The Don's Funeral

The Sopranos 1.04 Review - 'Meadowlands'

Guest Starring:

George Loros as Raymond Curto

Joe Badalucco as Jimmy Altieri

Michael Rispoli as Jackie Aprile
Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile

Michele de Cesare as Hunter Scangarelo

Tony Darrow as Larry Boy Barese

Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva

Anthony DeSando as Brendan Filone

Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Al Sapienza as Mikey Palmice

Oksana Lada as Irina Peltsin

and

John Heard as Vin Makazian

[Reviewer's Notes: This episode originally aired on January 31st 1999.]


This week's episode of The Sopranos saw some significant plot developments take place. All in all, three major story arcs were focused on during the episode - the first revolving around Tony's relationship with his Uncle Junior and the death of the New Jersey mafia don, Jackie Aprile; the second surrounding Christopher and the aftermath of his mock execution; and lastly, the brief subplot surrounding Carmela's fight with Tony and A.J.'s schoolyard fight.


Tony's plot developments this week were quite intriguing to watch, as we see him involved in a number of varying scenarios, ranging from his discussions with Dr. Melfi, through to his fight with Carmela. What i liked in particular about this episode was A.J.'s sudden prominence as an integral character of the show - after three episodes of seeing him in the background, it was interesting to see him have his own little subplot. Tony's major plot development for the week, however, belongs to the death of his good friend and New Jersey don, Jackie Aprile. The scene with all the capos (excluding Junior) sitting together and toasting Jackie was quite touching, as was the burial scene where A.J. continues to speculate whether his father is involved in the mafia.


The scene also where Tony makes a truce with Uncle Junior, and informs him that he wants Junior to be the new don is also quite touching - although Tony has ulterior motives to the decision, it was nice to see the two of them hugging and embracing each other happily. How long will this temporary peace last? No idea.


Oh, and before i forget, i should also mention the brief subplot surrounding Tony's hired cop, Vin. Played by John Heard, Vin's developments focused solely on the viewer getting a deeper look into Jennifer Melfi's character, specifically into her private life. Vin's character is quite interesting, and i look forward to seeing where his storyline goes.


Christopher's storyline this week focused primarily on the brutal aftermath of the previous episode, in which he was mock executed by some of Uncle Junior's men. Initially, Christopher believes that Meadow told on him to Tony and he stays away from the Soprano capo for a majority of the episode, until he discovers that Junior whacked Brendan and warned Christopher as revenge for dishonouring him and stealing his trucks. It was interesting to see the dynamic between Christopher and his girlfriend, Adriana, as she discovered Brendan's corpse in the bathtub and i look forward to seeing where Christopher's story will lead.


Lastly, we come to Carmela's fight with Tony. To be honest, it was a brief and vicious argument that ended way too quickly for my taste. Tony merely suggests quitting therapy before Carmela explodes with anger, accusing him of giving up. That was basically the summary of it. I hope next week's episode expands more on this subplot, as i felt it was not properly addressed in this episode.


Before i forget, i should also briefly mention A.J.'s subplot. In a nutshell, A.J. and a friend of his get into two fights at school - the first resulting in A.J.'s shirt getting ripped and Carmela telling him to get his friend to pay for a new shirt, and the second fight resulting in a truce between the two boys (it is strongly implied that Tony had something to do this - my theory is because of the scene where Tony sees the boy's dad at the shop and has an axe in his hand).


Overall, my marks for the episode are:

• Potency of the season's theme(s) identified in the episode:  ********

• Editing & Scenes of Relevance:  ********

• Main characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********

• Secondary characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  *******

• Music & Visual Effects:  ********

• Originality and effectiveness of the episode's narrative:  ********

• Integration and effectiveness of multiple story arcs and character relationships:  *******

Overall Marks:  54 / 70

Grade Percentage: 77% 

All in all, this week's episode of The Sopranos was very good, and closed its doors on a major subplot of the season - with Jackie Aprile dead, the new don of the New Jersey mafia was decided. How long will Junior be the don for? Only time will tell.