WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.759 So picture this. It's January 10th, 1999. It's 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.080 a Sunday night and you're sitting on your couch. 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:09.119 Maybe you've got a frozen dinner heating up in 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.160 the microwave and you're just you're flipping 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.640 through the channels. As you did back then. Exactly. 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.219 As you do. Yeah. You've got the X -Files over 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:18.399 on Fox. Maybe you're checking out The Practice 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.839 and then you land on HBO. Which at the time, 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:23.640 I mean, it was mostly known for boxing matches, 00:00:23.739 --> 00:00:25.559 right? Boxing and showing movies that had been 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:28.539 in theaters like six months ago. Yeah, it definitely 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.280 wasn't the prestige TV juggernaut it is today. 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.979 But on this specific night, you see something 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:37.719 different. You see a large, heavy breathing man 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.039 in a bathrobe wading into a swimming pool. Oh, 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:43.340 the pool scene. Right. And he's not swimming 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:47.179 laps. He's just staring. with this look of absolute 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:50.500 unvarnished wonder at a family of wild ducks. 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.320 And in that quiet, really kind of strange moment, 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.159 television changed forever. It sounds like hyperbole, 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.439 doesn't it? But it really isn't. Welcome back 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:01.520 to The Deep Dive. Today we are doing something 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.649 a little bit special. We aren't just exploring 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:06.629 a general topic or a historical event. We are 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:09.510 dissecting a singular hour of television history. 00:01:09.829 --> 00:01:12.950 We are looking at the pilot episode of The Sopranos. 00:01:12.969 --> 00:01:14.730 An episode that was actually officially titled 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:16.989 The Sopranos, by the way. Most people just call 00:01:16.989 --> 00:01:18.569 it the pilot. But if you look at the original 00:01:18.569 --> 00:01:21.489 clapperboard and the early scripts, it showed 00:01:21.489 --> 00:01:23.890 the exact name of the series. They were planting 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:26.709 the flag right there. And our mission today is 00:01:26.709 --> 00:01:29.549 to go way beyond just the basic plot. We have 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:32.230 a massive stack of notes here. Production logs, 00:01:32.489 --> 00:01:34.469 critical essays, the original breakdown from 00:01:34.469 --> 00:01:36.629 the archives. And we're going to look at the 00:01:36.629 --> 00:01:39.129 specific narrative seeds planted in this very 00:01:39.129 --> 00:01:41.950 first hour. We really want to analyze the narrative 00:01:41.950 --> 00:01:44.769 DNA that David Chase created. Yeah, we also need 00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:47.469 to talk about the production backstory. Because, 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:49.530 and this is the thing that really blew my mind 00:01:49.530 --> 00:01:51.510 when I started reviewing the prep material, this 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.469 almost wasn't a TV show at all. That is the big 00:01:54.469 --> 00:01:57.030 what if looming over this entire deep dive. David 00:01:57.030 --> 00:02:00.349 Chase, the creator, he had a plan B, a backup 00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:02.629 plan that would have turned this massive cultural 00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:07.349 phenomenon into a quirky, likely forgotten 1990s 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:09.849 indie movie. That's crazy to think about. We 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:11.650 are definitely going to unpack that plan B later 00:02:11.650 --> 00:02:13.550 in the show because the ripple effects of that 00:02:13.550 --> 00:02:16.629 not happening are just staggering. If that movie 00:02:16.629 --> 00:02:18.789 happens, the golden age of television as we know 00:02:18.789 --> 00:02:21.189 it probably doesn't exist. But let's ground ourselves 00:02:21.189 --> 00:02:23.319 first. We are looking at the source material, 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:25.479 which covers the synopsis, the casting notes, 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:28.360 production history and reception. And the very 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.259 first thing that jumps out before we even get 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:33.759 to the mob stuff is the timeline. It is a lesson 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.680 in patience. Or maybe a lesson in extreme anxiety. 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.020 Honestly, it sounds like torture. So the show 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:42.139 airs in January 1999. We established that. But 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:44.199 when did they actually shoot this thing? It's 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:47.180 the summer of 1997. That is an 18 -month gap. 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.229 That is an absolute eternity. in the entertainment 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:52.870 industry. It's huge. And you have to understand 00:02:52.870 --> 00:02:56.870 the context of the era. In 1997, HBO wasn't HBO 00:02:56.870 --> 00:02:59.349 yet, not the way we think of it. They had Oz, 00:02:59.629 --> 00:03:02.629 which was a very gritty prison drama that had 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:04.849 just started, but they were primarily a premium 00:03:04.849 --> 00:03:07.930 movie channel. Right. They weren't the absolute 00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:11.389 destination for prestige serialized drama. So 00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:14.090 they filmed this pilot in August and October 00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:18.430 of 97, and then just silence. Just dead air. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.740 Like nothing. For a year and a half, just sitting 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:24.159 on the shelf. The actors totally moved on. They 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.680 were auditioning for other things. They thought 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:27.639 the project was dead in the water. Even David 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:29.460 Chase. Oh, David Chase absolutely thought it 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:31.159 was dead. Which perfectly explains some of the 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:33.680 really obvious physical inconsistencies we see 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.300 later, which we will definitely get to. But let's 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:38.939 dive into the episode itself. Segment one, The 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:41.500 Patient. Because the show opens with a premise 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:43.740 that literally sounds like the setup for a bad 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:46.460 bar joke. A mobster walks into a psychiatrist's 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:49.300 office. Exactly. It is the central duality of 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:52.479 the entire series. We meet Tony Soprano. And 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.719 right off the bat, the pilot is very specific 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:56.900 about his rank. I think this is important. He 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:59.819 isn't the godfather. He isn't the boss. No. And 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:01.900 that's a crucial distinction that gets lost a 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:04.520 lot because of how the later seasons play out. 