Stage 5 (The Sopranos)

"Stage 5" is the 79th episode of the

• James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
• Dr. Jennifer Melfi
• Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
• Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
• Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr. *
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
• Anthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
• Janice Soprano Baccalieri
• Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri
• Johnny "Sack" Sacrimoni
• Phil Leotardo
• Little Carmine Lupertazzi
• Rosalie Aprile
• Patsy Parisi

* = credit only

Guest starring

• Hesh Rabkin

Also guest starring

Synopsis

Christopher finishes his Mafia-themed slasher film, Cleaver. Following the film's premiere in New York City, Tony congratulates Christopher and mingles with the Lupertazzis and the cast at the after-party. Tony does not see it at first, but Carmela notes a similarity between the film's love triangle and Christopher's suspicion that Tony had an affair with Adriana; Carmela sees the violent murder of the antagonist as Christopher's "revenge fantasy" against Tony. She confronts Christopher; she is doubtful about his depiction of Tony (and also about Adriana's whereabouts). He denies any similarities but is worried about what Tony might think.

Christopher asks his screenwriter,

At the baptism of Christopher's daughter, Tony and Chris embrace closely, but their eyes belie the closeness.

Deceased

• Gerardo "Gerry" Torciano: Shot multiple times to death while having dinner with Silvio Dante by a hitman on orders from Faustino "Doc" Santoro, to remove him from contention to the Lupertazzi family boss' position.
• John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni
  : Dies of lung cancer in prison.

Final appearance

• "Stage 5" marks the final appearance of the character
  Lawrence "Larry Boy" Barese
  , a DiMeo/Soprano family capo. Larry is only mentioned in future episodes.

Title reference

• After being told that his cancer has advanced to stage IV, Johnny Sack correctly guesses there is no stage V.
• The title could also refer to the fifth
  stage of grief
  (acceptance), as Johnny Sack accepts his fate after the doctor gives him his diagnosis and prognosis.

Production

• Series writer and executive producer Matthew Weiner appears for the second time in the series as Mafia expert/author Manny Safier, this time on Geraldo Rivera's show.
• HBO released a mockumentary "Behind the Scenes" look at Cleaver titled Making Cleaver the week before the episode was released. It featured in-character interviews with Christopher, Little Carmine, director Morgan Yam, and actors Daniel Baldwin and Jonathan La Paglia, and the head make-up specialist. The mockumentary is included in The Sopranos Season 6 Part 2 DVD set and the Complete Series DVD collection.

References to prior episodes

• In what seems to be an
  the sacred and the profane
  ").
• Christopher's new NA sponsor reminds Christopher of what a poor condition of drug use relapse he was at the time when he came into an NA meeting "with a woman," referring to Christopher and Julianna Skiff's affair in "Kaisha," which ended when they broke up and decided to attend an NA meeting.
• Carmela believes the character of Sally Boy had sex with the protagonist's fiancée in Cleaver because of Christopher's belief that Tony slept with Adriana behind his back, which refers to the season 5 episode "Irregular Around the Margins."
• When toasting the memory of Johnny Sack,
  David Scatino
  .

Other cultural references

• Christopher tells his Narcotics Anonymous sponsor he based his revenge-seeking character on Edward Scissorhands—with a cleaver replacing the scissors (although he had at one point considered a ball-peen hammer).
• Christopher says that they might have to change the title of Cleaver as the Eldridge Cleaver estate is seeking an injunction.
• Upon seeing J. T. at the Bada Bing, Tony calls him "T. J. Hooker".
• Phil Leotardo asks children at his late brother's birthday commemoration about Leonardo da Vinci. One of the kids incorrectly guesses he was the author of The Da Vinci Code.
• Prior to Little Carmine meeting with Tony, Tony places bets on the Ravens, Rams, and the Vikings; all three teams performed poorly in the 2007 NFL season.

Music

• An instrumental version of the song "Thank You" by Dido is playing in the diner when Chris is talking to Eddie Dunne.
• Paulie's ringtone, heard during the showing of Christopher's film, is the
  Simon and Garfunkel song "Cecilia
  ".
• The song-poem played at the end of the episode and over the credits is "Evidently Chickentown" by John Cooper Clarke, from the album Snap, Crackle & Bop.

References

External links

• "Stage 5" Archived 2016-08-18 at the Wayback Machine at HBO
• "Stage 5" at
  IMDb