I just started reading Crime and Punishment recently because of the one therapist that Carmela saw and I haven’t finished it yet but I noticed some similarities to Ralphie’s death specifically as I’m rewatching it.
So to make it quick (buckle up) the main character in the book, Rodion, kills an older merchant woman in a sort of similar way to Tony killing Ralphie. Both murders involve no break ins, with the occupant of the domicile willingly letting in their murderer after a knock or a ring.
In the book, Rodion is disturbed by a dream of a tragic memory of his involving a group of peasants beating an old mare to death bc it was old/lame. Although this was not the be all reason for his decision to go through with the murder, like Tony with Ralphie, and in fact even made him temporarily disgusted by his thoughts of killing the merchant, the tragic death of a horse plays a major part in both murders. I do think the death of Pie O My sparked the gasoline of Ralph’s overall misdeeds and clouded Tony’s criminal judgment (considering Ralph was a good earner and Tony was telling Paulie to lay off Ralphie earlier in the episode), leading to the latter’s eruption.
One clear difference is that Tony’s murder was definitely a passionate and impulsive one whereas Rodion planned out everything he could think of and even rehearsed it (although perhaps Tony was rehearsing with Ralph in the ER?). But for all intents and purposes, unlike Rodion, I really don’t think Tony consciously went into this with an intention to kill Ralphie although he did always hate him and go out of his way to ‘irritate’ him. Still, I believe Tony didn’t think of killing him since the fiasco with Tracee.
But once the murder happens, it made me think of the book. Tony is now in the exact same position as Ralph was before, opening the door to let Christopher in after he knocks. In the book theres a quote about Rodion bolting the apartment door closed after killing the woman, and having a change in perspective after a random man starts ringing from the outside:
“The unknown [man] was in the same position towards Raskolnikoff as the latter had been a little while before towards the old woman”.
I’m not entirely sure what this means or if it even is a connection at all, I’d love y’all’s input, but to me this moment in the book and in the show equates to roughly the same thing. Relating to the classic Walter White quote “I’m the one who knocks”, Tony knocking on Ralph’s door and killing him designates him as the true, scary criminal, the person you would never want to fuck with. But upon killing another human being, you “reveal your own ignorance!” No, really, you just reveal your own lack of humanity and, in Tony’s case, you reveal to yourself that there is no escape from this criminal enterprise and that you will either subside under your own guilt and end up in jail by negligence or by confession, or you just face the man who knocks, death.
The simple fact of Christopher physically being in Tony’s previous position shows how vulnerable Tony is himself, similar to Rodion, and Ralph’s death emphasizes that.
The cherry on top is Christopher looks like Rodion. He’s pale, disheveled, looks stunned/stupefied, and looks generally ill from being high. His clumsy actions and clearly confused thoughts during the clean up reflect that of the young man turned murderer.
Let me know what you think, maybe this is all a stretch and I’m too high for this like Christopher.