Everyone needs to grow up and move on. That seems to be the theme of this episode. AJ needs to start becoming an adult and not just an impetuous youth coasting on his dad's name. Tony needs to move past his womanizing and be an adult about that. Vito needs to move past his closeted fears and accept his attraction. And the neighborhood itself needs to move past its history as "The North Ward" and accept that times are a changin'. It's not subtle, but I enjoyed the irony of Patsy (twice!) going around to collect protection money, learning that big box stores were coming in, and asking "what happened to this neighborhood?" "Johnny Cakes" certainly takes the stuffing out of the idea that the old ways were always better and the next wave is wiping them out for the worse. In the old days, all of these business would be on the hook for protection money, Tony would cheat with impunity, AJ would be expected to avenge his father whether he was ready or capable or not, and as Frank notes, he and Tony "wouldn't even be having this conversation" about a gay mobster. I like the thesis of the episode, but it's still not my favorite. In fact, it's really only the scene with Tony and AJ after AJ is arrested that moves it into "solidly" good territory. And even though I loved that scene, especially the way in which Tony is conflicted between being upset with his son for disobeying him, but being even more upset that his son put himself at risk and dipped his toe into a life and a mode of being that Tony never wanted for him, I also felt that Tony didn't really sound like Tony. This isn't to malign Gandolfini, who knocks it out of the park as usual, but dialogue like "you're going to make me cry" just does not sound like something Tony would say. Not that he doesn't cry or can't be emotional, he's just rarely that direct and the dialogue sounded a little off. It's a nit, but I did enjoy the scene and what it showed about how Tony views his son, how he fears the effect he's had on AJ, that he likes that AJ is a "nice guy" and that he's scared of a kid who hasn't shown himself to be adept at much putting himself on the firing line of the mob. Tony's business with the real estate agent was a little pat, to my taste. The actress didn't really sell me on her being attracted to Tony or feeling real conflict in the moment. And while I liked the symbolism of the shirt, it was just a bit too easy. I did appreciate Tony, frustrated by the guilt he's feeling, projecting it into something as mundane as The Sopranos being out of turkey. Tony is a teapot, and if you put him on the stove, sooner or later he's going to have to shoot off some steam, even it's in a silly direction. Otherwise, AJ isn't the show's most interesting character, but when the show uses him sparingly and deliberately (generally either to show that he's a brat or to contrast and compare him with his parents) he can still work well. Again, take out the scene with Tony and I don't think the AJ plot in this episode qualifies as a success, but for once we feel AJ struggling to take action and live up to his last name and the complications that come with carrying that name. It's not perfectly executed, but it's at least something interesting. And lastly, the Vito storyline drags on. I'm not saying this isn't an interesting storyline, but I am saying that it's not interesting enough to stretch it out for this many episodes. The scenes with him in New Hampshire and his romance with the Johnny Cakes guy are dragged down by the fact that the actor who plays Vito isn't as good as his colleagues on the show at selling internal conflict and emotional turmoil. Given the company, that's no shame, but it still makes this a weaker element of the season thus far.

The ending is so close. we gonna see a lot of things happend in the next few episodes. excited to see what will happend to AJ.