Here's the episode preview, from HBO's official site.

THE SOPRANOS 54: RAT PACK
Rated TVMA for
ADULT CONTENT, VIOLENCE, BRIEF NUDITY, GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Time:57
Genre:Drama

Tony sizes up a contractor's gift, then reunites with his paroled cousin, Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi). Meanwhile, Paulie and Christopher relive some not-so-special memories; Carmela launches a film club; Adriana grapples with her guilt; and a familiar figure "crosses over."

I wonder if this could be the Russian returning? Even tho Chase has said that he wouldn't be... hmmm...

Will we have to call psychic John Edward?

"a familiar figure crosses over"????? Someone joins the "family"? Or leaves the family? Might be interesting.


TIS

Exactly my thoughts when I first read that!

I thought, "Uh oh, sounds like John Edward is gonna try to contact Big Pussy!"

sounds kinky...

Yes, Chase did say he wasn't coming back this season. but that doesn't mean the other Russians won't be back. Maybe they will find out what happened and avenge it

But just because Chase says something, does that neccesarily mean that its true? If I was the creator and writer of the show and if I was writing such a huge twist as the Russian coming back, then I wouldnt tell the public even if they asked.

I am going to start each thread the day before each episode airs, and I will include the official pre-episode summary that HBO has on their site.

Pretty good episode tonight, not as good as last week's but still good. I thought Adirana was gonna tell the girls what she's been up to but she kept her mouth shut. Next week's episode looks more intense.

Another good episode, I think better than last week. Not sure about Tony's cousin Tony. I'm guessing somehow he'll be drawn back in the business; Adriana sure came close to spilling the beans. I'm guessing if she does, she's history.


TIS

It looked pretty damn painful when Adrianna fell. I wonder if her guilt will override her.

As Tony would say, "take it easy!" :p

I'm the one who speculated on what the preview could've meant. (And apparently I was wrong on both counts). It's called chit-chat. And some people do that when they're excited about something :rolleyes:

I thought it was a wonderful "set-up" episode.

With Carmine dead now it looks like his son and Johnny Sac are gonna be knocking heads. You just KNOW one of them (or perhaps both of them) will be begging Tony to join their "side" in the fight.

Adrianna's near admission (to the "girls") was quite suspenseful. I thought she was going to end up driving her car off the road (killing herself). She's definitely stressed out, and the fact she ratted out her own maid of honor is proof she's ready to flip out.

The development of the new characters is progressing almost painfully slowly. Its a real tease to wonder what they're going to be involved with - I can't wait for next week!

Good eppisode. No better or worse than last weeks I thought.

Carmines death was to me, the huge event in this eppisode. Chances are, Johnny Sac and lil Carmine will end up in a power struggle, and Tony will defeintily have to take sides. Logic says he will side with Johnny Sac, but who knows.

Adriana's guilt was the other major occurence in this eppisode. Her ratting out her friend in the end I feel was a combination of both her accepting her flip over to the FBI and her wanting to have to rat out her family less. And Rosalie's statement about Judas makes me rethink my hypothesis that Adriana will get whacked. I now think she will end up killing herself.

Tony Blundetto seems to be a very interesting character. I dont know what to think yet. Its pretty obvious that he wont stay a masage therapist all season because that would be no fun. I think once he gets into the real work, were gonna see this guys true colors. I think hes a serious whack job and we dont know it yet. Im talking Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs; nothing but trouble. Cant wait till next weeks eppisode.

Yes TIS, Uncle June is slipping into demetia. Could lead to some classic Junior lines.

I'm thinking Adrianna is going to breakdown and spill the beans to Christopher. Could lead to some tense moments: Christophers allegience to the family (or fear) or his love for Ade.

It appears the FBI is attacking on several fronts. I don't know the Soprano Lieutenant's name, but how many episodes before he gets sniffed out ala Pussy?

An tantalizing tease with Tony Blundetto. His quirky-wacky-psychosis should have a major appearance one of these episodes. Excellent casting.

I also enjoy this weeks show. You start to see many new issues opening up and there were so many left open from the other seasons. I have to wonder how they will tie them all up. As we all know there are only so many shows per season.

