Good evening, all. I’m Steve Murray, your brand-spankin’ new recapper for the best show on television, “The Sopranos”. My goal here will be two-fold: A) if you didn’t see the show, you should be able to read this review, and feel like you didn’t miss anything important, and B) if you did see the show, I’ll be trying to point out little things you might have missed, signficant plot turns that aren’t so obvious, references to previous episodes that you may have forgotten about, and some “big picture” analysis on the ongoing show itself. The thing that makes “The Sopranos” such a great show is that you can enjoy it on two levels: the simplistic view that it’s a mob show, with the occasional naked boob and guys getting whacked left and right; or you can enjoy the rich characterization, the crisp dialogue, and the complex mythology and classical ethos throughout the show. Hopefully, this weekly column will allow you to do both.
Now, because the show can be taken on so many levels, I will not be doing a “live” recap, nor will I be posting on Sunday night. The Sopranos is, in my opinion, a show where each episode usually needs to be watched at least twice in order to truly “get it”. As such, I’d rather delay the posting of each recap, rather than short-change you, the reader. (Granted, for all I know, there might only be three of you reading this — but hey, that’s all the more reason for me to give you all special attention, right?) Obviously, the columns won’t be coming as late as this one is – this happens to be a special circumstance. (Basically, I asked: “Who’s doing The Sopranos review?” And the answer came back as: “Well, you are now.”) And, since we are in a special circumstance, and since I’m trying to get this review done and posted ASAP, this specific article will be more of a straight-up recap, with less than usual analysis. Trust me – it’s only going uphill from here.
If you have any questions about the show (background, history, etc.), or wish to share your opinions of a specific episode/character/plotline/etc, or if you vehemently disagree with one of my conclusions or opinions — please email me by clicking my name in the column title at the top of page. I’ll answer everything here in the column the next week.
First things first: if you aren’t familiar with The Sopranos, or if you need a refresher course on the history of the show (since it has been 21 months since the last episode), please read my previous column. This was a recap of the character of Tony Soprano over the first 5 seasons, but touches just about every large storyline that we’ve seen. Trust me, it won’t take too long to read – go check it out.
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Back already? Wow, you’re a quick reader. Are you sure you read all of it? You wouldn’t disrespect me like that, would ya? No? Okay, then — let’s get down to business.
Previously on The Sopranos:
- A quick summary of the return of Tony Blundento
- Tony Soprano admits to Dr. Melfi that the night Tony B was arrested, “I had a f*cking panic attack, from my Mother Goddammit!”
- Carmela files for divorce
- Janice and Bobby Bacala tells Tony about Uncle Junior’s deteriorating mental state: Tony assumes Janice is trying to avoid dealing with it herself
- Tony runs Phil Leotardo into a parked car, and tells Johnny Sack it was simply because Phil owed him money
- Christopher gripes about how hard sobriety it, and Tony’s advice is to “Have a f*ckin’ drink, ’cause you’re driving everyone crazy with this shit
- Meadow’s boyfriend Finn shows up at the construction site early, and catches Vito Spatafore giving a blowjob to a security guard
- Very soon after, Meadow and Finn get engaged
- AJ returns from a night in the city with his eyebrows shaved, and is seen smoking from a bong apparently made from a Mountain Dew bottle
- Tony B kills Joey Peeps, and then Billy Leotardo (while also managing to injure Phil
- Adrianna is facing a 25 year sentence for hindering prosection from a murder commited in her night club
- Adrianna informs Christopher that she got pinched for the FBI, which he responds to by almost choking her to death
- Tony tells Adrianna on the phone that Chris tried to commit suicide; Silvio picks her up, drives her out to the woods, and executes her
- Tony and Carmela make up, Tony promises to stop seeing other women, and gives Carmela a downpayment for a $600,000 lot for her and her father to build a house on
- Tony and Johnny Sack argue over Tony B, which is settled after Tony S shoots his cousin with a shotgun
- And at the end of season 5, the FBI arrests Johnny Sack, but Tony gets away unscathed – he wasn’t named on the subpoena
Episode 66: “Join the Club”
We open with some quick looks at all of our old favorites:
- Agent Harris, the FBI agent that has been trying to nail Tony Soprano on something (anything) since season 1, is driving with his new partner, when he needs the car to pull over now. And yes, of course they actually show him vomiting on screen.
- Vito Spatafore appears in a weight-loss commerical for something called “ThinCLUB” (Joe Gannascoli, the actor that plays Vito, lost 200 pounds after getting stomach surgery)
- Janice is holding her new baby(!) and breast-feeding her (!!!). (AAGGHH – My eyes, my eyes!)
