Chasing It

"Chasing It"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 16
Directed by	Tim Van Patten
Written by	Matthew Weiner
Cinematography by	Alik Sakharov
Production code	616
Original air date	April 29, 2007
Running time	50 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
see below

"Chasing It" is the eighty-first episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the fourth episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, the sixteenth episode of the season overall. It was written by executive producer Matthew Weiner and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on April 29, 2007 and was watched by 6.76 million viewers upon its premiere.^[1]

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. *
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
• Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
• Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano Baccalieri *
• Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri
• Frank Vincent as Phil Leotardo
• Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
• Max Casella as Benny Fazio

* = credit only

Guest starring

• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Tony hits a particularly unlucky gambling stretch and his losses begin to impact his financial obligations as boss of the Soprano crime family. Vito's widow, Marie, asks Tony for help regarding her son, Vito Jr., who has become antisocial following his father's murder. Marie also requests $100,000 to move her family to Maine to start over. Tony resists and suggests that Phil, who killed Vito, should get involved. Tony meets with Phil, who agrees to talk to Vito's son. Both men each talk to Vito Jr. to try to make him stop his delinquency, but their attempts fail. Neither of them are willing to fund the Sparafore family's move to Maine.

After Vito Jr. is expelled for defecating in the school shower, Tony changes his mind and says he will pay for the Spatafores' relocation. Tony angrily adds he will "never forgive" Phil for not coming through on the financing for the family's move. However, Tony soon gambles away the $100,000 he had reserved for the Spatafores on a football bet. In a change of plans, he offers Marie to pay her to sign her son up to a boot camp program in Idaho instead. He plays down Marie's worries that corporal punishment is permitted in such places, assuring her not to "worry" about the expenses as he would pay the $18,000 for it. Marie reluctantly accepts it. Vito Jr. is taken away from his home against his will by the boot camp's representatives, leaving his mother and sister in tears at the sight.

Hesh begins to regret lending $200,000 to Tony as a bridge loan. Tony only grudgingly pays Hesh his points, often making a show of the act. Hesh, increasingly worried and suffering from hypertension, becomes concerned that Tony will kill him rather than pay and reflects that debts end up destroying friendships. Bobby and Carlo encourage Tony to stiff Hesh, but Tony angrily rebukes the idea. Later, Tony notices Ahmed and Muhammad mingling with traditionally dressed Middle-Easterners on a street. Meanwhile, A.J. proposes to Blanca, who initially accepts but later ends the relationship during the Puerto Rican Day Parade, citing her uncertainty whether she loves him.

Carmela and her father Hugh sell their spec house to her cousin Brian Cammarata. Carmela worries about the sub-standard building materials Hugh used, but he says he has used the same material before. When she tells Tony that she has cleared $600,000 on the house, he informs her about a "sure thing" gambling tip and encourages her to bet some of "his half" on a football game. When Carmela refuses, Tony initially accepts. However, when Tony's pegged team wins the game, he gets furious Carmela kept him from winning big. They get into a heated argument in which Tony brings up Carmela's previous theft of his money and reminds her that he made the building inspector ignore the construction regulation shortcomings. Carmela storms off when Tony implicitly threatens that the house's roof will collapse and kill Brian's unborn child.

In a session with Dr. Melfi, she confronts Tony about his habit of selectively attending their meetings, telling him to either participate in therapy diligently or quit. Tony assures her he will attend the sessions. On the subject of his gambling fever, Melfi questions Tony if what he is "chasing" is really the money or the "high from winning." Tony admits there would be no attraction to gamble if the practice did not carry the inherent danger of losing. Tony and Carmela reconcile, and she expresses fear that their family is constantly vulnerable to various threats. Tony says that, despite his gambling losses, he survived getting shot and therefore, in the bigger picture, is "up" in life. After Hesh's girlfriend suddenly dies of an apparent stroke,^[2] Tony finally brings the full sum of owed money to a distraught Hesh and expresses his condolences.

First appearance

• Jason Gervasi: Son of DiMeo capo Carlo Gervasi. He is seen greeting his father getting out of a car.

Deceased

• Renata, girlfriend of Hesh Rabkin. Her cause of death is not revealed, but Hesh mentioned she was having migraines, though only as an excuse to not go to a boat show with Tony and Bobby, which he feared was a ruse to clip him because of the money Tony owed him. Her death is attributed to a stroke in the official HBO website recap of the episode.

Final appearances

"Chasing It" marks the final appearances in the series of these longtime recurring characters:

• Hesh Rabkin: Close associate of the Soprano/DiMeo crime family ever since the times of "Johnny Boy" Soprano.
• Hugh De Angelis and Mary De Angelis: The parents of Carmela Soprano.

Title reference

• The title refers to Tony's gambling addiction. "Chasing the vig" is common parlance in gambling vernacular for when one loses a bet(s) and then makes further wagers in order to either make up for the losses and/or keep up with any loan interest (the vig) accrued.
• It could also refer to Hesh having to actively look for Tony's debt money.
• It could also refer to the tendency of Tony to chase the thrill of winning in dangerous activities, as hypothesized by Dr. Melfi.

