Ralph’s fat-joke about Ginny Sacrimoni has
almost ridiculous consequences.
Carmela and Furio dance together at his housewarming party.
Meadow begins to volunteer at the Law Center.
Episode 43 – Originally aired October 6, 2002
Written by Terence Winter
Directed by Jack Bender
___________________________________
The opening scene of the hour takes place at Benito One, the well-regarded restaurant in Manhattan’s Little Italy. Inside the restaurant, Johnny Sac and Joey Peeps converse while Donnie K., a goombah from Ralph Cifaretto’s crew, enjoys a drink and has a few laughs at the other end of the bar. When Donnie leaves the restaurant, John follows him outside and beats the crap out of him. As John empties his bladder on to his unconscious victim, Joey Peeps wonders out loud, “What the fuck?” Indeed, WTF John? What issue could be big enough to warrant such a horrible outburst of rage? The edit answers our question:
John (unreasonably) assumed that Donnie was chuckling over his wife’s weight. He is still infuriated by the silly joke Ralph made at her expense. Ginny’s weight is, as tvtropes.org calls it, John’s “berserk-button.” It drives him nuts to think that the other guys are making fun of the woman that he loves. At some level, John knows that he is irrationally oversensitive about the issue, at one point trying to convince Tony that his violence against Donnie was related to some business issues. But he eventually reveals the true reason for his outrage to both Tony and Carmine, who each struggle to keep a straight face as John recounts Ralph’s joke about a 98-pound mole on Ginny’s ass:
The camera holds on each of them as they try to hide their amusement and display managerial tact instead: “That’s deplorable” says Tony, while Carmine asserts, “It’s an off-color remark, it was highly inappropriate.” The two bosses of NJ and NY are surprised that such a usually reasonable and calm man can get so batshit crazy over this issue. Ralph’s personality may play a role in irritating John. Ralph has a prickly persona, he can get under anyone’s skin. He breezes back to New Jersey from Miami looking tanned and suave. He feels no remorse for offending John or Ginny, only irritation that John undervalues him even though his work produces a large amount of money for the Sacrimonis: “Who does he think is keeping that fat bitch in Devil Dogs anyway?” Tony tries to act as a go-between here, advising Ralph to not apologize as it would only be seen by John as an admission of guilt. (This is a new wrinkle in the relationship between the three men—last season, it was Johnny Sac who acted as a mediator between Tony and Ralph after the killing of Tracee.) Ralph makes the tense situation even worse by ignoring Tony’s advice. Terry Winter, who does a DVD commentary for this episode, calls Tony’s angry reaction a “Honeymooners moment.”
Johnny Sac wants Ralph dead, but Carmine cannot sanction the hit—Ralph is just too valuable to the mob. When John is unwilling to even sit with “that cute cocksucker” Ralph to discuss the problems with the paving contract at the Esplanade, he becomes a real burden to Carmine. Tony despises Ralph, but he has to protect his captain. However, Tony is willing to hand Ralph over if John reveals the guy in the New Jersey famiglia that is talking out of turn. Tony is far more interested in the real mole in his crew than the hypothetical mole on Ginny’s backside. Back at the Bing, the guys try to figure who it is that is talking too much. Chris believes the Feds may be getting info from a bug planted at Vesuvio and feeding it to John to “create a little dysentery among the ranks.” (The Sopranos has never been above including some good ol’ toilet humor or poking fun at characters through their malapropisms—this line does both.) Tony thinks Christopher’s theory is ridiculous, because at Vesuvio, “there’s a lot more interesting shit being talked about than Ginny Sac’s fat ass.” (As he mentions Ginny’s ass, ZZ Top’s “Tush” can be heard playing in the next room.) It is, of course, Paulie that fed news of the joke to Johnny Sac. (Paulie is creating havoc from prison. Writer Terry Winter recounts that the original script for this episode featured Paulie heavily, but the script was scrapped and rewritten due to Tony Sirico’s back problems. Although Sirico has barely appeared in the fourth season, his character is still having a substantial effect in SopranoLand.)
Carmine calls Tony and asks him—without actually asking him—to whack John. When Corrado learns of this latest twist, he says of Carmine, “That one’s a slippery fuck. Him and those big fish lips of his.” (Perhaps there is a pun hidden in this line—Carmine is played by actor Tony Lip.) Corrado advises Tony to hire outsiders to hit John, and points him to a ruthless clan that lives up in Rhode Island. Terry Winter describes the scene in which Silvio and Chris visit the contract killers as an homage to both The Addams Family and David Lynch. It is a strange scene with some strange characters. We should not, however, find the Christian paraphernalia that stocks the home of this murderous clan very strange, because The Sopranos has been linking Faith and Firearms for years now:
The most interesting thing about this scene for me is what it says about Corrado. There may have been a day when this was a clan of ferocious killers, but they’re just a bunch of old geezers now, suffering from glaucoma and chromosomal disorders. Corrado is so old now that his memory of this killer family has no bearing on what the family actually looks like at present. Actor Richard Bright is here playing one of the aging hitmen. Bright, we may remember, played “Al Neri” (Michael Corleone’s bodyguard) in the Godfather movies. (And if we don’t remember, the dialogue about a “Frank Neri” may trigger our memory of “Al Neri.”) Bright is no longer the young killer who famously whacked Fredo Corleone in The Godfather II:
Bright’s advanced age underscores just how elderly Corrado has become as well. Dominic Chianese has also aged quite a bit since his appearance in The Godfather II as “Johnny Ola”:
Corrado’s memories and advice have become outdated. He is becoming less and less fit to be Boss—even if only the titular Boss—of New Jersey. He’s out-of-the-loop and two steps behind.
