It’s easy to see why Michael would get to play his dad’s character, beyond just the physical similarities. Tony Soprano is a television great because he looked every bit like the scary mobster he wanted to be, but could not hide his wounded inner-self. The elder Gandolfini always conveyed the sweetness and sadness in Tony, even when at his most monstrous. As a man just now in his mid-20s, the younger Gandolfini, of course, reads as more vulnerable. But his take on Tony, just like his parts in Warfare and as a large adult son in Beau Is Afraid, suggest imminent violence, the ability to do harm to anyone who gets on his bad side.
As an employee of Mayor Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin of Crime, Daniel Blake can certainly cause more than his share of destruction. But Gandolfini plays Blake like someone who would never willingly harm another person directly, even if he approves of his boss’s aggressive policies.
Dealing With the Devil
Blake is part of Born Again‘s mission to reflect our current political moment through the lens of Marvel Comics. Even more so than the Mayor Fisk storyline from the comics, Born Again examines the way right wing populism has influenced mainstream politics. The series shows how a loud subset of voters puts a brutal and overly-sensitive criminal into office and gives him wide executive powers, even cheering as he unleashes militarized police against the populace.
Blake stands in for the young men who find themselves attracted to the rhetoric of power embraced by these demagogues. Awe dawns across Blake’s face as he watches Fisk ignore bureaucracy to enforce his will, or sees Fisk bully those who cross him. The excitement that Gandolfini plays in the character expresses a young man’s desire to see someone who gets what they want, and doesn’t have to bow to society’s rules.
But in season 2, Born Again adds a new wrinkle by emphasizing Blake’s friendship with BB Urich, the young reporter played by Genneya Walton. Even though BB has been reduced to producing stories sympathetic to Fisk, the man who murdered her beloved Uncle Ben in the Netflix series, she still remains friendly with Blake.
The scenes shared between the two allow Gandolfini to play Blake as giddy, boyish, and kind. He wants so badly for BB to accept him, as demonstrated by the way he swaggers up to her during a party in his fancy apartment. When BB points out that Fisk violated the ethics of his office by keeping real estate holdings, Blake gets defensive, but not in a mean or angry way. He wants BB to accept his weak explanation for the behavior not because he wants to win the argument, but because he just wants BB to be happy for him.
