...To Save Us All from Satan's Power

"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 10
Directed by Jack Bender
Written by Robin Green
Mitchell Burgess
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code 310
Original air date April 29, 2001
Running time 45 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" is the 36th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the 10th of the show's third season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Jack Bender, and originally aired on April 29, 2001.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Before meeting Paulie on the Asbury Park boardwalk, Tony flashes back to the winter of 1995, when he first noticed Pussy's odd behavior. When Tony asks if Paulie feels guilty about killing him, Paulie claims he doesn't. When Tony brings the topic up again at Satriale's, Silvio begins having nightmares about Pussy. Further reminiscence is prompted when the crew has to find a replacement for their late friend to play Santa Claus at a Christmas party; they ultimately pick Bobby Baccalieri for the part. Bobby's shyness and bluntness do not go well with his role. Tony recalls a time when Pussy missed a sitdown to mediate peace between Jackie Aprile, Sr. and Junior in Boca Raton, Florida. Tony thinks that was the night when the FBI coerced him into cooperating after catching him selling heroin, and later made him wear a wire when he dressed up as Santa at Satriale's.

Meanwhile, Janice announces that she will cook Christmas dinner. When she tells Tony that her wrist is becoming hard to manage, she reminds him about her encounter with the Russian thugs who arrived to take back Svetlana's prosthetic leg. As a favor to Tony, Slava, a member of the local Russian mob, gives Tony the name and place of employment of Janice's attacker. The following evening, Tony and Furio beat him and throw him through a glass window of a mall display. When Janice sees a TV news report about the attack, she becomes emotional, wakes up her narcoleptic boyfriend Aaron, and mentions that what's missing from a Christian music song they are trying to write is the "brother concept".

At Nuovo Vesuvio, the newly separated Charmaine has started to wear revealing clothing, attracting compliments from several mobsters. As Tony, Paulie and Silvio eat dinner, she jokes to Tony that the people at the next table are FBI. Silvio becomes offended by this, and Artie apologizes. The following day, when Charmaine blames Tony for the ruin of their marriage, he becomes angry and leaves the restaurant along with Silvio and Christopher. At Silvio's suggestion, the three go to a strip club and drink tequilas. There, Silvio and Tony spot Jackie Jr. getting a lap dance from a stripper. Infuriated, Tony drags him into the bathroom and beats him. After confiscating the gun given to him by Ralphie, Tony finally knees Jackie in the groin.

On Christmas morning, the Sopranos open their gifts when Jackie arrives with presents from Rosalie. He then gives Meadow an engraved necklace, to Tony's irritation. In the kitchen, Jackie confesses to Tony that he "flunked out" of Rutgers University, but that he wants to enter the men's fashion business and that he still wants to be with Meadow. After Jackie leaves, Tony has to fake a happy face when he finds that Meadow has bought him a Big Mouth Billy Bass, which reminds him of the dream that made him realize Pussy's betrayal.

Title reference

References to prior episodes

  • The Big Mouth Billy Bass, including the song "Take Me to the River", was previously featured in the episode "Second Opinion".
  • The Asbury Park boardwalk in winter, along with the view of the sea closing the episode, was previously featured in "Funhouse".
  • In 1995, Big Pussy mentioned that he always dreamed of having a house on the ocean and said, "Maybe in another life". This is ironic because Tony, Silvio, and Paulie dumped his body in the ocean after shooting him on Tony's yacht, in "Funhouse".
  • Tony's deductions about Big Pussy's betrayal timeline conflict with prior information: in Season 2, FBI Agent Skip Lipari reminds Big Pussy that he's been working for them since 1998, not 1995 as suggested in this episode by Tony. Also, just before his execution in 2000, he admits to Tony (perhaps truthfully) that he has been working for the FBI for a year-and-a-half. It is possible that Tony was just being paranoid about the events of 1995.

Production

  • In his only cameo-like appearance in the series, director of cinematography Alik Sakharov plays Russian-mob bookkeeper Agron. Like the character, Sakharov is also of Russian heritage.[1]

Music

References

  1. ↑ "Alik Sakharov -IMDb". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
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