"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" is the 36th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the 10th of the show's third season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Jack Bender, and originally aired on April 29, 2001.
Video ...To Save Us All from Satan's Power
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
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
- Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva *
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano
- John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco
- Katherine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco
- Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri
- Federico Castelluccio as Furio Giunta
- Robert Funaro as Eugene Pontecorvo
* = credit only
Guest starring
- Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
Also guest starring
- Vitali Baganov as Valery
- Joe Badulucco as Jimmy Altieri (flashback sequences)
- Jason Cerbone as Jackie Aprile, Jr.
- Matthew Cerbone as Young Jackie Aprile, Jr. (flashback sequences)
- Andrew Davoli as Dino Zerilli
- John Fiore as Gigi Cestone (flashback sequences)
- Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
- George Loros as Ray Curto
- Vincent Pastore as Big Pussy Bonpensiero (flashback sequences)
- Turk Pipkin as Aaron Arkaway
- Michael Rispoli as Jackie Aprile, Sr (flashback sequences)
- Alik Sakharov as Agron
- Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
- Joe Pucillo as Beppy Scerbo (flashback sequences)
Maps ...To Save Us All from Satan's Power
Episode recap
Before meeting Paulie on the Asbury Park boardwalk, Tony flashes back to the winter of 1995, when he first noticed Pussy was acting strangely. When Tony asks if Paulie feels guilty about killing him, Paulie claims he does not regret it. When Tony brings the topic up again at Satriale's, Silvio begins having nightmares about Pussy. Further reminiscence is prompted when Silvio and Paulie have to find a replacement for their former friend to play Santa Claus at the Satriale's Christmas party; they ultimately pick Bobby for the part. Unlike Pussy, Bobby's shyness and bluntness do not go well with his role. After a child swears at Bobby, Tony tells him to be more cheerful.
As Tony is mulling over Pussy's betrayal and death, he remembers a time when Pussy missed a sitdown to mediate peace between Jackie Aprile, Sr. and Junior in Boca Raton, Florida. Tony thinks that was the night when the FBI coerced him into cooperating after catching him selling heroin, and later made him wear a wire when he dressed up as Santa at Satriale's.
Meanwhile, Janice announces that she will cook Christmas dinner. When she tells Tony that her wrist is becoming hard to manage, she reminds him about her encounter with the Russian thugs who arrived to take back Svetlana's prosthetic leg. As a favor to Tony, Slava, a member of the local Russian mob, gives Tony the name and place of employment of Janice's attacker. The following evening, Tony and Furio beat him and throw him through a glass window of a mall display. When Janice sees a TV news report about the attack, she becomes emotional, wakes up her narcoleptic boyfriend Aaron, and mentions that what's missing from a Christian music song they are trying to write is the "brother concept."
At Nuovo Vesuvio, the newly separated Charmaine has started to wear revealing clothing, attracting compliments from several mobsters. As Tony, Paulie and Silvio eat dinner, she jokes to Tony that the people at the next table are FBI. Silvio becomes offended by this, and Artie apologizes. The following day, Charmaine blames Tony for the ruin of their marriage. Tony becomes angry and he, Silvio and Christopher leave. At Silvio's suggestion, the three go to a strip club and drink tequilas. There, Silvio and Tony spot Jackie Jr. getting a lap dance from a stripper. Infuriated, Tony drags him into the bathroom and beats him. After confiscating the gun given to him by Ralphie, Tony finally knees Jackie in the groin and tells him, "You bottomed out."
On Christmas morning, the Sopranos open their gifts when Jackie arrives with presents from Rosalie. He then gives Meadow an engraved necklace, to Tony's irritation. In the kitchen, Jackie confesses to Tony that he "flunked out" of Rutgers University, but that he wants to enter the men's fashion business and that he still wants to be with Meadow. After Jackie leaves, Tony has to fake a happy face when he finds that Meadow has bought him a Big Mouth Billy Bass, which reminds him of the dream that made him realize Pussy's betrayal.
Title reference
- The episode's title is taken from a verse of the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen".
References to prior episodes
- The Big Mouth Billy Bass, including the song "Take Me to the River", was previously featured in the episode "Second Opinion".
- The Asbury Park boardwalk in winter, along with the view of the sea closing the episode, was previously featured in "Funhouse".
- In 1995, Big Pussy mentioned that he always dreamed of having a house on the ocean and said, "Maybe in another life". This is ironic because Tony, Silvio, and Paulie dumped his body in the ocean after shooting him on Tony's yacht, in "Funhouse".
Production
- Tony's deductions about Big Pussy's betrayal timeline conflict with prior information: in Season 2, FBI Agent Skip Lipari reminds Big Pussy that he's been working for them since 1998, not 1995 as suggested in this episode by Tony. Also, just before his execution in 2000, he admits to Tony (perhaps truthfully) that he has been working for the FBI for a year-and-a-half. It is possible that Tony was just being paranoid about the events of 1995.
- In his only cameo-like appearance in the series, director of cinematography Alik Sakharov plays Russian-mob bookkeeper Agron. Like the character, Sakharov is also of Russian heritage.
Music
- The song played over the end credits is "I've Got a Feeling" by the American Sacred Steel gospel group, The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson.
- During the 1995 Christmas flashback at Satriale's, the jukebox was playing "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", by The Chipmunks.
- The song Silvio has turned off in the Bada Bing is "The Cycle" from Virgos Merlot's Signs of a Vacant Soul album.
- "Funky Drummer Boy", a remixed version of "The Little Drummer Boy" from Thornetta Davis plays at the rival strip club where Tony beats up Jackie Jr.
References
External links
- "...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" at HBO
- "...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" on IMDb
- "...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" at TV.com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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