The Prestige TV Podcast - ‘The Sopranos’ Hall of Fame: “Long Term Parking” and the Most Shocking Character Deaths

Episode Date: May 17, 2024

Van and Wos come together to revisit the iconic ‘Sopranos’ episode, “Long Term Parking.” They discuss the legacy of the episode, the impact ‘The Sopranos’ had on TV, and the most shocking character deaths in the series. Hosts: Wosny Lambre and Van Lathan Associate Producer: Carlos Chiriboga Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Bill Simmons. I am thrilled to announce our newest YouTube channel. It's called Ringer Movies. If you're a fan of our movie coverage here at The Ringer, then you're in luck. Because every episode of The Rewatchables and the Big Picture, now on YouTube. Like Bill said, Ringer movies will feature full episodes of my show, The Big Picture, the Rewatchables, as well as special live episodes, deep dives into movie history, and a bunch of other fun stuff featuring other movie-loving Ringer personalities.

Search Ringer movies on YouTube and experience the joy. Chris Ryan impersonating Wayne Jenkins on camera. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Prestige TV podcast. I'm your host for this evening, Big Was, Waz, aka Wazney Lambray, and I'm joined by the incomparable host of Higher Learning, the Midnight Boys. You see them on the Bill Simmons podcast. You'll see him on the rewatchables.

You even see them on the big picture. This guy's everywhere on the network. Van Lathen was good, bro. What is up, Was? What kind of art guy are you looking? What's on? The piece behind was. So this piece behind me on my hike in front of one of the rich people houses where I work out at in my neighborhood,

they had like four paintings just out, like for anybody to take them. So I threw this one in my car and just took it to my crib. Did you have it appraised? I have not had it appraised. Oh, my God, Waz. Meil Waz going to Paris. Me and Wals going to Paris. The picture that Wals got behind right now is worth five.

I can look at it until it's worth five million. Me and Wals going to Paris. That's a buddy cop movie that they were, a buddy movie that they would love to make. Two black Negroes, one of them finds an expensive picture, and then we go on a European vacation. I'm going to assume this joint is a replica of something

because I don't think these folks would have just left it out like that. But yeah, I thought it was cool. I enjoyed it. And so I threw it up there, man. But yo, today we're on the way back machine celebrating the 20th episode of one of the most notorious, the 20th year, excuse me, of one of the most notorious episodes of the Sopranos. That's long-term parking, man.

This thing dropped May 23rd, 2004. Just crazy. Who was Van back on this? day, May 23rd, 2004? So, still in Baton Rouge, I had not yet moved to Los Angeles, still in Baton Rouge, right? I was so deep into the Sopranos. Wow. And my palette as far as television was just changing because Sopranos and the Wire

were making me look at TV in a whole different way. The first show that I really latched onto that I would say elevated my age. expectation for episodic art probably was the Sopranos. Now, I loved television shows before. Obviously, we watched a bunch of sitcoms growing up. Oz had been around. A bunch of shows had come through. Sex and the City had come through a little bit.

And I'd like to get my carry on every now and again. But I was somebody that was creating my artistic palette at 24, had just got out of college, and I was in the middle of loving the Sopranos, bro. Man, so interesting to hear you say that to jump right in there, because I was going to ask you if you were somebody who watched the Sopranos when it originally aired. I was not somebody who watched it when it originally aired. I definitely watched The Wire in real time. And for related reasons, by the way, I went to a high school in Queens called St. Francis Prep.

That was predominantly white. And as you can imagine, because it's New York City, a lot of Italian kids in my school. and they absolutely worshipped this show. And for me, the way they love this show, Van, I assumed that you had to be Italian to enjoy it. And so that's why I just ignored it, honestly, in high school. I was like, I don't think that's something that I can enjoy because these kids, every single Monday after an episode aired,

my classmates, they were going nuts dissecting the episodes. And again, I just assumed I was just like, yo, this is shit that white people were into. And so I ignored it until I want to say, man, I would say I didn't watch The Sopranos till probably like 2011. I watched The Sopranos on demand, on HBO, whatever the streaming service before Max was called. It was HBO Now. HBO Now.