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:08.639 In the pilot, Tony is a capo. A captain. Right. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:11.259 He has a crew. He earns well. He has influence, 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:13.539 but he definitely takes orders. He's middle management. 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:15.340 He's stressed out middle management with a gun. 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.000 That is the perfect way to put it. And he is 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:20.459 sitting in the waiting room of Dr. Jennifer Melfi. 00:04:20.889 --> 00:04:22.610 The production notes actually point out the set 00:04:22.610 --> 00:04:25.269 design here. It's cold. It's modern. It's very 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.149 corporate. It's the total antithesis of the pork 00:04:28.149 --> 00:04:30.250 store back rooms we're so used to seeing in mob 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:32.730 movies. It's an incredibly alien environment 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:35.509 for him. And watching Jim Gandolfini, who we 00:04:35.509 --> 00:04:37.290 should note was not a household name at this 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:39.829 point. He was mostly a character actor known 00:04:39.829 --> 00:04:43.110 for playing heavies. Watching him play... That 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:46.149 profound discomfort is a masterclass. Oh, it's 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.850 so good. He's shifting in the chair. He's awkwardly 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:51.089 looking at her diploma on the wall. He really 00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:54.050 does not want to be there. He is physically recoiling 00:04:54.050 --> 00:04:56.790 from the environment. And then he drops the cover 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.029 story. He says, I'm a waste management consultant. 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.149 The delivery is perfect. He knows it's a lie. 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:04.589 She knows it's a lie. It's this cautious little 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:07.449 dance they do. But Melfi, played brilliantly 00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:11.300 by Lorraine Bracco, she doesn't flinch. And I 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:13.579 think this is exactly where the show establishes 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:15.800 its intelligence. It doesn't drag out the whole 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:18.339 will she figure it out, won't she figure it out. 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:21.120 Right. She hints immediately that she knows exactly 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.600 who he is. Which forces the conversation directly 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.160 to the rules. This is the structural pillar of 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.660 the show right here. Before they can talk about 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:30.959 his deep feelings, they have to talk about the 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.600 law. The doctor -patient confidentiality agreement. 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:37.560 Yes. Melfi has to explicitly lay out the boundaries. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:40.779 She tells him, basically, if you tell me you're 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:42.560 going to hurt someone, like an imminent threat, 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:46.220 I have to go to the authorities. But past acts, 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:48.639 things that have already happened, that stays 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.139 in the vault. That is the narrative key that 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:54.459 unlocks the whole series. It gives Tony a safe 00:05:54.459 --> 00:05:57.279 space to be the bad guy without immediately getting 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.240 arrested by the FBI. It's the only place in his 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.399 entire life where he can actually be honest, 00:06:02.620 --> 00:06:05.639 well, semi -honest. It creates this modern confessional 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:08.560 booth dynamic. But instead of a priest, it's 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:10.600 a psychiatrist. Yeah. And instead of penance, 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.180 he gets a prescription for Prozac. Precisely. 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.779 And once those ground rules are set, we get to 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:18.720 the real inciting incident. The reason he is 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.220 sitting in that chair in the first place. The 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.019 panic attack. And the ducks. We have to talk 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:25.879 about the ducks. You really cannot analyze the 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.060 pilot without the ducks. It is the central metaphor 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:31.040 of the episode. It's such a weird, specific choice 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:34.139 for a hardened mob boss. He's totally obsessed 00:06:34.139 --> 00:06:36.259 with this family of wild ducks that landed in 00:06:36.259 --> 00:06:38.819 his swimming pool in suburban New Jersey. He's 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:40.660 literally out there building them a wooden ramp. 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:42.779 He is building them a ramp so the babies can 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:45.060 get out of the water. But look at the visual 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:48.240 language David Chase uses there. We see Tony 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.459 in that bathrobe wading into the pool water, 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:53.120 feeding them. He's gentle. He's almost childlike. 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:55.560 It's a side of the mobster archetype we had never 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:59.699 really seen on screen before 1999. In Goodfellas 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:02.120 or The Godfather, you definitely don't see the 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:06.199 Don in his bathrobe cooing at Waterfowl. It humanizes 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:08.519 him immediately to the audience. But it also 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.459 sets up the central tragedy. Because of the panic 00:07:11.459 --> 00:07:14.339 attack, hits him when... When they leave. When 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.160 the ducklings finally fledge and fly away. They 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:20.259 take flight and Tony just collapses. He passes 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:22.220 out at a family barbecue right in front of his 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:25.120 massive grill. So Melfi starts digging into this 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:26.860 in the session. And this is where the writing 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:30.220 gets really sophisticated for a pilot. She essentially 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:32.300 connects the dots for him. It's not about the 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:34.240 birds. It's never about the birds. It's about 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.769 the fear of losing his own family. The ducks 00:07:36.769 --> 00:07:39.389 represent the nuclear family unit. Tony projects 00:07:39.389 --> 00:07:41.490 all his subconscious anxiety about his children 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:43.329 growing up and leaving, about his wife Carmela 00:07:43.329 --> 00:07:45.189 leaving, about the general instability of his 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:47.610 criminal life. He projects all of that onto these 00:07:47.610 --> 00:07:49.470 little birds. And then we get the moment that 00:07:49.470 --> 00:07:52.709 I think truly sold the show to HBO. Tony Soprano, 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:57.370 a 250 pound tough guy, starts crying. He genuinely 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:00.209 tears up in the very first hour of television. 