Pax Soprana

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“Pax Soprana”
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 6
Written by Frank Renzulli
Directed by Alan Taylor
Guest stars see below
Production no. 106
Original airdate February 14, 1999
Episode chronology
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Episode chronology

"Pax Soprana" is the sixth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was written by Frank Renzulli, directed by Alan Taylor and originally aired on Sunday February 14, 1999.

Contents

[edit] Guest starring roles

[edit] Episode recap

After a long wait, a Soprano has finally become the boss of the DiMeo crime family, and it's Tony's Uncle Junior. But as his lead henchman, Mikey Palmice, says when he busts up Sammy Griggio's card game, Junior is "not respecting old arrangements". He changes old deals and attempts to have more money funneled toward him, while allowing less to trickle down to his capos.

Tony allowed Junior to gain control of the family in the hope that he himself would be able to be the de facto boss, while leaving Junior to deal with the headaches associated with being the boss. Thus, the captains come to Tony to complain, letting him know they are unhappy with the way Junior "eats alone" and that Mikey should've let the card game proceed after Sammy brought up Jimmy Altieri's name.

Junior makes another rash decision when he finds out one of Larry Boy Barese's top earner's Rusty Irish was responsible for the death of a 14-year old boy. He decides that to make sure he stops selling drugs, he needs to get rid of him completely. Mikey Palmice drags him to the bridge at Patterson Falls and throws him off the bridge, the same way the boy committed suicide. After he kills Rusty, he notices some witnesses sitting across from the bridge and pays them off in exchange for them saying Rusty jumped off the bridge.

Livia convinces Junior to tax Tony's Jewish associate Hesh Rabkin, even though Hesh's arrangement has been in place for decades, dating back to Tony’s father. When Hesh approaches Tony with the news and threatens to leave the area, Tony aligns with Johnny Sack, the recognized Underboss in New York's Lupertazzi crime family, and helps Hesh and Sack present a disingenuous proposition for Junior to accept. Tony has made the decision himself, but he allowed Junior to think he was in charge.

After more persuading from the other capos, Tony meets with his uncle at a little league baseball game to try to convince him to share more of his wealth. With historical evidence related to the leadership skills of Augustus Caesar and a dirty fable about bovines, Tony is successful. Junior decides to divide the money he received from Hesh and give it to his capos. Tony returns his share to Hesh himself.

Meanwhile, Tony is having difficulty with his libido, and is fantasizing about Dr. Melfi, through thoughts and dreams. At his therapy session he professes his love for Dr. Melfi, who tries to explain what he feels is not love, but positive feelings as the result of his progress in therapy. Carmela expresses a jealousy towards Melfi that she's never felt about Tony's comares. Later, Carmela tells Tony that she wants to be the female in his life to help him, and Tony agrees.

Even though Tony really controls the family, Junior becomes the main focus of the FBI. At a banquet to honor the new boss, the Feds are in attendance, disguised as servers. With the photographic information they gather from their button cameras, they move Junior up their hierarchy board, to replace the late Jackie Aprile, Sr. as "Boss." Tony's position as "captain" remains unchanged; he is on the same level as the other capos.

[edit] First appearance

[edit] Deceased

  • Dominic: Grandson of Uncle Junior's tailor who committed suicide after taking designer drugs sold by Rusty Irish.
  • Rusty Irish: Thrown off a bridge by Mikey Palmice for selling drugs to children.

[edit] Title reference

  • Pax Soprana translates to "Soprano peace" in Latin. Junior and Tony find peace in this episode.
  • The title is a reference to the period in Roman history known as "Pax Romana" which spans over a hundred years of relative peace experienced in the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus receives credit for starting this period of tranquility as the beginning of the era which coincided with his declaration ending Roman civil wars. Tony's speech to Junior points out how the peace was gained largely because Augustus "never ate alone".

[edit] References to other media

  • The story about bulls that Tony recounts (apparently having heard from Uncle Junior) is the same one that Robert Duvall tells to Sean Penn (and that Penn tells to his partner) in the 1989 crime film Colors.

[edit] Music

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