And obviously fell in love with it. It's vaulted up my top. It's at the top of my rankings for TV shows because of all of the things that you said. just the comedy, just the writing, the storytelling, the themes that they touch on, etc., etc., incredible. And the reason why I was hyped to do this episode is because I think a lot of the things that the Sopranos are about, the themes that this show hits on, are just, like, magnified in this episode. Particularly, like, if you've ever listened to or watched or read a David Chase interview after the, the show aired, just him trying to explain like, yo, we're not glorifying this thing. We're not turning these people into heroes.

We're trying to explain to you like, these people are sociopaths and people that you should not be rooting for. And in fact, at every single turn, we try to indict the audience for their love of these characters. In this episode, my God, if this isn't like the mission statement for that thesis, it's like, wow. Yeah. The Sopranos, really well said. The Sopranos for me was at the point that the show, that I got into the show, I think the show premieres in 99, if I remember correctly. I am a freshman in college and the way the mafia is being positioned in pop culture is different. The soprano comes around, the sprano's coming around the same time has analyzed this and everybody talks about. this, analyze this is a comedy, right? They actually referenced that in the pilot

of the Sopranos. And the Soprenos is a deeper look into the psyche of somebody that would be running a crew that would be on his way up the Mafia ladder. Now, prior to this, the idea of family and connection in the Mafia was looked at

probably most robustly in the Godfather, but almost like royal family, almost in the sense that there is a king, there are princes, there is subterfuge, an espionage that goes on

at court, if you're talking about the the Corleones. It wasn't as homie, as intimate, it wasn't as messy. Of course, there was betrayal and all that other stuff, but it wasn't nothing you could really glom on to

because they seemed like the tutors or someone like that. Around this time, the mafia was just weak enough to where a robust examination of the humanities, the humanity of the players involved was appropriate, right? Not like how powerful is Gotti or Gravano or Casano, like how weak are they? A different question. Now, how powerful are they? How weak are they? Like what are their foibles? What are their frailties? Tony has a panic disorder. He's going to

the doctor. He's got a soft spot for his son who he can't rear as hard as what he was reared. He's got all these peccadilloes that make him make bad decisions. He's got connections to people. He's got a soft spot.

Like how weak is the boss? Not how strong is he? How weak is he? That's what drew me to the show. At a time where I was starting to look at my own dad and other people and starting to see them for who they really were. So automatically I'm into the show.

By the time we get to season four, the show had completely transformed. Obviously, you know, the show had gone from a more intimate portrayal of that to the highest of high prestige shows. This particular episode is about all of that stuff that you're talking about. It's about reassessing family.

It's about losing family. It's about stakes. It's about existential questions that you'd have to ask about negotiating how what kind of life you want to lead and who you want to lead that life with like all wrapped up in a big canoli

of family dysfunction and deep, deep, deep resentment and retribution for some of the characters. It's one of the most perfect, one of the most dramatic episodes of television ever created. So as I mentioned, man, growing up in Queens, how I did, going to the schools that I did,

my proximity to Italian culture, you know, it definitely shaded, especially when I got deeply into the show, my view on things. Like, for instance, all of the things you talk about when you talk about stuff like the Godfather and Goodfellas and that kind of thing, like the glamorization of the mafia in America, particularly the quote-unquote five families in New York, like that did seem like something completely far into my own existence

you know, in New York City. Like the idea that, like, what they were doing seemed like might as well have been happening on another planet. However, in high school, because there was a lot of intermingling between us and the Italian kids and the Irish kids and the Greek kids

and all of that, oftentimes you might go to a house party and you might meet a kid who doesn't go to your school but lives in the neighborhood of somebody that you go to school with. And he's at the same party. They'd be like, yo, such and such as, you know,

not that he's some maid guy or blah, blah, blah, but he's got some kind of connection to that thing. Uncle, cousin, whatever. Right, right. And in fact, there's this dude that I met, his name was Fatnik, not making it up, his name was Fat Nick. And so I met him, partied with him.

Not like we became cool and nothing like that, but like I'd met this kid who I want to say two or three years after I graduated high school, was arrested for beating the shit out of some black dude in Howard Beach on what people described as like a racialized crime. He claimed that the kid was trying to break into cars and he beat the dude. Damn, they paralyzed the kid with a bat.

I'd met that dude before who basically performed the fucking lynching in Howard Beach, right? And so once I start watching the Sopranos, like you sort of, I can sort of make the one-to-one connection of like, just like in our neighborhoods, there were certain people that people whisper about, like, yo, such and such is doing, he's a part of this crew that does,

essentially does crimes. Like, you've sort of learned, like, in white New York, in white working class, New York, that's their version of that shit. Right? Except they just got movies made of it. So now, you know, you watch the Sopranos and they get a little bit more intimate

about the inner workings of the shit, and they just bring it, you know, full circle, basically. Right. Mm-hmm. Let me ask you something. about this episode, would you categorize this episode as the episode where Adriana dies?