Johnny Sac has become a target, but he himself has called a hit out on Ralph. So we’re expecting quite a bit of violence here—but it never comes. It is, rather absurdly, a sweater that saves both men’s lives. John is headed to Boston (where he ostensibly will be whacked) but turns around to get a sweater for his father. When he enters his house, he finds Ginny stuffing herself with junk food. The pathetic sight pulls John back into clarity, and he has a change of heart. He tells Tony that he will accept Ralph’s apology—but sternly demands, “No more weight remarks.” The irony of John’s outrage was that he himself put a spotlight on his wife’s obesity far more than any joke ever could have. Ralph’s quip became a far weightier issue than it needed to be. The episode title highlights this characteristic of The Sopranos: in SopranoWorld—unlike in most fictional TV worlds—insubstantial events often gain weight and develop into major plot points (and conversely, significant storylines sometimes dwindle into nothing). The episode title also activates a clever pun. At the risk of stating the obvious, “The Weight” is a song made famous by The Band, with a well-known chorus that starts, “Take a load off, Fanny.” Ralph’s joke, of course, was about a mole being taken off Ginny’s fanny.
___________________________________
The episode title also refers to the burdens that are weighing upon Carmela. Her infatuation with Furio grows, as do her worries about money. Tony humors Carmela by meeting with her cousin Brian, but he is ultimately more interested in the cake in front of him than in Brian’s financial advice. We see people eat very often on the series, but this hour makes a special point of showing Tony stuff fatty foods into his mouth:
This episode hints at the double-standard between men and women regarding their weight. Tony can eat unlimited amounts of anything he wants, but Ginny cannot. Each are held to a different cultural standard. But more than that, the episode speaks to the phenomenon of overconsumption, a tendency shared by many Americans both male and female. This idea became highlighted for me one morning when I caught a rerun of this episode on A&E. I generally avoided the syndicated reruns because I think A&E committed desecration by trimming the episodes to fit into their timeslot, but this is the one episode that was perhaps made somewhat more interesting by syndication: several of the commercials that interrupted “The Weight” were, ironically, for weight-loss products. This coincidence pointed to how truly the culture of consumption on The Sopranos is a reflection of our actual American culture. We really are a bunch of fatties. Here are some of the product advertisements I saw during three commercial breaks that morning:
- 1st break: Weightwatchers.com (coincidentally, when the episode resumed, John mentioned Weight Watchers to Tony)
- 2nd break: the Realize Band [surgical gastric band]; Bowflex home gym; and Nutrisystem (coincidentally, John mentioned Nutrisystem to Ginny when the episode resumed)
- 3rd break: Mega-T Green Tea which “burns belly fat” although “these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA”; and another Nutrisystem ad, different from the one that aired minutes earlier
While fat American Tony shovels unhealthy processed foods down his throat, trim-and-fit European Furio grows healthy vegetables at his new home. Carmela makes a visit to Furio, with AJ in tow, to inform him of a zoning exception (she’s working on her real estate license) and later dances with Furio at his housewarming party. Tony is too preoccupied with business to notice the growing warmth between his wife and his soldier.
Tony realizes he hasn’t been the perfect husband lately, and tries to make up for it with a little black dress from Saks Fifth Avenue. He is not sure what size the dress is when Carmela asks him—he can only answer that it is “small,” which underscores that “small” Carmela conforms to the cultural standard in a way that “big” Ginny does not. Ginny Sac could never pull off wearing a LBD. (And the fact that the little black dress is from Saks puns on Ginny Sac’s last name.)
The final sequence of the hour is a wonder of craftsmanship. Carmela slips into the dress, and Tony starts to kiss and caress her tenderly. But Carmela is distressed by the sound of Spaccanapoli’s “Vesuvio,” which she and Furio had danced to earlier, coming form Meadow’s room. She asks Mead to turn the music off and then returns to bed with Tony. Moments later, Meadow calls out, “I’m going out,” and we therefore know that when the music comes on again that it is non-diagetic—it has no “source.” It is something conjured entirely within Carmela’s head. Big, hulking Tony climbs on top of his wife. (The chorus of the episode’s namesake song “The Weight” insists “Take a load off,” but here beleaguered Carmela is taking her husband’s bulky weight on.) The footage slows down, almost imperceptibly, while the tribal-sounding music continues to play, giving the whole scene a dream-like quality. Carmela may be with her husband physically, but emotionally she is far, far away.