00:08:00.550 --> 00:08:03.029 It's such a massive risk. Think about the era. 00:08:03.310 --> 00:08:06.870 Action stars were totally stoic. Mobsters were 00:08:06.870 --> 00:08:09.529 hard and unfeeling. If you direct that wrong 00:08:09.529 --> 00:08:12.769 or act it wrong, you just look weak. You lose 00:08:12.769 --> 00:08:14.810 the fear factor of the main character completely. 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:17.629 But because Gandolfini plays it with such intense 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:20.410 shame, he's literally angry that he's crying. 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:22.569 He's wiping his eyes really aggressively. It 00:08:22.569 --> 00:08:26.060 works perfectly. It establishes the actual thesis 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:28.459 of the show. This isn't a show about the mafia. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:30.579 It's a show about the psychology of a man who 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:33.059 just happens to be in the mafia. That is a brilliant 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.259 distinction to make. It's a character study first 00:08:35.259 --> 00:08:39.039 and a crime drama second. Exactly. But just so 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.039 we don't think it's all quiet therapy and feelings, 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:43.940 David Chase immediately pivots. We have to move 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.909 to segment two. the family business because while 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:49.809 tony is crying in the psychiatrist's office the 00:08:49.809 --> 00:08:52.610 streets are an absolute mess the pilot has to 00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:54.970 do a lot of heavy lifting here structurally it 00:08:54.970 --> 00:08:56.850 has to show us that tony's highly competent at 00:08:56.850 --> 00:08:59.049 his job but also that his world is incredibly 00:08:59.049 --> 00:09:02.190 chaotic he's surrounded by incompetence He is 00:09:02.190 --> 00:09:05.009 trying to run a smooth business, but his employees 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:07.049 are, well, they're criminals. They aren't exactly 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:09.389 Rhodes scholars. So let's talk about the waste 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:12.029 management war. This is the B plot with the Czech 00:09:12.029 --> 00:09:15.690 cartel. Right. So Tony is bidding for a very 00:09:15.690 --> 00:09:19.210 lucrative sanitation contract, which is the mob's 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:21.169 traditional bread and butter, literally the waste 00:09:21.169 --> 00:09:23.389 management he talked about against a rival Czech 00:09:23.389 --> 00:09:26.070 -American outfit. It's a business dispute. Pretty 00:09:26.070 --> 00:09:28.549 standard stuff. Enter Christopher Moltisanti. 00:09:28.909 --> 00:09:32.529 Played amazingly by Michael Imperioli. He plays 00:09:32.529 --> 00:09:34.909 Tony's nephew. Well, cousin technically, but 00:09:34.909 --> 00:09:37.730 they always say nephew. And the pilot establishes 00:09:37.730 --> 00:09:40.789 him as a total reckless liability immediately. 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:43.730 He's the Generation X mobster. That was the social 00:09:43.730 --> 00:09:46.210 commentary Chase was making with him. He's impatient. 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:49.210 He feels entitled to the glamorous mob lifestyle. 00:09:49.409 --> 00:09:52.190 He wants the respect and the fear without putting 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:55.139 in the decades of quiet work. So instead of negotiating 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.580 or intimidating, Christopher just decides to 00:09:57.580 --> 00:10:00.379 pull a massive power move. He lures Emil Kolar, 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:02.799 one of the Czech rivals, to the back of a deli. 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:06.460 Email Kolar. Right. Email. Tony keeps getting 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:10.820 his name wrong on purpose. Anyway, Christopher 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:12.659 shoots him in the back of the head while he's 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:14.980 eating a sausage. It's a completely shocking 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.259 burst of violence right after those quiet therapy 00:10:17.259 --> 00:10:20.320 scenes. It's messy. It's loud. It's brutal. It 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.960 totally jars you. But notice the fallout. Christopher 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:26.240 thinks he's a hero. He thinks he solved the problem. 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:29.360 The Czechs withdrew the bid. He goes to Tony 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.820 basically expecting a gold star and a promotion. 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:34.519 But Tony is absolutely furious. Why? Because 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:36.820 Christopher acted unilaterally. He didn't ask 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:39.360 for permission. Exactly. In the strict hierarchy 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.639 of the mob, insubordination is actually worse 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:43.980 than incompetence. Christopher is a loose cannon. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.639 He didn't respect the chain of command, which 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:48.720 undermines Tony's authority. And that creates 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:50.980 a massive headache for Tony. Now he has to worry 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:52.919 about the checks retaliating. He has to worry 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:55.159 about hiding the body, the evidence. It just 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.159 exponentially adds to his stress level. Which 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:00.220 brings us to the second street -level conflict, 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:04.500 the HMO scam. This was the plot line that actually 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:06.200 confused me a little bit the first time I watched 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.419 it, because it's so financial and technical compared 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:12.039 to a straightforward shooting. It is, but it's 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.279 crucial for world building. It shows that the 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:16.379 modern mop isn't just hijacking liquor trucks 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:19.340 anymore. They are deeply into white collar fraud. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.620 So we have this guy, Mahafi. The source describes 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:25.379 him as a degenerate gambler who works for an 00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:27.940 HMO, a health insurance company. And he owes 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:30.500 Tony and Hesh, who is Tony's father's old partner, 00:11:30.659 --> 00:11:32.740 a whole lot of money. They catch him walking 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:34.200 on the street, and this is the scene where they 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:36.419 literally chase him down in the car, right? Yes. 