Don't be so sure that Tony will side with Sack. What better way to take old Johnny Boy down a few then letting Carmine Jr win. After all Tony doesn't see the kid as a problem as he does with old Johnny Boy.

I have to admit I thought Aide would do a "Frankie Five Angels special" for a little while there.

Still think we'll see more from our new Tony. Anyone feel he has a little psycho lying underneath with his "you're crowding me" line... ? Mebbe he was just genuinely offended and I read into it too much.

Junior's slippin' and slippin' hard. Some classic Junior is sure to be in store, but I'll be sad about seeing it in a way. It's not a Carmine Lupertazzi deal. I was indifferent when he passed. Missing Junior will be like missing Paulie early last season. It's like the personality was missing.

Opus Dei?!?!? What kinda' pull is that? Was Little Carmine really serious? How could he even have been thinking that just because of the Rosary? I think our idiot savant is just a little insecure is all. Opus Dei is a fringe group of the Church (depending on whom you ask), but I think he was just shooting for shit basically.

Nick

I don't know about this week's episode. I was disappointed to an extent because it seemed it was dragging alot? I'm gonna be upset if Junior has alzheimers, he needs to be healthy and give great lines to all these newly paroled mobsters.

Nick, what is Opus Dei???? Didn't know for sure that's how it was spelled until you just now posted it.

I was born/raised Catholic and that doesn't even sound familiar. When the comment was made at the funeral home, I looked had his hands, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. What did I miss??? Thanks

TIS

TIS...

Now this is what I know of Opus Dei, so take it with a grain of salt. Maybe a whole can...

I've never heard my Sainted Grandmother (TM) mention it at any time, or anyone else in my family. We're also very, very Catholic.

They are supposedly a very conservative Catholic group, kinda' like the sect to which Mel Gibson belongs. They are technically not a sect of the Church, though. People who favor the more conservative elements of the Church tend to flock to them, although it's not too popular here in the States. They, in a way, try to remove any and all secular aspects of their daily lives and make everything they do revolve around the Church and their Religion in one way or another.

Their opponents view Opus Dei as cultish. They supposedly advocate self-pain as a method of atonement. This brought an image to my mind of Savonarola beating hiself with a flagellum in a documentary I saw on the Medici before his rise to power in Florence, the Bonfire of the Vanities, etcetera.

I don't really know what to put here as my thoughts are kinda' scatterred all over the place and I don't want to hijack the thread. There is probably plenty of stuff that can be found on the WWW about Opus Dei, both pro and anti.

Still... I had to crack up when hearing Carmine mention it as "new agey" when everything I had ever heard about it made it rather neo-conservative. Maybe it's just the idiot savant at work again...

Nick

Lotta snappy lines last night. I liked Carm reading from Leonard Maltin's review of "Citizen Kane" and not being able to pronounce Mankiewicz ("...and written by Joseph Whatever). Also, the Apostles Protection Program. And the female FBI agent telling Adriana that she joined the FBI because her boyfriend used a pistol to crack open a cocoanut and the ricochet killed someone.

I watched the episode and don't know if Uncle Junior has dementia or is playing a game figuring his next trial is right around the corner. The preview from next week shows Junior wandering off. One must feel for Adrianna. I thought she was going to kill herself but was surprised when she ratted on her friend(the one Chris was eyeing).

actually it left her sister a parapaligic.

I thought the same thing, that's she'd die in a DUI accident. But I think the only reason why she ratted out Tina was because she and Chris were flirting on more than one occassion.

I hope Sack wins out over Little Carmine - the latter character just isn't that interesting. Besides, I'd miss Ginny But Carmine is the heir apparent (the "hair apparent," according to Christopha )

Geoff & SC,

The guy that got whacked (the police found him in his car at the end), forgot his name, but wore the blue cap, and gave Tony the Rat Pack picture. Well, when Tony went to meet him to get the "feel" if he was lying, the restaurant they were in front of looked like the one that we saw on the Soprano's tour???? What do you think?

TIS

Yeah, TIS, it looks like the same diner that Chris was shot in front of

Another solid episode. Not one of the great ones, but another solid one that builds up the story and has a lot of great character moments, truly funny lines, and starts to resolve some long-standing plot-threads.

