Cold Cuts (The Sopranos episode)

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“Cold Cuts”
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 5
Episode 62
Written by Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess
Directed by Mike Figgis
Guest stars see below
Production no. 510
Original airdate May 9, 2004
Episode chronology
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Episode chronology

"Cold Cuts" is the sixty-second episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the tenth of the show's fifth season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, directed by Mike Figgis and originally aired on May 9, 2004.

Contents

[edit] Guest starring roles

[edit] Episode recap

Tony Soprano learns that Johnny Sack has seized an entire load of smuggled Vespas that were supposed to be received by Carlo Gervasi's crew and split between the two families. When he confronts Sack, the Lupertazzi family Boss denies the possession of the Vespas despite evidence against him, and makes a pointed reference to Tony's continued denial that his cousin Tony Blundetto was involved in the murder of Joey Peeps.

Janice Soprano makes the news after getting arrested for assaulting a parent at a youth soccer game, prompting an infuriated Tony to again demand that Bobby "take control" of his wife. Bobby gives her an ultimatum to either see an anger management specialist or their marriage will not work.

The "Soprano temper" becomes the focus of Tony's next session with Dr. Melfi. She observes that depression can be a manifestation of rage turned inward.

Tony sends Christopher Moltisanti and Tony B. to Uncle Pat's farm in upstate New York. The farm is about to come under new ownership, so they must locate and move three bodies that were buried there over the years. Christopher and Tony B. bond while doing the night work, but once Tony joins them, he and Blundetto fall back into their old routine of picking on their younger cousin, Christopher. Christopher takes the insults personally, especially the jabs aimed at his substance abuse recovery.

Once back in New Jersey, Tony visits the Bada Bing and initiates a discussion of the terrorist threat tied to unexamined cargo containers at the ports. When Georgie Santorelli joins the conversation, Tony suddenly explodes and gives Georgie a beating that sends him to the hospital. Tony is afterwards remorseful, handing Paulie a wad of bills and insisting he make sure Georgie gets taken care of. Paulie then informs Tony that Georgie does not want to see him again and is quitting his job at the Bada Bing.

Tony joins Janice and Bobby for dinner, but is uncomfortable when he sees Janice deal calmly with a series of minor irritations, having seemingly overcome the "Soprano temper". He tests the newly docile Janice by making sarcastic comments about her estranged son, Harpo. When Tony asks, "What's French-Canadian word for 'I grew up without a mother'?" Janice eventually explodes and chases Tony around the room with a fork in her fist. Satisfied, Tony leaves.

[edit] First appearances

  • Uncle Pat Blundetto: Tony and Tony B.'s uncle who was given an early retirement from the DiMeo crime family. He settled on a farm in Upstate New York where he was often visited by his nephews Christopher, Tony and Tony B.

[edit] Title reference

  • Tony tells Dr. Melfi that "revenge is like serving cold cuts" (inadvertently mangling the adage "Revenge is a dish best served cold").
    • But like many episode titles, multiple meanings can be found. In this case, "cold cuts" might also refer to the skeletal remains Tony B. and Christopher dig up (the "cuts" on the bodies, like the bodies themselves, are cold); and even though the teasing that Tony S. and Tony B. give to Christopher are meant warmly (debatable, perhaps), they are taken by Christopher as a series of demeaning barbs—cutting him, perhaps to the quick. Tony's baiting of Janice as she tries to take a new direction in life can also be seen as a "cold (and cruel) cut".

[edit] References to other media

  • In the audio commentary, the episode's director, Mike Figgis, points out how the scene where Christopher and Tony Blundetto dig up the skeletal remains of a man Christopher knew (and killed) echoes the Yorick scene in Hamlet.
  • Of Johnny Sack's belief that Tony Blundetto killed Joey Peeps, Silvio comments that Sack should be "out looking for the real killers, instead of spending all his time on the golf course." This line is a not-so-subtle jab at O.J. Simpson, who in the years after his acquittal on murder charges claimed to be seeking "the real killers" while he was often criticized for spending all of his free time playing golf.

[edit] Music

  • The song played over the end credits is the live version of "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" by The Kinks, which is featured on their album To the Bone.
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