Yes. Is it that, so you think of all the storylines that are running, that's the big, because I was thinking about this. Obviously, that's the headline, right? This is the episode, but there's also the episode where Johnny Sack is so consequential

where Johnny Sack becomes. He becomes the king in New York. Yep. Where Tony tells him to fuck off, where it could also be looked at as the episode where Chris dimes Adriana out. Yes. Obviously, it's the episode where Adriana dies,

but so much that is super important to the series happens in this episode. Yes. Yes. You are, like, if you're looking at the show outline, Adriana, who's basically a bit player in the series, if we're being honest, her dying?

I don't think her death... moves the quote unquote story or plot forward in any meaningful direction for the main characters. Like, I think Christopher and Tony's relationship was always headed in a certain direction. But you're right, but this was the, just real quick, because this is called gentle pushback. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, okay. Yeah, I love that. Let me tell you why I disagree a little bit. I caught something here that I'd never caught before. Did you watch the Mini Saints of Newark? I did. Okay. So at the beginning of the Many Saints of Newark,

and one of the most fascinating narrative choices that I think I've ever seen, they choose to have Maltesante narrate the movie from the crave. Right? Like, he's in hell. And, you know, isn't that weird? So inhale and the cameras navigating itself through the graveyard and they're headed to the plot where he's buried. And he talks a little bit about it. And he says, Tony Soprano, the man who I went to hell for.

Yes. That originates in this episode, yep. Episode where he says, that's the man I'm going to go to hell for, right? I think the beginning of Christopher's trajectory to hell is with the murder of Adriana. I think that's the moment. He had one last shot at ostensibly humanity. He could, the moment where he sees the guy,

the guy with the mullet and the four kids. Yeah. The moment that he sees him, that choice, It's Faustian. Yeah. Because it literally is, oh my God, I could like go and have a family and stuff. He's standing in front of a Hummer. That's the lifestyle.

He's already sold his soul. But this is his last chance to return it, right? To get a return on it. He'd have to leave. But if he does that, that's the life. He's taking a life that's pure in emotion. and in, I guess, action, but disgusting to him in terms of lifestyle.

And he chose to go with the devil, who in this case was Tony Soprano, and she was the sacrifice. And so when I look at it, I think it was incredibly important to Tony's and Christopher's relationship. Am I reading it wrong? No, I think you're right to say that.

I don't even disagree with that. I think the way that I'm looking at it is that, having watched the series over and over and over at this point, right? And having developed an emotional attachment to the character, I think because we're doing this in hindsight, we might be elevating, you know, the importance of Adriana in the story because we loved her character.

However, I bet you people watching in real time was not like, oh, fuck, Tony and Silvio, I don't fuck with them anymore because they did this thing. It's probably like, yo, she snitched. She had to go. This is how the story goes, right? And that's why I don't know.

After they killed pussy, it didn't really matter. They could kill anybody. Yeah. Like, you know what I mean? After they killed pussy, it wasn't, the pussy death was so crazy. After they killed pussy,

you realize that if you fuck up, they were going to, it was the mafia. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so that's what I mean by that. It's like,

it's not like you're going to turn around and turn on Tony, but I think that like, the callousness with which they treat her and they do her, man, is so like, the way, and the way that the episode depicts it is happening and boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Like, they just said, fuck it, she got to go.

And everybody just turns on a dime. This person that we thought they cared about, it's crazy. So I do want to get into some of the things you mentioned as happening in the episode. So when we go into the episode, Tony and Carmen are still separated. because of Tony's infidelities, that scene where he basically won't even capitulate

to even the idea that he would stop being a womanizer, he was just like, look, I'll try to do my best to not make it public, but like, you know, a dog is going to bark, essentially. It is what he says to Carmela. Tony B is still on the lamb, and obviously they're putting pressure on Tony Soprano to find him. another my favorite one of my

one of my favorite scenes of this episode again that they just do these great things about explaining to you the characters, their motivations and what they ultimately give a damn about in the end is the conversation between Carm and Tony where she's basically like you could come back to the crib if you buy me a speckhouse for 600K that was her soul

and that and that was that was the deal That was her soul. It was just like any idea that Karm like had some higher level of morality or principles or that she was somehow disconnected from Tony's life and all his blood money like gets shattered. She just she just cuts a deal over dinner to take this dude back for some bread. Wow. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigue, ask your doctor about Zepbound, terseptite.