- Eugene Pontecorvo and his wife get a letter that makes them very, very happy
- Meadow is dancing in lingerie (okay, my eyes work again – that almost balances out Janice) for Finn – and I honestly can’t tell if he’s enjoying it or not (moron)
- Ray Curto is walking on a treadmill and watching TV
- AJ is sitting at the back of his college classroom, taking photos of himself making faces with his camera phone (good to see he’s matured over the past year and a half
- Carmela and Adrianna (yes, the dead Adrianna) are walking through the frame of the house that Carm is building with her father’s help. Carmela tells Adrianna that “I’m worried all the time”. And then, of course – we find out it’s a dream.
We find Tony and Uncle Junior in Junior’s backyard, and it looks like Tony has dug up half the yard with a shovel. Apparently, Junior’s dementia is still in full-force, and he’s convinced there is $40,000 buried somewhere. When Tony gets irritated and suggests it’s not back there, Junior blames it on Pussy Malanga. Wow, I believe we haven’t had a reference to him since Season 1, Episode 1 — and back then, it was only to differentiate him from “Big Pussy” Bompensiero. (How did two guys in the New Jersey mob both end up with the not-very-macho nickname “Pussy”? Good freaking question.)
Johnny Sack, who was named as the new Boss of New York at the end of Season 5, and then promptly taken into custody by the FBI — well, he’s still in jail. (That’s a damn shame, too – he’s always been one of the sharper dressers, and now he gets to spend multiple episodes in an orange jumpsuit.) Johnny’s Underboss, Phil Leotardo, visits him and complains about some business with Tony Soprano: apparently, there’s a new construction deal (and Office Park, similar to the Esplanade work back in Season 4), and Tony wants a 50/50 split. Johnny tells Phil to hold out for a much better deal, but not to “turn it into World War III.’ Johnny’s still-incredibly-obese wife Ginny shows up to visit also.
Tony gets a visit from a soldier in his family, Eugene Pontecorvo. In case you don’t remember Gene – he became a made man at the same time as Christopher back in Season 3, and his biggest recent scene was at the end of season 5: he was the guy on the job site (where Meadow’s boyfriend Finn was working) that busted a bottle over another guy’s forehead after a joke that he didn’t appreciate (“You should know, thweetie”). It turns out that Eugene has inherited two million dollars from his aunt in Florida, and he wants to retire and move down south. Tony is resistant, but agrees to think about it.
We get our first real glimpse of Tony’s personal life, while he and Carmela are out at a new (and extravagantly expensive) Sushi restaurant. Things seem to be going amazingly well between these two – looks like Tony actually has kept up his end of their new arrangement.
Hesh Rabkin (an advisor to Tony) is seen walking out of a Chinese restaurant with his son-in-law Eli, when they are jumped by 3 goons. Hesh makes it out relatively unharmed, but Eli is hit by a taxi while trying to run away. It turns out that one of Phil Leotardo’s men, Gerry Torciano, thought Eli was freelancing in his territory – but Eli was simply collecting for Hesh. Eli is very seriously injured (he looks to be in a coma when we see him in the hospital), and Hesh demands that Tony get retribution. However, Phil seems to be in no hurry to get back in touch with Tony, which sets him off in a rather surprising fit of anger and self-pity.
The boys are hanging out and busting balls at Satriale’s (the pork store that serves as a secondary mob hangout), when Phil Leotardo walks out with Tony, having done some sort of business inside. (Christopher: “I hate that f*cking guy.”) A black sedan pulls up, and Agent Harris and his new partner, Ron Goddard, come to visit. Harris isn’t on official business here, though – he’s been stationed in Paristan for the past 6 months, and caught a parasite (hence the vomiting earlier). Since he got back, he’s been “dying for a Satriale veal parm hero”. (Christopher: “Fuck him – I hope that parasite eats his ass.” Gee – having some anger issues, Chris?)
Well, apparently Carmela’s life is quite as smooth as we saw over sushi: the house she’s trying to build with her father can’t get approved. Turns out ole Dad decided to use cheap pine for the wood frame, while regulations require a much higher quality. Even the guy that Tony sends can’t approve it. Whoops. (And since I’m having a house built myself right – let me assure you that having to build the frame twice is a fairly prohibitive cost overrun.)
