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Edie Falco: "The Sopranos"

 When the actress Anna Gunn asked for insight into her character, Mrs. Walter White, Vince Gilligan said, "She's like Carmela Soprano, but in this world, Carmela is *running* the mafia..."


This strikes me as at least a partial misreading of "The Sopranos." To suggest that Edie Falco's Carmela does *not* run the mafia? Which show is Vince Gilligan watching?

Here are some ways that Falco's Carmela pulls the strings. She intervenes when the "Big Pussy" marriage seems on the rocks; she gives bad advice to Mrs. Big Pussy, so that a divorce does not occur, a kind of status quo remains a kind of status quo. Carmela becomes a mafia boss in her dealings with Georgetown University; she uses the weight of her family's violent reputation to ensure that a glowing "letter of reference" takes shape and then travels to the right hands. Finally, Carmela gives her tacit approval when Tony brutally upends a civilian's life. When the civilian's son exits a "talent show" duet with Meadow (the song is "Sun and Moon," from "Miss Saigon"), Carmela chooses *not* to wonder why this twist has occurred. Instead, she savors the news that Meadow will now be performing a Celine Dion solo, from "Titanic." She lets her jaw drop; she whispers, "That's a *real* upgrade..."

Carmela is insufferable--and mesmerizing--because of her obvious hypocrisy. When her nephew, Chris, almost dies, she uses the occasion to give Chris a morality lecture: "This is your sign from above....Mend your bond with the Lord...." (The subtext is overwhelming: Carmela is getting as close as she can to an argument with her *own* soul.) In Season One, Carmela correctly, scathingly assesses her priest: "You manipulate women. You enjoy the frisson of sexual tension, the sense of power you feel. It's like a small, quiet way of failing to do your job." Although Carmela sees through her priest, she seems incapable of seeing through herself; like the priest, Carmela enjoys a "double life," a system whereby she enjoys the trappings of mafia power while also occasionally (and enjoyably) seeming self-righteous, seeming appropriately distressed.

Edie Falco makes me think of a notable observation from Julianne Moore: "I don't believe in playing strong women. I believe in playing plausible, vulnerable, divided women." Moore makes a smart choice--and Falco does, too. Who in TV history is more memorable than Carmela Soprano?
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