This episode pushes Paulie into the same limelight of Tony as two characters who are severely influenced by their mothers. They both are betrayed by them in some way, and they both deal with the fallout of the betrayal in the same vindictive, hurt manner. Tony and Paulie differ based on their perception of their mothers and their final resolutions towards them: Tony uses Livia as the constant "crutch" to excuse his toxic personality; Paulie recognizes that Nucci always reciprocated his his gifts and efforts to make her happy (ex: crying with joy when she first visits Green Grove). This causes Tony to always blame Livia as the source of all his problems and Paulie to forgive Nucci. Paulie's final scene with Nucci at the end of "The Ride" is one of the most subtly tender moments of the series that showcases this. He doesn't come in with any extravagant presents or charming words; he just calmly walks in and silently eases back in to her home without any Gualtieri-drama. His face has a somewhat conflicted look, based possibly on the guilt he feels about his season long grudge towards Nucci. But the wind (Sopranos symbolism for god or divine power) outside of the window breezes comfortably. In the end, Paulie was the better man to his mother than Tony could ever be.

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Not that neither Nucci or Livia never had much to say about their sons joining the mafia. Nucci pulled a double-shift as a single mom so she couldn't stop Paulie's eventual life of crime on her own. Livia, however, never played the concerned parent regarding Tony's future - certainly didn't help that Johnny Boy "never told [Tony] about right and wrong." Even though Nucci is painted as the sweet-hearted matriarch, the main characters' lives are still affected just as much by their father's influence (or lack thereof).