A potentially much larger problem for Tony is narrowly avoided, when Ray Curto (an old wiseguy) dies of a heart attack while quite literally in the midst of telling FBI Agent Sanseverino about a murder apparently commited by somebody in Tony’s army. The murder appears to have happened during the hiatus between season 5 and 6 — we don’t get any details about who was murdered, who commited it, etc. But, if my personal theory about the next few episodes (more about that later) comes true, we may find out soon. That death segues straight into Ray’s funeral, with the crushing irony of everyone talking about who’s turned FBI informat recently, and how rare good stand-up guys like Ray are anymore.
Our first offical therapy session of the new season begins, with the emphasis on Junior and his current state. Dr. Melfi asks about putting Junior in assisted living, which Tony is adamantly against, since he’s “family”. This turns to the rather obvious comparison of Livia, Tony’s mother, and the attempt on his life she and Junior put together back in Season 2. Tony even goes so far as to flatly deny that he was going to smother his own mother with a pillow: “I was just keeping my hands busy!” Oh, boy – we’re seeing some serious regression and denial now. Melfi plays it a big heavy-handed though, driving home the “You can’t deal with the fact that your mother didn’t love you” point until even the audience is thinking, “Okay, ease up, please.”
Tony is able to take care of some real business, however, when Phil (finally) shows up at the Bada Bing to meet. Phil explains that the Eli beating was “a simple misunderstanding”, and they settle the issue for 50 grand. In another surpisingly quick negotiation, the Office Park split is set at 65/35 after less than 30 seconds of talk. Afterwards, Christopher is almost beside himself, but Tony explains that it’s “not caving, it’s a strategy”. Tony is still dealing with the fallout from his cousin Tony B’s actions, and would like to keep Phil happy, at least for now (“He’s got 200 soldiers in his family”).
Later in, inside the Bing, Christopher gives Eugene an order to take out someone who hasn’t been able to pay back a loan. During the conversation, Christopher casually drops the line, “Aren’t I a Captain?” Hey, whoa – Christopher made capo? Geez, it certainly has been a long time between shows. Anyway – Chris promises to put in a good word towards Tony about Eugene’s retirement request if the job is done quickly and smoothly. Eugene does his part, but Silvio soon afterwards informs him that Tony’s answer is “no”. We then get a strange and unexpected coda to this scene, when Vito starts talking about how he’s become a “top earner”, and somebody might even run the family if “God forbid”, something ever happened to Tony. (Oh, really Vito? And exactly what is going to happen when somebody in the family discovers your “oral fixation”?)
Eugene tries to spin this well for his wife, telling her that they could just move to a much nicer part of Jersey, buy a nicer car, and try to impress Tony and Silvio with appearances (“I could make Captain…”). She isn’t buying it, and even goes so far as to ask why he doesn’t just kill Tony (“You think I don’t know you’ve done it before?” — ouch). Gene gets a call on his cell phone – someone wants to meet right now.
That person turns out to be… another FBI agent. (Geez – has anybody NOT turned informant?) They need Eugene to step up now, since they just “lost a major asset this month”, and he’s going to be counted on to help take Tony down. We then get a little “doing some heavy thinking” montage, with Eugene staring wordlessly at pictures of his family and downing more than a bit of (what I guess to be) scotch. In the end, feeling trapped no matter what he does, he hangs himself in the garage. And yes, they do keep the camera on him for the entire minute-plus that it takes for him to slowly choke to death. Not a comfortable scene.
Called off a cruise on his new boat, the “Stugots II” (guess business has been good), Tony has to head to Uncle Junior’s house, who’s apparently in quite the mood (again). He makes a side-trip to berate Janice and Bobby (who’s playing with his model trains; yes, of course he’s wearing a conductor’s hat) on why they can’t go. It turns out that they need to take their 15-month-old child to a pre-school interview. (Oh, for the love of Mike… I hate these kind of people.) Tony eventually makes it Junior’s, and prepares dinner for the two of them, while Junior goes to look for his teeth. Unfortunately, Junion finds a gun instead, and in a fit of paranoia, shoots Tony in the stomach, just after calling him “Mangala”. Junior runs upstairs and hides in a closet, while Tony slowly and painfully crawls into the kitchen and manages to dial “911”, just before passing out.
Next week on the Sopranos:
Nope – sorry, we don’t get any this week. Not surprising, of course – they’re not giving anything away after that ending. My personal opinion is that we’ll spend several of the next episodes in a prolonged flashback, going over the past 21 months (that the show was off the air), which will fill in some details that we seem to be missing: fallout from Adrianna’s murder (specifically with Christopher), where Finn is, what happened between Artie and Charmange, what happened in the murder Ray Curto was talking about, etc. Guess we’ll find out soon enough. See you on Monday, when we should be able to get into some deeper analysis, once we know where the hell this season is going.