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:39.679 It's pure cinema verite style. Christopher is 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.940 driving, Tony is in the passenger seat grinning, 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:44.379 and they chase this guy across a lawn and run 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:46.360 him over on the sidewalk. They shatter his leg 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.659 with the bumper of the car. It's incredibly visceral. 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:51.460 You hear the bones snap. But here is the Tony 00:11:51.460 --> 00:11:54.259 genius moment. This is what separates Tony from 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:56.580 just being a standard street thug. He doesn't 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:58.820 just take the guy's wallet. He doesn't just beat 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:01.120 him up for the sadistic satisfaction of it. What 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.909 does he do? He goes to the hospital, stands over 00:12:03.909 --> 00:12:06.450 Mahaffey in his traction bed, and tells him, 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:09.389 you're going to pay me back by processing fake 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:12.590 MRI claims. He turns the bad debt into a brand 00:12:12.590 --> 00:12:15.549 new business. It's brilliant in a dark way. He 00:12:15.549 --> 00:12:18.350 turns a deadbeat debtor into a recurring revenue 00:12:18.350 --> 00:12:21.240 stream. He uses the guy's inside position at 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:23.720 the insurance company to siphon money to shell 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.000 medical clinics that don't even exist. So the 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:27.820 extreme violence was really just an aggressive 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:31.059 negotiation tactic. Exactly. It showcases Tony's 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:34.019 brutality perfectly alongside his business acumen. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.659 He sees the financial angles that other people 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:39.399 just miss. But the real centerpiece of the pilot, 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.620 the primary plot that ties the deep emotional 00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:45.860 stuff to the violent business stuff, is the Vesuvio 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:48.370 restaurant bombing. The Artie Bucko situation. 00:12:48.950 --> 00:12:51.110 This is the plot that really defines Tony's moral 00:12:51.110 --> 00:12:53.470 compass for the viewer. If you want to understand 00:12:53.470 --> 00:12:55.789 Tony Soprano as a character, you have to understand 00:12:55.789 --> 00:12:58.730 exactly what happens to Artie Bucko here. So 00:12:58.730 --> 00:13:00.990 let's lay it out for everyone. We have Uncle 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:04.830 Junior, Corrado Soprano. Tony's uncle. He represents 00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:07.090 the old guard of the family. He wants to whack 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.789 a guy named Little Pussy Malanga. Not to be confused 00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:12.529 with Big Pussy Bump in Sierra. A very important 00:13:12.529 --> 00:13:15.950 distinction. Little Pussy is a turncoat. Junior 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:19.350 wants him dead to make a point. And Junior, in 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:22.490 his stubbornness, decides the absolute perfect 00:13:22.490 --> 00:13:25.710 place to do this hit is at a restaurant called 00:13:25.710 --> 00:13:28.049 Vesuvio. Which happens to be a restaurant owned 00:13:28.049 --> 00:13:31.350 by Artie Bacco. And Artie is Tony's childhood 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:33.370 best friend. They grew up together. They went 00:13:33.370 --> 00:13:35.409 to school together. They are essentially like 00:13:35.409 --> 00:13:38.559 brothers. But here is the massive problem. If 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:40.720 a mob hit happens in a nice family restaurant, 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:43.379 the restaurant is totally dead. The reputation 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.120 is instantly ruined. Regular people stop coming 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:47.659 because they don't want to get shot over their 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:50.059 plate of pasta. Exactly. Artie would go completely 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:53.539 bankrupt. So Tony is in a massive bind. He can't 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:55.600 just tell Artie, hey, my uncle wants to kill 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.220 a guy at table four tonight because that violates 00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:00.779 the strict mob code of silence. But he can't 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:02.740 let it happen and watch his friend lose everything. 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:05.210 So he tries the nice approach first. He tries 00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:07.809 to be the benevolent, generous friend. He offers 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:10.250 Artie two free tickets to a cruise. He says, 00:14:10.289 --> 00:14:12.029 go away, take your wife, close the restaurant 00:14:12.029 --> 00:14:13.789 for a couple of weeks, take a vacation on me. 00:14:13.909 --> 00:14:16.950 It's a very soft power move. He's trying to manipulate 00:14:16.950 --> 00:14:19.769 Artie out of the line of fire without explaining 00:14:19.769 --> 00:14:23.090 why. But Artie's wife, Charmaine, who is arguably 00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:25.149 the only person in the entire run of the show 00:14:25.149 --> 00:14:27.870 who sees through Tony completely and isn't charmed 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:31.480 by him, she shuts it down immediately. She refuses 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:33.720 the charity. She knows instinctively there are 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.840 strings attached to anything Tony Soprano give 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.399 you. So the nice way fails. The diplomatic way 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.779 fails. Tony is completely out of options. Junior 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:43.659 isn't backing down from the hit. So what does 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:46.799 Tony do? He goes nuclear. Literally. He orders 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.379 his right -hand man, Silvio Dante, to blow up 00:14:49.379 --> 00:14:50.960 the restaurant in the middle of the night. I 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:53.220 mean, just pause and think about that. He firebombs 00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:55.940 his absolute best friend's business. To save 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:59.259 it. That logic is so incredibly twisted, it makes 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:02.080 my head spin trying to justify it. It's soprano 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.320 logic. You have to look at it from Tony's highly 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.179 compartmentalized perspective. If the restaurant 00:15:07.179 --> 00:15:10.100 is a smoldering pile of ash, Junior physically 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:12.980 can't kill Malinga there. The hit has to be moved. 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:15.519 Artie is physically safe. Artie's reputation 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.240 is safe because nobody actually died eating his 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:21.320 manicotti. And crucially, Artie can claim the 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:23.740 insurance money to rebuild. So in Tony's mind, 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.440 he's a hero. He's the good friend making the 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.320 hard choice. He solved the problem for everyone. 