Mayham (The Sopranos episode)
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| “Mayham” | |
|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 68 |
| Guest stars | see below |
| Written by | Matthew Weiner |
| Directed by | Jack Bender |
| Production no. | 603 |
| Original airdate | March 26, 2006 (HBO) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Join the Club" | "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" |
| Episode chronology | |
"Mayham" is the 68th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the third episode for the show's sixth season. The episode was written by Matthew Weiner and was directed by Jack Bender. It originally aired on Sunday March 26, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Guest starring
- Timothy Daly as J.T. Dolan
- Steve Buscemi as Man
- Paul Schulze as Father Phil Intintola
- Lenny Venito as Murmur
- Max Casella as Benny Fazio
- Elizabeth Bracco as Marie Spatafore
- Carl Capotorto as Little Paulie Germani
- Tony Darrow as Larry Boy Barese
- Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
- Danielle Di Vecchio as Barbara Soprano Giglione
- Ed Vassalo as Tom Giglione
- Tom Aldredge as Hugh De Angelis
- Suzanne Shepherd as Mary De Angelis
- Bill Kurtis as Himself
[edit] Episode recap
On a tip from Vito, Paulie and a member of his crew attempt to rob what they thought would be an empty apartment full of Colombian drug money. When they arrive, they find the apartment is not empty after all. After dispatching the superintendent and two drug dealers, they collect over a million dollars from the apartment. During the struggle with the assailants, Paulie is kicked in the groin, and later seeks medical attention to deal with the pain.
Back at the hospital, Christopher and Bobby confront A.J. about his attempt to purchase a gun. They tell him they would want to do the same thing, but that he cannot go after Junior. They assure him Tony would not want him involved. A.J. reacts as though he feels they are talking down to him and treating him like a kid. He afterwards accuses Carmela of putting the two up to the talk, though she is unaware of what he is actually saying.
In Tony’s dream, he receives a summons addressed to Kevin Finnerty. He's beginning to question his actual identity. He seeks answers from the bartender and the monks, but does not get satisfaction.
Many are unhappy with Silvio’s job as acting boss. He makes rulings on how Bobby and Vito are to split Eugene’s former revenue and on the cut to be given to Carmela on behalf of Tony from Paulie and Vito’s score. None of the parties involved like his decisions. Paulie and Vito delay giving the money to Carmela, since they do not want to part with it in the event Tony does not recover. Vito, among others, openly questions what is to happen if "God forbid" Tony does not make it, and quietly starts a campaign to position himself as a potential new leader. With the pressures of being acting boss, Silvio's asthma begins to bother him (and by the end of the episode, he, too, will end up in a hospital).
Despite orders to allow only family to see Tony, Silvio and, later, Paulie are smuggled in by Carmela and Meadow. Silvio’s reaction is quiet, standing at the doorway staring at his boss before walking over and clutching his hand. Paulie is more vocal in his reaction to Tony’s condition, exclaiming “he looks terrible” as he enters the room, notwithstanding Meadow's imploring him to "stay positive". After being left alone with Tony as Meadow goes to meet Finn's arrival, Paulie delivers a vulgarity-laden synopsis of his current state of affairs to his comatose leader, including the details of his groin injury and his big score. Tony's heart-rate escalates to the point he goes into cardiac arrest.
In Tony’s dream, Paulie’s voice appears as muffled sounds from an adjoining room at his hotel. Tony tries to ignore the sounds while he gets directions on the phone to the Finnerty family reunion, which happens to be located near the beacon. When he arrives, a man who looks like his cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi) is waiting for him and tells him everyone inside is expecting him. The man tries to get Tony to enter the light-festooned house, assuring him that "everyone's here" and that he is "coming home"; but he also tells Tony he must "let go" and leave all his belongings at the steps. With the figure of someone similar to his mother standing by the doorway in front of him, and the faint voice of a little girl coming from the trees behind him pleading with him not to go (in reality the girl calling to him was Meadow), Tony/Kevin chooses not to enter the house. In the hospital, Tony wakes up from his coma.
Later, heavily sedated and still largely unable to talk, Tony sits in a chair at the foot of his bed and listens to Christopher tell him of his next attempt at the movie industry. Collaborating with J.T. and getting backing from Little Carmine and other wiseguys, Christopher wants to make a low-budget digital film marrying the two genres of slasher and mob films, a cross between Saw and The Godfather Part II.
[edit] Deceased
- Building Superintendent: shot by Colombian #1
- Colombian #1: shot by Cary De Bartolo and then shot by Paulie
- Colombian #2: shot by Cary De Bartolo and then stabbed by Paulie
[edit] Title reference
- After Vito gave Paulie bad information about the stick-up job (saying the place was empty), Paulie does not want to give him his full cut of the money, saying that the job was “mayham”.
- All of the guys jockeying for position and Silvio's inability to lead causes mayhem.
[edit] Trivia
- Although credited as "Man" and not Tony Blundetto, former cast member Steve Buscemi shows up in Tony’s dream as the host who tries to shepherd Tony into the afterlife.
- Silvio reveals to his wife that before his death in 1999, acting boss Jackie Aprile suggested that Silvio, not Tony, could be the one to replace him as the head of the family. Steven Van Zandt was initially considered for the central role of Tony Soprano.
- Guest star Elizabeth Bracco (Marie Spatafore) is the sister of star Lorraine Bracco (Dr. Melfi).
