ILS1
06-10-2007, 01:10 PM
10. Big P@#$y Gets Whacked
Tony decided Big P@#$y had to go after his suspicions were confirmed that Big P@#$y had been cooperating with the FBI (remember Tony sneaking upstairs into the Bonpensiero bedroom and discovering a surveillance wire?). So Tony, Silvio and Paulie took Big P@#$y on a boat ride. Now, the rule of thumb in organized crime is never get into a boat with three members of your “family” who may suspect you of ratting on them, but apparently Big P@#$y considered that axiom archaic. Big mistake. It took a lot of weighing down, but Salvatore “Big P@#$y” Bonpensiero became the first member of the Sopranos’ inner circle to join Luca Brasi in the aquatic realm.
9. Goodbye To Adriana
FBI honchos sunk their teeth into Ade with threats of prosecution over nefarious doings at a nightclub. After they turned the screws on her, she turned to a sympathetic ear: Christafa! In retrospect, an unfortunate strategic miscalculation. Chris appeared to have mixed feelings for Ade. Although he beat her on occasion, killed her dog and raged at her while on drugs, he was also quite fond of her, in a sociopathic kind of way. But eventually Chris turned to Tony for advice, who assigned the case to Silvio. Silvio drove her into the woods for a little nature walk. But she never drove out.
8. Expelled From 'College'
In this case, “College” refers to one of the finest “Sopranos” episodes of them all, during the first season, when Tony accompanied Meadow on a trip to Maine to visit some potential colleges. While on the trip, Tony happened to spot Fabian “Febby” Petrulio, who squealed on the mob, went into the Witness Protection Program but then dropped out. That’s a decision Febby probably wishes he had back. Tony did some sleuthing and discovered Febby had become Fred Peters, travel agent. So he went to see Fred, presumably to get information on cruises and spas, and proceeded to “tighten his necktie,” as they say. Meadow may have come home with a safe school or two, but Febby discovered that no place is safe for a stool pigeon.
7. The Russian In The Woods
Like “College,” this entire third-season episode is classic. But what fans remember most is the Russian making a mad dash through the snow of the New Jersey Pine Barrens to escape Chris and Paulie. It's one of the great unresolved storylines of a series that has offered more than its share. The episode began with a fight inside the apartment of a Russian named Valery. Paulie and Chris went there to collect money, but wound up in a brawl. They threw his body in the truck of the car and drove him to the desolate Pine Barrens, only to discover he was still alive. He eventually eluded them. Chris and Paulie then got lost and were left to argue, curse their fates, try and huddle against the cold and eat small packages of ketchup before being rescued by Tony and Bobby Bacala.
6. Ralphie Loses His Head
From the time that Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) arrived on the scene, you knew it would be a relatively short stay. He was just too rude to stick around. Tony and Ralph had been partners in a racehorse called Pie-O-Mine, but a suspicious fire at the stables reined in the horse's career. When Tony informed Ralph of the event, he felt Ralph didn’t express the proper amount of sympathy, and indeed, wondered if Ralph may have had something to do with torching the horse for the insurance money. While Tony often treats humans harshly, he’s fond of animals; remember the ducks? So he and Ralph had a savage fight, which ended in Ralph’s demise. Then Tony summoned Christopher, and they used their Satriale’s training to carve up Ralph. His head, sans toupee, was placed in a bowling ball bag and then brought to an out-of-the-way alley.
5. Tony B. Not-So-Good
When Tony’s cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi) got out of prison, he intended to make a living as a massage therapist. But here’s the rub: He couldn’t adapt to a straight job. So he inched his way back into crime, eventually taking an independent assignment to carry out a hit. Unfortunately, one of the people he killed was Phil Leotardo’s brother. That caused somewhat of a rift between the New York and New Jersey families. To make peace, and to make sure his beloved cousin wouldn’t be captured and tortured, Tony S. did the humane thing and blasted Tony B. in the face with a shotgun. Hey, some families are closer than others.
4. Like Son, Like Mother
The forgotten member of the Sopranos’ clan is Livia Soprano (the late great Nancy Marchand). An argument can be made that she is the most important Soprano of them all, because it was her narcissistic and overbearing approach to parenting that helped make Tony into the man he is today. In the first season, she and Junior cooked up a plan to have Tony killed, but it went awry. Later, the moment that is etched into the minds of “Sopranos” fans with mother issues is the one in which Livia was being wheeled down the corridor of a hospital and was confronted by an angry Tony, who said he knew what she tried to do. Livia smiled, a chilling reminder that a mother’s work is never done.
