OTH: The Sopranos- "The Telltale Moozadell" / "...To Save Us All from Satan's Power"
"Fuck you, Santa!"
Season 3, Episode 9
Aired April 22, 2001
Directed by Dan Attias
Written by Michael Imperioli
Synopsis: It’s Carmela’s birthday, and while things seem to be going well at first, it appears that she’s not crazy about Jackie Jr. courting Meadow, as he crashes her party to take her out. She seems to think that he may be a bad influence on Meadow, but Tony assures her they’ll have nothing to worry about. Meadow’s not the only Soprano child who Carm and Tony are having problems with, though, as AJ and some of his friends sneak into their high school’s pool later that night and wreck havoc, throwing school property in the water and breaking the school’s trophy shelf. AJ gets caught when the police find their leftover pizza and track down the shop. The family expects AJ to be removed from the team, possibly expelled, but instead, the principal and coach suggest a suspension and insist that he stays on the team, suggesting that his parents punish him instead. Carmela is furious with the school for lowballing his punishment, and the two plan a rough month for him. At the same time, Tony insists to Jackie that he keeps smart and treats Meadow well, which we’ll see he doesn’t do a great job of following through with, least of all when Tony catches him at one of his casinos.
Christopher surprises Adriana by handing her a nightclub the DiMeo family inherits after its owner blows his savings on bad bets, allowing her to fulfill her dream of managing music. While Chris hopes for a successful opening night, he discovers that Matush, one of Jackie Jr’s buddies is selling ecstasy in the men’s room, and has Furio rough him up before kicking him out. Jackie tries to convince Chris to allow him to sell, but he refuses, noting that he doesn’t want his fiance’s club ransacked by the feds- in truth, Christopher is trying to use the club as a safe haven for the family to earn as the Bada Bing keeps being inspected. Jackie tells Matush that he’s allowed to sell outside of the club, but he learns this isn’t true when Furio comes back and sends him to the hospital. Incensed, Jackie asks Ralphie for a “piece”, resulting in a new .38.
Tony continues his affair with Gloria, spending a day at the Bronx Zoo, which results in them hooking up. Dr. Melfi, who heard a man in the background during an earlier call with Gloria, is concerned, noting her suicidal past. Gloria doesn’t appreciate the interrogation and insists she was having her car inspected. Tony later gets a taste of Gloria’s suicidal inclinations when the two spend an evening at a hotel and she finds a pistol on Tony and plays with it as the two prepare their evening. Unsuspecting, both Tony and Gloria reveal to Dr. Melfi that they spent the day at the zoo. The same exact day. She knows, and she’s furious.
Michael Imperioli returns to the writer’s room this week after delivering a solid script last season with “From Where to Eternity”. Interestingly, while “From Where to Eternity” was heavy on Christopher, “The Telltale Moozadell” (partly an Edgar Allan Poe reference, partly a cheese reference) only occasionally features his character, instead focusing heavily on… Jackie Jr?
Jason Cerbone has done good work as the son of the former head of the DiMeo family, maybe not outclassing the rest of the cast but doing enough to hold his own with them, and this allows his descent into the family business to make an impact as the character is further explored. While his and Tony’s family wants him to stay away from crime, it’s becoming clear that this is what he wants, for better or worse.
How Tony and Carmela handle Jackie Jr’s courting their daughter speaks to both of their mindsets. Carm wants to think that Meadow is too good for Jackie, despite her closeness to his mother, while Tony is more concerned that Jackie isn’t being honest with him and could be a bad example for Meadow. The thing is, they’re both right, as Jackie’s attempts to break in don’t go very well, to the point that even a junkie like Christopher is too good for him.
Imperioli does a good job of delving into Jackie Jr’s mindset and shows that he just doesn’t have the brains to pull off what his father could accomplish, ignoring Christopher’s request to keep his buddy Matush away from the club, instead only thinking of his own bottom line. Chris may not be the brightest, himself, but he’s capable of living up to his word, allowing his insistence on keeping the club clean to stay in tact. A little brutality helps with that.