___________________________________
THE LAW CENTER
Meadow did not appear at all in the previous episode “Christopher.” The last time we saw her was two episodes back, when she returned to Columbia University after having an epic argument with her parents:
Meadow Soprano was a bratty little girl throughout most of Seasons 1 and 2, but she has been developing into a mature, thoughtful young woman as of late. At the end of Season 3, her own sense of decency and honesty drove her away from the hypocrisy she saw at Jackie Jr’s funeral. Two episodes ago, she summoned the courage to address her father’s criminality and dishonesty. In a sense, I think the title of this episode can refer to Meadow’s internal struggle—she must figure out how to live a decent, honest life while managing “the weight” of being a mob daughter. One way to learn to manage this burden is by registering for classes like “Morality, Self and Society.” Another way is by volunteering at the Law Center. Meadow begins to advocate for the needy and disenfranchised in this hour, and her moral conscience will continue to grow over time. In Season 6, brimming with idealism and confidence in her ability to better the world, she will make the decision to go to law school. A general theme of The Sopranos is that people often lack the courage and discipline to break out of self-defeating patterns of behavior or the constraints placed upon them by their environment. If there is anyone in SopranoWorld who can buck this trend, it might be Meadow Soprano.
___________________________________
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS/CONNECTIVITY
Terence Winter points out the chance encounters that pepper the hour: Eliot Kupferberg has a run-in with Tony in the Columbia parking garage, Meadow meets Kupferberg’s daughter at school, Ralph shares an elevator with the man hired to kill him. For a show that has always been guided by verisimilitude, it feels quite unrealistic to have all these coincidental meetings occur in one episode. But as I’ve argued all season, Chase is intensifying his use of connectivity on the series. These unlikely encounters are one more way that connections occur in SopranoWorld.
Perhaps the most interesting connection is how “The Weight” is linked to that very memorable episode, “Employee of the Month” (3.04). We see here that Melfi and her family are still troubled by her rape last year. Melfi still has regrets about going down into the garage that day when she was brutally attacked. Kupferberg, thinking about his run-in with “a big Bluto-sort of guy” at Columbia, reassures her she has nothing to regret: “Parking garages are not inherently dangerous places.” (Nice little parallel this hour: Tony intimidates Kupferberg in one garage while AJ locks little Bobby in another.) By revisiting Melfi’s attack, Chase shows the long-term effects of such a violation. Additionally, as Nancy Roche points out, “Employee of the Month” was the episode in which Ginny Sacrimoni was first introduced—and first ridiculed for her size. The subtextual commentary about the female body which undergirded “Employee of the Month” is now given a more explicit treatment in “The Weight.”
__________________________________
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- I think Vince Curatola does a remarkable job on The Sopranos. “John Sacrimoni” is a complicated character and Curatola makes each one of his dimensions believable. I think Chase recognized Curatola’s excellence and that is why Johnny Sac appears in over a third of the episodes even though he is not a member of the Soprano family or the New Jersey famiglia.
- Tony figures that if Johnny Sac is whacked, Carmine will replace him with his son, “Fuckin’ Brainless the Second.” We’ll get a sense that Little Carmine really isn’t a very bright guy right from his first appearance, later this season in “Calling All Cars.”
- Unfamiliar with Muslim names, Tony mistakenly refers to Rahimah (Meadow’s “indigenous” friend) as “Rahoomy.” We’ll hear Tony make the exact same mistake with another unfamiliar name years from now.
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Sopranos Autopsy 
Meadow had a poster for a band called Scout in her dorm room at columbia. We see it in the frame as she is describing her job helping minority’s at the law form. Scout is the name of the girl in To Kill A Mockingbird who’s father Atticus Finch defended a black man in the book.
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And, wouldn’t ya know it, the same band appeared on an earlier episode, playing a gig at the Crazy Horse, billed as The Miami Relatives.
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This episode is loaded with the type of great moments and details that always make this show so fantastic and re-watchable, but what has to be my favorite (hell, one of my favorites of the entire series, even) is during the telephone conference call scene, seeing that Junior has taken the time to change into a full suit and tie for his big meeting. Old school to his core, that one.
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On a recent rewatch I was struck by anti-foreshadowing of Ralph’s gift to Tony of a bunch of oranges.
