Understanding Your Obsessive Compulsive Addiction to the Sopranos

PART 5 in a weekly 6 PART mini-series here on Planet Zman, entitled: Great Actors, Great Acting

I ask you, what would the bad-guy list be without the late Johnny Sack’s number two man in the NY crime family, the always malevolent, Phil Leotardo (played by my pal, Frankie Vincent). I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Frank for the cover story in the 2006 Winter issue of the national publication, Cigar Magazine™. I flat out told the Jersey City native that I loathed him to no end on the show. He takes that as quite a compliment because it means he’s doing his job well. But when I asked him how he turns it on to become such an evil, heartless prick, the answer was terrific. He says it’s in all the writing. When Vito was surprised by Phil and his goons in the hotel room, they duct taped him and knelt him on the floor as Leotardo sat at the edge of the bed. He looked into the homosexual mobster’s frightened eyes and simply said, “You’re a fuckin’ disgrace.” Frank’s point is that when you’re in that kind of setting, and you utter those life damning words, how else can he sound but evil and heartless? He claims that the writing by Chase and his team is so good, so tight, that all you have to do is say the lines and the character becomes who he was intended to be – and in Frank’s case, a real “rompipalle,” a ball breaker that you love to hate.

Great characters only work if there are great scripts, and with this show there are none better. On the verge of the 80th episode, I surfed through hbo.com and reflected on what I consider to be some of my favorite, as well as the most griping episodes. Number one on mine, and many fans lists is episode 37, from season 3, entitled Pine Barrens. How do you lose a Russian goliath in the deep snowy woods after he’s been beaten and shot in the head? And, other than Paulie’s shoe, that’s not all that was lost. Chris and Mr. Walnuts are astray in the forest, and as nightfall approaches the thought of dying in the cold is a real threat. The arguing is comical as they bed down in an abandoned van and suck on ketchup packets for energy. The scenes were so well done, the acting so superb, I myself was freezing to death right along with those two skibotz’s. By far, in one of the funniest exchanges of dialogue in any episode, Paulie tells Tony on the phone that they are lost and the Russian got away. Tony warns him, “The guy you’re looking for is an ex-commando. He killed sixteen Chechnyan rebels single-handed – he’s with the Interior Ministry.” When Paulie repeats the info back to Chris he says, “He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians… the guy was an interior decorator.” Chris, obviously confused, shrugs his shoulders and says, “His house looked like shit!”

Obviously, there are too many to mention I have to give kudos to a chosen few. Episode 30 in season 3, entitled: Employee of the Month, was centered on the rape of Jennifer Melfi. As the attack was brutally depicted, I remember sitting there with tears streaming from my eyes and my heart pounding through my rib cage. I actually couldn’t talk for several moments. More gripping drama, I have never seen. Melfi knows if she tells Tony what happened, her assailant will be removed from the world quicker and bloodier than he originally arrived in. But her conscience will not go to the dark side, and even though Tony presses, she keeps the event to herself. In season 4, Who Ever Did This, features a saddened Anthony who beats Ralphie to a bloodied pulp because of the death of Pie Oh My, in perhaps the most intense fight scene over the eight years. Season 5, Irregular Around the Margins is where Tony and Adrianna almost make a connection, and he flips his SUV in the wee hours of the morning. Chris, believing that Tony shtooped his fiancé, threatens him in a drunken rage and is dragged down a back road and almost executed if not for the quick thinking of cousin Tony Blundetto. While Big T. held his gun to his nephew’s skull, I’m pretty sure I lost my bodily functions at that very moment. Then there was White Caps, from season 4, where Tony buys Carm a beach house, but his ex-goomara, that little Rooskie minx, Irina, puts on the kibosh as she calls Carmella and tells her of their affair. The acting and the exchange between Carm and Tony was perhaps the finest I have ever seen. The screaming, the crying, and Tony putting his fist through the wall… man oh man, I get goose bumps just remembering it.

Stay tuned for PART 6: Onion Rings and the Final Curtain.