OTH: The Sopranos- "A Hit is a Hit" / "Nobody Knows Anything"
Not much to add in the captions, but I'm still having fun.
Season 1, Episode 10
Aired March 14, 1999
Directed by Mark Penn
Written by Joe Bosso and Frank Renzulli
Synopsis: After a big score involving a Colombian drug lord, Christopher treats Adriana to a night out on Broadway, following a performance of Rent with one of the hottest burger spots nearby, where he inadvertently mouths off to a couple of patrons. It turns out that he impressed the gangster rapper Massive Genius, who has his posse invite the two over to his place for a party. It turns out that MG (gonna use that abbreviation for now on) needs the soldier on Tony Soprano’s crew’s help to speak to a familiar face, Hesh Rabkin, who is claiming royalties from a late singer that should go to his mother instead. Chris sets up a meeting with Hesh for him, but it doesn’t go well- not only does he defend his rights to the royalties, but he claims that Massive Genius is sampling another song he owes and hasn’t properly delivered royalties to him. A blow, but MG owes Chris a favor, and he decides to follow Adriana’s advice and asks for the rapper to book her ex-boyfriend, Richie’s band Visiting Day with her as a manager. The recording starts off strong in terms of instrumentals, but Richie can’t nail his vocals and the engineer insists that they take time off. Chris, who’s backing this with his own money, however, isn’t happy with that and starts a fight with Richie. The singer nearly walks out, but Chris insists on keeping him around by whacking Richie in the back with a guitar. They eventually finish their demo, but when Chris hands it over to Hesh, he’s not impressed, suggesting that the band doesn’t have “it”. Chris, who doesn’t know Steve Miller from Glen Miller, takes his word for it and tells Adriana, who isn’t happy with the news. What’s more, Chris worries that MG is only interested in helping due to his attraction to Adriana, which she’s taken aback by and walks out on him.
Tony gives his neighbor, Dr. Bruce Cusamano, a box of expensive cigars to thank him for suggesting therapy, and is invited to a round of golf with him after the exchange. Little does Tony realize, however, that Bruce finds Tony abhorrent and mocks him behind his back, including at a dinner party which Dr. Melfi attends. Although she enjoys getting a chance to peek at her patient’s house, she does come clean to him at their next session, while encouraging an unconvinced Tony to accept Bruce’s offer. At the golf course, Bruce and his buddies interrogate him about his lifestyle with glee, and he plays along to the best of his ability. Tony decides to retaliate by bringing the Cusamanos a box to keep around for him, which in actuality only has sand, but drives Bruce and his wife crazy.
Oh, and Carmela gets into stocks.
I’m not surprised that we went to the gangsta rap well before the end of The Sopranos’ first season. The OG lifestyle was massively present in 90’s culture, while Goodfellas and especially Scarface often represented as influences, so it makes sense that an artist like Massive Genius would be interested in “real” mafioso like Christopher. Meanwhile, Chris is the right age to probably have owned The Chronic and/or Straight Outta Compton.
Chris has received a lot of focus in the show thus far, but “A Hit is a Hit” shakes things up by delving more into his girlfriend’s mindset. Adriana is happy being the girlfriend of a mobster, but clearly wants more than to be Chris’ lady and a waitress. Her attempt to branch out into production is a logical one given her newfound connections between Chris and MG, and from what we see, she isn’t even the problem here. Visiting Day’s music and image is just as delightful in hindsight as it must have been sharp back in 1999, offering us the poor man’s Matchbox 20 with even less substance. This kind of lightweight, inoffensive but pretty rock was the shit back in the day, with any sort of sensitive-but-well-built crooner guaranteed to earn millions of dollars and panties regardless of talent. It makes sense that someone as business savvy as Chris or MG would consider hitting them up, while it’s not a deterrent on Adriana’s side that her ex just didn’t have the chops.
The music business material drives the episode, with Tony stepping aside for an enjoyable if light b-plot, but it is fun to see him invoke John Gotti’s name for a delightfully made up ice cream bell story, and it does show us one side of the mafioso lifestyle, that to the average civilian, it’s all a joke… until they’re involved. Tony’s little prank at the end not only restores his dignity, but allows him the last laugh.
“A Hit is a Hit” is a pretty good episode, even if it’s maybe not the best the show can do. I like getting to explore Adriana’s mentality a little, and she’s right to leave Chris at the end. I would have, too.
