University (The Sopranos episode)
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| “University” | |
|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 32 |
| Guest stars | see below |
| Written by | Terence Winter and Salvatore J. Stabile |
| Directed by | Allen Coulter |
| Production no. | 306 |
| Original airdate | April 1, 2001 (HBO) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Another Toothpick" | "Second Opinion" |
| Episode chronology | |
"University" is the 32nd episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the 6th episode for the show's third season. The episode's teleplay was written by Terence Winter and Salvatore J. Stabile with a story idea by David Chase & Terence Winter & Todd A. Kessler and Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and was directed by Allen Coulter. It originally aired on Sunday April 1, 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Guest Starring roles
- Jason Cerbone as Jackie Aprile, Jr.
- Ariel Kiley as Tracee
- Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile
- Suzanne Shepherd as Mary De Angelis
- Tom Aldredge as Hugh De Angelis
- John Fiore as Gigi Cestone
[edit] Episode recap
One afternoon at the Bada Bing, Tony receives a thank you gift from one of strippers, a young girl named Tracee. She thanks Tony for helping her find her son a doctor to diagnose his sickness. When she presents Tony with the bread, he becomes very thankful but cannot accept gifts from employees since strippers are not supposed to make friends with their bosses. Tracee apologizes and continues to get dressed.
Meanwhile at Columbia University, Meadow is becoming closer to her boyfriend, Noah. As they draw close to being deeply intimate, Meadow's roommate Caitlin walks in and interrupts their kiss. Meadow asks if Caitlin needs to use the room but she was just very lonely and scared after seeing a horror film with friends. Meadow and Noah try to calm her down and remind her that she has been warned in the past not to see things that frighten her. Caitlin then proceeds to pull her hair out as a sign of nervousness. Noah and Meadow plan to cheer Caitlin up by taking her out for her birthday. However after they spot a homeless woman babbling which convinces Caitlin to give her money. As she approaches the woman, Cailtin discovers a newspaper in her rear in place of underwear. Cailtin begins to become more shocked then ever and sobs in the dorm room. Meadow becomes tired of Caitin's growing homesickness and seeks out shelter at the Soprano home. She then tells her mother that she is growing closer and closer to Noah and that she is in love. Carmela tells her that she can do as she please but not to brag with her father. Caitlin then visits Noah and begins to bug him for help with a term paper. She then begins to irk Noah as he is writing a term paper which he receives a (C-) on. Meadow tries to calm him down but his father has already filed a restraining order against her. Meadow meets Noah's father for dinner one evening and they discuss his profession and what careers Meadow's parents are involved in. The following day, Noah breaks it off with Meadow after a suggestion was made by his father. Meadow becomes extremely upset and takes it out on her parents when there is no food in the house.
Tracee continues to woo Tony as she shows off her new braces. One afternoon as Tony leaves the club, she follows him to his car where she tells Tony that she is pregnant with Ralphie's baby. She seeks advice whether to have an abortion or to keep the baby. Tony warns her that because she has had domestic abuse before with her other son and that the child is Ralphie's "[she] would be doing his kid's generations a huge favor".
Ralphie does not seem to help with the problem either. As he become obsessed with the 2000 film, Gladiator he begins to shout out quotes from the film and plays around roughly with Georgie at the V.I.P. lounge. Things become tense when Ralphie finds a chain and proceeds to swing it at Georgie. As women scream, Tony is forced to end receiving a blowjob when Ralphie temporarily blinds Georgie with a metal chain. He then sends Ralphie with Georgie to the hospital. Silvio is shocked to find a few days later that Tracee has not showed up for work. Silvio then goes to her home where she is cooking for Ralphie and watching television. He forces her to get dressed and slaps her as she is entering his car. Ralphie laughs from a distance as she is dragged into the car.
The following night, Ralphie sees Tracee at the V.I.P. lounge where she insults him in front of the other associates and capos. Ralphie then follows her out to the deserted Bada Bing parking lot where at first they discuss baby names and their future. The conversation takes a turn when Ralphie calls Tracee a "whore". She then punches him and Ralph becomes extremely violent and beats her to death. Soon Soprano associates find Tracee's body and Tony blames Ralphie for what happened. As Ralphie is placed against the wall, Tony punches him stating he disrespected the Bing. Ralphie tries to defend himself yelling that "[he's] a made guy!". Tony takes Tracee's death very badly and becomes very emotional during a therapy session with Carmela and Dr. Melfi. He lies and says that a young associate from Barone Sanitation died as an alibi. Days later, the Bada Bing strippers wonder where Tracee went and conclude that [she] left with Ralphie and never came back.
[edit] Deceased
- Tracee: Bada Bing stripper murdered by Ralphie in the parking lot
[edit] Title reference
- Throughout the episode, scenes between Ralphie and Tracee are played opposite scenes between Meadow and Noah. The comparison is striking in that it depicts manipulation and degradation of women in an extremely highbrow setting (Columbia University) and a low one (the "Bada Bing"). The episode is pointing out the absurdity of investing cultured institutions with expectations of sophisticated interaction and moral rectitude, thus revealing the pretensions that accompany the label "University."
[edit] Trivia
- The song played during Tracee's show and during the end credits is "Living on a Thin Line" by The Kinks. According to Terence Winter, it is the series' most asked about song.
- According to actress Ariel Kiley who plays the stripper Tracee and was brutally murdered by mobster Ralph Cifaretto A lot of subscribers canceled their HBO service because of those episodes. http://www.uvm.edu/theview/article.php?id=1399]
