The Sopranos (TV Series) All Due Respect (2004) User Reviews

The finale - part 3

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 19 May 2008]

It's no easy task to match the peerless Long Term Parking, but this tragic closing episode of Season Five comes very close, putting an end to one major storyline and opening another, one that will affect the entire final season of the show.

Having ordered the murder of Adriana, Tony is already in pretty bad shape, emotionally speaking, and having his requests constantly denied by Johnny Sack doesn't do much to improve his state of mind either. Realizing neither Johnny nor Phil will stop before Tony Blundetto is undoubtedly whacked, he makes the tough decision of tracking down his beloved cousin and killing him himself, enlisting the reluctant help of his crew, all of whom think nothing will come from the boss's actions but an official war between New York and New Jersey.

As in the previous episode, the outcome is predictable to say the least, but the way the writers and director John Patterson craft the show guarantees the suspense never fades. Most notably, this is probably the bleakest 50 minutes of the season, with no humor whatsoever: even Phil's abuse of Christopher's mom at the beginning is really more disturbing than amusing, followed by a string of all but cheerful conversations right down to the tragic conclusion, which indicates Season Six will deal with some heavy stuff left in All Due Respect's violent wake.

All Due Respect (#5.13)

[ComedyFan2010 · 9/10 · 24 March 2014]

Johnny Sack wants Phil to have the revenge on Tony B., but Tony wants to fight against it. Everyone thinks he is favoring his cousin, but at the end he still ends up killing him and then has a conversation with the other family. But then the BI arrives and he has to run away, turns out there was somebody giving information on the other family.

Finale is as usually less exciting than the episode before it, but still of very high quality. Actually the time towards the end was so far the most eventful from all other finales, usually he is just in some restaurant with the rest, but in this case there was an actual action with running away and arrests.

I am also said as was mentioned in another review here about Adriana. The attitude Tony has about her could be two things, they might want to develop him in a less compassionate and empathetical character towards the end or he he just said it to make Chris feel better. Still, I eel sad Chris thinks of her like that. I wish she would have just left him and ran away....Just or the character, not the story of course. When it comes to the storyline the way they did it was perfect.

Best season by far

[matiasbockerman · 10/10 · 19 June 2019]

I watched sopranos about three years ago at first time. Now it's even better than first time. Umbelivable writing and acting: I'm glad that Imperioli won an emmy for this. And Buscemi shows the future Nucky Thompson face, first taste a role for a life time. And god how good vincent curatola is, unforgettable acting. And Frank Vincent was as good as he vere in Casino: "Because they're stupid, that's why. And jealous. They disrespected a proud Italian heritage, and named us after a ballet costume" And of course Eddie falco what an actress i absolutely love way she act. Everybody knows how great Gandolfini is. I wonder : how much beloved character walter white gets Gandolfinis performance? I see much similarity between those two.

Margetis Review: The Sopranos, Episode 65: "All Due Respect"

[MichaelMargetis · 14 February 2006]