Jack Masserone is a construction contractor who has long been in business with the Soprano Family. Look back at Season Two, Masserone is the guy who paid Tony all that money in that scam with the Black activists protesting outside one of his job sites.
Jack gives Tony the painting of the "Rat Pack" and discusses future business dealings with New Jersey Assemblyman Ron Zellman. Zellman is the politician in the Mob's pocket who got funding for the big Esplanade construction project. He is also the guy who was seeing Tony's ex-goomar, Irina, the guy who Tony whipped with a belt in Season Four. Carefully note how Tony tried to sidestep the subject of Zellman with Masserone.
A couple funny lines in this conversation in the diner. One, Tony speaks of the Rat Pack painting as "modern art". Secondly, when Masserone speaks of his late mother, he says, "Wherever she is, I bet it's somewhere hot", to which Tony replies, "You had one of those, too?" Ah yes, Tony still fondly remembers Livia!

And, of course, the FBI is lurking outside the diner as this is going on.

Adriana is in a car, meeting with her FBI handlers. They ask her about a guy named Joseph "Joey" Cogo, then show pictures of his bullet-ridden corpse. They also show a pic of another guy who was apparently having dinner with Cogo the night of his murder. Who was that guy?
And a side note, how is Joey Cogo related to Giovanni "Johnny" Cogo, the guy that Silvio, Christopher, and Furio were beating to a pulp in the basement of Adriana's club, The Crazy Horse (in Season Four)?
I wonder what the connection is between the Sopranos and these unknown characters, the Cogos.

Next, we get a glimpse of the inner workings of the Newark FBI. In Season Three, it was revealed that Soprano Family capo Raymond Curto was an FBI informant. Since then, the show has not addressed this. Now, we see Curto working closely with Agent Harris and Agent Grasso, interpreting the tape of a high-level meeting from Season Four's opening episode. This is the meeting where Tony and Silvio meet with four of the six Family capos to berate them about the lack of cashflow.
We also see, in the FBI office, that the Feds have a video camera installed in the parking lot of The Crazy Horse, and they are tracking the movements of the Soprano Family's members.
It is then revealed that Jack Masserone is a rat working for the FBI. The Newark office's top agent, Frank Cubitoso, is listening to a tape of Tony's diner conversation with Jack. Also present in this listening session is the Federal prosecutor from Junior's trial, Prosecutor Castleman. He is putting pressure on the Newark FBI to get results. To him, the murder of Matthew Bevilaqua and the stolen airline tickets from the bustout of Davie Scatino's sporting goods store won't be good enough to prosecute Tony until they discover how the Soprano Family managed to infiltrate the jury system of Junior's trial.
The FBI noose is tightening!

In the next scene in Junior's house with Feech LaManna, Bobby Bacala, Tony, and Junior, we see that Uncle Jun' is starting to lose it. He is speaking of his own death, and it is clear that he may be going senile. We also learn that the Brooklyn boss Carmine Lupertazzi passes away from his stroke. Bacala speaks of him with respect, "He's the guy who invented point-shaving!"

In the funeral home on the day of Carmine's internment, we see that his hot-headed/thick-headed son Little Carmine is looking to stake his turf and take over his late father's position as New York boss. He sees that underboss John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni is getting all the respect of other New York mobsters, as if he is already the new boss. Little Carmine verbally attacks Johnny about a non-issue, something about the type of medal on the rosary that Carmine is holding in his casket. The storm-clouds are gathering for a possible internecine war in the New York mob over who will be the next boss! Will it be Johnny or Little Carmine who prevails? I put my money on Johnny. He's WAY too smart and ruthless for Little Carmine.

We are introduced to a new character: a lady who is apparently a legendary New York shylock operator, Lorraine Calluzzo. She's nobody's bimbo, and looks to be a formidable presence. She's also got a gorilla for a sidekick, a guy named Jason Evanina. We also see the character played by Frank Vincent for the first time, New York capo Phillip Leotardo.

And carefully note, through all of this at Carmine's funeral, wire-wearing rat Raymond Curto is always lurking nearby.