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When Chris and Silvio are entering to the blind assasins guy, Chris is wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses. He reminds me of Jacky so bad I can believe I never noticed before. A couple of episodes back I had this same feeling
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Another additional note would be the scene where Tony visits Uncle Junior seeking advice on the sanctioned Johnny Sack hit by “Fish Lips”. Both men are on the couch and during the discussion Uncle Junior comments on how a “Millionaire” contestant used all of his lifelines on the fifth question which he gets wrong. The question in question was: “What is the main ingredient in a traditional frittata”. Frittata is Italian for omelet and instead of choosing eggs, the contestant chooses flour. Eggs, of course, is Chase’s way of foreshadowing death much like the oft talked about presence of oranges in the GF movies; however, since the contestant got the wrong answer, I guess the criss-cross clip will not go through ;-). A subtle hint of how the episode would end?
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Can you quit with the tv tropes references? That site, its damaged users and its terminology are some of the most juvenile and broken things you can find online. It makes me cringe every time you bring it up.
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Does someone become damaged immediately upon visiting the site, or is visiting the site evidence of some pre-existing damage?
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I see nothing wrong with the tropes.
Just shows you how many cliches are actually in plotlines
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What kinda monster doesn’t like tvtropes?
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Haha
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Meadow doesn’t gain a sense of morality as the series goes on, she just gains a sense of superiority. She’s exactly the same type of ilk as the rest of her family only that she has a smug holier-than-thou complex typically found in East Coast blue-blood Ivy League liberals. At the end of the series she’s justifying her family’s actions on the basis of them being “discriminated” against, which just goes to show how false and empty her rhetoric really is.
Meadow Soprano, like several white privileged neo-liberals who exploit minorities when they’re not putting words into their mouth, is not a good person.
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And yet it is those East Coasters causing the racial and class divide now, in 2020 and 21.
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Eric – I disagree with your comment. Why point to East Coasters as causing the racial and class divide? What about the elitist Left Coasters, who have created a huge divide between millionaires/billionaires and the working class folk? Let’s face it – there’s been a racial-class divide in this country for centuries, and it ain’t gonna go away!
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It seems like there are a lot of Godfather references in this episode. Besides the Richard Bright cameo and Ralph’s bag of oranges, there’s an unusual amount of subway background noise very much like the famous sound right before Pacino’s restaurant killings. We first hear this sound over the opening establishing shot of Little Italy, which is normal enough, but then we get the sound again exactly when Ralph offers Tony his bag of oranges in his social club, which never seemed like it was situated in a very urban environment where you’d have elevated railways.
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Also, has anybody noticed the odd similarity between the side of Furio’s living room where Tony and Silvio are talking while Carm dances to Melfi’s waiting room? With its wood-paneled walls, seemingly identical vertical white blinds with a couch underneath, and the overall similar proportions of the space, I wonder if it’s possible that the same set was used for both? Unless it’s supposed to be an intentional parallel to Melfi’s waiting room, but I have no idea what thematic purpose that would serve.
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That’s a great observation and if I had to guess it would be perhaps that Carmella can feel some relief and be “healed” around Furio much the same way Dr Melfi helps Tony to get some sense of comfort during difficult moments. It’s a long shot but that’s my guess. Furio is like therapy for the long suffering Carmela
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Dr. Giunta will see you now…
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Give me one thousand Marcel Proust references
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There’s a scene in a future episode showing Furio sitting watching TV in that room, I once had a couple friends over who don’t watch Sopranos when that episode was on, and I remember their reaction to that sequence was “does everyone in Sopranos just sit around depressed in wood-panel rooms?”…. lol.. tough to refute..
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Scottie – Yeah, no kidding! Also, Dr. Melfi’s office is wood paneled. Things, even surroundings, are dark as night.
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Fun, subtle moment: when Ralph comes back from Miami early in the episode, there is a cut where he turns to talk to Tony and a “Devils” bumper sticker is behind him to his right. Yet another “Satan” reference for Ralphie. His line about “devil dogs” comes seconds later to hammer it home.
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Also, the bit at the end where the music from Furio’s party begins to play as Tony and Carmela fall into bed together? This moment was brilliant because at first you think, “gee, that’s the same music, and it’s not source music.” So you assume it’s “playing in Carmela’s head” and that it represents either guilt for flirting with Furio, or perhaps dissatisfaction with Tony and a preference for Furio. So moments later, when Tony and Carmela start yelling at Meadow to “turn it down” and we realize that this is actually being played on Meadow’s CD player in the next room (remember, we see her looking at the CD at Furio’s place), it’s quite a reversal and this gag relieves all the tension. Our concern about Carmela’s true feelings evaporate. She returns to bed, where Tony is obliviously, kid-in-a-candy-shop happy to welcome her – and then the music starts again, only at a low tempo and sort of creepy-sounding and distorted. Chase sucker punches us: No, Carmela *isn’t* happy. It’s not just Meadow’s source music, there really is a problem here.
Just great.
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I assumed Carmela brought AJ with her as a buffer between her and Furio. There was no reason for her to have brought him. I figured his attitude reflected this. But he had been being pretty emo around that time.
