| "Proshai, Livushka" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 28 |
||
| Directed by | Tim Van Patten | ||
| Written by | David Chase | ||
| Production code | 301 (3-2) | ||
| Original air date | March 4, 2001 (HBO) | ||
| Guest stars | |||
|
see below |
|||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| Episode chronology | |||
"Proshai, Livushka" is the twenty-eighth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the second of the show's third season. It was written by David Chase, directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on Sunday March 4, 2001.
Contents |
|
|
Tony follows his early-morning ritual: picking up the morning paper and scanning the headlines, which address a violent mob conflict involving Tony's company, Barone Sanitation. Tony suffers a panic attack and collapses in the kitchen. When Carmela arrives home, she immediately drops her bags to help him off the floor. When she asks what happens, he states "Uncle Ben" and the scene rewinds to Tony greeting Meadow and her new boyfriend. Tony comes down the stairs and is surprised to see Meadow on the couch. Meadow tells Tony she needed to borrow the VCR and came with a friend. Meadow's boyfriend, Noah Tannenbaum, comes out of the bathroom and happily shakes Tony's hand. He also compliments Tony on his home theater and begins confident chitchat with Tony about his thoughts on film history, as they were just watching James Cagney's The Public Enemy, a favorite of Tony's. Unfortunately, Noah is oblivious to Tony's racism, especially when it involves his treasured only daughter, Meadow, of whom Noah says, "It's too early to tell" when Tony asks, "if they are...", suggesting they have a romantic or possibly physical relationship, or even a blossoming one. When Meadow goes upstairs, Tony asks Noah where his heritage is derived from and says he is Jewish on his father's side and African-American on his mother's. Tony, using a couple of choice racial slurs, warns Noah to stay away from his daughter and to break up with her as soon as they return to campus. Noah takes this as a threat and storms out of the house. Meadow suspects something is wrong and refuses to talk to Tony shortly afterward. Tony goes to the kitchen, opens a cabinet and sees a box of Uncle Ben's Rice. The company logo, a smiling black man, triggers Tony's panic attack from the stress of dealing with Meadow's boyfriend.
Tony visits his mother, Livia, in an attempt to set things straight and warn her not to talk to the FBI. Livia automatically thinks something is wrong and becomes fidgety. Livia's new aide, Svetlana, then brings out baby books (which were originally supposed to be written almost 20 years ago) and making Livia write some family history. Livia then says, "It is none of anybody's business." Growing aggravated, Tony tells her to do what she wants regarding his upcoming trial and to leave him alone. While Tony is gardening in the yard, Carmela receives a phone call informing her that Livia has died.
As people begin to gather at the Soprano residence, Tony's sister Barbara informs him that Janice will not be in attendance. In front of a house full of people he calls Janice "a motherfucking bitch". He furiously calls her Seattle home and demands she be on the next plane to New Jersey. Janice tells Tony she has a good reason not to be in the state of New Jersey since she murdered Richie a few months before. Tony tells her "the case is colder than [her] tit" and he would pay for a ticket for her to get there. The next morning, Janice arrives and becomes the center of attention.
This episode also marks the first appearance of Ralph Cifaretto and Eugene Pontecorvo. When Ralphie arrives, along with Vito Spatafore, Patsy Parisi, Gigi Cestone, and Albert Barese to express his condolences on Tony's mother's passing, Tony informs Ralphie that he needs to speak with him and Albert. Tony, Albert, Ralphie, and Gigi follow Tony out to the pool area where Tony confronts Albert and Ralphie over the recent fires. Tony asks why Ralphie torched Albert's trucks, and Ralph responds "because he lit up two of my dumpsters." Ralphie also says "his crew" The Aprile Crew is in line for a business contract. Tony replies with, "You're a captain Ralphie when I say you're a captain." He then informs both Ralphie and Albert that there will be "no...more...fires..."
At the funeral home, Tony and Barbara arrange a simple service, to which Janice objects and instead wants a funeral with all the trimmings. Tony tells her that he does not want any "California bullshit", just a service with a party afterward. (Livia, however, stated that all she wanted was a burial with no service or commemoration.) Everyone prepares for the wake the following evening, including Christopher Moltisanti, Adriana La Cerva and Furio Giunta (who get high on cocaine and marijuana); Silvio Dante, who is angry because he has to miss the New York Jets home opener; and Ray Curto, who is wearing a wire. Uncle Junior tries to reconcile with Carmela with mixed results and she asks him to act accordingly. The next day at the cemetery, Livia is buried, and Meadow purposely stays away from Tony. Afterwards, Janice informs Svetlana she will be living at Livia's home and would like the LPs given to her by Livia back by the weekend, even though Livia gave the LPs to Svetlana before her death.
Ralphie sends Pontecorvo and Bobby Zanone to get rough with a guy named Joseph Zachary who has been interferring with Ralphie's garbage business. Ralph orders his crew to attack the man with baseball bats, saying "Remember guys, Tony said no fires!", implying that Ralph at best is obeying the letter of the law of Tony's orders, and at worst, is being outright disobedient and rebellious to Tony as was Richie Aprile.
The repast brings anger and resentment when Janice forces everyone to speak their mind about Livia. Livia is eulogized by Hesh Rabkin, an intoxicated Christopher and her friend Fanny. However, Carmela interrupts claiming this is a "crock of shit". She then proceeds to say how Livia was highly dysfunctional and did not want a funeral because she thought no one would come. This seems to satisfy everyone there but Janice and Carmela's mother, who are both livid at her speech. At one point, an out-of-focus male descends the staircase in the background, peers at the gathering, then re-ascends the stairs. He bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Junior Soprano.
Toward the end of the party Artie Bucco, who is catering the event, experiences a flashback of visiting Livia in the hospital. He remembers her telling him about the torching of the Vesuvio, which Tony ordered done. Visibly angry, Artie confronts Tony outside by the pool. He takes the opportunity to inform him of what Livia told him, and remarks that their "little secret" died with her. Tony tries in vain to calm him down, but Artie ultimately stays quiet for the rest of the party.
Later that night, after everyone had left, Tony sits in front of the T.V. with his usual bowl of ice cream, and watches a scene from The Public Enemy featuring the main character's doting mother, Tony begins to cry and, for the first time, mourn his mother's death. However, Tony seeing the film may have also filled him with sadness that Livia was a mean-spirited, emotionally abusive and unstable woman, whereas Jimmy Cagney's mother was the kind of mother he would have liked to have had.
The episode marks the first appearance of:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||