Next, we see Adriana speaking with her whore of a maid of honor, a Joisey barslut named Tina Francesco. It is learned that Tina is the inside player in some scam involving her writing false checks and her father cashing them. Adriana and Tina are on a double-date with Christopher and Little Paulie Germani. Christopher is bitter about not being able to drink or drug any more.

Finally, we see Steve Buscemi's character, Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, who just got out of prison after a 15 year prison sentence. Tony and Tony B are happy to see each other after a long time apart. We hear another classic Tony line as he looks at a baby picture of him and his cousin, "Even back then, my cannoli was always bigger than his!"
Tony B's "Miami Vice" attire is hysterical. Clearly, he's still stuck in the 80s!

Then there's the surprise party for Tony B at Vesuvio. The extended Soprano family is there. We get some insight on Tony B. He's a bit depressed that his wife and kids will no longer have anything to do with him (they didn't show up to his surprise party), and he's a pretty keen guy. After a few seconds, he's able to pick up on the fact there's a problem between Tony and Artie Bucco, stemming from Artie's disastrous "attempt" at being a mobster last season.
We also see that the Soprano family is no longer the same after Tony and Carmela's separation. Tony, Carmela, AJ, and Meadow just drift away from each other at the party to sit by themselves.

After the Soprano family dinner party, we see Tony take his cousin to the Bing for some fun with the Soprano Family. From what Tony B said in the parking lot, we see that he might be a little bitter towards Tony over his lengthy prison stay. Later on, we learn that Feech LaManna hasn't wasted any time since leaving prison weeks before: he's already earning. Tony and Hesh have a chat as they look at Feech passing a nice "welcome back" envelope to Tony B. We can't hear what they say, but Hesh and Tony don't look pleased about Tony B associating with Feech.
In the bathroom, Tony brings up the subject of Little Carmine with Johnny Sack. It is evident that Johnny doesn't think too much of his late boss's son: "He does all this after five years in Florida fixing wet T-shirt contests." It looks like Little Carmine is the Fredo Corleone of this show!

Paulie Walnuts supplies some hilarious malapropisms with that sharp intellect of his: "Prince Matchabelli" and "Sun Tazoo". And then Tony B pokes fun at his cousin Tony in front of everybody, making a remark about Tony's weight. If Ralph Cifaretto were still around, he'd tell Tony B that fat jokes don't go over well in the Soprano Family! Over breakfast, Tony B tells Tony he wants to go legit, and stay out of the Mob life. It is clear Tony is disappointed in his cousin's choice.

Next, we see Carmela invite all the Mob wives (Gabriella Dante, Rosalie Aprile, Donna Parisi, Janice Baccalieri, and Adriana) over to start a little "film club" with Tony's video equipment. They watch "Citizen Kane". After the movie, it is clear that the movie is a little too high-brow for them. They'd rather gossip instead, and they do.

The scene with Adriana and her FBI handler, Agent Sanseverino, is interesting. We see that Adriana is overwhelmed by guilt over her snitching to the Feds.

Tony B walks in the back room of Satriale's as Silvio, Paulie, and Vito Spatafore are in the middle of a card game. After the mobsters make a remark about the former mobster's decision to go legit, the wisecracks from Tony B start to fly, and they are vintage. He calls Paulie "Grampa Munster" and says to big Vito, "Hey, those cards aren't candy bars, you can let go of a couple of them." Tony B, who wants to become a licensed masseuse, ends up working over Silvio, Paulie, and Vito, which is absolutely funny as hell to see. Even better is Tony's reaction when he walks in, "What the fuck is this?"
GREAT stuff!

Tony takes his cousin outside and has a frank, heated conversation with him about the wisecracks Tony B made to him at the Bing. We see that Tony B is a dangerous guy here. As Tony is barking at him, he gets an odd look in his eyes and says quietly, "You're crowding me." The guy is coiled like a snake, something Tony should have taken note of.

Next, we see that Adriana's friend Tina Francesco is stepping over the line, openly hitting on Christopher right in front of his fiancee! Adriana is pissed, but she doesn't say anything.