Both characters aren’t as bright as Tony, although he’s not showing his best instincts this week as he continues his tryst with Gloria, not realizing why she’s seeing Dr. Melfi. One of Tony’s failures is his inability to keep it in his pants, which only comes back to haunt him (Carmela knows he’s not loyal, after all), but his affair with Irina was nothing compared to this chick, whose gun fetish may be too much for even Tony’s depravity. It makes for a good watch.
Meanwhile, the AJ story is a worthwhile addition, as he gets to experience firsthand privilege for once, getting off after inflicting serious damage to the school with a slap on the wrist, not due to his family name but rather his excellence in sports. I like how this reflects how highly extracurricular sports are valued, more often than not, higher than education at not just college, but even high school, as well as how the Soprano family are able to walk while most all others need to run. In the past, a reminder of Tony’s reputation would be enough to give AJ another shot, but the principal here doesn’t seem interested in him, instead referring to the coach’s word. AJ has the potential to follow his father’s steps, but probably won’t considering how dumb he is. The kid doesn’t even know what a gutter is, but to fair, he probably never had to clean them before.
I don’t think Imperioli is the sharpest writer on the show’s staff, but he does good work regardless, and “The Telltale Moozadell'“ does a fine job of continuing the season’s increasing momentum.
Season 3, Episode 10
Aired April 29, 2001
Directed by Jack Bender
Written by Robin Green & Mitchell Burgress
Synopsis: It’s Christmas time and Tony is having flashbacks to when Pussy and Jackie Sr. were alive, back during Christmas 95 (you can tell because the OJ trials are on TV), where a newly-enacted Jackie has just settled a dispute with Junior. After having lunch, the three stroll on the boardwalk and Pussy discusses his hopes of having a house on the beach. Tony recalls the scenario after he meets with Paulie at the same exact spot, and further memories of that day give Tony a panic attack. Luckily, he’s in bed and can blame the attack on pressure from the holiday, but Tony knows that’s not the case. As the season continues, not only does Tony has further memories of this period, notably a reconciliation between Jackie and Junior, but Silvio does as well. They reach another dilemma involving their “rogue” friend, as Pussy portrayed Santa for the neighborhood’s yearly tradition, and with Tony shooting down the role, only Bobby Bacala has the right stuff to put on the suit. Unfortunately, Bobby doesn’t have the patience to pull it off and causes a scene, which only makes Tony miss his friend more.
This year, Janice insists on cooking Christmas dinner for the family, which is easier said than done when Tony notices the severity of her wrist injury from earlier, and learns that she may need surgery. Tony adds “Janice’s Russian” to his Christmas list, alongside such pressing items like AJ’s scooter. Tony is able to find out not only the name of the Russian mobster who attacked his sister, but what his day job is, as he and Furio hitch his taxi, only for the two to beat him up and push him through a window display at the local mall. Janice sees this on the news and starts tearing up, showing obvious remorse.
Also during this eventful holiday season, a newly single Charmaine Bucco finally tells Tony off and informs him that he and his crew aren’t welcome at their restaurant, as they’re responsible for their dying marriage. Tony and co stop at a rival strip club instead, where he finds Jackie Jr accepting a lap dance. Tony takes Jackie into the club’s bathroom and bashes him in, insulted that he’s two-timing Tony’s daughter. Jackie Jr stops by the Soprano house on Christmas day to offer Meadow a beautiful necklace and apologize to Tony, who refuses to hear it, being further incensed when he learns that Jackie failed out of college. After he leaves, Tony receives a gift from Meadow- a Big Mouth Billy Bass, which charms the rest of the family, although the singing fish reminds Tony of his late friend a little too much for his own comfort.
The Sopranos may have been revolutionizing television, but even it wasn’t above the classic TV staple of the Christmas episode. Not that “…To Save Us All from Satan’s Power” (a title I’d prefer to not repeat) is a conventional holiday episode.
For one thing, the third season’s story is largely being stuck to this week, this time focusing on two of the top dilemmas reoccurring in Tony’s mind- the guilt he feels after killing his longtime partner Pussy and the struggle he’s having to stick to his late friend and superior Jackie’s wish to watch after his son.