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Yup, I agree. And AJ was totally oblivious as to what was going on, as usual.
Meadow thought picked up on it a few episodes later when AJ obliviously – again –
spilled the beans.
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how much did john really care about his wife’s honor when he had the opportunity to get his revenge but doesn’t give up paulie ? I bet to the others during the sit down that it was made clear the value of information from paulie about the soprano family was more important, then what he was going ballistic about and as tony said “this is bullshit”
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I don’t think enough can be said about how creepy the ending scene is, it damn near sent a chill down my spine. Seeing Carmela being enveloped and seemingly crushed by the weight of her husband as he has his way with her, it becomes apprent that their relationship is not based on love and trust like we want to believe.
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It’s interesting that the other time Tony & Carmella had sex was when
he bought her a fur. And Carmella decided to stay on with Tony on
the condition that he make a $50,000 payment to Columbia. No, this
is not a happy relationship.
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I think it’s right before they meet with Carmela’s cousin they both have a back and forth about the other equating love with money. We see that they both do really, and at the base this is not a marriage based on love anymore, with the gifting of the fur coat and the LBD followed by sex right after. As you said, definitely not a happy relationship!
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In one sense, the final scene seems sort of representative of many relationships—how many times in history has a woman had to wait patiently for her man to finish squirming on top of her? It’s innumerable. But Chase certainly does seem to suggest here (as he does throughout the series) that Carm is engaging in more than a typical relationship compromise—it’s all a part of her deal with the devil…
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I actually don’t think they have sex that often. She likes the stuff he gives her and so she has sex with him…he expects it, and she owes it. Remember, they are married 20 years, and he has plenty of sex outside the home. Its not about the sex for her, its the idea that he is attracted to other women that makes her feel bad. The intimacy is gone. But this time, the music reminded her of Furio, and how she would rather be with him, so it cast a pall on the encounter. She could have easily fantasized that it was Furio to get through it…but the music ruined the mood. Also, by her fitting into that negligee Tony felt superior to Johnny Sack.
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Beautiful and intelligent analysis as usual. As far as Meadow Soprano in this episode, you write “a general theme of The Sopranos is that people often lack the courage and discipline to break out of self-defeating patterns of behavior or the constraints placed upon them by their environment. If there is anyone in SopranoWorld who can buck this trend, it might be Meadow Soprano.”
Maybe this is the reason why she is the only one out of the four family members missing in Holsten’s Diner? Because she was able to “get out” of the mob and it’s ties.
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Thanks… I think you’re really on to something about Meadow’s absence that evening…but more on that later!
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Carmela brought AJ as a buffer so that it wouldn’t seem suspicious that she went over there. As clueless as he is, even he “smells a rat” as Carmela says. Carmela to me doesn’t really want to change her lifestyle, she just’s wants to feel attractive and have sex with someone else so she will feel better about herself. She is neglected and unhappy…and Tony doesn’t thrill her much. We see her always ready to have an affair…she wouldn’t ever leave him because he won’t allow it, and she endangers every man she tries to hook up with. The scene when she is looking lovingly at the plans for her spec house are telling…she is looking at them as you would a lover.
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Re: The conversation over speaker phone scene.
Lovely imagery of Ginny Sac’s mole whilst Uncle Junior was scoffing back those black olives.
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Hmmm… Gross.
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I always thought he was eating prunes…
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I particularly like this episode. Carmine makes me laugh. “Ralph slept with Ginny?” Goddam that guy is funny. Some of the best lines from this guy (and his whacko son). I particularly like “answer the fuckin thing.” I like the character he is definitely old school, however, he is still very savvy and has it together unlike Junior. I think your right on the money regarding Junior. The fact Corrado got all dressed up for his big meeting via teleconference was pretty funny as well- probably even had it to the cleaners prior to wearing it. Those Rhode Island guys were a weird bunch; the younger guy even reminded me of Mustang Sally a bit. They seemed pretty hyped up over some Carvel cake. I always got a rise out of the “Lou DiMaggio” story. I loved Chris’s and especially Silvio’s facial expressions during that scene; two killers like them are actually uneasy around these people. I like your comparison of the two actors from GF II (Chianese and Bright) from then until now. Those days are definitely long long ago. The connectivity of this episode was interesting. Kupferburg seen Tony Soprano and didn’t even realize it. I always thought that a person such as the good Dr. would at least know who Tony was, especially from Tony being on television and stating he shows interest in mob related activities in his scenes with Melfi. Curatola no doubt was a highlight of the Sopranos. Excellent character, acting and a very believable performance. He seems to have an intensity that Gandolfini and Proval have in the scenes that make it very realistic.