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:32.429 Meanwhile... Artie is standing there in the wreckage 00:15:32.429 --> 00:15:34.769 the next morning, totally devastated, crying 00:15:34.769 --> 00:15:37.009 over his burnt -down restaurant, and Tony is 00:15:37.009 --> 00:15:38.769 standing right next to him, patting him on the 00:15:38.769 --> 00:15:41.649 back, thinking, I did you a massive favor. It 00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:44.009 perfectly encapsulates the toxicity of being 00:15:44.009 --> 00:15:46.450 in Tony's orbit. Even when he decides to help 00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:49.669 you, he completely destroys you. It creates this 00:15:49.669 --> 00:15:53.370 incredible, long -lasting, dramatic irony. We, 00:15:53.470 --> 00:15:55.509 the audience, know Tony did it. Hardy has no 00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:57.970 idea. And that massive secret hangs over their 00:15:57.970 --> 00:15:59.629 friendship for the rest of the series. It's a 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:01.990 total masterstroke of writing. It sets up this 00:16:01.990 --> 00:16:04.529 deep, long -term narrative tension immediately 00:16:04.529 --> 00:16:07.470 in episode one. Which is a perfect segue to segment 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:11.210 three, The Homefront. Because if you think Tony's 00:16:11.210 --> 00:16:13.830 business dealings are toxic, just wait until 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:16.929 you meet his mother. Livia Soprano, played by 00:16:16.929 --> 00:16:19.929 the incredible, legendary stage actress Nancy 00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:23.230 Marchand. The source material is very, very clear 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:25.730 here. The core conflict of the pilot episode 00:16:25.730 --> 00:16:28.809 isn't the FBI closing in. It isn't the rival 00:16:28.809 --> 00:16:31.110 gangs. It isn't even the check waste management 00:16:31.110 --> 00:16:34.409 guys. It's Tony trying to get his elderly mother 00:16:34.409 --> 00:16:37.289 to move into a retirement home. A retirement 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:39.090 community. She absolutely hates when you call 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:42.259 it a nursing home. Livvy is. Wow. She's a force 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:45.080 of nature. She's essentially a black hole of 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.240 pure negativity. Every single conversation with 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:49.480 her is an exhausting battle. And the pilot reveals 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:51.480 something really shocking about her influence. 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:54.080 We talked about the panic attacks earlier. The 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.700 first one was triggered by the ducks leaving. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.980 But the second one. The one that happens much 00:16:57.980 --> 00:16:59.799 later in the episode. It wasn't the ducks. It 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.629 was directly triggered by his mother. Melfi actually 00:17:02.629 --> 00:17:05.309 helps him uncover that in therapy. He passes 00:17:05.309 --> 00:17:07.630 out cold after a huge screaming match with her. 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.470 She is literally toxic to his health. She's making 00:17:10.470 --> 00:17:13.970 him physically ill. And then the show takes that 00:17:13.970 --> 00:17:17.309 toxicity a step further. It teams her up with 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:20.670 Uncle Junior. This dynamic is practically Shakespearean. 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:24.069 You have the mother and the uncle actively conspiring 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:26.670 against the son and nephew. Because Junior is 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:29.970 jealous. He's the elder statesman. But Tony is 00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:33.049 the rising star making all the real money. Junior 00:17:33.049 --> 00:17:35.910 feels deeply disrespected. He feels like he's 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:37.789 being pushed out of the loop of the younger generation. 00:17:37.970 --> 00:17:41.029 Olivia happily feeds that paranoia. There is 00:17:41.029 --> 00:17:43.349 a scene in the car. Junior is driving Olivia 00:17:43.349 --> 00:17:47.230 to her grandson AJ's birthday party. And this, 00:17:47.250 --> 00:17:50.069 to me, is the darkest moment in the pilot. Maybe 00:17:50.069 --> 00:17:52.089 in the whole first season. It's completely chilling. 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:54.910 Junior's complaining bitterly about Tony running 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:56.670 things behind his back. And he looks at her and 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:59.180 says, Something may have to be done about Tony. 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:01.099 He is effectively telling a mother that he might 00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:02.740 have to murder her son. And what does she do? 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.960 Does she scream? Does she jump out of the moving 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.880 car? Does she slap him? No. The script notes 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:10.140 that she just sits in total silence, looking 00:18:10.140 --> 00:18:12.400 out the window at the passing trees. And then 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.279 she gives a hint of a smile. That tiny smile 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.799 tells you absolutely everything you need to know 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.539 about her. She's complicit. She feels so incredibly 00:18:21.539 --> 00:18:24.079 slighted and abandoned by Tony trying to put 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.420 her in a retirement community that she is willing 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:29.079 to let the wolves take him out. It reframes the 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:32.059 whole show instantly. It's not cops versus robbers. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.859 It's son versus mother. It's a Greek tragedy 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:37.960 playing out in suburban New Jersey. It establishes 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.619 the deep familial betrayal at the very heart 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:43.380 of the series. The true threat to Tony is coming 00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:45.640 from inside the house. And all of this tension 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:49.099 converges at the birthday party. AJ's party acts 00:18:49.099 --> 00:18:51.579 as the climax of the episode. It's the classic 00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:53.859 narrative device. Get all your conflicting characters 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:56.099 in one room and watch the sparks fly. It's a 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:57.779 total pressure cooker. You've got the domestic 00:18:57.779 --> 00:18:59.940 tension with his wife, Carmela, who is trying 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:03.259 so hard to maintain the shiny facade of a normal, 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.660 wealthy suburban life. She's hosting, she's smiling, 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:09.779 she's serving ziti, but she knows the grim reality 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:12.319 of where the money comes from. You've got Junior 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:14.500 and Livia lurking in the corner of the yard like 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:17.380 vultures, eating cake and subtly plotting a murder. 