Season 1, Episode 11
Aired March 21, 1999
Directed by Henry J. Bronchtein
Written by Frank Renzuli
Synopsis: The FBI raid a pool hall Pussy and some of his crew are at, finding a stash of guns inside one of the tables. He tries to run, but due to his belly and recent back problems, he’s no match for the police. Tony and the gang joke about the incident, but he stops laughing after meeting up with Vin Makazian, who informs Tony that Pussy has a wire following the encounter. Tony shoots down the accusation, but he eventually notices that his buddy isn’t acting like himself, noticing that he’s stopped making his rounds. The speculation gets even more serious when Paulie shares a diagnosis he learned from a friend that Pussy’s back is perfectly fine. Still, Tony needs more proof before he does anything, but Makazian isn’t able to give him anything else, since this is above him. He talks to Paulie and tells him about the possible wire, and he agrees to inspect Pussy. Paulie takes him to a sauna in hopes of checking out the possible wire, but Pussy refuses, claiming that his doctor specifically namedropped hot water as a no-go. Pussy might be on the hook, though, when Silvio receives a tab of his own that Makazian may be incriminating Pussy due to his owing Pussy $30,000. This definitely changes things, which are further changed when Makazian is arrested and discharged from the force when he’s found at the bordello his mistress runs. Between this and his own demons, Vin commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. Still, there is indeed a mole in the house when Jimmy Alteri, who was also arrested, asks Tony some heavy questions. Tony puts two and two together and sets up an emergency meeting with Silvio and Paulie, where he demands to know if Pussy is actually the informant. Paulie admits that he couldn’t get Pussy to strip, and that he disappeared right after his failed sauna attempt.
Livia reveals to Junior that Tony and a couple of his fellow capos meet at her retirement center as their mothers started living here shortly after she was sent. This infuriates Junior, who thinks Tony is plotting behind his back, but Livia catches on and demands that he leaves his son alone. Junior won’t have it, though, and we learn from Mikey Palmice that Junior set a hit out on his nephew at the end of the episode.
Vin Makazian was an interesting character, one I think would have been interesting to see play a role over the course of the series, but it makes sense that he wasn’t very long for his world. It makes just as much sense that he dies by his own hand, given how Makazian plays by his own rules, for better or worse. He’s a corrupt detective, one who takes his job seriously even if he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty to answer some questions.
It’s also a welcome touch to make his death impact Tony by revealing something that makes sense in hindsight- Vin had similar issues with depression, which Tony never bothered to examine due to his own issues and his ego. Their last encounter was a particularly volatile one, which Tony will have to live with. On the one hand, you never know when will be the last time you see someone, so you should ideally try to make every encounter at least end on a positive note, but at the same time, how much respect does Makazian deserve?
“Nobody Knows Anything” sets up some interesting developments, the potential mole and a hit on our protagonist by his own blood relative, and it does a good job of making for a fascinating hour of television while saving room for an explosive final set of episodes. Tony’s gang continues to expand, with Paulie and Pussy receiving welcome development as Christopher, the most developed who already received a big focus in the previous episode, largely sits this ep out. Tony’s loyalty is an important element this week, and it’s put to the test by this particular pair of his crew, but their worth is ultimately proven, as Pussy’s back injury appears to be legit while Paulie tries his hardest to make sure his mate doesn’t disappoint them. Tony’s loyalty thus far is proven to be rewarded, but he’s not easily satisfied.
Henry Bronchtein begins his directorial duties for the series with this week’s episode, and he delivers an episode that has moments of beauty- the ending shot of Tony standing large with a bridge on his right- this isn’t the most cinematic episode of The Sopranos to date. Luckily it’s balanced by a strong script by the reliable Frank Renzulli.
Dr. Melfi’s Notebook:
Bokeem Woodbine is an actor you’ve surely seen around, even if you can’t recall the name. He was nominated for an Emmy for playing Mike Milligan in season 2 of Fargo, played the Shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and has been in a plethora of big and small screen roles since, including being a part of Halo’s main cast.
And plenty more mobster references this week. MG is a fan of The Godfather trilogy, calling Part III misunderstood, while Chris is referred to as Donnie Brasco and Bruce referencing a notable scene in Casino.
“CNBC is a very interesting channel.”
Thus far, I find Dr. Melfi to be a little too forgiving towards Tony with his violent outbursts, but I appreciate her setting boundaries to prevent another scene like we saw in “The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti”.
Not sure where else to put this, but I LOVE Paulie’s tracksuits. I also love that his car horn is set to the theme from The Godfather, because of course it is.
Next Week: We wrap up the first season- yes, this early- first with Tony meeting a young Italian girl, which is then followed by an explosive finale.