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Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-5-45-5-5. or visit Zepbound.lily.com. You know what's interesting? Of the choices that were made in this episode, right? Do you know who literally makes the only choice that's based around family? Tony.

Yeah, that's fair. The only person who chooses family, Tony choosing to come home is not family. He's choosing comfort, right? He, I mean, he misses being at home, but, you know, he doesn't want to get divorced. he doesn't want there to be for his accounting done on his

on his deal. He's Italian. That's a narcissistic choice. The only person that makes a choice in there that's about family, that's about emotion, it's Tony. He chooses, I mean, it's a odd choice. He chooses to not hand over to his cousin, Tony B., to Johnny Sack and Phil and New York. He made that choice off emotion because he loved him.

He made a choice that essentially Christopher could make. It's not the same choice, right? Christopher had a lot more riding on it, but Tony was like, no, that's the way I'm supposed to do stuff in the mafia. I'm supposed to hand him over. He went crazy. You see Tony thinking about their relationship and their past. He realizes the guy still has to go.

So the choice is somewhat cynical. But at the same time, he makes a decision that's based off how much he loves someone, that he's not going to let that person be tortured. you could make an argument that maybe part of it was hubris and he didn't want to capitulate to Johnny Sack but at the same time I mean I guess Johnny Sack in that like he does a great job in that scene of being the most smug bastard

I've ever encountered in my life bro like when he's like this is undignified I'm like yo this guy is like the day after you get your new promotion bro you acting brand new Like literally the next day Like you didn't even ease into it Like you just like yeah no

Undignified Tony Like you're another reason Another reason why the show It's so good That moment is setting you up To say goodbye to Johnny Sack Like Johnny Sack was a mediator He was a friend

He was our people But right away Johnny Sack gets the big seat And you start to see the cracks in who he is But just think about the density of the story here. Think about even what Adriana goes through. This episode is really about her. And it's really about her just running out of options. You feel so badly for her.

When I first saw it, I'll be honest with you. I was shocked that they, not shocked that they got rid of the character. I thought that her, I thought that her Trist, if you would call it, or her involvement with the government would end up costing somebody else their life. I thought she would be an unwitting accomplice to somebody else getting killed. I did not think they would kill her

because I at that time wondered what would happen to Christopher if Adriano wasn't around. She seemed to be his last thread, his last link to humanity. Christopher always was, not quite Tony, but not quite A.J. He wasn't quite who Tony was,

and he wasn't quite as bumbling as weak as A.J. was, but he is somewhere in the middle of that. He's coddled just enough to be a little shit, but he's just hard enough and just in the life enough to be a killer and a criminal just like the rest of the people in his family. Yeah, the scene where the agents, man, basically put the, put the screws to age, and they basically explain to her like, yo, we're done tap dancing with you. You got a shit or get off the pot at this point.

Like, where she tries to lie and then ultimately comes clean and, like, she's so obviously out of her depth, man. Like, that's what I came away from. I'm like, man, she was in over her head from the beginning. Part of it, I do blame on Christopher. Just like the idea that like the first thing you don't drill into your woman is like as soon as the cops try to talk to you, get a lawyer. Like don't talk to these people.

Get a lawyer. And maybe you'll get a- Drill into your woman. Wow. What kind of podcast is this, bro? What are we red-pilling? Woss. I'm talking about a mafia.

I'm talking about a mafia. Jesus Christ, wow. worker, man. I'm not talking about a dentist. Was my. These people are an accountant. Wozni Tate. That's his new nickname.

Wozny Tate. Drill into your woman. That's both ways that's bad. They're going to put a red pill on me. No, no, no, no. I'm just saying, as a mafia worker, this feels like this is like one of the central tenets of what y'all do.

It's like you can't. cannot talk to police under any circumstances, right? Just the idea that this isn't like a core tentative of their relationship. To me, that seems like a Christopher failing. But again, you know, two people, codependent, drug-drug-addicted, you know, like, it's easy to see how it spirals. But definitely my heart broke for her in that room with those detectives when she ultimately decides like, all right, I'm going to try to get Christopher to flip.