00:19:17.889 --> 00:19:20.890 And you've got Christopher again, still completely 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:23.089 stewing about the business side of things. He's 00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:25.730 so angry he didn't get public credit for the 00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:29.049 Kohler hit. He feels unappreciated by Tony. And 00:19:29.049 --> 00:19:31.369 he has that great, almost meta moment where he 00:19:31.369 --> 00:19:33.470 threatens to just walk away and write a Hollywood 00:19:33.470 --> 00:19:35.710 screenplay about his mob life. He says, I could 00:19:35.710 --> 00:19:37.930 be big in Hollywood. I know how to tell a story. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.799 And Tony just violently shuts him down. He grabs 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.319 him by the collar and says, you're not writing 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.880 a screenplay. You're not telling anybody anything. 00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:47.000 It's funny because, of course, The Sopranos is 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.440 literally a screenplay about their exact lives. 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:53.059 It's David Chase winking directly at the audience. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.180 But it also sets up Christopher's tragic arc 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:58.920 for the whole series. The constant tension between 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.619 his loyalty to the mob life and his desperate 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:04.720 narcissistic desire for fame. He wants to be 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.099 a character in a movie, not just a person. So 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:09.220 we've unpacked the plot. We've got the complex 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:11.619 characters. We've got the core conflicts. But 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:14.039 I really want to move to segment four, behind 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:16.400 the scenes, because the story of making this 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:19.000 pilot is almost as stressful and chaotic as the 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.799 show itself. Oh, it's a miracle it ever got made. 00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:25.160 Honestly, a total miracle. We mentioned the weird 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:28.000 timeline earlier filmed in the summer of 97. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.269 Didn't air until January 99. But let's really 00:20:31.269 --> 00:20:33.470 talk about that plan B. You mentioned that David 00:20:33.470 --> 00:20:35.390 Chase didn't think HBO would actually pick it 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:37.930 up. He was entirely convinced it was a no -go. 00:20:38.029 --> 00:20:40.049 You have to remember the television landscape 00:20:40.049 --> 00:20:43.289 back then. A slow, deeply psychological show 00:20:43.289 --> 00:20:46.930 about a depressed, overweight mobster. In 1997, 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:50.329 it was an incredibly hard sell. Fox had already 00:20:50.329 --> 00:20:53.029 passed on it. CBS passed. All the major broadcast 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:55.730 networks looked at it and passed. HBO was really 00:20:55.730 --> 00:20:58.130 the last resort. So what was the actual plan? 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.940 If HBO called and said no, what was he going 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:02.880 to do with this expensive hour of footage he 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.039 just shot? Chase had a backup deal negotiated 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.859 with himself and his producers. If HBO officially 00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:09.960 rejected the pilot, he planned to go back to 00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:12.460 the financiers, beg for a very small additional 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:15.259 budget, and shoot an extra 45 minutes of footage. 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:17.440 And do what with it exactly? Paste it onto the 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.920 end of the 60 -minute pilot, edit it all together, 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:22.160 and release it as a standalone feature film. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.640 The Sopranos movie. Yeah, it likely would have 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.599 been a direct -to -video release, or maybe it 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:28.599 would get a really small arthouse theater run 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:30.559 in New York. It would have just been a quirky, 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.289 dark comedy crime drama. Can you even imagine 00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:35.690 that? We wouldn't be talking about it today. 00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:38.589 It would literally be a tiny footnote on James 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:41.390 Gandolfini's IMDb page. It would say mobster 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:43.750 number three, an obscure indie film. It would 00:21:43.750 --> 00:21:46.190 have been a totally different legacy. The pacing 00:21:46.190 --> 00:21:48.269 would have been ruined by trying to wrap up all 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:51.650 those dense family plots in 45 minutes. And the 00:21:51.650 --> 00:21:53.730 story of how he got the green light to make it 00:21:53.730 --> 00:21:56.450 a series instead is crazy. It came down to a 00:21:56.450 --> 00:21:58.470 window of just two hours. Two hours. What do 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:00.990 you mean? Two hours. Chase was actively being 00:22:00.990 --> 00:22:03.160 courted by another major network. to develop 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:05.460 a totally different show, something safe, probably 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:08.599 a standard cop procedural. He kept stalling them, 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.799 waiting for HBO to finally make up their mind 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:13.720 on The Sopranos, and the network gave him a hard 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:16.279 deadline. They said, sign this contract by 5 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.180 .00 p .m. today or the deal is permanently off. 00:22:19.339 --> 00:22:23.140 Wow. And HBO calls at 3 .00 p .m.? Roughly, yes. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:26.200 They called just hours before his deadline and 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:29.230 ordered a partial season. Chase later said it 00:22:29.230 --> 00:22:30.930 felt like getting a reprieve from the governor 00:22:30.930 --> 00:22:34.069 right before an execution. He was minutes away 00:22:34.069 --> 00:22:36.670 from signing his creative life away to a standard 00:22:36.670 --> 00:22:40.109 boring network procedural. That massive delay 00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:43.230 between shooting the pilot and the series had 00:22:43.230 --> 00:22:46.430 real visible consequences, though, especially 00:22:46.430 --> 00:22:49.750 for James Gandolfini. Physically, yes. This is 00:22:49.750 --> 00:22:52.130 something hardcore fans notice immediately on 00:22:52.130 --> 00:22:54.170 a rewatch. In the pilot, if you look closely, 00:22:54.309 --> 00:22:56.289 Tony looks quite different. He's younger, obviously, 00:22:56.470 --> 00:22:58.859 but he's also... a lot lighter the production 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:01.539 notes say he gained 60 pounds between the filming 00:23:01.539 --> 00:23:03.900 of the pilot in 97 and the filming of episode 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.660 2 when they resumed production gandolfini gained 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:09.819 about 60 pounds he credited it to the stress 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:11.859 of leading a show and the lifestyle eating a 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:13.700 lot of heavy italian food on set but it actually 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:16.140 worked brilliantly for the character how so like 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:18.380 how did it help in the pilot he's a bit more 00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:21.000 energetic he moves a little faster but by the 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.799 series proper carrying that extra weight he has 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:27.640 that heavy, lumbering, bear -like quality that 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:29.920 makes him so physically imposing. He literally 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.559 takes up more space in the room. It makes his 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:35.319 bursts of violence scarier. His voice totally 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:37.480 changed, too. I noticed that right away. The 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.759 accent wasn't quite locked in yet in the pilot. 