Pax Soprana

"Pax Soprana"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 6
Directed by	Alan Taylor
Written by	Frank Renzulli
Cinematography by	Alik Sakharov
Production code	106
Original air date	February 14, 1999
Running time	50 minutes
Guest actors
see below
Episode chronology
← Previous "College" Next → "Down Neck"
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 February 14, 1999.

Starring

• James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
• Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi
• Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
• Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
• Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr.
• Vincent Pastore as Pussy Bonpensiero
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante *
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri *
• Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr. *
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano *
• and Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano

* = credit only

Guest starring

• John Heard as Vin Makazian
• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Also guest starring

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 Grigio's card game, Junior "ain't 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 have 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 earners, Rusty Irish, had sold drugs to the 14-year old grandson of Junior's elderly tailor, causing the boy to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge above the Great Falls of the Passaic. He decides that Rusty should be killed for this infraction, to be made an example of. The next day, Mikey Palmice, with the help of "Joey Eggs" Marino, abduct Rusty and throw him off the same bridge to his death. After they throw him over, they notice some witnesses sitting on the other side of the bridge and pay them off to say it was a suicide.

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 Hesh's relationship with Johnny Boy Soprano---Livia's husband and Tony's father. When Hesh approaches Tony with the news and threatens to leave the area, Tony aligns with Johnny Sack, the 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 local Little League Baseball game to try to convince him to share more of his new found wealth. With historical evidence related to the leadership skills of Augustus Caesar, Tony is successful. Junior decides to divide the money he received from Hesh and give it to his capos, fifty-thousand dollars apiece. Tony later returns his share to Hesh personally.

Meanwhile, Tony is having difficulty with his libido, and is fantasizing about Dr. Melfi, through intrusive 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.

First appearance

• John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni: The underboss of the Lupertazzi crime family, one of the Five Families of New York City.

Deceased

• Dominic Capri: Grandson of Uncle Junior's tailor Mr. Capri who committed suicide after taking designer drugs sold by Rusty Irish.
• Rusty Irish: murdered by Mikey Palmice with help of Joseph Marino on orders from uncle Junior.

Title reference

The title is a reference to Pax Romana (“Roman peace”) and related terms (Pax Britannica, Pax Americana etc.), which refer to a lack of conflict over a long period of time due to the unchallenged rule of a single dominant power, which Tony hopes to achieve within the Soprano family. Pax Romana was an era initiated by the Roman Emperor Augustus, mentioned by Tony in his conversation with Uncle Junior.

Music

• The song playing as Christopher walks into the card game at Satriale's is "Coconut Boogaloo," by Medeski Martin & Wood.
• The song played during Tony's first dream featuring Dr. Melfi is "What Time Is It?" by The Jive Five.
• The song played during the final montage and end credits is an instrumental version of "Paparazzi" by Xzibit, a song derived from Gabriel Fauré's "Pavane".

External links

• "Pax Soprana" at HBO
• "Pax Soprana" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Pax Soprana" at TV.com