3. Veni, Vidi, Vito
Some guys like to use their spare time to go fishing or do home repair. Others like to get dressed up in leather and go to gay bars. Hey, to each his own. The problem for Vito Spatafore (Joseph Gannascoli) is that a couple of mob soldiers happened to see him in full resplendence when they went inside such an establishment to make a collection. (Actually, viewers got a glimpse of Vito’s preferences at a construction site in an earlier episode.) Let’s just say that among mobsters there aren’t too many in the pro-gay marriage camp. Vito’s look of horror when he was spotted inside the bar was prescient, because later Phil lured him to a motel and had him beaten to death. Obviously, Phil wasn’t one of the many who enjoyed “Brokeback Mountain.”
2. Dr. Melfi's Rape
Obviously this was one of the ugliest moments in a series that featured many of them. But it was the most significant event to occur in the life of one of the show's most vital characters. Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Tony’s shrink, went to her car one night and was raped in a stairwell. Things got worse when she was informed by law enforcement that the suspect was let go on a technicality. In a tragic way, this brought her – albeit temporarily —to Tony’s level. To that point, she had been erudite, professional and rational while she listened to Tony rant about his brutal lifestyle and his dysfunctional family. But after this, she seethed and wanted revenge. Yet true to her nature, she refrained from telling Tony about the incident and siccing him on the perpetrator, drawing her own line between civilized behavior and savagery.
1. Junior Smashes Girlfriend With Pie, AND Junior Shoots Tony
For an old man, Uncle Jun (Dominic Chianese) really has a temper. In “Boca,” from the first season, Junior and his buxom girlfriend Roberta enjoyed a particular sexual activity that apparently, in the mob, is perceived as a sign of weakness. Junior instructed her not to say anything. But Roberta confided in a beautician friend, one thing led to another, and Uncle Junior was ribbed mercilessly by Tony and others. Junior then confronted Roberta and shoved a lemon meringue pie in her face. Much later, in the first episode of season six, Uncle Junior had a senior moment, imagined that a mobster named P@#$y Malanga was stalking him, and shot Tony in the stomach. In retrospect, Tony would probably have preferred to be hit in the face with a lemon meringue pie also.
Story Link (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19037471/)
Tony decided Big P@#$y had to go after his suspicions were confirmed that Big P@#$y had been cooperating with the FBI (remember Tony sneaking upstairs into the Bonpensiero bedroom and discovering a surveillance wire?). So Tony, Silvio and Paulie took Big P@#$y on a boat ride. Now, the rule of thumb in organized crime is never get into a boat with three members of your “family” who may suspect you of ratting on them, but apparently Big P@#$y considered that axiom archaic. Big mistake. It took a lot of weighing down, but Salvatore “Big P@#$y” Bonpensiero became the first member of the Sopranos’ inner circle to join Luca Brasi in the aquatic realm.
9. Goodbye To Adriana
FBI honchos sunk their teeth into Ade with threats of prosecution over nefarious doings at a nightclub. After they turned the screws on her, she turned to a sympathetic ear: Christafa! In retrospect, an unfortunate strategic miscalculation. Chris appeared to have mixed feelings for Ade. Although he beat her on occasion, killed her dog and raged at her while on drugs, he was also quite fond of her, in a sociopathic kind of way. But eventually Chris turned to Tony for advice, who assigned the case to Silvio. Silvio drove her into the woods for a little nature walk. But she never drove out.
8. Expelled From 'College'
In this case, “College” refers to one of the finest “Sopranos” episodes of them all, during the first season, when Tony accompanied Meadow on a trip to Maine to visit some potential colleges. While on the trip, Tony happened to spot Fabian “Febby” Petrulio, who squealed on the mob, went into the Witness Protection Program but then dropped out. That’s a decision Febby probably wishes he had back. Tony did some sleuthing and discovered Febby had become Fred Peters, travel agent. So he went to see Fred, presumably to get information on cruises and spas, and proceeded to “tighten his necktie,” as they say. Meadow may have come home with a safe school or two, but Febby discovered that no place is safe for a stool pigeon.