I thought tonight's episode was slightly not as good as last week's. Just by a bit. It wasn't as thrilling or heart pounding as last week's, but it opened and closed a lot of doors, and it was kind of anticlimactic in a way. But that's the thing I admired most about it, was that it was anticlimactic. I was talking to someone about The Sopranos, and they say they watch it for the shock value. But The Sopranos isn't about that. It is very realistic (from what reputed mobsters have said, along with F.B.I. specialists) and kind of like a splice of life. I admired it being kind of anti-climatic, because life isn't a soap opera. The bad guys don't always lose, and the good guys don't always win. Every detail isn't sewn up in a neat little package. A lot of people were ed the big war between The New Jersey Family and the New York Family didn't happen, but in reality, how often do those happen between modern organized crime families? Not really often, since the 1940s. I knew ever since Tony B. (Steve Buscemi) killed Philly Leotardo's brother, that one of the two was going to go. In tonight's episode when I found out Phil was a captain (a made guy who runs his own crew; a step up from being made), I knew Tony B. would die. W a captain from another and more powerful family would be the LAST mistake Tony Soprano would ever make. I thought it was very smart of Tony to kill Tony B. It was quick, painless, and Tony B. didn't have time to think about what was going on. I thought what Silvio told Tony was 110% right about the upcoming war with Johnny Sack having nothing to do with Tony's love for Tony B., but problem with authority (his problem with Johnny Sack ordering him around; commanding). Also what Dr. Melfi said to Tony was true, that his feelings for Tony B. don't spawn from love, but guilt and regret for Tony B. doing 20 years and not him. Tony B. was the best way to put any chance of a war to rest. Even though Johnny Sack was ed Tony killed Tony B., what is he going to do? Kill Tony B. again? No, the dispute will be solved involving money, not shed. Exactly what Tony Soprano can handle. And Phil Leotardo's ed off. So, who cares? He'll get over it. As for the ending of this episode, when Johnny Sack and Tony Soprano were discussing how to handle the situation above in the previous paragraph (well more then a paragraph, I just didn't really feel like dividing it), when those guys started to approach Johnny Sack's house, I thought for sure Johnny Sack set up an ambush for Tony Soprano to get clipped, but then when Tony Soprano dropped his gun while running, I realized it was the F.B.I. Watching Tony run was hysterical though. I also thought the attack on Benny by Phil Leotardo (which later resulted in Benny unconscious in a hospital bed) made me kind of nervous to watch, but not anything as near as nervous as I was when Phil Leotardo had a "chat" with Christopher's mother, or when Carmela asked Christopher, "How's Adriana?" I thought the episode didn't contain as much entertainment as it did subliminal messages. The major message that comes to mind is the story behind Paulie's painting of Tony turned Napolean with Pie-O-My (the horse). When Tony stares at it in the garbage, he has a revelation (which later ends up in Tony B.'s fall, and a settled score with Johnny Sack). The revelation is he is a general, or leader. He leads his people, with a gold plated sword (in this case fear, intimidation, or a gun). He is the boss. He is a general, or a leader. It is his job to protect his people, and make hard decisions. That kind of seems like it will be a major plot point in Season 6. This episode opened many doors for next season; Johnny Sack and most of the Brooklyn crime family indicted with many charges including numerous homicides over the span of 18 years. Also, the feeling of not being appreciated from Paulie, which may lead to him to work with Johnny Sack again, or even ... Little Carmine. Also, what is to happen with Meadow's engagement, or Tony's fear of his son A.J. being gay since he yearns to be an event planner (I don't think there is anything gay about being an event planner, but look how much Tony Soprano's view on life is screwed up.) It may be leaked that Vito is gay, and Raymond Curto has been working with the F.B.I. since Season 3. Will Silvio push Tony too far? Will Christopher be able to deal with losing Adriana? Will Uncle Junior finally jump the train to the afterlife? Nobody knows but the writers of the show. In closing I give the tonight's episode an A+. I thought it was EXCEPTIONAL! I especially liked the nice little touch the Van Morrison song had, and it is my 7th favorite episode of all time. I hope the final season is as good. Written by Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and David Chase; Directed by John Patterson. My Rating: 10/10

A perfect season!

[00Yasser · 9/10 · 6 August 2020]

A boss makes decision to protect the whole family not a person whoever he is, a great emotional final episode to a great season.

We're anonymous

[snoozejonc · 10/10 · 28 December 2022]

Tony is put under immense pressure to hand over his cousin to Phil Leotardo.

This is an excellent finish with plenty of tension and atmosphere.

The scenes involving Tony and his dilemma contain a good sense of foreboding. At numerous points the filmmakers do a great job of portraying the suffering of numerous characters due to the New York situation, plus the fallout from the events of 'Long Term Parking'. I particularly like one scene where Tony arrives at the Bing and there is a lot of unsaid feelings expressed by various members of the crew.

The focus on Tony's arc is the best aspect of the writing. There are key visual moments that help show the mental processes Tony is going through, such as the scenes of him watching the Rommel documentary and looking closely at a certain notorious painting. These connect nicely with previous episodes and themes such as Gary Cooper and doing what has to be done. There are also some good connections to the existential themes referenced previously such as in the set design of the red barn and the various references to emptiness and nothingness.

James Gandolfini is on brilliant form and supported wonderfully by the likes of Michael Imperioli, Tony Serico, Steve Van Sandt, Vincent Curatola and Frank Vincent.

The cinematographers make great use of the winter weather conditions and the visual storytelling is generally top drawer.

For me it's a 9.5/10, but I round upwards.

Tony running from the FBI to safety truly shows that he does have the makings of a varsity athlete

[Neptune165 · 9/10 · 19 July 2022]

All due respect, this is the best episode of season 5. Tony comes to his senses about that Animal Blundetto and puts him down like he deserves. He also showed the makings of a varsity athlete by evading the cops. The only thing that would have been better is if Uncle Philly would have gotten his hands on that animal. I can't even say his name. Poor Billy was 47 years old. Just a kid. I always assumed that Tony ran off without saying anything because he might've thought John set him up. He gives John one last look before he runs off. I don't think it'd be so far fetched, having Johnny work with the feds to take down a constant problem for his New York family, at least in Tony's mind. The painting, him kind of looking like Napoleon, and him retreating through the snow and cold as Napoleon had to from Russia, made me think that this was when Tony was truly defeated. Without Johnny as a go between for Tony and the New York families, since the eon the bear, Russia, comes to his doorstep, meaning the safety he had is now gone. Looking at the agents behind Jonny and then looking at Jonny and just running without saying a word to warn him , classic.

