The Blue Comet
| “The Blue Comet” | |||||||
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| The Sopranos episode | |||||||
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| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 85 |
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| Guest stars | see below | ||||||
| Written by | David Chase and Matthew Weiner | ||||||
| Directed by | Alan Taylor | ||||||
| Production no. | 620 | ||||||
| Original airdate | June 3, 2007 (HBO) | ||||||
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| Episode chronology | |||||||
"The Blue Comet" is the 85th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It is the eighth episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, and the penultimate episode of the series. The episode was written by David Chase and Matthew Weiner and was directed by Alan Taylor. It originally aired on Sunday June 3, 2007.
Episode recap
Burt Gervasi picks up his newspaper outside his home and is startled for a moment by Silvio Dante, who has dropped by. They go into the house, where Silvio garottes him from behind in the kitchen as the family dog barks. Silvio tells Tony Soprano, in the backroom at the Bada Bing, that he killed Gervasi, who had been considering switching factions to Phil Leotardo's side and had asked Silvio to join him.
During a sit-down with his consigliere, Albie Cianflone, and Butch DeConcini, Phil refers to the Soprano crime family as the "pygmy" group, brings up the homosexuality of Vito Spatafore, the beating of Coco, the disappearance of Fat Dom, and the murder of his brother Billy. He indicates he wants to "decapitate" the Jersey crew and do business with whatever is left, and orders hits on Tony, Silvio, and Bobby Baccalieri. At Satriale's, Tony learns of the hit from Agent Harris. Tony sits down with Bobby and Sil and decides that they have to hit Phil first. Tony later decides that he will bring in the Italian hitman, Italo, who killed Rusty Millio.
A woman at a dinner party with Dr. Melfi, Elliot, and other medical professionals tells her of the study by Samenow and Yochelson that Elliot had mentioned to Melfi before that claims sociopaths take advantage of talk therapy. Melfi becomes irritated with Elliot for raising the subject again and then angry when he reveals to everyone present that Tony Soprano is her patient. Later, while in bed, Dr. Melfi reads the study herself, which includes the contention that sociopaths often express great affection for "babies" and "pets". At her next appointment with Tony, he rips out a BBQ recipe from an issue of Departures Magazine while waiting outside her office. Inside, Tony talks about Meadow's change of heart concerning medical school and then A.J.'s depression, including the cost of his therapy, but Dr. Melfi responds with some bitter remarks, shows little interest in what he has to say and asks him if he's even considered other patients when he "defaced" her "reading material". She then tells Tony that she can recommend him to some other therapists who do not use talk therapy. Tony, at first befuddled, chalks up her reaction to "female menopause" but then angrily walks out, telling her that her dropping of him as a patient after seven years is "immoral" considering that he is suffering through his son's crisis. Melfi tells Tony that as he is in crisis, she doesn't want to waste his time. On the way out, in front of Melfi, Tony puts the page into the magazine. With little remorse, Melfi then slams the door shut on Tony, seemingly ending their professional relationship once and for all.
Paulie Walnuts and Patsy Parisi heed Tony's plan for a hit on Phil. Corky Caporale arranges the hit but it fails when the "cousins from Italy" hired to do the job kill Phil's goomar and her father, mistaking him for Phil. When Corky is told of the hit on the phone, while he's in an adult video store, he thinks little of the fact that the murdered man spoke Ukrainian, simply responding "Whatever," and he calls Patsy Parisi to tell him that the job is done and wonders about Phil speaking Ukrainian. Patsy puts it off and just transmits "It's done."
At Vesuvio's, Tony and Carmela put a good face on Meadow's decision to not pursue medical school as they talk to Charmaine and Artie Bucco.
Janice talks to Tony as he is draining the backyard pool and tries to get him to pay for Uncle Junior's living arrangements or Junior will have to be moved to a state facility, as Junior has run out of money; Tony angrily refuses to pay a meaningful sum and calls Bobby an "Exile on Main Street" for supporting Janice's plea on behalf of Junior. At the Bada Bing, Silvio and Paulie learn of the mistake when Murmur shows them a newspaper article on the murders and its accompanying photos of the victims. Silvio comes to Tony's house and tells him that the hit failed and they conclude that Phil has been hiding out in an unknown location ever since ordering the strike on New Jersey.