7. The Russian In The Woods
Like “College,” this entire third-season episode is classic. But what fans remember most is the Russian making a mad dash through the snow of the New Jersey Pine Barrens to escape Chris and Paulie. It's one of the great unresolved storylines of a series that has offered more than its share. The episode began with a fight inside the apartment of a Russian named Valery. Paulie and Chris went there to collect money, but wound up in a brawl. They threw his body in the truck of the car and drove him to the desolate Pine Barrens, only to discover he was still alive. He eventually eluded them. Chris and Paulie then got lost and were left to argue, curse their fates, try and huddle against the cold and eat small packages of ketchup before being rescued by Tony and Bobby Bacala.
6. Ralphie Loses His Head
From the time that Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) arrived on the scene, you knew it would be a relatively short stay. He was just too rude to stick around. Tony and Ralph had been partners in a racehorse called Pie-O-Mine, but a suspicious fire at the stables reined in the horse's career. When Tony informed Ralph of the event, he felt Ralph didn’t express the proper amount of sympathy, and indeed, wondered if Ralph may have had something to do with torching the horse for the insurance money. While Tony often treats humans harshly, he’s fond of animals; remember the ducks? So he and Ralph had a savage fight, which ended in Ralph’s demise. Then Tony summoned Christopher, and they used their Satriale’s training to carve up Ralph. His head, sans toupee, was placed in a bowling ball bag and then brought to an out-of-the-way alley.
5. Tony B. Not-So-Good
When Tony’s cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi) got out of prison, he intended to make a living as a massage therapist. But here’s the rub: He couldn’t adapt to a straight job. So he inched his way back into crime, eventually taking an independent assignment to carry out a hit. Unfortunately, one of the people he killed was Phil Leotardo’s brother. That caused somewhat of a rift between the New York and New Jersey families. To make peace, and to make sure his beloved cousin wouldn’t be captured and tortured, Tony S. did the humane thing and blasted Tony B. in the face with a shotgun. Hey, some families are closer than others.
4. Like Son, Like Mother
The forgotten member of the Sopranos’ clan is Livia Soprano (the late great Nancy Marchand). An argument can be made that she is the most important Soprano of them all, because it was her narcissistic and overbearing approach to parenting that helped make Tony into the man he is today. In the first season, she and Junior cooked up a plan to have Tony killed, but it went awry. Later, the moment that is etched into the minds of “Sopranos” fans with mother issues is the one in which Livia was being wheeled down the corridor of a hospital and was confronted by an angry Tony, who said he knew what she tried to do. Livia smiled, a chilling reminder that a mother’s work is never done.
3. Veni, Vidi, Vito
Some guys like to use their spare time to go fishing or do home repair. Others like to get dressed up in leather and go to gay bars. Hey, to each his own. The problem for Vito Spatafore (Joseph Gannascoli) is that a couple of mob soldiers happened to see him in full resplendence when they went inside such an establishment to make a collection. (Actually, viewers got a glimpse of Vito’s preferences at a construction site in an earlier episode.) Let’s just say that among mobsters there aren’t too many in the pro-gay marriage camp. Vito’s look of horror when he was spotted inside the bar was prescient, because later Phil lured him to a motel and had him beaten to death. Obviously, Phil wasn’t one of the many who enjoyed “Brokeback Mountain.”
2. Dr. Melfi's Rape
Obviously this was one of the ugliest moments in a series that featured many of them. But it was the most significant event to occur in the life of one of the show's most vital characters. Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Tony’s shrink, went to her car one night and was raped in a stairwell. Things got worse when she was informed by law enforcement that the suspect was let go on a technicality. In a tragic way, this brought her – albeit temporarily —to Tony’s level. To that point, she had been erudite, professional and rational while she listened to Tony rant about his brutal lifestyle and his dysfunctional family. But after this, she seethed and wanted revenge. Yet true to her nature, she refrained from telling Tony about the incident and siccing him on the perpetrator, drawing her own line between civilized behavior and savagery.
1. Junior Smashes Girlfriend With Pie, AND Junior Shoots Tony
For an old man, Uncle Jun (Dominic Chianese) really has a temper. In “Boca,” from the first season, Junior and his buxom girlfriend Roberta enjoyed a particular sexual activity that apparently, in the mob, is perceived as a sign of weakness. Junior instructed her not to say anything. But Roberta confided in a beautician friend, one thing led to another, and Uncle Junior was ribbed mercilessly by Tony and others. Junior then confronted Roberta and shoved a lemon meringue pie in her face. Much later, in the first episode of season six, Uncle Junior had a senior moment, imagined that a mobster named P@#$y Malanga was stalking him, and shot Tony in the stomach. In retrospect, Tony would probably have preferred to be hit in the face with a lemon meringue pie also.
Story Link (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19037471/)