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I believe that inability to see/turning a blind eye has significance in this episode. The blind family in RI had a guy prospering from drug dealing right under their noses but didn’t “see.” (Side bar: Vito Corleone also detested narcotics and refused to deal in them.) Johnny Sac’s wife is eating junk food in large quantities in his house but he hasn’t seen. Carmela is dancing with her romanticized version of Furio in front of Tony but he doesn’t see. Dr. Kupferberg has Jen’s patient right in front of his car but doesn’t see that it’s a person they have discussed numerous times. There are probably more examples. Anyway, thanks for this website. It has been really enjoyable during my rewatch of the whole series.
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Yes, this sort of willful blindness of his characters is something Chase shows throughout the series. (Of course, it’s not a characteristic unique to SopranoWorld—we can all be blind when we want to be…)
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The teleconference scene Junior is dressed up but it doesn’t matter neither party can see
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…and Paulie was the one who told Johnny the joke and Tony was blind to it
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Bobby Jr was blinded by the darkness when AJ locked him in the garage.
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Anyone else see a problem going up to Izzy Mandelbaum’s blind assassins pad and giving them a picture with BOTH Tony and Johnny Sacs and saying ‘kill that guy’? First time I saw this episode I thought ‘oh, no, are they going to make a ‘comedy of errors’ episode out of that?’
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Ralph got into an elevator with a weird intensely staring guy who he probably overheard say “I want half” and who suspiciously didn’t have an elevator destination. Ralph is very blind, cuz he generally doesn’t give a shit, AND maybe willfully blind if the excuses he gives everyone else is something he convinces himself of
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Ron, your recaps are always interesting to read. Even after multiple watches and readings I still find something I didn’t see before. Re: Junior’s “Fish Lips” comment about Carmine. I can’t believe no one has drawn this connection here yet, To me, it is a reference to Big Pussy, another informant who wore a wire and “sang” (a la Big Mouth Billy Bass) to the FBI. It was so on the nose I expected Tony to flash back to either his dream, or to the Christmas gift from Meadow. He didn’t know yet that Carmine was informing, and missed a big clue here. It is also clear to me on rewatches that Carmine is often on fishing expeditions in conversations with the gang. The way he leads conversations, it is apparent to me, in hindsight, what he was doing. Brilliantly written and acted show, (Duh.)
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Carmine was an informant? I missed that
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We never had any confirmation that Carmine was an informant, I think Dave is just saying it was a possibility..
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Maybe Diamond Dave, like some other folks (eg. redditors) have done, is mixing up Carmine Sr. with Ray Curto(?)
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Actually, no. I think I’ve gotten Carmine Sr and Ray Curto mixed up. My bad. In my defense they do kinda look alike… 😉
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No problem. I thought that might be what happened, I had seen the reddit post Randy mentions and you’re not the only one to mix up Ray and Carmine. People also get Ray mixed up with Patsy.
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I was pleased to read that other people mix up characters. I mixed up Ray and Patsy for some time.
I am one of those people that have difficulty remembering and recognizing faces. For us, ‘The Sopranos” is sometimes very demanding. New characters appear liberally, without introduction or preparation. Rosalie’s daughter, who we meet just once, speaks of fat Italian-Americans who all look the same. I would add: slim, dark-haired, young Italian-Americans who all look the same.
In this episode, Donny K and Joe Peeps appear out of nowhere. If we are attentive, we can catch Donny’s name. But Joe Peeps’s name is never spoken in this episode.
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There is a scene in this I believe when Johnny slaps the money for Allegra nursing school that Ralph offers. As John encounters Tony, we can hear Tony say kiddingly ” Hey Count Chocula, how you doing?” That made me laugh…so subtle…Tony is great with references!! He does look like the cereal character!!
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Great blog, I only discovered it fairly recently and I have quite enjoyed reading the episode analyses one by one. Some really great angles and insights.
I do have one minor disagreement regarding this episode analysis. About the Ralph joke about Ginny, you say both Tony and Carmine “try to hide their amusement and display managerial tact instead.” This is true when John tells Tony, but I thought Carmine was genuinely (and hilariously) clueless. I love the blank look on Carmine’s face when John tells him about the joke, and then he needed it explained. And then Carmine’s “he wants to f*** her?” was classic.
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I think that’s a good take too
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Tony has a moment of appreciation for Carmela keeping herself in shape. He say’s “I knew you could pull it off” when she tries on the negligee. Because Ginny is fat, he feels superior to Johnny that Carmela is not. One thing I will say, I never really feel that they have any passion for each other. They have a comfortable love…but not passion. Carmela just isn’t into him really, and in Tony’s mind, he gets all the sex he needs…her role is not really sexual. I don’t feel chemistry between them. Maybe when she got the Mink Coat…..
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It’s a very complicated relationship – Tony feels a need to ‘service’ Carmela occasionally and keep her onside, and yes it’s interesting how their sex scenes are typically linked to gifts he has just given her. And we know Tony is sexually satisfied in plenty of other places. So they’ve reached a point in their marriage where their base needs are met: she gets a comfortable life, nice house and all the trinkets; he gets clean clothes, food on the table and the kids looked after (arguably less of an issue as they get older). Which ultimately is why they get back together after their split at the end of this season – no one else can give them what they really need.