Phil's plan is put into action when two hitmen enter a hobby shop (Trainland in Lynbrook, NY) where Bobby Baccalieri is at a counter, buying a vintage model Blue Comet train. As Bobby looks up, they open fire, riddling him with bullets sending him crashing onto a model train display. After Silvio and Patsy gather up documents from the back room at the Bada Bing, their car is blocked by the car of Petey B. and Ray-Ray, Phil's hitmen, as it pulls into the parking lot. As Sil reaches into a bag for a gun, the assassins shoot, hitting Sil twice in the abdomen and once in the shoulder. Patsy fires back and then runs off into a ravine behind the club as Petey exhausts his clip. A bloody, unconscious Sil is left in the car. After the hitmen screech out and roar onto the road, the club's customers and strippers, gathered outside, look on as a motorcyclist loses control while trying to avoid the hitmen's car, falls off his bike, and is run over. Later, Paulie tells Tony that Sil is in a coma from which doctors do not think he will awake.
At the Soprano home, Carmela and Rosalie Aprile are looking at photos of their trip to Paris. Tony takes Carmela aside and tells her about the attack on Bobby and Silvio. Carmela, deeply shaken, listens as Tony explains that they must pack up and hide out for a while. She suggests that they visit Janice first. When Tony goes upstairs to A.J.'s room, A.J. is with Rhiannon, an ex-girlfriend of his former friend Hernan. Tony kicks her out and tells his son of Bobby's death. When A.J. begins to talk of depression, Tony roughly pulls him out of bed and orders him to pack. Carmela and Meadow show up at the Baccalieri household where Janice, in a state of shock, sits across from her step-children.
Tony, along with Paulie, Walden Belfiore, Carlo Gervasi, and Dante Greco, drive to a safe house. Tony goes upstairs and into a bedroom, closes the door, then lies down on the mattress, reminiscing about talking to Bobby out on the boat by his cottage while clutching the AR-15 assault rifle that Bobby gave him for his 47th birthday.[1]
Guest starring
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Deceased
- Burt Gervasi - Murdered by Silvio Dante after it was revealed he was working with the New York Family
- Bobby Baccalieri - Murdered by associates of the Lupertazzi crime family on orders from Phil Leotardo.
- Yaryna's father - Murdered in a failed hit after being mistaken for Phil Leotardo.
- Yaryna - Murdered for being present at the failed hit on Phil Leotardo.
See List of deaths in The Sopranos series.
Title reference
- The "Blue Comet" was a passenger train operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey which ran between Atlantic City and Jersey City from 1929 to 1941. Bobby is buying a Blue Comet train model right when he is murdered.
- The "Blue Comet" is also a Hopi Indian prophecy which states that a comet will be seen in the sky as a final warning to mankind.
Reference to other media
- Silvio garrotes Carlo Gervasi's cousin Burt for talking with the Brooklyn faction. In The Godfather, Carlo Rizzi is killed in the same way by Peter Clemenza for conspiring with another Family.
- In a restaurant, Tony and Silvio shadow box to background music from Mascagni's opera Cavalleria Rusticana, also used in Raging Bull and The Godfather III.
- The episode "The Curse of Dethklok" of the Cartoon Network series Metalocalypse can be seen on the TV, and a commercial for Capital One is shown a few minutes prior.
- In the psychiatric facility, A.J. can be heard playing Halo 2 on Xbox 360.
- The study Melfi is shown reading is The Criminal Personality by Dr. Samuel Yochelson and Dr. Stanton Samenow. Dr. Samenow watched this episode after being notified that his study was featured. He had never seen the series before. In an interview, he stated that he disagreed with Dr. Kupferberg's interpretation of his study and with the way Dr. Melfi ended her professional relationship with Tony.[2] Other psychoanalysts have stated similar opinions in reaction to the episode.[3]
- A.J. is seen watching America at a Crossroads, episode "Warriors".
References to the real mafia
- Phil's complaints about the inattention to induction rituals closely mirror those the New York-based mafia commission made about the Jersey-based Decavalcante family.[4]
- Paulie references a war in the 1970s involving the Colombo crime family.
Production
- When Paulie is speaking while on the main floor of the hideout, a cardboard cutout of Silvio is visible in the corner. One of the show's writers said that the hideout is a place where odds and ends, such as this promotional cutout from the Bada Bing, are stored. [5]
References
- ^ http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/episode/season6/episode85.shtml HBO Episode Guide: Episode 85
- ^ Branswell, Helen (2007-06-09). Author of 1976 study of criminals surprised to find it featured in 'Sopranos'. The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ Noveck, Jocelyn (2007-06-06). What's up with Dr. Melfi? Real-life therapists scratch heads over latest 'Sopranos' move. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ http://www.ganglandnews.com/column334.htm Jerry Capeci's online mafia column
- ^ http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/second_opinion_the_blue_comet.html Alan Sepinwall's Newark Star-Ledger Sopranos column
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