Whoever Did This

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"Whoever Did This"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 9
Directed byTim Van Patten
Written byRobin Green
Mitchell Burgess
Cinematography byPhil Abraham
Production code409
Original air dateNovember 10, 2002 (2002-11-10)
Running time56 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Mergers and Acquisitions"
Next →
"The Strong, Silent Type"
The Sopranos (season 4)
List of episodes

"Whoever Did This" is the 48th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the ninth of the show's fourth season. Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on November 10, 2002.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Synopsis

boom mic sends him falling down the courthouse steps. He soon recovers and enjoys his hospital stay as a respite from the RICO trial. Tony recognizes this as a potential advantage and convinces Junior to feign dementia
during his competency hearings. He gives a good performance but begins exhibiting actual signs of dementia in private.

Jackie Jr.'s name. Everyone sympathizes with him except Paulie. His mother recently received a traumatic prank phone call, and Paulie correctly suspects that it was from Ralphie, retaliating against him for ratting him out to Johnny
.

At the stables, a fire breaks out, apparently caused by faulty electrical wiring. Pie-O-My is badly burned and has to be euthanized. Tony is devastated and immediately suspects Ralphie, later confronting him at his home over the suspicious timing of the fire: the $200,000 insurance pay-out would cover Justin's medical bills. Ralphie vehemently denies the accusation, but their argument escalates into a physical fight, culminating in Tony strangling Ralphie to death. Tony calls

Bada Bing
, where Tony passes out and wakes up alone the following morning.

Deceased

Title reference

  • Tony uses the phrase "whoever did this" when discussing with Christopher who exactly was responsible for Ralphie's death. Earlier, he used the phrase in reference to the guilty party responsible for the prank call to Paulie's mother.

Connections to prior episodes

Other cultural references

  • Carmela is seen wearing a Columbia University T-shirt when talking to Tony and her son in the kitchen.
  • After Ralph's murder, Tony and Christopher watch The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) on Ralph's television.
  • Ralph mentions
    Ginny Sacrimoni
    .

Music

True-crime influence

Jason Bautista was convicted of killing his mentally ill mother in Riverside, California, on January 14, 2003, then dumping her decapitated body with its hands removed off Ortega Highway in Orange County. Jason's half-brother, Matthew Montejo, who was 15 years old when Jason killed their mother, testified in court that he helped dispose of her body and that they got the idea to chop off her head and hands to hide the crime from this episode.[2][3]

Awards

"Whoever Did This" was Joe Pantoliano's 2003 winning submission for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, along with the episode "Christopher".

References

  1. ^ Hermanns, Grant (21 December 2021). "Sopranos Creator Reveals The Real Reason Tony Killed Ralphie". ScreenRant. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  2. ^ Derrik J. Lang (April 20, 2012). "'Call of Duty' latest fiction to inspire nightmare". The Boston Globe. AP. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  3. ^ "Son sentenced to 25 years for mother's murder". North County Times. Santa Ana, California. April 9, 2005. Retrieved July 27, 2012.

External links