Breaking Down the Pilot (#1)

The pilot episode of HBO's The Sopranos (1999-2007) CWs: Death

It took me roughly two months to get through one of my favorite shows (ever), The Sopranos. As it progressed, the show got grimier, more complicated, and frankly depressing. At times, it could be difficult to watch, but it became a show that made sense to me. The characters that I had grown to know and understand developed in ways that I did not anticipate, and in some cases, that frustrated me. But, that is the beauty of the show, it makes you feel every step of the way. The creators, cast, and crew were able to push forth a show that was honest and could capture the harsh give and take between desire and greed. The pilot episode is the most important aspect of any show because it sets the stage for what is to be expected, it can either lift a show from the ground or prevent it from ever beginning. Of course in these early stages of a show there are elements that are still developing, the cast is still feeling out the characters, and some of the lines can feel stiff, but without this pivotal episode, you would not have a story. It is what you do with the pilot that determines the course of the series and whether it can become greatness.

Airing in 1999, David Chase’s The Sopranos takes place throughout New Jersey. It explores the inner workings of a mob family through the perspective of mob boss, Tony Soprano and his family. The Sopranos comes after and is influenced by several different media surrounding Italian-Americans such as; The Godfather trilogy dir. Francis Ford Coppola (1972-90), Casino (1995), and GoodFellas (1990) dir. Martin Scorsese—all of which are often referenced in the show. At this point in culture, Italian-Americans were regularly linked to mob activity, which is something The Sopranos delves into. The show, although about the mob, is also about complexity behind the identity of being Italian-American and the impact of prejudice on a community of people. With this cultural backdrop, The Sopranos attempts to re-contextualize mob media and provide a different perspective on Italian-American culture.

This pilot episode outlines the events that lead up to Tony Soprano’s panic attack and collapse. Throughout this episode a series of flashbacks and voiceovers help to introduce the large cast of The Sopranos. The show begins with Tony (played by James Gandolfini) face to face with his newly assigned therapist, Dr. Melfi (played by Lorraine Bracco). Already, the audience can tell this is unfamiliar territory for Tony. With his position as leader in the New Jersey mob family, he puts himself at risk by opening up and discussing himself with an “outsider”. He leaves room for himself to be marked “weak” and “unfit”, unraveling the hard work he’s done to get to where he is. Despite this risk, he chooses therapy.

As mentioned, Tony has a panic attack and with the question of the quality of his health circulating within the family, he takes it upon himself to do something about it. Why is why he talks to Dr. Melfi. Although Tony is embarrassed, Melfi is more than prepared to discuss and breakdown the stressors that factored into Tony’s collapse.

The show flashes back to the morning of the day Tony collapses. This is the first time the viewer sees Tony’s home, a place of grandeur. We as a viewer will continue to see Tony’s wealth positioned alongside other figures of the mob family which is consistently a source of contention/resentment for the other members. Tony knows and understands this so he is often willing to provide help for his employees to ensure his position as the leader.

In the process of reflecting over this morning, Tony expresses he feels a sense of loss or lacking, comparing himself to his father, who he believes “had it better” than him despite Tony achieving more. Melfi picks at this comment about feeling loss—to which Tony decides to bring up the ducks.

A family of ducks regularly visited the Soprano household, Tony, having a soft spot for animals, takes a liking to them. Only for them to depart from the home that morning. In this moment, Tony feels a great sense of loss. Throughout the series, there are nods to Tony’s soft spot for animals, ironically he holds more care for animal life than he does human life, as he finds it easy to kill, threaten, and hurt people. In this way, the ducks are a symbol. Tony cannot express the same level of care to the people he interacts with given the difficulties he faces in his jobs, so he focuses in on animals. They serve as a mechanism through which Tony can transfer his care, consideration, and remorse for life as he cannot do that with people.

It is this moment with the ducks which subverts the expectations of the audience, showing that Tony is not just a hard, crooked mob boss, but something beyond this. In this scenes that follow, we meet Tony’s wife, Carmela (played by Edie Falco), daughter, Meadow (played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler), and son, Anthony Jr (played by Robert Iler). This is such an exciting sequence of scenes because the audience is introduced to the frequent push and pull in Tony and Carmela’s relationship.

As the show flashes back to the present, Tony pulls back saying “This isn’t going to work. I can’t talk about my personal life.” But, Melfi urges him to push forward. After the morning, Tony rides with his nephew, Christopher (played by Michael Imperioli).

