"Poor you.

A major source of Tonys Sopranos depression and violence was his mother, Livia Soprano for those of you who have seen or read I, Claudius, think Livia (58 bc - 29 ad) the consort of Augustus Caesar, mother to Tiberius and step-mother to Claudius. Tonys mother Livia would regularly mock her son with the phrase poor you it was mockery because she was a woman without any empathy for anyone but herself. A real narcissist, she was capable of engaging in abominable deeds (e.g., ordering a hit on her own son and feeling sorry for herself while doing it (that ingrate had put her in a nursing home). In this episode, we see the fundamental similarity between Tony and his mother. He too is an incorrigible narcissist. And he too is capable of murdering his own (surrogate) son while feeling pity only for himself.

(Huge spoilers follow.) Christopher and Tony are driving back from an evening event, with Christopher behind the wheel of his own SUV. Christophers vision blurs, and he crosses the median, narrowly missing a car with several young women in it. The girls are safe, but not Christopher and Tony; their SUV tumbles over an embankment, rolling over and over again down the steep hill. Tony is banged up, but more-or-less unharmed. Christopher, however, has a punctured lung. He whispers that Tony has to get him out of the drivers seat; he wont pass his tox screen and he will lose his licence. Tony walks over to the drivers door, breaking the glass. He wipes Christophers face; his nephew is now coughing up blood. Tonys hands move again over Christophers mouth and nose; it looks initially as if he is wiping away the blood so that a struggling Christopher can breathe. But the look in his eyes; souless, ruthless, gives it away. As Christopher looks up helplessly, he pinches his nose and clamps his mouth. It's over in a minute or two. Christopher is dead.

We think, at first, that the murder was a type of mercy killingTony knew there was no way back from addiction or jail for Christopher, and decided to put him out of his misery. But we soon find out that the misery in question is Tonys own misery. He has been nursing his anger at Christophers movie Cleaver (the protagonist (loosely based on Christopher) kills the mob boss (loosely based on Tony) for sleeping with his girlfriend (loosely based on Adriana). Always a resourceful thinker, Tony took the opportunity to solve the problem of Christopher's loyalty that was presented by SUV accident.

In session with Dr. Melfi, Tony admits that hes happy about Christophers deathbut extremely resentful that he has to pretend to care at the wake and the funeral. So Tony heals himself he flies to Las Vegas, and gambles and wins, and sleeps with Christophers former girl friend/call girl (the "Heidi Fleiss" of the episode title). Its clear that this assignation is a substitute or precursorfor sleeping with Christophers glamorous wife, Kelly (the "Jackie Kennedy" of the episode ttle). Tony is in fact committing, after Christophers death, the betrayal he committed earlier by coming very close to sleeping with Christopher's fiancee Adriana.

Tony is a monster. But Tony is worse than a monster. We have the complete reversal of the natural order, even the monstrous natural order. Monstrous sons "normally kill their fathers, and take their women and power. Here, the father kills the son, and takes his youth and his life. Viewed in this light, the form of the murder was significant. Tony suffocated a badly injured and therefore helpless Christopher; he did not take him out at full strength. He killed him in the way a murderous mother or father might kill a helpless infant.

In ancient Roman mythology, the god Saturn kills eats his children rather than allowing them to challenge his power. Christians celebrate the birth of the "son" at the time of the winter solstice, when the ancient pagans celebrated Saturnalia --the rebirth of the sun. It seems to be late fall --coming up on Christmas -- in Sopranoland. As the sun rises in the Las Vegas desert, Livia's son Tony stands up, spreads his arms, and shouts "I get it."

The ancient Greek name for Saturn was Cronus. Later Greeks later tried to explain the function of Cronus in terms of chronos time. Time devours all of its children - all people, all families, all civilizations. Tony saw the light a mysterious orb representing eternity several times during this episode. His time is running out. Three episodes to go.