Two Tonys

"Two Tonys" is the 53rd episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the first of the show's fifth season. Written by David Chase and Terence Winter, it was directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on March 7, 2004.

"Two Tonys"
The Sopranos episode
Tony begs Dr. Melfi to go out with him.
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 1
Directed byTim Van Patten
Written byDavid Chase
Terence Winter
Cinematography byPhil Abraham
Production code501
Original air dateMarch 7, 2004
Running time54 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

Starring

** = photo only

Guest starring

** = photo only

Synopsis

Four mobsters, imprisoned in the 1980s, are released on parole. Three of them are a generation older than Tony Soprano: Soprano caporegime Michele "Feech" La Manna, Lupertazzi consigliere Angelo Garepe, and Lupertazzi capo Phil Leotardo. The fourth is Tony's cousin, Tony "Tony B" Blundetto. Feech wishes to return to work as a shy and sports bettor, which Tony and Uncle Junior will permit if he doesn't "step on anyone's toes." Tony is excited about his cousin's release and plans a lavish welcome party.

Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Gualtieri confront each other when their humorous re-telling of the "Pine Barrens" ordeal devolves into mutual recriminations. Chris is beginning to resent the custom that, being of lower rank, he should pay when the group dine in a restaurant. One evening, he forces Paulie to pay. Next morning, Paulie demands that Chris repay him and threatens that "points" will be added. Tony orders Chris to keep paying the tabs, as he himself once did. In Atlantic City, Paulie contrives to inflate a dinner bill to nearly $1,200. As they argue in the parking lot, a waiter confronts Chris about his small tip. Insults are traded and Chris throws a rock at the waiter’s head. The waiter collapses and has a seizure, causing a panicked Paulie to kill him with a gunshot to the chest. Paulie grabs the $1,200 and he and Chris speed off in their cars. The next day, they agree to bury the hatchet and split the original tab.

Carmine Lupertazzi has a stroke. At the hospital, Johnny Sack indicates to Tony that he is still angry that he backed out of their deal to kill Carmine the previous year.

Janice and Bobby Baccalieri are now married. About a year after his separation, Tony is living in his mother's former home.

One evening, while A.J. is in his parents' backyard, a large black bear appears; terrified, he cries, "Mommy!" Carmela drives off the bear and calls the authorities. Tony comes round the next day and talks to Carmela, but the meeting turns acrimonious when she criticizes him for buying A.J. too many gifts. Arguing about money, she accuses him of calling Italy on his cellphone; he says that Furio Giunta's life is finished if certain people find him. Tony tasks Benny Fazio and Little Paulie Germani to guard his backyard, and Carmela reluctantly supplies them with an AK-47.

After watching The Prince of Tides with his mistress, Valentina La Paz, Tony wants to see Dr. Jennifer Melfi again. He sends flowers and a greeting card to her office. When he calls her to set up a date, she declines, feeling that it would be unprofessional to date a former patient. She has a sexual dream about him. Tony then makes an appointment, a pretext so that he can tell her he loves her, and he forcibly kisses her. In a therapy session with her own psychiatrist, she admits her initial attraction to Tony. He makes a third attempt to court her by offering cruise tickets, but she declines again. At his request, she tells him the aspects of his character she could not accept. But these are things he cannot bear to hear and, calling her a "cunt," he storms out. He goes home, in a sense, and takes up bear duty from Benny.

First appearances
  • Michele "Feech" La Manna: former capo of the now defunct La Manna crew who was incarcerated during the 1980s
  • Angelo Garepe: longtime Lupertazzi family Consigliere
  • Phil Leotardo: (image only) Capo of the Lupertazzi family who was sent to prison in the early 1980s
  • Tony Blundetto: (image only) Tony's cousin and DiMeo/Soprano crime family member who was sent to jail in 1986 for hijacking a truck

Deceased
  • Raoul: an Atlantic City waiter who complained to Paulie and Christopher about a poor tip. Christopher hit him in the head with a rock, causing him to have a seizure. Paulie then shot Raoul dead.