Later on at the Bing, Patsy Parisi reports that a cop on the Soprano Family payroll told him that the Feds were in a car outside the diner where Jack Masserone and Tony were having their meeting the previous week. This is bad news. If Masserone flipped (and as we saw earlier in the FBI office, he HAS flipped), he could bring down Tony with his testimony regarding Tony's industry-wide corruption in construction. Chris volunteers to kill Masserone, but Tony wants to be absolutely sure about the contractor before doing anything about him. Tony decides to meet Jack one-on-one. Tony wants to see if he can use the vaunted Soprano "rat-sniffing" ability he brags that his father Johnny Boy had to feel him out.

Tony meets with Jack in a parking lot. Before they talk, Carmela calls Tony on his cellphone to yell at him about taking the video system out of the house and ruining her little "film club". They argue for a minute.
While speaking with Jack, Tony does a lot of hugging and back-slapping, trying to see if Jack is wearing a wire. (He isn't; the microphone is actually in his hat) During their conversation, Jack makes a remark to Tony, "Have you lost weight?" Tony is flattered by this.
Tony goes back to Silvio and Christopher, just as undecided about Jack as he was before the meeting. Tony, frustrated, goes home (Livia's old house is where he is living now). He looks in the mirror at his expanding gut, and realizes that Jack was bullshitting him with the "Have you lost weight?" remark. Tony instinctively knows Jack Masserone is a rat, and orders him killed. We see someone throw the Rat Pack painting he gave to Tony in a river, then we see that the FBI have found Jack's body in the trunk of a car, a bullet in his head.

At the Mob Wives Gossip Club in Carmela's house, Adriana is drinking a lot of wine. She and Rosalie Aprile go outside for a smoke. Adriana asks why Angie Bonpensiero, widow of the late Pussy Bonpensiero, in never invited to their little get-togethers. Rosalie says that Angie isn't invited because Pussy is a rat who went into the FBI's Witness Protection Program. She compares Pussy to Judas, saying that Judas was actually BETTER than Pussy, because Judas didn't "go into any Apostle Protection Program", which is a funny comment.
Of course, this isn't true, and Adriana knows it. Pussy isn't in the program, and is likely dead, as her FBI handlers told her (in Season Four). And as we know, Pussy is definitely dead at the hands of Tony, Silvio, and Paulie.
Adriana, a bit drunk and wracked with guilt, ALMOST tells the Mob wives about her snitching to the FBI. But she stops herself at the last moment and runs off and drives away. The wives are baffled by her behavior.

The next day, the real life "rat pack" are meeting with their FBI handlers. Agent Cubitoso sees Jack Masserone's corpse. Agent Grasso meets with Raymond Curto. The capo says to Grasso that he wants more money for his work as an informant. Grasso refuses: "You said were gonna get us a making ceremony, which you didn't do, and you want a raise?" An aside here: I thought Curto WAS present for a making ceremony. It was revealed Curto was a rat early in Season Three. He was present when Christopher Moltisanti and Eugene Pontecorvo were made. I wonder what went wrong?

And lastly, Adriana meets with Agent Sanseverino. Adriana appears to have come to terms with being a snitch, and she finds something in it for her. Adriana rats out her "friend"/maid of honor Tina, spilling the facts about the scam Tina and her dad are in. Adriana was pissed about Tina hitting on Christopher, but she played it cool. I think it's awesome what she did. Like a cold-blooded operator, Adriana sets up her "friend" to be destroyed by the FBI.
As Tony will say to Melfi in a future episode, "The old guys who started this thing, they never got mad. They just nodded and smiled and didn't say anything... and they made sure you got it later."
Which is exactly what Adriana did.

It was a solid episode, once again.

Did you all catch the scene where Carmela's Film Club was just about to watch "Citizen Kane" and the FBI Warning came on the screen, then came the short uncomfortable silence? I love David Chase's dry humor.

Something struck me when someone asked about Tony's potential stand in the power struggle between Sack and Little Carmine.

Remember when Carmine (the father) gave the OK to Tony to "take care of" Johnny Sack during the Ginny-Sack's-Mole-Problem? Tony was analyzing the situation with uncle Junior and said something like: "...with Johnny gone, Carmine is gonna put his son there. Who knows, maybe there's an upside for Johnny going anyway." or something to that effect.

Do you think that Tony thinks having a stupid ally, in Little Carmine, heading that family is better than having an apt Boss, being Johnny Sack????