| "Stage 5" | |||
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| The Sopranos episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 14 |
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| Directed by | Alan Taylor | ||
| Written by | Terence Winter | ||
| Cinematography by | Alik Sakharov | ||
| Production code | 614 | ||
| Original air date | April 15, 2007 (HBO) | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of The Sopranos episodes | |||
"Stage 5" is the seventy-ninth episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the second episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, the fourteenth episode of the season overall. It was written by Terence Winter, directed by Alan Taylor and originally aired on Sunday April 15, 2007.
Contents |
Christopher's Mafia-oriented slasher film Cleaver is completed, with Daniel Baldwin starring as the mob boss. At the Soprano dinner table, Carmela states that the film's premiere and subsequent after-party will take place in the fashionable Meatpacking District of Manhattan. Meadow mentions her breakup with her fiancé Finn, but no details are mentioned. Meanwhile there is tension between A.J. and his new girlfriend Blanca but no further details are given about that either.
Tony is alarmed when Agents Harris and Goddard surprise him while he is getting the morning paper in his driveway, but they simply indicate that Tony's work may expose him to information relating to terrorists and ask that he relate this information to them, as they now work on the Terrorism Task Force for the FBI. Tony tersely refuses and retreats back indoors.
In the film Cleaver, the mob boss meets his crew in his basement wearing a white robe and a vulgar attitude, much like Tony. At the after party, Tony congratulates Christopher on his film while playfully noting the similarities to himself. The tension between A.J. and Blanca continues and Larry Boy Barese is arrested by federal marshals for violating his house arrest.
Carmela sees other similarities between Baldwin's character and Tony. Carmela is upset because the mob boss makes romantic advances on his subordinate's fiancée, which Carmela equates to Adriana La Cerva (as suspected in the episode "Irregular Around the Margins"). The film ends with the boss dying at the hands of his subordinate, leading Carmela to believe it is Christopher's "revenge fantasy". Christopher speaks to his latest Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Eddie Dunne, and says that he no longer feels comfortable at the Bada Bing because Tony and his friends are too dismissive of his substance abuse problems.
Carmela confronts Christopher about the film and states her disappointment in him. Christopher is worried so he asks Cleaver's writer J.T. Dolan to claim that was his idea, despite the fact that Dolan was not listed in the credits to the movie. When J.T. refuses, Christopher hits him over the head with a Humanitas Prize trophy. J.T. then visits the Bada Bing and claims to Tony that he stole the boss character, and the love triangle, from the film Born Yesterday. Tony notices the bruise on J.T.'s head, which J.T. claimed resulted from a bump into a cabinet. Tony then watches the film but remains unconvinced of Dolan's claims. Tony confesses to Dr. Melfi that he wonders if Christopher wants him to die. He tearfully recalls being a father figure to Christopher just as Christopher's late father, Dickie was to Tony. Tony emotionally admits that he loves Christopher as if he were his own son.
Johnny Sack has been transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where he is dying of lung cancer, and befriends a doctor, Warren Feldman (played by Sydney Pollack), who is a convicted murderer and is serving as a prison orderly. John eventually dies with his family at his bedside. It appears that none of the New York associates desire to be his successor; Phil Leotardo is now wary of remaining boss after his heart attack. Gerry Torciano, Phil's protégé, was willing to take over as boss until he is killed while having dinner with Silvio. Tony believes the killing was ordered by Faustino "Doc" Santoro, New York's aspiring boss. On the day that would have been his late brother Billy's 47th birthday, Phil expresses bitterness over having never taking vengeance for past injuries —- although it is not yet clear whether he seeks payback for the deaths of Billy, Gerry, or both. Phil is seen to have hung up framed pictures of the late Billy Leotardo, Johnny Sack, and Carmine Lupertazzi in the New York family's bar hangout.
The tension between Tony and Christopher remains unspoken even as they embrace after Tony becomes godfather to Chris' child, Caitlin, at her baptism.
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