Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood

"Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 1
Directed by Allen Coulter
Written by David Chase
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code 302
Original air date March 4, 2001
Running time 49 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" is the twenty-seventh episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and is the first of the show's third season. It was written by David Chase, directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on March 4, 2001.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Episode recap

FBI agents listen to recorded conversations between Tony Soprano and deceased informant Big Pussy Bonpensiero. Agent Skip Lipari and his colleagues agree that Big Pussy is likely dead; without his testimony, some of their more promising cases against Tony cannot be tried. As the agents discuss the possibility of wiretapping Tony's conversations, Lipari recalls that Tony takes his associates down to his basement to discuss private matters that cannot be discussed away from home, using the noise of the vast 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) home's five central air conditioning units to mask any conversation. If the FBI were to obtain a search warrant and plant a listening device in the basement near where Tony's conversations take place, they would be able to maintain a high level of surveillance on the household. Chief Frank Cubitoso goes to obtain the court order, but is warned by the judge not to linger there for too long.

The FBI identify a one-hour-and-forty-five-minute period each Tuesday when nobody is home. When the Sopranos leave for their Tuesday errands and the maid is absent, agents break into the house and find an old reading lamp in the basement which could serve as a decoy for a hidden microphone. They take several pictures of the lamp and plan to create an exact replica with an embedded listening device, then return the following Tuesday to plant it. However, the FBI's plans are temporarily foiled when the house's 120-gallon water heater explodes and the basement is flooded. Tony and Carmela are called home and gather old keepsakes before they are destroyed by the water. Tony then calls on his plumber, Mr. Ruggerio, to fix the mess. The following week, after the basement is put back in order, the FBI plants the new lamp and leave before the maid returns from lunch.

Meanwhile, Meadow is adjusting to life at Columbia University, where she meets her very energetic but homesick roommate, Caitlin Rucker. A.J. is cutting classes to smoke cigarettes with friends. Carmela begins taking Adriana La Cerva with her to tennis lessons. She is soon upset when she discovers her coach is moving away (and married) and has been replaced with a woman who has more of an interest in Adriana.

Tony is still running the DiMeo crime family and is concerned about a possible garbage war involving his company, Barone Sanitation. He gathers with his friends at Satriale's, where he finds a still-distraught Patsy Parisi mourning over his deceased twin brother Phillip on their birthday. Tony feigns ignorance, but Patsy suspects Tony had something to do with it. The following day, while the FBI watches, a drunken Patsy aims a gun at Tony from his pool patio. However, he puts the gun down and urinates in the pool instead, none of it seen by Tony. However, some days later, when Tony brings up to Patsy's big earnings in the crew and asks whether he is still held back by his brother's death, Patsy pleads his allegiance to Tony.

First appearance

Title reference

Production

Music

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