Proshai, Livushka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Sopranos episode | |
|---|---|
| “Proshai, Livushka” | |
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 28 |
| Guest star(s) | see below |
| Writer(s) | David Chase |
| Director | Tim Van Patten |
| Production no. | 301 (3-2) |
| Original airdate | March 4, 2001 (HBO) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" | "Fortunate Son" |
"Proshai, Livushka" is the 28th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the second episode for the show's third season. The episode was written by David Chase and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on Sunday March 4, 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Guest Starring roles
- Jason Cerbone as Jackie Aprile, Jr.
- Vincent Pastore as Big Pussy Bonpensiero
- Peter Riegert as Ronald Zellman
- Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
- Joseph R. Gannascoli as Vito Spatafore
- Vincent Curatola as Johnny Sack
- Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile
- Alla Kliuoka as Svetlana
- Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
- Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
- Robert Funaro as Eugene Pontecorvo
- John Fiore as Gigi Cestone
- Nicole Burdette as Barbara Soprano Giglione
- Ed Vassalo as Tom Giglione
- Mary Shepherd as Mary De Angelis
- Tom Aldredge as Hugh De Angelis
- Patrick Tully as Noah Tannenbaum
[edit] Episode recap
Tony suffers a panic attack and collapses on the floor. When Carmela arrives home, she immediately drops her bags to help him off the floor. When she asks what happens the scene rewinds to Tony greeting Meadow and her new boyfriend. Tony then comes down the stairs and is surprised to see Meadow on the couch. Meadow then tells Tony she needed to borrow the VCR and came with a friend. Meadow's boyfriend, Noah Tannenbaum comes out of the bathroom and happily shakes Tony's hand. When Meadow goes upstairs, Tony asks where his heritage is derived from and says he is a Jewish African-American. Tony then warns him to stay away from his daughter and to break up with her as soon as they arrive back on campus. Noah takes this as a threat and storms out of the house. Meadow suspects something is wrong and refuses to talk to Tony shortly afterward.
Tony then visits his mother Livia in order to set things straight and warn her not to talk to the FBI. Livia automatically thinks something is wrong and becomes fidgety. Svetlana, Livia's nurse then brings out baby books (which were originally supposed to be written over 20 years ago) and making Livia write some family history. Livia then says "it is none of anybody's business". Tony tells her to do what she wants regarding his upcoming trial and to leave him alone. While Tony is gardening in the yard, Carmela receives a phone call that Livia has died.
As people begin to gather at the Soprano residence, Tony's sister Barbara informs him that Janice will not be in attendance. In front of a house full of people he calls Janice "a motherfucking bitch". He then furiously calls her Seattle home and demands she be on the next plane to New Jersey. Janice tells Tony she has a good reason not to be in the State of New Jersey since she murdered Richie months prior. Tony tells her "the case is colder than [her] tit" and to come anyway. The next morning, Janice arrives and becomes the center of attention.
At the funeral home, Tony and Barbara arrange the service which Janice objects to and instead wants a funeral with all the trimmings. Tony tells her that he does not want any "California bullshit" and just a simple service with a party afterward. Everyone prepares for the wake the following evening including Christopher, Adriana and Furio who get high, Silvio who is angry because he is missing football and Ray Curto who is wearing a wire. Uncle Junior tries to reconcile with Carmela with mixed results and asks him to act accordingly. The next day at the cemetery, Livia is buried and Meadow shys away from Tony. Afterwards, Janice informs Svetlana she will be living at Livia's home and would like the records she took back by the weekend.
The repast brings anger and resentment when Janice forces everyone to speak their mind about Livia. Livia is eulogized by Hesh, Christopher and her friend however Carmela interrupts claiming this is a "crock of shit". She then proceeds to say how Livia was highly disfunctional and did not want a funeral because she thought no one would come. This seems to satisfy everyone there but Janice and Carmela's mother are livid at her speech. As Tony watches the final moments of the film The Public Enemy he begins to cry and mourn for his mother's death.
[edit] Deceased
- Livia Soprano: dies of massive stroke in her sleep
[edit] First appearances
- Ralph Cifaretto: soldier in the Aprile crew which is headed at this time by Gigi Cestone.
[edit] Title reference
- Russian translation for "Good Bye, Little Livia", which Svetlana says as she, Carmela and Tony toast Livia.
[edit] Trivia
- Although this episode aired second, it was the first to be shot.
- Due to the death of Nancy Marchand, David Chase decided that the character of Livia should die as well and resurrected the Livia using CGI with previous sound clips and scenes featuring Marchand. The cost was approximately $250,000.
- This is the final episode where Nancy Marchand is billed in the opening credits.
- David Chase had planned a major story line for the third season concerning Tony's efforts to patch things up with his mother to prevent her from testifying against him at his RICO trial. Nancy Marchand's death caused Chase to revise a large portion of the season.
- The episode was part two of a two-hour season premiere when it originally aired in 2001.
- Vincent Pastore makes a cameo in this episode when Tony opens a closet door and Pussy is seen in the mirror.