With the former, we see Tony try to rationalize that Pussy was an informant for longer than he really was, despite evidence pointing to him only agreeing to comply with the FBI as early as 1998. Still, this is what we, the audience knows, while Tony’s attempt intent to paint his friend’s turn occurring as early as 95 fits in. As we see, though, this just isn’t the case, and Pussy wasn’t always the rat bastard Tony’s crew identifies him as. For a long period, he was just as dedicated to the DiMeo family as Tony and the gang.
And this makes Tony’s decision to whack him hurt as much as it does. Pussy’s betrayal still feels fresh, as its effects are still being doled out, like with Tony still helping his widow pay her bills. The level of remorse Tony feels helps to complicate the character, who still cares for his friend, but ultimately chooses the life of crime he’s dedicated to over him.
This is also the case with Jackie Aprile, both Sr and Jr. It’s been agreed by both the senior Aprile and Tony that Jackie Jr should stay out of the business, which only seems for the best as he only comes off as a failure when we see him try his hand at at the game. The more distressing element, however, is Jackie’s further trip into depravity, resulting in him getting caught at a strip club by his potential father-in-law.
Thus far in the series, Tony hasn’t had to choose between his work and home families very oftem, as these two sectors often were kept separate from each other. During this holiday season however, Tony makes a conscious decision to pick blood between business, choosing his daughter’s heart over any other obligation. Frankly, it’s probably for the best, as we’ve seen this is far from a one-off incident. Jackie Jr is possibly even more of a fail-son than Tony’s own. The right thing to do may very well be cutting ties with Jackie Jr, or possibly the Aprile family as a whole- Ralphie only sounds like bad news.
“To Save Us” shows us plenty of Tony’s violent side, not just with his attacking Jackie Jr at the strip club men’s room, but how he nearly socks Bobby Bacala and when he and Furio beat the shit out of Igor the Russian. The former would have been an interesting wrench being thrown in, as Tony’s already in hot water for attacking one made man, and he had even less ground for doing so with Bobby here, especially given his work watching over Uncle Junior. The latter, meanwhile, is an example of Tony stepping out of line to show support for his loved ones when necessary, only making Janice uncomfortable when she puts two and two together. At the end of the day, knocking out Igor does noting, as Janice still has damaged wrists and feels no better. I hope she writes a decent song out of this incident.
A heavy holiday episode, but at least it’s a good one. I hope you enjoy this little Christmas joy in April, hopefully my next Sopranos review will drop before May.
Dr. Melfi’s Notebook:
“The Telltale Moozadell” is the first episode I’ve had the opportunity to watch with episode commentary- my copy of the first two seasons is a little weird and doesn’t have the bonus features- which is entirely done by Michael Imperioli. I like hearing his takes on the industry, but with love to Mr. Imperioli, who seems like a really good guy, his insight on the episode itself isn’t very bright. I feel like if he was paired with David Chase or someone, this might have gone better.
Imperioli talks about a lot in the commentary, but I do find it worth noting that he suggests that before The Sopranos premiered, not much on TV interested him aside from The Simpsons. I don’t know if I agree that television was entirely mediocre at this point, but at least he picked a show that I can confidently cosign on.
AJ’s gift to her mother is The Matrix on DVD. How considerate. Meanwhile, Meadow buys the two of them a day at a spa… on Carmela’s credit card.
Speaking of movies, the film Tony is watching in bed is It’s a Gift featuring W.C. Fields.
I don’t know what’s more interesting about their conversation regarding Edgar Allan Poe, that Tony recognizes his work from the Vincent Price movies or that Jackie Jr. claims he’s from the Bronx.
“Your thoughts have an eastern flavor to them.” “Well, I’ve lived in Jersey my whole life.”
I should say- I finished this article before OJ Simpson’s passing occurred over the week. It’s a strange coincidence how I hit the latter episode, which has his legendary trial in the background just before, but life works like that so
So, is AJ’s month of grounding over, or will his punishment be paused for Christmas? After what he did to the school’s pool, I wouldn’t give him a scooter.
It’s really kind of neat how the majority of the latter episode’s soundtrack consists of Christmas classics, alongside what I believe is a Deftones track at the strip club.
Next Time: I’m going to do my one solo review for arguably the show’s most iconic episode. Chris and Paulie stuck in the Jersey woods ft. the Russian. Ah yeah.