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Johnny’s rage is dealt with but not understood. Tony is laughing on the inside, I think, as are all the other guys. Yet if they were in Johnny’s position, I doubt it would look any different. Any action can be disrespectful. Words, remarks, thoughts, are small, yet can be incredibly denigrating. Plus, Johnny is like Bobby – a family man – only with a way worse temper. He and Ginny actually seem to love each other. Johnny isn’t mad about Ginny’s size or her habits, but about being lied to and deceived. Nobody will tell him who made the mole joke; Ginny didn’t tell him her secret habits which prevented her weight loss. It’s interesting to imagine what Johnny would act like if he were less menacing because of his insecurity of being lied to, played, and disrespected. He’s often humorlessly angry, bitter, and confrontational, but he actually values respect and honesty.
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Great blog here. Another comment: I was surprised by Tony’s correct usage of the word “placate” when giving Ralph instructions on dealing with Johnny Sac.
T: “You’re gonna’ fuckin’ placate him.”
R: “Ah, what, apologize!?”
Tony knows apologizing and placating are two different things: to apologize is to admit wrongdoing; to placate is to babysit, or to administer anesthetic. Ralph proves his arrogance, carelessness, and lack of trust, when he finally apologizes to Johnny on impulse. For all the malapropisms in the show, it’s interesting to see some bigger words actually being used correctly, and with critical importance to the plot. Later, Ralph again demonstrates his arrogance and ignorance when he thoughtlessly scoffs at the Asian man on the elevator in Miami who, only seconds earlier, had been authorized to kill him. It’s yet another example of blindness, too.
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I wrote a very long comment here about a week ago, but it didn’t post. I wrote it again yesterday, and again, it failed to appear. Help.
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Very long comments might get mistaken for spam but I don’t see it in the spam folder now. You can try posting it again.
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Thanks. I’ll try posting it as several smaller comments.
After reading this excellent post and comments, I re-watched this episode
looking for food references. I found these, not mentioned yet:
– Tony: What are you doing? Carmela: Consolidating dough.
– Tony: I should be making a beef here.
– Tony: If he did it I’ll give you Ralphie on a platter.
– Junior: He could choke on a chicken wing.
– Photo of Johnny and Tony in front of birthday cake.
– Christopher: Dysentery among the ranks.
– Johnny: It sticks in my craw.
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Saskia Kupferberg blithely says to her dad that the Melfi son is “a typical psychiatrist’s kid; he know just what to say to get attention.” Elliot startles slightly, as he is talking to a psychiatrist’s kid. He must be wondering what she’s said to get his attention. I wonder too, and I also asked myself, has Saskia said anything to get *my* attention? Any opinions?
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Other observations:
– Ralphie saying something about “keeping Ginny in Devil Dogs” is another allusion to Ralph being a devil.
– I agree that Tony was trying not to laugh at the mole joke, but Carmine looked at the insult in a even-handed way. And Junior was a third higher-up who had a reaction to the joke – “I don’t get it.”
– Twice we saw the Sacrimoni food prep table *overflowing* with diet foods. I found that both funny and tragic .
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Another food reference I found in this episode: someone says something about “upsetting the applecart.”
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Other thoughts:
Tony says to Carmela, “You equate love with money,” and Carmela replies, “No, *you* equate love with money.” But they both do. T gives expensive gifts to show his love, and Carmela receives them with delight, and then they have sex. Also in this episode, Carmine equates love with money, where he offers to get Johnny Sack financial compensation for the insult to Ginny.
Another connection in this episode is the sweater that leads to John’s discovery, and the sweatshirt that Tony offers to buy Meadow.
The elderly gangster recalls how he cut someone’s head off; Tony says, “I should have cut off Ralph’s head when I had a chance.” In a future episode he does cut off Ralph’s head.
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A nice link: Johnny Sac’s sweater, and Tony says to Meadow, “You must need a sweatshirt or something.”
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It’s alittle bit crazy how Meadow’s parents were mad at her for wanting to goto Europe she decided to stay in school. She found a focus and drive for her classes and they ar still not sissified. Tony complained about her not wanting to be a pediatrician anymore. They are constantly unhappy with her choices and want her to be successful in ways foreign to them yet if she tries to break into something new they use threats, anger to undermine her choices. It’s likely some of her choices would be wrong but because of their desire to benefit from their crime and also not take responsibility for it they have made it dificult for both of their children to really break free of the criminal culture.
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Pingback: The Soprano Onceover: #73. “The Weight” (S4E4) | janiojala
Hello Ron,
I just made an observation that I hope others have seen. If Elliot is so much into the Tabloids of the Mob, then why didn’t he recognize Tony in the parking garage. He describes him very well to Melfi later, and seems odd that he didn’t know it was him……
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Corey – I noticed that too. Yet another issue left unaddressed/unresolved by Chase.