Christopher accompanies Tony to “take care” of a man, Mahaffey, who owes Tony money. Here is the first representation of the violence Tony is capable of it, it even suggests that he could go further if so needed. At this moment, Melfi stops him, essentially saying that although there is patient-doctor confidentiality, she would have to report something such as “murder”. Interrupting the flashback and including this exchange causes the episode to slow—Tony’s reputation and Melfi’s safety hang in the balance, but ultimately, nothing comes of it, Tony simply omits the violent parts of the story and remarks, “Nothing. We had coffee”. It is this scene though that makes you want to continue watching, it leaves the viewer questioning, “Will this happen again” “How many times can Tony possibly get off easy?”.

Tony and Christopher make their way over to the Pork Store, a place where the mobsters frequent and discuss any dealings. These scenes have the most interesting directorial direction—there is an experimental combination of high and low shots, typically at a diagonal, that signal change of tone and dynamic. These scenes are tense and important, so these shots work well to emphasize these emotions

The local Pork Store also indicates a change of social status, the neighborhood is made up of Italian-American, working class individuals and thus, is often looped in with mob-related issues. This makes Tony’s home an even greater symbol of his ability to create distance with the life he once knew. Here, the audience is introduced to Tony’s close friends/partners, Silvio (played by Steven Van Zandt), Paulie (played by Tony Sirico), Big Pussy (played by Vincent Pastore), and Dick Barone. All of these characters are important in Tony’s story, they are to always defend him even when they question his decisions or motives.

The group discuss the latest job that involves “taking care” of a few Czechoslovakian men, to which Christopher offers himself for. To his surprise, Tony grants it to him—testing his nephew to see if he is ready for more high-alert activities within the family. Somewhere in the conversation, Tony’s uncle is mentioned. He was recently seen at the restaurant of Artie Bucco, Tony’s childhood friend. Silvio relays the information that his uncle is planning to “whack” Pussy Malanga. This potentially does not bode well for Tony because it could cause in-fighting, so another source of stress is applied to him.

For this part of the episode, Tony interacts with figures of the generation before him. He runs into his Uncle Junior, or Arthur, (played by Dominic Chianese) and visits the home of his mother, Livia, (played by Nancy Marchand) with whom he has a very complicated relationship with. Although they are aging and Tony has accomplished a lot, he is still undermined by his elder family, so they are often a sore spot for him. Especially with his mother getting older and losing her memory, Tony must grapple with the traumas of his childhood through his interactions with his mother, whilst taking care of her.

As the episode continues, the audience sees more of Carmela. She is revealed to be devout, but struggling with her faith knowing that she does not live a “faithful” and “honest” life being married to Tony. Not only is she apprehensive about her involvement in the mob, but she knows her marriage is not what she always hoped for. Nevertheless, she continues to support her children—with AJ’s birthday party, Carmela shows full control and invites over family and friends for a barbecue.

The tension moves from the Soprano home to the Pork Store where Christopher is completing the Czechoslovakian job, the scenes are choppy, shadowy, and nervy. Christopher maintains polite banter with the person, only to kill him seconds after. This is a turning point for Christopher. With this event taking place in the pilot, every plot point that follows and every development of Christopher is meant to be the effect of this moment.

This episode also introduces the tense relationship between Carmela and her daughter, Meadow. Meadow is of the age where she begins to rebel against her mother which frustrated Carmela because, along with the distance from Tony, she feels herself losing her grasp on her family.

The rest of the episode are details of the events that culminate in Tony passing out at the barbecue. Melfi prescribes Tony with Prozac, believing that can help with his depression. Although Tony struggles with discussion of mental health, his commitment to doing something about it is a testament to something within him wanting to change.

The episode returns to present day after the appointment where Tony gets Silvio to set fire to Artie’s restaurant to prevent Uncle Junior from whacking Pussy Malanga there, a decision that he would regret. At another gathering, Artie is consoled by all of his friends, except Christopher. Here, Tony chastises Christopher for considering leaving the family business for Hollywood—Tony invalidating Christopher’s passions ultimately leads to him resenting Tony, this relationship is something to watch throughout the series.

The episode ends on a positive, but tentative note, ensuring its audience that this is only a little bit of the Soprano saga.

The pilot is strong in many ways, although a lot happens, it all has a purpose—to exemplify the several stressors in Tony Soprano’s life. This is the starting point, so naturally there are a few plot points that do not take off, but already, there is a deep and layered story here, one that is worth investing in.

Here’s the pilot script for this episode: https://thetelevisionpilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/THE-SOPRANOS-Pilot.pdf