black comedy or a tragedy?
Was it just his teeth, or did Chops' Mom simply want to get rid of this child?
"Another hard luck story" Eames says about Chops, and she's clearly not sympathetic to him. But is Chops' life a "hard luck story"? The young man is bright and resourceful. Could things have turned out differently for him? Could he have been Robert Goren? Or could Bobby have been Chops?
Does Bobby, like Chops, have to search for the correct emotional response?
What will happen to Mikey and Louis?
Does Chops know that Mario Damiano is "Unleashing" him on the world?
Chops plays the police and the DAs against each other very well. How did he learn how to do this?
Comments: Another episode that I find more rewarding and interesting with repeated viewings. It's a very rich episode, one that perhaps tried to be too much. As several posters noted in our original discussion, this story of a dying Don, his crumbling empire, and a would-be usurper, is one worthy of Shakespeare. The young, would-be mobsters parade and posture in their uniforms of expensive warm-up clothes and gold chains, while the dying Don coughs his lungs away while wearing his silk robes and eating his blood like figs. The decaying and dirty mansion reflects the collapse of the Damiano empire while Chops circles it and manipulates the world he both hates and longs to be part of. Mark Magolis is quite good as the dying Don, and Leo Fitzpatrick is excellent as Chops. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for an actor to pretend to be pretending (g).
The episode also features scenes of Deakins and Carver working together to deal with the Byzantine politics of the NYPD and the New York City legal worlds, and some wonderful Eames snark.
When I reviewed this episode a couple of nights ago, I was struck by the parallels between Chops and Bobby. Both unwanted (I'm guessing with Bobby a bit) children; both rejected, or at least semi-rejected, by parents and the world; both intelligent and resourceful. So--to repeat the questions--Could Chops have been Bobby? Could Bobby have been Chops?
Submitted, as always, for your consideration and comments.
Patcat