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Are you serious? That’s what makes his recounting of the story to Melfi so funny… He absolutely knew who it was, but he had developed such a bad pattern of bringing up Tony during Melfi’s sessions inappropriately that he knew if he brought up who it was, he’d be accused yet again of obsessing over AS. Then it’s hilarious when he’s done and he says “enough about him, let’s get back to you” before completely cutting to the next scene–once again, AS has monopolized Melfi’s time with Kupferberg
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87 – Wow! I never thought about that. Yup, you knocked that one out of the ballpark!
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R.I.P. Denise Borino-Quinn (aka Ginny Sack), 2010
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-: This is one of my favorite episodes. The sitdown is one of the show’s best scenes, Junior all dressed up in his dreary old house. Tony and Meadow being civil, Carmine’s subtle delegation phonecall, scary Miami hitman, the Atwell Avenue boys, Carmela and Furio, Elliot vs. Tony (!), this show’s more creative than Spielberg. It really is endearing how much Johnny is into his wife, even if it’s still wrapped up in some thinskinned machismo and a dangerously old fashioned interpretation of omerta. This is one of those episodes where events mostly happen AROUND Tony. He doesn’t really get much done here. He’ oblivious that his wife is falling for another man, not to mention his nephew’s descent into heroin that even a blind man can smell).
-: The Mullberry Street bar where New York meet is classic, old school, as opposed to Tony’s stirp club and pork store offices (the Crazy Horse might be the Di Meo Family’s classiest joint). And I don’t know what it is about the office where Tony and John meet (“Lives with his mudder”), but I love that location. My grandparents had an acoustics & drywall business and I spent a lot of time in their little office space in a small building. Love that spare bureaucratic aesthetic, I don’t know why.
-: When Carmela visits Furio, he’s wearing a cornicello necklace, the “horn that brings good luck, representing virility and fertility. Oh no.
-:Product placement: Sil eating McDonald’s. Like it or not, an American eating those fries is a very real scene. It doesn’t feel like pandering. There’s a subtle art to this shit. Wonder what Sil’s soft drink of choice is. Also, Tony suspecting him is idiotic, but that’s how close he and Christopher are at this point.
-: Forget Vito, the real queer representation in the Sopranos is Saskia Kupferberg.
-: The episode might be Vincent Curatola’s best acting on the show, its got competition like Unidentified Black Males Moe & Joe and Stage 5. I’ve said it beforem shouty Sac is best Sac. Also shoutout to the late great Denis Borino-Quin. Their last scene together when he discovers the snacks is so good.
– : “Could do this ourselves. Ninja style.”
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As much as we have and will continue to deride Corrado, he was the one with whom Tony consulted regarding his crew. More than once, the old man gave good advice – some of which Tony unfortunately ignored. Yes, Corrado could be the proverbial fool, but he wasn’t one to be mocked!
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R.I.P. Richard Bright (“Frank Cresci”), 2006 (appeared in the Godfather trilogies)
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So many great observations and details here, right down to the Saks box. So many reasons to love this show. There is something I am trying to work out…
I was struck by the way the camera zones in on Carmela with her hands on Furio’s shoulder during the dance sequence (he gently guides her hands there as he leads her in the dance – foreplay??) and how that seems to be mirrored in the final sex scene with Tony. The camerawork seems slowed or stuttered, connecting the two. The “Vesuvio” song plays clearly while she dances with Furio and now muffled and softly in her mind while her shoulders hang on to Tony. With Furio they we gliding as if weightless and here she has to brace the weight on top of her. (That psych-out with the music coming from Mead’s room and Carm’s reaction was gold – she doesn’t want the sweet memory of her dance to get mixed up with this transactional sex moment. )
Also the weight of knowing they were both right at the table. They both equate love and money. They both knew it all along too. She even said to him, when you trivialize the things I think are important, it makes me feel unloved. They both know that a pricey gift is meant to make up for something and it equals sex.
Two episodes ago in No Show I noticed she and Sil were both dressed in lime green jackets. There was a sense that the two were being compared as Tony’s two trusted hands, or at least that Carm was being compared to Sil. Then in Christopher, Carmela is compared to Tony, relative to her female crew. Both were noticeable but maybe not significant… but could be a setup for Carm’s arc moving forward. Now in The Weight, we see her further engaging further in future planning.
Maybe it is just the set up for threads of connectivity. We’re really focused on the weight that Carmela carries since her Krakower appointment. She see-saws a lot about her choices and what is the only choice as Krakower advised. She seems to come further toward embracing all the Krakower advised against as she weighs the pros and cons for her and her children.
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Great observations. They got so much out of the idea of weight/burden/transactionalism…
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