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:42.140 He worked extensively with a dialect coach during 00:23:42.140 --> 00:23:44.859 that long hiatus. In the pilot, he sounds a bit 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:48.200 more like just a regular guy from Jersey, a little 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:51.980 higher pitched. By episode two, he has that deep, 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.960 nasal, heavy breathing, quintessential Tony Soprano 00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:58.359 voice that everyone imitates. It's the difference 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:00.640 between a really good actor playing a role and 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.660 an actor entirely becoming the role. Exactly. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:05.000 He internalized it during the break. There's 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.619 also a really fun casting nugget that I love 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:10.140 in the notes involving Drea de Mateo. Oh, this 00:24:10.140 --> 00:24:12.000 is a great piece of television trivia. Everyone 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.680 knows her as Adriana LaServa, Christopher's girlfriend, 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:18.119 a huge, vital character. She arguably becomes 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:20.220 the tragic heart of the show in later seasons. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.380 But she's not Adriana in the pilot. No. If you 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:25.759 watch the scene at Vesuvio very closely, right 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.119 before Tony has it blown up, she's the hostess. 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:31.180 She walks already to a table. She has one line, 00:24:31.259 --> 00:24:34.579 maybe two. She is literally listed in the end 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:36.839 credits simply as hostess. Was she popped on 00:24:36.839 --> 00:24:39.500 screen? She totally popped. David Chase and the 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.799 casting directors liked her look and her specific 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:44.720 jersey attitude so much in that tiny 10 -second 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:48.230 clip that they explicitly brought her back. They 00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:50.470 created the character of Adriana specifically 00:24:50.470 --> 00:24:53.869 for her. She literally launched an Emmy -winning 00:24:53.869 --> 00:24:56.650 career by being a really memorable extra. It 00:24:56.650 --> 00:24:59.569 shows how organic and reactive the creative process 00:24:59.569 --> 00:25:01.289 was. They were building the plane while they 00:25:01.289 --> 00:25:03.089 were flying it. And speaking of building things, 00:25:03.329 --> 00:25:05.569 there's the pork store. We all know Satriales. 00:25:05.690 --> 00:25:08.369 It's iconic. The green awning, the big plastic 00:25:08.369 --> 00:25:11.109 pig on the roof. But in the pilot, it's not Satriales. 00:25:11.250 --> 00:25:13.890 It's Santani's. Right. It was a real functioning 00:25:13.890 --> 00:25:16.859 butcher shop in Elizabeth, New Jersey. They filmed 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:19.440 entirely on location for the pilot to save money. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:21.299 So why did they switch for the rest of the series? 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:24.160 The harsh reality of film production. It was 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:26.579 a real business with real customers, having a 00:25:26.579 --> 00:25:28.859 massive film crew there for days on end blocking 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:31.980 the sidewalk, huge lights, cables everywhere. 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:35.099 The owners and the local neighbors got really 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:37.660 annoyed. The production couldn't guarantee consistent 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:41.059 access to the location. So HBO just got a building. 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:43.960 Yeah, they had HBO money now. They found an abandoned 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:47.130 auto parts store in Kearney, New Jersey. They 00:25:47.130 --> 00:25:49.710 bought it, gutted the whole thing, and built 00:25:49.710 --> 00:25:52.690 Satriels completely from scratch. That gave them 00:25:52.690 --> 00:25:55.130 total creative control. They could control the 00:25:55.130 --> 00:25:57.009 lighting perfectly. They could blow out windows 00:25:57.009 --> 00:25:59.910 if they needed to for a shootout. It became their 00:25:59.910 --> 00:26:02.009 secure fortress. It became a character in itself, 00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:03.890 really. The guy's sitting out front drinking 00:26:03.890 --> 00:26:06.089 espresso. I want to bring up a specific quote 00:26:06.089 --> 00:26:08.069 from Gandolfini that I found in the notes because 00:26:08.069 --> 00:26:09.970 I think it's brilliant. He was comparing the 00:26:09.970 --> 00:26:12.210 show to Sex and the City, which was the other 00:26:12.210 --> 00:26:15.329 big groundbreaking HBO hit at the exact same 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:17.289 time. I love it. this quote. It sums up the whole 00:26:17.289 --> 00:26:20.529 vibe perfectly. He said, quote, this wasn't four 00:26:20.529 --> 00:26:22.990 pretty women in Manhattan. This was a bunch of 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:25.710 fat guys from Jersey. It really highlights the 00:26:25.710 --> 00:26:28.910 massive risk they were taking. TV in the 90s 00:26:28.910 --> 00:26:31.670 was incredibly polished. Think about the massive 00:26:31.670 --> 00:26:36.410 hits. Friends, Frasier, ER, everyone was beautiful. 00:26:36.430 --> 00:26:38.869 The lighting was always bright and flat. The 00:26:38.869 --> 00:26:41.910 makeup was always perfect. The Sopranos was dark. 00:26:42.130 --> 00:26:45.750 Yeah. Visually. and tonally it was dark the people 00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:48.309 were overweight they ate with their mouths open 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:51.710 they breathed heavy they sweat it was ugly but 00:26:51.710 --> 00:26:54.349 that ugliness felt real it felt lived in it felt 00:26:54.349 --> 00:26:56.529 totally authentic and that's exactly what the 00:26:56.529 --> 00:26:58.450 audience was secretly craving even if they didn't 00:26:58.450 --> 00:27:00.529 know it yet they were tired of the artificial 00:27:00.529 --> 00:27:03.069 polish they wanted the grit they wanted characters 00:27:03.069 --> 00:27:05.710 who look like the guys at the local deli let's 00:27:05.710 --> 00:27:09.150 move to segment five Reception and legacy. Because 00:27:09.150 --> 00:27:11.269 despite the weird premise and the fat guys from 00:27:11.269 --> 00:27:13.470 Jersey, when this thing finally aired in January 00:27:13.470 --> 00:27:16.349 99, the industry noticed immediately. The critical 00:27:16.349 --> 00:27:18.589 acclaim was instant. It wasn't a slow burn where 00:27:18.589 --> 00:27:20.529 people discovered it in season three. Critics 00:27:20.529 --> 00:27:22.869 watched that pilot and absolutely lost their 00:27:22.869 --> 00:27:25.269 minds. David Chase directed this episode himself. