The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti
"The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" | |
---|---|
The Sopranos episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 8 |
Directed by | Tim Van Patten |
Written by | David Chase Frank Renzulli |
Cinematography by | Phil Abraham |
Production code | 108 |
Original air date | February 28, 1999 |
Running time | 49 minutes |
"The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" is the eighth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was written by David Chase and Frank Renzulli, directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on February 28, 1999.
Starring
- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
- Dr. Jennifer Melfi
- Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
- Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
- Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr.
- Pussy Bonpensiero
- Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
- Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
- Anthony Soprano, Jr.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
- Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano
Guest starring
- Richard LaPenna
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
Also guest starring
- Mikey Palmice
- Larry Boy Barese
- Raymond Curto
- Jimmy Altieri
- Frank Santorelli as Georgie
- Sam Coppola as Dr. Sam Reis
- Brian Geraghty as Counter Boy
- Jason LaPenna
- Ed Crasnick as Comedian
- Joseph Gannascoli as Gino (credited as Bakery Customer)
- Barbara Hass as Aida Melfi
- Timothy Nolen as Jeffrey Wernick
- Barbara Lavalle as Band Leader
- Robert Anthony Lavalle as Band Leader #2
- Agent Grasso
- Annika Pergament as News Anchor
- Brooke Marie Procida as Bride
- Agent Harris
- Emil Kolar
Synopsis
At his daughter's wedding,
Having dinner after the search, Tony explains to his children that Italians and
In nightmares,
Livia divulges to Uncle Junior that Tony is seeing a psychiatrist, adding, "I don't want there to be any repercussions." [1][2]
First appearances
- Agent Grasso: an agent investigating the DiMeo crime family
- Agent Harris: an agent who specializes in the case of the DiMeo crime family
- Jason LaPenna: Dr. Melfi's college-age son
- Richard LaPenna: Dr. Melfi's ex-husband
- Jimmy Petrille: capo in the Lupertazzi crime family.
- Angie Bonpensiero: Pussy's wife of 24 years who is considered a "mob wife" and is good friends with Carmela Soprano, Gabriella Dante and Rosalie Aprile.
- Gino: Gino is seen in the bakery when Christopher shoots the baker in the foot; he is played by Joseph R. Gannascoli, who will later take on the role of "Vito Spatafore" in season 2 of the series.
Title reference
- The title is a play on Christopher Moltisanti's name and that of noted 20th-century American playwright and sufferer of depression Tennessee Williams. Adriana calls Christopher her "Tennessee William" [sic] when he struggles with his screenplay.
Production
- Patsy Parisi.
- The actresses who play Pussy and Silvio's wives in this episode differ from those who play those roles later in the series—neither "wife" in this role has any lines or is credited for her appearance. Pussy's wife from this episode also appears in "Maureen Van Zandt, Steven Van Zandt's real-life wife.
- This is the first episode directed by Tim Van Patten, who would become a regular director on the series.
- This is the first episode to have Phil Abraham as cinematographer.
Other cultural references
- When describing a character with a story arc to Paulie, Christopher mentions Richard Kimble (protagonist of The Fugitive) and Keanu Reeves' character in The Devil's Advocate. Big Pussy later jokes that Noah had an ark.[3]
- A.J. is seen playing the Nintendo 64 game Blast Corps.
- Richard LaPenna, and he tells Dr. Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco, that American culture is giving Italian-Americans a bad name, citing The Godfather and Goodfellas as examples. Bracco co-starred in Goodfellas, and Romanus co-starred in another Martin Scorsese film, Mean Streets.
- Christopher's explanation of his sense of malaise to Paulie Gualtieri prompts Paulie to share: the writer "with the bullfights blew his head off". Paulie is referring to Ernest Hemingway, who died by suicide. Hemingway wrote both non-fiction and fiction about bullfighting.
- Christopher speaks appreciatively of Blockbuster, a chain of video rental stores, now closed down.
- When Tony explains the importance of Italians to his children, several Italian figures are mentioned: Mother Cabrini (mentioned by A.J.), and Meadow snidely comments that Lucky Luciano invented the Mafia by organizing the Five Families
- In the 1990 film Goodfellas, Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci, shoots the waiter played by Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) in the foot. In this episode, it is Christopher who shoots the bakery clerk in the foot justifying it with: "It happens!".
Music
- The song played when Christopher has a nightmare about Adriana and Carmela is "You" by The Aquatones.
- The song played when Larry Boy tells Paulie about the possible indictments is "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Barbara Lavalle.
- The song played when Jimmy tells Christopher about the possible indictments, and Tony, Junior and the other capos discuss the situation is "Turn the Beat Around" also by Barbara Lavalle.
- The song played when the capos pull their families out of the wedding is "Summer Wind" by Robert Anthony Lavalle.
- The song played when Tony hides his guns and cash in Livia's room is "Welcome (Back)" by pilot episode, which was the first-ever song to play on the show.
- The song played when Paulie visits Christopher's apartment is "Summertime" by Booker T. & the MG's.
- The Beatles song "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" is mentioned by the comedian in the nursing home scene between Junior and Livia.
- The song played when Christopher steals the newspapers and into the end credits is "Frank Sinatra" by Cake.
Filming locations
Listed in order of first appearance:[4]
- Satriale's Pork Store in Kearny, New Jersey
- Astoria, Queens
- Jersey City, New Jersey
- North Arlington, New Jersey
- West Orange, New Jersey
- Below Interstate 95 in the Meadowlands in Kearny, New Jersey
- Kearny, New Jersey
- West Caldwell, New Jersey
- West Orange, New Jersey
Reception
In a retrospective review, Emily St. James of The A.V. Club was positive. While she opined that the story with Melfi's family "has a tendency to stop the show dead in its tracks" in that "no one watching really cares what Melfi's ex-husband thinks", St. James listed Christopher's conversations with Paulie and Tony among her favorite scenes from the entirety of The Sopranos and argued that "the series shows it has a certain affection for these characters, these scumbags."[5] Alan Sepinwall also praised the scene between Christopher and Paulie as "remarkable [...] as it illustrates the folly of trying to model your life on your favorite movie and TV characters", but wrote that the dialogue in the scenes with Melfi's family about the popular image of Italian-Americans "grows a little didactic at times".[6]
References
- ^ "The Sopranos - 1.08 - The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti Synopsis". HBO. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-933821-18-4.
- ISBN 1-56649-278-5.
- ^ Ugoku. "The Sopranos location guide - Filming locations for". www.sopranos-locations.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
- ^ St. James, Emily (June 30, 2010). "The Sopranos: "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti"/"Boca"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (July 22, 2015). "The first 'Sopranos' episode to address the show's critics, before they even saw it". Uproxx. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
External links
- "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" Archived August 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at HBO
- "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" at IMDb