| "Live Free or Die" | |||
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| The Sopranos episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 71 |
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| Directed by | Tim Van Patten | ||
| Written by | David Chase Terence Winter Robin Green Mitchell Burgess |
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| Cinematography by | Alik Sakharov | ||
| Production code | 606 | ||
| Original air date | April 17, 2006 (HBO) | ||
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see below |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
"Live Free or Die" is the seventy-first episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the sixth of the show's sixth season. It was written by David Chase, Terence Winter, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, was directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on April 16, 2006.
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The New York wiseguys who spotted a leather fetish clad Vito Spatafore dancing in a gay bar have spread the news. An unnamed associate, who said Sal Iaccuzzo from Yonkers, New York saw Vito at the gay bar, tells the story to Christopher Moltisanti and his friend "Murmur" outside an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, they then repeat it to Tony Soprano and his crew at the Bada Bing. Paulie Gualtieri describes the news as slander, and Tony insists more proof is needed before they condemn him.
Benny Fazio, Dante Greco and Terry Doria visit Vito and his mistress at a beach house on the Jersey Shore, where he's been lying low. They try to escort him to see Tony but Vito speeds away. Vito returns to his home later that night, looks in on his sleeping children, grabs clothes, a couple of family pictures and a stash of money, and drives off into the rainy night. He throws his cell phone out of the window, when its incessant ringing (from his cronies wondering where he is) drives him crazy. After his car hits a downed tree branch, Vito finds himself stranded in a small town in New Hampshire.
Vito's hasty disappearance suggests to Christopher and others he has something to hide. Further testimony is gained from Silvio, who, after speaking to the mobster's wife, Marie Spatafore, declares, "In my business, I'm around a lot of women, and that one ain't getting laid." All the while, Tony continues calling Vito, but to no avail. A road crew worker finds Vito's phone as it rings; after being offended and puzzled by Tony's questions, the worker throws the phone into the path of a steamroller, crushing it into the freshly laid asphalt.
The gossip soon spreads further, as Meadow reveals to Carmela and Rosalie that Finn witnessed Vito performing oral sex on a security guard of the construction site where Vito and Finn worked (in the season 5 episode "Unidentified Black Males"). Tony takes Finn to the back room of Satriale's and asks him to repeat the story for the assembled wiseguys. The fact that Vito was "catching" instead of "pitching" the favor seems worse to the group, especially to Paulie. Finn is intimidated by the interrogation and repulsed by the thought the mobsters will "mete out their own justice" on Vito over his sexual orientation. Finn later challenges Meadow's rationalization of her father's business as Italian tradition.
Meadow also has her values and relationships questioned when she sympathizes at the law center with an Afghan Islamic family whose son was detained by police on suspicion of terrorist activity, but can find no support at home. Her recounting of the tale prompts Tony to ask Christopher if his Arabic friends, Ahmed and Muhammad, are possibly "al-Qaedas". Christopher tells Tony the pair seem too tolerant and Americanized to be terrorists, but is somewhat concerned by the suggestion.
Paulie, feeling personally betrayed, leads the cries for Vito's head. Rumors grow about how the fugitive Capo's crew won't follow his orders and some state their desire to kill Vito themselves. Tony, who expresses to Dr. Melfi his ambivalence over whether Vito's sexual orientation truly matters, manages to quell immediate calls for bloodshed while he considers the impact of Vito's death on Vito's wife and children and on his own income. After Tony suggests to Silvio he will not go after Vito, Silvio notes Tony's men will use clemency as an excuse to kick up even less money.
Phil Leotardo arrives to comfort his distraught cousin Marie, both of them now informed of the accusations against her husband Vito. Phil asks if Marie can help him locate Vito, ostensibly to get Vito some sort of help. In his New Hampshire hideaway, Vito tries unsuccessfully to locate a cousin, socializes with the townsfolk and tourists, and notices a gay couple being welcomed warmly at a local diner. Among the peace and quiet, Vito stops by a picturesque whitewater river, then visits an antique shop where, after admiring the most expensive piece in the store, he is told by the proprietor he has "a good eye" and is "a natural."
Meanwhile, Carmela discovers that Angie Bonpensiero has secretly branched out into business with some members of Christopher's crew, putting money up for street loans and buying stolen car parts. Carmela tries to pressure Tony into having the local building inspector allow her to move forward with work on her spec house, but to no avail; Tony seems to forget her request, and Carmela is appalled to find that her father Hugh De Angelis has set about selling materials salvaged from the construction site.
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