Funhouse (The Sopranos episode)
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| “Funhouse” | |
|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 26 |
| Guest stars | see below |
| Written by | David Chase and Todd A. Kessler |
| Directed by | John Patterson |
| Production no. | 213 |
| Original airdate | April 9, 2000 (HBO) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Knight in White Satin Armor" | "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" |
| Episode chronology | |
"Funhouse" is the 26th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the final episode for the show's second season. The episode was written by David Chase and Todd A. Kessler and was directed by John Patterson. It originally aired on Sunday, April 9, 2000.
It was nominated for the 2000 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Contents |
[edit] Guest Starring roles
- Robert Patrick as David Scatino
- John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco
- Kathrine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco
- Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi and Philly "Spoons" Parisi
- Peter Bogdanovich as Dr. Elliot Kupferberg
- Toni Kalem as Angie Bonpensiero
- Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
- Sofia Milos as Annalisa Zucca
- Frank Pellegrino as Bureau Chief Frank Cubitoso
- Matt Servitto as Agent Harris
- Suzanne Shepherd as Mary De Angelis
- Tom Alderige as Hugh De Angelis
- David Marguiles as Neil Mink
- Nicole Burdette as Barbara Soprano Giglione
- Barbara Andres as Aunt Quintina
- Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
- John Fiore as Gigi Cestone
[edit] Episode recap
Shortly after Janice's departure, Tony and younger sister Barbara arrive at Livia's home to discuss her permanent living arrangements. When Livia refuses to move in with Tony and Carmela or Barbara, Tony becomes very angry and hands Livia two airline tickets to Arizona (one for herself and for her sister Quintina) and warns her to leave for good.
Later, Tony discusses a calling card credit scheme with Silvio Dante and Big Pussy Bonpiensero at Artie Bucco's restaurant, immediately after eating at an Indian restaurant. During the night, Tony dreams that he is walking on the boardwalk in Asbury Park and meets up with Paulie, Silvio, Christopher, Pussy and Philly "Spoons". Tony has just received word that he has six months to live from a terminal illness and accepts the information as if he had already known this and come to accept it. His friends further inform him that he is going to kill himself instead, to which his friends commend his bravery and appreciate the favor he will be doing them, sparing them all those doctor visist. Silvio hands Tony a bottle of gasoline which Tony douses himself with, and then ignites a flame. Christopher asks, "What if these doctors are wrong?" Tony only gets a split second to process this information, and the gasoline explodes before Tony could even close the lighter. Tony then quickly awakes to vicious diarrhea and vomiting.
The following morning, Carmela believes he has received food poisoning from Artie Bucco's restaurant and contacts Artie. When Artie arrives at the Soprano home, he and Tony argue about the quality of his food and quickly learns that Tony ate at an Indian restaurant which could have also caused sickness. Eventually, Artie calls up Big Pussy to see if he is sick as well. Tony then goes into a delirium after receiving a house call from Doctor Cusamano and eventually falls asleep. Tony then begins to dream about having sex with Dr. Melfi during a session.
At Dr. Melfi's, Tony goes off on a racist rant against Indian people and also against his mother, which Dr. Melfi challenges him on. Tony stubbornly refuses to delve into his own mind, and tells her of his sex dream with her before he storms out.
Tony has one final "fever dream", involving him speaking to Big Pussy, who has taken the form of a fish; this dream-version of Pussy hints "You know I'm working with the government, right?" and makes tongue-in-cheek reference to 'sleeping with the fishes.' After this point the confusion of whether or not Tony was truly awake steadily becomes clear. In the morning, Meadow reveals she is going to Columbia University. Tony and Silvio later go to Pussy's house, and invite him to go boating with them. Searching Pussy's room, Tony finds proof that Pussy is an FBI informant.
Silvio, Tony and Pussy meet up with Paulie Walnuts at the dock, and they sail out together. On the boat, Tony confronts Pussy, and asks how long it has been since he "flipped." Pussy at first denies the charge of informing, but confesses under pressure. He claims not to have given any major information to the Feds, but Tony does not believe him. Silvio excuses himself, claiming to be sick.
Pussy asks for tequila, and Paulie pours Jose Cuervo for Tony and Pussy. Silvio returns, as Pussy brags about a girl he used to know. Tony asks "if she was even real" and Pussy retreats to a corner, resigned. Then, as he asks to be allowed to sit, after his four consecutive shots of Tequila kick in, as he claims his inner ear balance is off. He asks several times if it's ok for him to take a seat, clearly intoxicated, and then starts to panic. Tony, Paulie and Silvio shoot him to death, honoring his wishes to not be shot in the face. Paulie robs his body, and together they bind him in chains and throw him over the side of the boat.
Hours later, Carmela receives a phone call from Livia who is being detained in Airport Security for possessing stolen airline tickets. Within minutes, FBI agents arrive at the Soprano home with a search warrant and ask to search the residence and cars. In actuality an agent reveals he has already searched Tony's car and found the stolen tickets. Tony is placed in handcuffs and is taken to FBI offices for questioning. Tony becomes unbalanced at a point and almost falls, appearing weak in front of the FBI agents, and one agent takes the opportunity to point out that mob boss Tony Soprano is weak in the knees, instead of his usual united front to the agents, he angrily tells them he's got food poisoning, and is led into a holding cell for a brief period of time. Tony quickly contacts his lawyer Neil Mink and is released on bail in time for Meadow's graduation which will be held the next day.
The following day at Meadow's graduation ceremony, Tony proudly watches his daughter accept her diploma. At the graduation, Tony tells Christopher that he is proposing him to get his button. The episode ends with a montage of Tony's two families celebrating Meadow's graduation, interspersed with the images of the various illegal enterprises through which Tony makes his fortune.
[edit] Deceased
- Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero: murdered by Tony, Silvio, and Paulie for being an FBI informant. His body was tossed into the ocean.
[edit] Title reference
- In Tony's dream, he is on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, near a funhouse with a wide-eyed clown painted on it.
[edit] Trivia
- The song played throughout the episode is "Thru and Thru" by The Rolling Stones.
- Actor Dan Grimaldi plays both Parisi brothers in this episode. It is the first and only time that this happens. This is also Patsy's first appearance in the show.