Title reference
  • Tony attempts to demonstrate to Dr. Melfi that there are two Tony Sopranos, one of whom she has never seen before and he wants to show her.
  • The title is also a reference to DiMeo/Soprano crime family member and Tony Soprano's namesake Tony Blundetto newly released from prison

Production
  • The new addition to the series writing staff beginning with Season 5, Matthew Weiner, plays the Mafia expert on the news broadcast who introduces the new gangster characters. Previously, series writers Terence Winter and David Chase also made cameo appearances on the show, as Dr. Melfi's patient and a man in Italy, respectively.[1][2]
  • Steve Buscemi joins the main cast as Tony Blundetto and is now billed in the opening credits, although he doesn't appear in this episode other than in the form of photographs during the "Class of '04" news report. Buscemi previously directed two Sopranos episodes, "Pine Barrens" (Season 3) and "Everybody Hurts" (Season 4), and he continued to direct for the show, as well as act.
  • Jamie-Lynn Sigler is billed by her married name, as "Jamie-Lynn DiScala" during this season.[3]
  • The character Sophia Baccalieri is now played by Miryam Coppersmith, who replaced Lexie Sperduto from Season 4.
  • Toni Kalem, who plays Angie Bonpensiero on the series, becomes a story editor for the show starting with this episode. She will also write an episode, "All Happy Families..." (season 5, episode 4).
  • This episode is the first season opener wherein Tony is not featured picking up The Star-Ledger at the foot of his driveway. Instead, Meadow runs over the newspaper with her car.
  • The preface to an April 10, 2002 Star-Ledger article titled, "Jersey mob soon to get infusion of old blood: Lawmen are wary as jail terms end" reads: "(Editor's Note: Sopranos creator David Chase revealed that the story arc of Season 5 was inspired by a Star-Ledger article on the RICO trials of the '80s. We've combed our archives and believe this may be the article he was referring to.")[4]

Other cultural references
  • The real reference to the Two Tonys was a famous hit carried out by Jimmy the weasel Fratianno on Tony Brancato and his criminal associate Tony Trombino, two young mobsters performing robberies in Los Angeles and Las Vegas without the sanction of the Los Angeles family. Jack Dragna told Jimmy Fratianno they needed to be "clipped", and asked Jimmy to set "something up". Within a few days, Fratianno set up the Two Tonys and killed them in their car. (August 6, 1951)
  • Tony gets angry upon learning Carmela did not inform him of a bear sighting, saying this is not Little House on the Prairie.
  • Tony greets Feech La Manna with: "You go straight from the joint to Earl Scheib?" when telling him he has a tan.
  • Tony observes that Junior's house is like the Bowery Boys, with secret codes.
  • Feech La Manna calls himself Fred Astaire when told not to "step on anyone's toes".
  • Carmela tells Benny, whom Tony has sent to "protect" her and A. J., that he shouldn't sit outside like A Fistful of Dollars.
  • Christopher is shown reading My Search for Bill W. by Mel B., the biography of the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.
  • When trying to persuade Dr. Melfi that it is ethically permissible for her to date him, Tony references information that he learned from the Dr. Phil show.

Connections to prior episodes

Music
  • The song played in the opening scenes, then heard on Carmela's radio, and then over the end credits is "Heaven Only Knows" by Emmylou Harris.
  • The song blaring from Meadow's car when she comes to pick up A.J. is "Bichu Rap" by Titi Robin.
  • The song playing at the restaurant where the guys eat dinner with their goomahs is "Mia Serenata" by Jimmy Fontana.
  • At the start of the scene where Tony's crew were having dinner at the Atlantic City restaurant, "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne is heard, as is "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye.

References
  1. "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...", The Sopranos, originally aired January 16, 2000 on HBO
  2. "Commendatori", The Sopranos, originally aired February 6, 2000 on HBO
  3. "Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Husband Split Up". People. September 25, 2005. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  4. Rudolph Robert; Sterling, Guy (April 10, 2002). "Jersey mob soon to get infusion of old blood". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
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