And another thing that I love about the Sopranos, again, The Wire, another show that pioneered this, the cops are not good guys. We're not doing a good guys versus bad guys, cops and robbers story. The feds come off so horribly in this whole episode, just the way that they could just discard of this woman. You see how they move on to the next case. It's like, huh? She's dead. Think we could get that guy on a terrorism beat? Like the way they just seamlessly moved on from her

Was just like man that the cops don't come off looking right either in this They figify her she's not a person She's somebody that is a means to an end And you know In the past And it's your point about the Sopranos and the wire so good In the past Cops would be lionized

In media as people who had this unfailing sense of right and wrong and who just wanted to do what was right for the community and for America. You can't give me enough money. I can't. I'm incorruptible. This is wrong and I'm going to stop it. Now, the cops that were, the feds that we're looking at in the Sopranos, we don't

never necessarily see them on the take, but we do see them being ruthlessly career-minded. Yes. Right? You don't get at any point in this episode that they are out to clean up the streets of New Jersey. Exactly. They are obsessed in the same way that their counterparts are obsessed with winning and mission accomplishment. And therefore, anyone who stands in a way of that, they'll squash. And the reason why you feel that way about them is because they have a very clear opportunity.

to treat her like a human being, and they just never do. And like, even the woman, the very attractive woman, that they used to get in with Adriana in the first place, right? When Adriana is taken down, she brings up the fact that she talks about the little people that Adriana wants to have children. All this weapon, all this information, all her weaknesses, all her vulnerabilities are weaponized against her so that they can get Tony Soprano. And she dies and it's their fucking fault.

It's their fault that she passed away. Yeah, I mean, obviously the killers get their blame too, but the callousness, the carelessness. The killers are the, the, let me put you like this real quick. The killers get the blame, but I'll put it to you like, I'll put you like this. This is, I don't mean for this to sound weird. If I have a pit bull,

right and the pit bull is pit bull blah blah pit bull pit bulls aggressive dog sicking the pit bull the dog is a killer the dog's gonna do what the dog's exactly yep like sill and Tony they're pit bulls they're not supposed

to have any shred of morality and this is the reason why I lay the blame you're right but the reason why I lay the blame at the offense because the are the people that are supposed to care about people. Well, 100%. Like, obviously, I'm in agreement with you. I think they have a hand in the death of this person.

Like, you go out of your way to turn this person into your snitch, knowing what the consequences for that action is. Like, it's not like they don't know, like, that the mob kills snitches. Like, they go into it knowing that this is what they do to people that cooperate with the feds. And just the carelessness was just was tough. Oh, man, definitely. got to talk about the scene

where she ultimately tries to talk she confesses to Christopher that the feds got their hooks into her he damn near kills her this this scene is so intense

and just knocks me off of my feet every single time obviously there's the visceral reaction you have to aid damn near having the life choked out of her and then actually

like caressing this guy and comforting him after he did that. But also the freaking super duper close-ups on Michael Imperiali when he's getting the news, dude. It's amongst the best acting in the, it's one of the best, it's his best acted scene in the whole series. I'm not talking about Chris where he's, oh, I'm sorry, I cut your wisdom, brother. Go ahead.

My bad. No, no, no, no. That's what I wanted to say. Like, the close-ups of him, like, he's, like, he's dying. It literally, you're watching this guy die. And she's explaining to him all the things that have happened. And he's just like, oh, my goodness. Like, we're going to go to jail.

Or no, we're going to get killed. Oh, no. Like, Tony's in it. Oh, shit. Like, he's thinking about the whole thing is done. This is the thing about that. That, what is happening? is his worst fear.

Not, okay, Christopher is so indoctrinated, right? Like, he's so indoctrinated. He is so mafio-sowed out that his worst fear isn't being killed. That can happen anytime. His worst fear isn't killing someone that can happen anytime. It has happened. His worst fear isn't snitching. that's never going to happen.

His worst fear is what he's going through right now, that she has been compromised, that it's coming from that close to him, that it's going to be his fault that everybody goes down, him being a rat, him being involved in that, and what you see on Michael Imperoli's face at first isn't rage. it's legitimately, in my opinion, legitimately.