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.299 Which is pretty rare. Showrunners usually write 00:27:28.299 --> 00:27:30.319 the pilots, but they don't always direct them. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:33.039 They usually hire a slick, gun -for -hire director 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.980 to set the visual look and tone, and then the 00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:38.680 showrunner manages the writing. But Chase had 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:41.599 an incredibly specific vision he wanted to execute. 00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:44.000 And he didn't direct much after that, right? 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:46.359 No. The source notes highlight that David Chase 00:27:46.359 --> 00:27:49.119 only directed one other episode in the entire 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:52.259 86 episode run of the series. Which one? The 00:27:52.259 --> 00:27:55.680 finale. Made in America. The infamous cut to 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:58.359 black. So he directed the first hour and the 00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:01.450 last hour. He perfectly bookended the saga. He 00:28:01.450 --> 00:28:04.329 opened the door to this world and he closed the 00:28:04.329 --> 00:28:06.509 door or, you know, abruptly cut the power. And 00:28:06.509 --> 00:28:09.009 he won major awards for this pilot. He won the 00:28:09.009 --> 00:28:11.630 DGA Award, the Directors Guild of America Award 00:28:11.630 --> 00:28:14.150 for Outstanding Directing. That is a massive 00:28:14.150 --> 00:28:16.430 honor for a debut episode of a brand new cable 00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:19.309 series. It means his peers, the other directors 00:28:19.309 --> 00:28:21.289 in the industry, looked at it and said, this 00:28:21.289 --> 00:28:23.849 isn't TV, this is cinema. And the editing. We 00:28:23.849 --> 00:28:26.049 have to mention Joanna Cappuccini. She won an 00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:28.950 Emmy for editing the pilot. So well deserved. 00:28:29.009 --> 00:28:31.650 The way she cuts back and forth between the therapy 00:28:31.650 --> 00:28:33.930 sessions, which are very quiet, very static, 00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:37.190 very contained, and the chaotic violence on the 00:28:37.190 --> 00:28:39.089 street and then the noisy chaos at the birthday 00:28:39.089 --> 00:28:42.329 party, it created a specific visual rhythm that 00:28:42.329 --> 00:28:44.970 became the show's signature. That jarring transition 00:28:44.970 --> 00:28:47.990 from talking about feelings to a guy getting 00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:50.509 his leg broken is part of the storytelling. And 00:28:50.509 --> 00:28:52.539 they got nominations across the board. Writing, 00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:55.440 lead actor for Gandolfini, supporting actress 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:57.740 for Nancy Marchand. It wasn't a sleeper hit. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:00.099 It was a critical smash right out of the gate. 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.359 It completely validated the experiment. It told 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:04.779 HBO, you were right to make that phone call at 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:07.839 3 .00 p .m. So as we wrap up this deep dive, 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.880 let's look at the big picture. When you step 00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:12.720 back and look at this specific 60 minutes of 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.049 television. It really is a perfect blueprint. 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:17.890 It's all there. Sometimes pilots are really clunky. 00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:19.869 You watch them years later and they have characters 00:29:19.869 --> 00:29:22.069 that disappear or the tone is totally off or 00:29:22.069 --> 00:29:25.349 the sets look cheap. But the Sopranos pilot, 00:29:25.569 --> 00:29:28.329 the dark humor, the sudden violence, the deep 00:29:28.329 --> 00:29:32.049 psychology, the mother issues, it's fully formed 00:29:32.049 --> 00:29:35.690 from minute one. It perfectly balanced the brutal, 00:29:35.809 --> 00:29:39.329 literally breaking legs with a car with the psychological 00:29:39.329 --> 00:29:42.190 depth of the ducks. And that precise balance 00:29:42.190 --> 00:29:45.349 is what sustained it for six incredible seasons. 00:29:45.670 --> 00:29:48.769 It never lost that core duality. But I want to 00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:50.509 leave our listeners with that plan B thought. 00:29:50.609 --> 00:29:53.269 We talked about the movie idea earlier. The 90s 00:29:53.269 --> 00:29:55.750 indie flick that never was. Think about the pop 00:29:55.750 --> 00:29:59.910 culture domino effect. If HBO passes, if David 00:29:59.910 --> 00:30:02.210 Chase gets his extra funding and makes his little 00:30:02.210 --> 00:30:04.990 105 -minute movie. We don't get The Sopranos 00:30:04.990 --> 00:30:07.089 on Sunday nights. That ritual never happens. 00:30:07.410 --> 00:30:10.069 Which means HBO probably doesn't become the absolute 00:30:10.069 --> 00:30:13.170 juggernaut of prestige TV. They remain a premium 00:30:13.170 --> 00:30:15.549 movie channel with a couple of niche shows. They 00:30:15.549 --> 00:30:17.470 might have just stuck to boxing and late -night 00:30:17.470 --> 00:30:20.490 movies. And without The Sopranos proving definitively 00:30:20.490 --> 00:30:22.829 that audiences would tune in every week to watch 00:30:22.829 --> 00:30:26.049 a complicated, morally bad protagonist, do we 00:30:26.049 --> 00:30:28.670 get The Wire? Probably not. HBO wouldn't have 00:30:28.670 --> 00:30:30.890 had the confidence or the subscriber base to 00:30:30.890 --> 00:30:33.210 greenlight something as dense as The Wire. Do 00:30:33.210 --> 00:30:35.990 we get Breaking Bad? Vince Gilligan has explicitly 00:30:35.990 --> 00:30:38.690 said, on the record, without Tony Soprano, there 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:41.089 is no Walter White. It's absolutely true. Tony 00:30:41.089 --> 00:30:43.650 Soprano broke the mold of the likable TV hero 00:30:43.650 --> 00:30:46.430 so Walter White could cook in it and Mad Men. 00:30:47.029 --> 00:30:49.490 Matthew Weiner literally wrote for the Sopranos. 00:30:49.509 --> 00:30:51.890 He learned how to run a show from David Chase. 00:30:51.970 --> 00:30:54.690 It's all entirely connected. The entire golden 00:30:54.690 --> 00:30:57.109 age of television, the era we are essentially 00:30:57.109 --> 00:31:00.470 still living in, might not exist at all if David 00:31:00.470 --> 00:31:02.309 Chase hadn't waited two more hours for that phone 00:31:02.309 --> 00:31:05.089 call. It's a truly fascinating alternate history 00:31:05.089 --> 00:31:08.029 to consider. A world without Tony Soprano is 00:31:08.029 --> 00:31:10.869 a world with much, much more boring television. 00:31:11.269 --> 00:31:13.309 So here's your homework for the week. Go back 00:31:13.309 --> 00:31:15.730 and watch the pilot. Don't just binge the whole 00:31:15.730 --> 00:31:17.269 season in the background while you're on your 00:31:17.269 --> 00:31:19.529 phone. Sit down and watch just the first hour. 00:31:19.710 --> 00:31:22.130 Look for the younger, lighter Tony. Look for 00:31:22.130 --> 00:31:24.349 Santani's meat market instead of Satriali's. 00:31:24.450 --> 00:31:26.849 Look for Drea de Mateo seating people at the 00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:29.349 restaurant. And especially look for that terrifying 00:31:29.349 --> 00:31:32.869 hint of a smile on Livia's face in the car. Just 00:31:32.869 --> 00:31:34.930 appreciate that you were watching the exact moment 00:31:34.930 --> 00:31:37.990 the medium of television finally grew up. It's 00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:40.470 definitely worth a rewatch with fresh eyes and 00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:43.029 all this context. Thanks for joining us on this 00:31:43.029 --> 00:31:44.990 deep dive. We'll catch you on the next one. Take 00:31:44.990 --> 00:31:45.509 care, everyone.