The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode)

"The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode)"

"The Sopranos" is the first episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. The episode was written and directed by series creator, David Chase. It originally aired on Sunday January 10, 1999.

Guest Starring roles

• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
• Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
• Bruce Smolanoff as Emil Kolar
• Joe Pucillo as Beppy Scerbo
• Siberia Federico as Irina Peltsin (pilot only)
• Michael Santoro as Father Phil Intintola (pilot only)

Episode recap

New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano unexpectedly loses breath and passes out at his son's birthday party. After the doctors were unable to find any physical problem, it was identified as a panic attack, and he was referred to psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. In their first meeting, the two discuss the events that lead up to his collapse.

Tony begins detailing his life to Dr. Melfi but is initially uncooperative, expressing scorn for the institution of psychiatry and presenting himself as a 'waste management consultant'. After establishing the ground rules of what will fall under patient-client confidentiality, Tony opens up about his career, but keeps the violent details from the doctor. He also details the stress of caring for his aging mother, Livia, who is relentlessly pessimistic and cynical, at once demanding and resentful of assistance. Her derisive outburst when the family visit Green Grove, a 'retirement community' that Tony is attempting to place his mother in, even prompts a second panic attack. Although Tony is reluctant to face his own psychological weaknesses, Dr. Melfi eventually uncovers that Tony projected his love for his family onto a family of ducks living in his back pool, and their flight from the pool sparked his panic attack through the overwhelming fear of somehow losing his own family.

Meanwhile, Tony's nephew and mob underling Christopher devises his own means of settling a dispute with a Czechoslovakian waste management company that rivals the Soprano family's own front business, Barone Sanitation; he lures out and kills the company's heir, Emil Kolar, in the backroom of Satriale's pork store. Originally planning to dump the body in a Kolar family garbage dumpster as an example, Christopher instead takes the advice of longtime family soldier "Big Pussy" Bompensiero, who advises him to bury the body and avoid police investigation, while tacitly intimidating the Kolars.

Tony’s Uncle Junior wants to kill the turncoat Little Pussy Malanga in Artie Bucco’s restaurant, Vesuvio. Tony, childhood friends with Artie, fears that a mob hit in his friend's establishment could damage Artie's business. After Junior refuses to have the killing in another location and Artie won’t take Tony’s offer to leave town for a weeklong cruise, Tony has his right-hand man Silvio Dante set off an explosion in Artie’s restaurant, in the hopes that Artie can claim insurance money without becoming any the wiser of the gangland conflict. However, giving Livia a ride to AJ's rescheduled birthday party, an embittered Junior floats the idea of eliminating Tony if he continues to interfere. Significantly, his mother's reaction is to silently look the other way.

Deceased

• Emil Kolar: a Czech mobster who is shot by Christopher

Trivia

• Tony is apparently the boss of the New Jersey family in this episode. Hesh reminds him that Junior "resents [Tony's] the boss" and Charmaine refers to Tony as "the Don of New Jersey". In 46 Long, Tony is "demoted" to a captain by the writers.
• Pussy Malanga, the man Uncle Junior wants to kill in Artie’s restaurant is the same man Junior mistakes Tony for when he shoots him in the season six episode, Members Only.
• This is the only episode to be directed by David Chase.
• Tony mentions his admiration for Gary Cooper, establishing a trend throughout the show with Tony using references to classic Hollywood.
• Christopher reminds Tony his cousin's girlfriend is a development girl, who we finally meet in the season two episode, D-Girl.
• Adriana La Cerva, portrayed by Drea De Matteo, is actually credited as "Hostess" in this episode before receiving her name later.
• Irina is played by Siberia Federico and Father Phil is played by Michael Santoro. These roles are recast with Oksana Babiy and Paul Schulze in forthcoming episodes.
• In this episode, the pork store the guys use as a meeting place is Centanni's Meat Market, a real butcher shop in Elizabeth, New Jersey. However, because the shop had a steady business and because local business owners were annoyed with the incidental effects of having a "movie" production being shot on a weekly basis, HBO acquired an abandoned location in Kearny, New Jersey and renamed the pork store Satriale's Meat Market for use in future episodes.
• When describing Uncle Junior, Tony tells Dr. Melfi that his uncle embarrassed him by telling all his girl cousins he didn't have the makings of a varsity athlete. Uncle Junior repeats that declaration to Tony multiple times in the season five episode, Where's Johnny?
• Carmela wants to take Meadow to the Plaza Hotel for a family tradition. Though Meadow declines in this episode, viewers finally see it take place in the season four episode, Eloise.