Production

• Max Casella (Benny Fazio) is promoted to the main cast of the series and billed in the opening credits but only for this episode.
• The character of Vito Spatafore Jr. was recast for this episode with Brandon Hannan replacing Frank Borrelli.
• John Cenatiempo, a stuntman on The Sopranos since its first season, joins the ranks of show's actors as well, appearing as a mostly background Soprano crime family mobster character Anthony Maffei, beginning with this episode.
• This episode is unique in that it almost throughout its entirety employs the shaky camera style, with the exception of Dr. Melfi's scenes and scenes in Tony's car. The style may represent the episode's theme of Tony's feverish gambling and losing spree.
• The casino scenes were filmed at Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel and Casino.
• The headstone that Vito Jr. knocks over in the cemetery is for a "David M. Hackel". Episode writer Matthew Weiner worked for David Hackel as a writer for the sitcom Becker.^[3]
• The harmonica player in Sinatra's band is Southside Johnny Lyon, an underground legend of New Jersey's music scene. Notably, he has worked extensively with Little Steven Van Zandt, who portrays the character of Silvio Dante. Van Zandt has written, produced and performed on four of Lyon's albums and was a founding member of his band, the Asbury Jukes, before leaving to join Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Both Springsteen and Van Zandt appear on the Asbury Jukes' Better Days album, on the song "It's Been a Long Time".
• Blanca breaks up with A.J. at the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade, which is held every year in June. However, Tony wagers on several NFL football games when the NFL season (including preseason) takes place from August to February. Moreover, due to the format of the NFL schedule, two of the games he bets on, Buffalo Bills-Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins-Philadelphia Eagles, cannot take place in the same season--both Miami and Buffalo play in the AFC East and would therefore play their inter-conference NFC games against teams from a single division, but Philadelphia is part of the NFC East and Tampa Bay the NFC South.
• The Tampa Bay-Buffalo football game being watched at the Bing that Tony loses money on is actually footage from the film The Replacements.

Connections to prior episodes

• While Tony lectures Vito Jr., he tells him he "goes about in pity for himself", which was the phrase he became intrigued with while in the hospital, and the same thing he said to Artie Bucco in the Season 6, Part I episode "Luxury Lounge"
• "Johnny Boy" Soprano once, after he cut off Satriale's (who owed him money) finger, told Tony to never ever gamble for the debts could get a man into serious trouble. (A flashback in the Season 3 episode "Fortunate Son")
• Tony brings up to Carmela she stole money from his bird feed stashes, which happened in the Season 4 episode "Mergers and Acquisitions."
• Tony also mentions her about his leaning on her spec house building inspector ("Kaisha").
• The ornament that Carmela throws at Tony and smashes against the wall is the Lladró figurine that she tells A.J. and his girlfriend is worth $3,000 in the Season 4 episode "Everybody Hurts".
• Tony tries to give Hesh a cap from Cleaver, which was Christopher's movie from "Stage 5".

Other cultural and historical references

• Silvio Dante is seen reading a newspaper with an advertisement for Filene's Basement.
• The horse race Tony lost big on in Atlantic City was portrayed as being simulcast from Batavia Downs.
• Christopher says Vito Jr. is probably planning another Columbine.
• When Tony and Bobby drop by to take him for a ride, Hesh lies and tells Tony he was watching a piece on the Hezbollah on CNN.
• The Twilight Zone episode that Carlo attempts to explain to Tony is entitled "A Nice Place to Visit." In that episode, a dead gangster, Rocky Valentine, finds himself unable to lose when gambling and able to have any woman or any other pleasure he desires.
• Tony loses an NBA wager when Jerry Stackhouse hits a buzzer beater.
• When Tony switches channels from the basketball game he was betting on as Carmela comes into the bedroom, the TV station shows a clip of then-president George W. Bush meeting the visiting Abdullah bin Abdulaziz then-Saudi king.

Music

• Nancy Sinatra sings "Bossman", a track off her 2004 album Nancy Sinatra, to a gathering of the New York and New Jersey families celebrating Phil Leotardo becoming boss.
• The song played in the Bada Bing! during the Buffalo-Buccaneers game is "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation.
• The guitar instrumental "Cavatina" is playing in the restaurant when A.J. proposes to Blanca.
• The music A.J. listens to in his car, while driving to the Puerto Rican parade day, is "Rompe" by Daddy Yankee.
• The music heard in the background when Blanca breaks up with A.J. is an instrumental version of Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca".
• Song playing when Tony is driving in the Escalade is Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk."
• When Tony is in the back room of the Bing, talking to Silvio about Vito, Jr., "The Peppermint Twist" (1961) is playing. It is by Joey Dee & The Starlighters (from New Jersey).
• The song played over the end credits is "Goin' Down Slow" by Howlin' Wolf.

References

External links

• "Chasing It" at HBO
• "Chasing It" on IMDb
• "Chasing It" at TV.com