Perfect!

[nikix-43517 · 10/10 · 25 September 2022]

A very powerful episode! It might even be my favorite episode, but one thing is for sure, this episode is one of the best in the entire series. I really like Sopranos and I think season 3 is the best so far and I've heard how good season 5 is supposed to be and and yes it's probably the best season so far. This episode is THE PERFECT season ending. Season 5 has been very funny, entertaining, exciting and action-packed so far and everything came to a climax in the last episode. Long Term Parking has been the best of the season so far and that wasn't the end of this full season. This season found its beautiful conclusion in this episode and you could let this masterpiece come to a relaxing end in a quieter episode in the snow. Winter time is here again and everyone is happy except Christopher who still thinks his girlfriend Adriana left him. But Tony's cousin is still out and is a problem in business. Tony eliminates him and Phil is finally satisfied. Later at the crime scene, Tony and Johnny are there and both have to run as the FBI is after them. Johnny is captured while Tony runs home and the episode feels great with a funny ending. This episode is brilliant.

1, 6 part 1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6 part 2

[rdimpstar · 8/10 · 19 March 2022]

Yes. My Headline is based on my ranking of seasons from best to worse. I know some may disagree, but I've felt this way since the show ended in 2007. And as a tradition I make it a point to watch the entire series once a year.

On many ranker sites, we see season 5 being the least favorite of all the Sopranos. Well I disagree completely. The season does start off slow up until episode 4, then the climactic angle and plots get better. What makes season 5 great is the acting and drama of Christopher and Adrianna, which makes you ponder what is going to happen with this couple. We see Christopher go off the wagon many times in the season and questioning, sometimes even insulting Tony's decision making. His actions making us possibly think, "Will he turn on Tony?" Adrianna's stress going haywire from the stress of the feds is devastating to watch.

What turns me off about this season is Carmella. Of all the seasons, her character is just sickening to watch. Even in the end when Carmella and Tony reconcile, it's on conditions, which seem to be very selfish on her part.

Also what makes this season a little weird is the new faces that are introduced out of the blue in the beginning of the season. Important faces that we never even heard about in the previous seasons, (except for Feech, we learned about him in season 3). We never knew Tony had this close cousin, (Tony B.) The only significant new character was the inroduction to Phil Leotardo, which is the only new face that makes it to the series finale.

It was heartbreaking to see Tony how to handle how Tony B. Had to go. But in general he made the right call.

Some of my favorite episodes are on season 5, including Cold Cuts.

Great finale to an amazing season

[Red_Identity · 6 October 2012]

All Due Respect was a great finish to a great season, but I want to talk about some of the things going around in my head while watching it. So far, while I know what Tony is, he's still a character that we do sympathize with, we do feel for him. And while we may have seen some of his most sensitive moments in Season 5, it also brought me to realizing just how despicable this man is. There aren't any specific moments that I can pinpoint as evidence, but just the whole structure of the season, and series, thus far.

The one point in the finale that reminded me of this was in the one scene where Tony and Christopher mentioned Adriana. Christopher mentions how she was willing to throw him to the wolves as long as she was guaranteed safety. This is wrong of course, and it's sad how Christopher will only think of her this way, especially after all of the things she went through in the two years, and how unwilling she was to do anything to put Chris in the line of fire. But as bad as Christopher acts at times, as horrible as he can be, there's no underlying sense of hatred towards him. No resentment. After Christopher mentions that, we get Tony, willing to agree, calling her a "cu*t". His one word response is what got me thinking of the progress of the series and everything that has happened. It has all revolved around Tony. Yes, it's his series, but what's incredibly frustrating, and completely sad, is his dismissal of Adriana. Can't he see WHY these people do what they do? With Adriana it's not even a matter of forgiving her. He needs to deal with the problem, and he did by having her killed. That's what needed to be done. But the complete lack of awareness from him, and him unable to see her perspective and why she did what she did, is what's wrong here. No, she wasn't simply a "cunt". Tony will now see her as one of his many rats, just some rat who betrayed him and deserved to die. She needed to die, yes, for Tony's sake, but his reaction is perhaps what's most unsettling. He tries to, but he mostly fails to have empathy for others, and observe their situations. If he had in this case, he would have replied much differently to Christopher. He wouldn't have dismissed her as just some "cu*t". But that whole ignorance doesn't just come from him, but by many of the same Mafia family. Adriana won't be regarded as the victim by them, she will be regarded as that bitch who wanted to destroy them. THAT'S what has stuck with me, and what makes the whole ordeal even more painful. Will Tony even acknowledge how much Christopher gave up to save, in reality, just him? How in the end, he proved to be more faithful to Tony than Adriana? Probably not, and as Silvio said, he is buried in his own self pride.