I know that we saw him beg for his life one time. It's legitimately the worst fear that we've seen on Chris for the entire what the fuck is happening. Like what, like what are you kidding me? I simply cannot believe that. It's some of the best acting in the entire. show. It really is without saying anything. And to speak to that, D. Mateo and Michael Imperioli

won the Emmy. This was for their acting in this episode. This was their Emmy submission and they ended up winning. Terrence winner ended up also winning the Emmy for his writing on the episode. They won the best drama series and all of that for

this season, probably in large part based on just the excellence of this episode. The scene is just It's a masterpiece, a masterclass. Jay and DeMateo can't say enough. Like, she looked dead, bro. Yeah. She looked like she freaking died.

Like, that was crazy. Just an incredible. Next thing I wanted to sort of, what did you think about the decision? One, hold on, let's set that up. The sleight of hand that they do, where we think aid is driving her own car off to some far place

but then we learn it's just a daydream and she's the passenger in Silvio's car and what do you think of the decision to make Silvio be the one that do it who oftentimes like he's playing the voice of reason

he's talking Tony down out of doing the most vile and crazy shit Syl is basically like one of the good ones and so much as these cats can be good on the show and the decision to make him kill aid, geez. So it's remarkable for a couple of reasons.

Number one, everybody in the Sopranos gets their opportunity to be a demon, like every single person, right? You know that these guys have to put in work to get where they are. And there's not one of them that gets away without you seeing that side of them.

The thing that always gets me whenever I watch the scene, is when Sil murders Adriana. He summons something inside of him at the end that he's calling her names, and he's fucking piss.

It's not the way they kill pussy, which is they're standing up and they're angry, but they're angry that he made them do this. It's not that. It's can't believe it Blah blah blah blah blah You boom

He's mad he's pissed It's sinister And he officer So you know that That has been in him before You know that's a part of who he is Right He calls her the C word

As he's taking her out of the car Exactly Like it's it's a It's a merciless Just Slaying of someone Like not even You wonder if he would ever even

If he had ever even known her the way he treats her, right? But that and the fact that when I first saw this episode, number one, when I first saw this episode, I questioned whether or not they would actually kill her, right? I kept waiting to be bailed out from it. Like when Christopher does what does it when Tony calls her, I'm thinking, well, maybe Chris really did do this for a second.

I know what's going to happen, but I'm thinking maybe Chris really did do this and maybe her and Tony will meet up at the hospital and there'll be some sort of conversation and Adrian's character will get sent to Italy. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm looking for the show to bail me out. Yeah.

Right, because I know she has to die. And they kept playing with it and playing with it and playing with it until they made you watch somebody that you related to on the show for a while and a serious piece of eye candy. I'm sorry, that's who I am, guys. They made you watch this.

I recently went on Instagram today to check up on it. It's still the case. Yeah, she had some other endeavors that she's embarked in recently that I've supported. But I'm a fan. Oh!

We don't have mercy. I didn't know who was going to go there, but thank you. No, no, no. We don't have to. We don't have to. I'm just saying I'm a fan. Yeah.

And they just don't. And the, and the show. show, the show isn't going to bail you out. Things went wrongly for her and she's got to go. And then it, to me, so to your point, it was a, it was a little respite from what you knew had to happen, which was the death of Adriana. The death in the most unceremonious. Just like anybody other, she's the victim of a hit in the woods. Just regular.

Just not even, they didn't even, it wasn't, it was almost the way Omar went. Being shot in the head by, Omar didn't get a grand stare down with the way. Yeah, nah, a little kid killed him. A little kid killed him. A little kid killed him. So, obviously, AIDS death is a big theme in the episode. I wanted to get your thoughts on some of your more memorable soprano's deaths. because when I was talking to Justin about doing this episode

and that came up like it's obviously one of the more like just gut wrenching just crazy deaths. The two that came to my mind for different reasons. Ralphie killing the stripper because it was so such a heinous crime. It was so fucking evil. Like that one sticks in my mind because watching it was so difficult to watch. Like in, you know, like when Tony ultimate. ends up killing Ralphie.

It felt like vindication. Like, yeah, he killed this fucking asshole, right? And the other one that comes to mind is Richie April. Because Janet shot his ass. That was funny. Yeah. And that was comedic. That to me still reigns as the most unexpected death in the history of the show.

Like, we didn't know what was going to happen to Richie. I expected that Tony might end up having to Richie. Killing Richie because the Sopranos does something sometimes to where it's like, you ever watch Star Trek back in the day? Yes.

