Pax Soprana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Sopranos episode | |
|---|---|
| “Pax Soprana” | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
| Guest star(s) | see below |
| Writer(s) | Frank Renzulli |
| Director | Alan Taylor |
| Production no. | 106 |
| Original airdate | February 14, 1999 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "College" | "Down Neck" |
"Pax Soprana" is the 6th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the sixth episode for the show's first season. The episode was written by Frank Renzulli and was directed by Alan Taylor. It originally aired on Sunday February 14, 1999.
Contents |
[edit] Guest Starring roles
- Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
- Vince Curatola as Johnny Sack
- John Heard as Detective Vin Makazian
- Paul Schulze as Father Phil Intintola
- Al Sapienza as Mikey Palmice
- Tony Darrow as Larry Boy Barese
- George Loros as Raymond Curto
- Oksana Lada as Irina Peltsin
- Joe Badalucco as Jimmy Altieri
- Christopher Quinn as Rusty Irish
[edit] Episode recap
After a long wait, a Soprano has become the boss of the DiMeo Crime family, and it’s Tony’s Uncle Junior. But as his lead henchman Mikey Palmice says when he busts up a card game, Junior is not respecting old arrangements. He changes old deals and attempts to have more money funneled toward him, while allowing less to trickle down to his capos. Tony allowed Junior to gain control of the family in hopes that he would be able to be the de facto boss while letting Junior to deal with the headaches associated with management. Thus, the captains come to Tony to complain, letting him know they are unhappy with the way Junior “eats alone”.
Livia convinces Junior to tax Tony’s associate Hesh, even though Hesh’s arrangement has been in place for decades and went back to Tony’s father. When Hesh approaches Tony with the news and threatens to leave the area because of the new deal, Tony aligns with Johnny Sack, a capo of one of New York's Five Families, and helps Hesh and Sack present a disingenuous proposition for Junior to accept. Tony had made the decision himself, but he allowed Junior to think he was in charge.
After more persuading from the other capos, Tony meets with his uncle to try to convince him to share more of his wealth. With historical evidence related to the leadership skills of Augustus Caesar and a dirty fable about bovines, Tony is successful. Junior decides to divide the money he received from Hesh and give it to his capos, and Tony returns his share to Hesh himself.
Even though Tony really controls the family, Junior becomes the main focus of the FBI. At a banquet to honor the new Boss, the FEDs are in attendance, disguised as servers. With the photographic information they gather from their button cameras, they move Junior up their hierarchy board, to replace the late Jackie Aprile, Sr. as "Boss." Tony’s position as "captain" remains unchanged; he is on the same level as the other capos.
Tony is having difficulty with his libido, and realizes that he is thinking of Dr. Melfi, through thoughts and dreams of her. At his session he professes his love for Dr. Melfi but his feelings are not returned. Carmella expresses jealouly towards Melfi, recognizing that Melfi is not just another low class woman. Eventually Carmella tells Tony that she wants to be the female in his life that is helping him, and Tony agrees.
[edit] First Appearances
- Johnny Sack: a Captain the Lupertazzi Crime Family located in New York
[edit] Deceased
- Dominic: Uncle Junior's tailor's grandson who committed suicide after taking cocaine sold by Rusty Irish.
- Rusty Irish: murdered by Mikey Palmice for selling drugs to children
[edit] Title reference
- Pax Soprana translates to "Soprano peace" in Latin. Junior and Tony find peace in this episode.
- The title is a reference to the period in Roman history known as "Pax Romana" which spans over a hundred years of relative peace experienced in the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus receives credit for starting this period of tranquility as the beginning of the era which coincided with his declaration ending Roman civil wars. Tony’s speech to Junior points out how the peace was gained largely because Augustus “never ate alone”.
[edit] Trivia
- The unseen FBI agent whose hands we glimpse re-arranging the New Jersey mafia org chat at the end of the episode are those of series creator David Chase.
- The song played during the final montage and end credits is an instrumental version of "Paparazzi" by Xzibit.
- The Story about bulls that Tony recants (apparently having heard from Uncle Juinor) is the Same one that Robert Duvall tells to Sean Penn (and Sean Penn tells to his partner) in the 1989 crime film Colors