Okay, end of long rant. Fantastic season though. It started off strong and ended strong, my only complaint is that during the middle section it loses some steam. But we have Carmela and Tony back together, and although one could also say a million things about Carmela, we have to understand this. She's not a monster, but she's certainly someone who also tries to cloud her better judgement, and many times she does it purposely. She knows, oh yes, she knows that her new reunion with Tony won't end well, but throughout the series we have seen that she also has a lot of the same problems. Like Tony said in Whitecaps and this season, she isn't a victim, even though she acts like it. Oh, and although Melfi wasn't in this season as much as in the first three, at least she was in it a lot more than in 4, and at least a lot of her scenes were really great material.

Season 5: Not perfect due to some narrative fragmentation but still a very good season on all fronts (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 31 January 2010]

Season 5 opens with the release from prison of a load of new faces back into the Family, both in New York and in Jersey, most notably Tony's cousin Tony, who got pinched on a job that TS himself was meant to be on many years ago. This device made me think that perhaps the season would be following the same sort of thread that it had done before with Richie/Ralphie being an ambitious and rebellious thorn in Tony's side, however this is not really the case as the new faces are used in different ways but mainly to lead to a power struggle in the NY families. As with previous seasons, Tony's proper family is very much a part of things with him and Carmela separated and AJ struggling academically as usual.

In terms of playing as a straight mob-drama, season 5 is actually one of the stronger seasons due to the sheer scale and violence of it. Events spiral out of control, death comes quickly and from trusted "friends" and generally the plot is engaging as the many threads all support one another in that regard. It also links well to the previous season in terms of Tony's relationship with Johnny Sack and other aspects, which is not something that the previous seasons had perhaps been as strong at, as some of the mob-related threads would be more of a season-long frame for everything else. The downside of this is that the other material doesn't sit quite so easily as part of the show, even though it still does do a very good job of developing character and analysing Tony.

The problem is more that this side of things feels very isolated from the main narrative. The on/off stuff with Melfi feels a little old and isn't particularly well done but otherwise the very good material in this regard is put into a couple of specific episodes which, although part of the narrative, do feel a little like stand alone episodes. The one that sticks in the mind the most is the episode where Tony meets his father's old flame. This delivers a lot about Tony in one episode and it is well supported by other threads in other specific episodes where we really get a good understanding of him and find him to be a very unpleasant character. One example is his inability to see his sister coping with her rage better than he is (and baits her into failing, producing a tangible joy in him) but there are several. This episode also features standalone material for Junior and Chris. Junior's is funny and tragic as he finds happiness at funerals as they release him from house arrest (and are just another time in his life when he gains pleasure at the cost of others). Chris' section is better though as it perfectly sums up the duality of the life he is in, as he totally separates his business from his life – witness the incredulity on the face of JT as Chris (as friend) tries to help him from the rock-bottom that Chris (as loan shark) has been a massive part in leading him to. As much as the drama of the power-struggles and personality clashes within the Family gripped me throughout the whole season, this episode was my favourite because of what it did away from this thread.

No matter where they fall within the narratives, the cast are roundly strong but still Gandolfini is head and shoulders above. He does such great work conveying internal thoughts and struggles with just tiny changes in expression and it is sometimes easy to forget this as a lot of his performance here involves violent expression rather than subtle – but he is great yet again. Falco benefits from a strong role in the season, and does very well with Carmela's journey, discovering her limited options and who she now is as a person. Imperioli's character is not as strong as I would have liked but he plays it very well – a bit over the top at times but it fits the show. De Matteo does good work in the season and, although she is not given a "big" final scene, it fits the show again in terms of how sudden and unsentimental it all is. As always the rest of the cast play up to the genre clichés while also making their characters work within the context of the show's drama, thrills, development and comedy – Sirico, Van Zandt, Chianese, Schirripa are all good examples of this. The new additions do good jobs as well, although Buscemi's season long thread is perhaps a bit too obvious as a thing.

Season 5 is not the perfect season but it is still very good stuff indeed. Some of the material that makes the show good is fragmented into different parts or different episodes rather than making it all a good blend but it does still work very well with the usual qualities all present and correct within the frame of an engaging power struggle and fallout between the various families and factions. Well worth seeing and another very good season under the belt ahead of the final one.

5 season finished

[thorodinson-50130 · 2 May 2021]

Just finished 5 season. Good one they just killed Ada in precious episode. Chris try to cover it and jhonny was caught by fbi and Tony was able to escape. He also killed his cousins Tony B. Now 21 episode remains excited to watch it.