So, very funny and famous scene in Boomerang where Eddie Murphy's talking to Halliberry and he's talking about Star Trek and he goes, okay, so if I was,

look who's going on this mission is Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Yeoman, John. Johnson. He was like, if I was Yom & Johnson, I wouldn't go. Because who's going to not make it back to the Enterprise? It's not going to be Kurt, Spock, or McCoy.

Yoman Johnson is going to die. And Eddie is talking about it and it's very funny. What the Soprentos would do is give you a season of Yomint Johnson. Oh, Pantiliano, Joey Pants is coming on the show. Steve Buschemy is coming on the show. Richard Appreel is coming on the show. You know these guys are going to get killed. Yeah, yeah.

Pretty soon into their tenure, you're like, okay, this is not going to work out for these guys. One season, two seasons, these guys are gone. Like, these characters aren't going to be around for the long time. Tony needs enemies, and these guys will probably get killed, especially with the fact that their characters are so combustible, right? So with Richie, you knew that he would die, but you didn't think it was going to happen like that. Like, I was kind of, I was like, shit.

Like, she boom, like, she just killed Richie. It's the kind of thing that keeps you on your toes. As far as deaths in the show that are the most memorable, I agree with you when Ralphie killed the stripper. The death that hit me the most, even though everybody was at war, and there was a target on his back was Bobby Bacala. Bobby Bacala getting killed in his train suit. like in a conductor suit

grimy like doing model that one was one that fucked with me I did not want to see Bobby go man I'm gonna be real with you I did not want to see Bobby go so did you watch this episode before

are you just doing this on memory or did you watch it again no I watched it again okay so I just just to close it off like upon rewatching this I want to know if anything like that you like

don't remember or whatever that stuck with you. What stuck with me was how Tony and Carmela, when Tony moves back into the crib, they both realize it's a farce. Like, even, like... I couldn't agree more. They, like, damn, watching it over, it's like, they both know this is a performance,

their heart's not into this actual relationship anymore. They're just doing this family thing, but as far as them two, it's not there. I don't know if it's because I'm older or life or because I'm in a relationship

that I've been in a long time. By far, that part of it was the most interesting to me right now. You know, this is the episode where Adriana dies. Boom. That's going to happen. Watching her go through that is gut-wrenching. but the scene where they're all sitting down,

and AJ goes, this is weird. Yes, even AJ, the most like aloof, not in the moment person on the show is like, yo, this don't make no type of sense what y'all doing right now. The matter-of-fact way, especially when you know everything that they have been through, that Tony just negotiates his way back into the house.

What he's not going to do, what she doesn't have to worry about, He is who he is, but he's going to do it in a different way. How transactional it is is the word that I'm looking for. That was fascinating to me on my rewatch. Like that part of it, his conversation was Carmela, him gifting her different things. When he brought the bags in and he's like, yeah, AJ, like, I'm back. Like, he realized there's no grand, like, oh, Tony's all about a lot.

It wasn't, nobody ran and jumped into his arms. Nobody gave a fuck. It was very unceremoner. It was what people, like even, I think it's already says to him, when he says I'm moving back in, I can't remember who says to him, your kids are going to be very happy. There was expected that there would be some sort of joy, some sort of joyous moment.

Even at the end when, you know, we go back to the woods and you think that they're going to show you Adriana's dead body or where she's buried or something like that, It's actually Tony and Carmela walking through the woods. There's an odd symmetry there between Adriana being gone and any sort of actual feeling. Yeah, their relationship is also dead. It's pretty much dead. It's something new now, right?

And the spec house is a symbol of that. It's like this is what the relationship is about. It's not the humanity anymore. Anyway, just a classic, obviously, incredible episode. 20 years later, it holds up. It's still funny. They're still like, like, yo, dude, Philia Tardo, man.

It's funny. We even talk about Philia Tardo at the sit down. We even talk about a little carmine. It is one of the densest episodes in soprano's history. I'm calling Tony a cock sucker. Yeah. It's just the episode has everything. Obviously, if you're listening to this, you should go watch it.

Just incredible. Van, Midnight Boys, Higher Learning, Oscars, everything is happening. Cowboy hats. He's doing all of it. Obviously, check me out at group chat on the Ringer NBA. And keep it tuned to this feed. We got plenty of stuff coming up for you guys soon on the Presti's TV feed. We'll see you guys next time.

Peace.