46 Long

"46 Long"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 2
Directed by Dan Attias
Written by David Chase
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code 102
Original air date January 17, 1999
Running time 50 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"46 Long" is the second episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was written by David Chase, directed by Dan Attias and was originally broadcast on January 17, 1999, in the United States.

Starring

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Christopher and Brendan Filone hijack a shipment of DVD players and assault the truck driver to avoid suspicion. They deliver the players to Tony, Silvio and Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri at their strip club, the Bada Bing. Tony distrusts Brendan and tells Chris he does not like his friend's meth habit. The truck hijackings also upset Junior Soprano, who is being paid to protect the trucks being targeted. After Junior has a sit-down with Tony and the DiMeo family's acting boss, Jackie Aprile, Sr., he complains about the duo's shenanigans. It is revealed that Jackie has cancer and is musing over naming his successor. When Tony leaves, Junior complains about Tony's treatment of Livia. Tony relays Junior's message to Chris, who complains to Tony that he is due his button after his work on the Kolar dispute. Tony throws out Brendan when he insults Jackie. He takes Chris' $15,000 tribute and pockets $5,000, only giving Junior $10,000 while not telling Chris and Brendan.

Brendan and Chris, both high on meth, ignore Jackie's edict and plan to hijack a shipment of Italian suits. However, when Brendan arrives to pick up his partner, a sober and reflective Chris decides to sit the job out. Brendan proceeds with the hijacking along with two cohorts, Antjuan and Special K. Special K accidentally kills the driver with the ricochet bullet, causing the accomplices to flee while leaving Brendan behind. After Tony learns of this from Chris, he orders his nephew and Brendan to return the truck and pay restitution, but not before his crew help themselves to a small number of suits. Meanwhile, Paulie and Pussy are sent to find out who stole the car of A.J's science teacher. They are able to find the thieves but find the car has been "chopped" into parts, which forces them to steal a new one in its place. After the teacher receives a similar-looking vehicle, thinking it's the same one, A.J. mentions that his father is a hero. The teacher, however, is confused as to why the paint is still wet, the interior is a different color, and the key is different despite the presence of identical plates.

After a fire in Livia's kitchen, Carmela offers to have her come live with her family. Livia rejects the offer and becomes distraught about the loss of her husband. Tony hires a Trinidadian nurse to take care of her, but she quits due to Livia's mistreatment of her. Livia drives her friend Fanny home and accidentally knocks her over while attempting to back out of the driveway. Her doctors say she cannot live alone any longer, and Tony places her in the Green Grove retirement community. While visiting her house to pack up her things, Tony has a minor panic attack. In therapy with Dr. Melfi, Tony expresses guilt about not being able to have his mother live with his family. Melfi tries to show him that Livia is a difficult person, pointing to her relationship with Tony's siblings and lack of happy childhood memories. Tony blames Carmela for preventing Livia from living with them, and refuses to shift his blame for the situation onto his mother. In another session, Melfi pushes Tony to admit he has feelings of anger and hatred towards Livia, causing him to storm out. Later, Georgie Santorelli, the barman at the Bada Bing, becomes confused when using the telephone in a manner similar to Livia. Tony beats him with a telephone handset, showing the displacement of anger Melfi warned him would occur if he did not accept his feelings.

First appearances

  • Brendan Filone: Christopher's crystal meth-addled friend and partner in crime. He is rather reckless but he is well aware of Tony's power and hopes to somehow move up in the ranks alongside Christopher.
  • Jackie Aprile, Sr.: Acting boss of DiMeo crime family. He meets Tony and Uncle Junior at Satriale's to discuss his cancer and his current position.
  • Georgie Santorelli: Barman at the Bada Bing whose ineptitude with the telephone upsets Tony.
  • Mikey Palmice: soldier in Junior Soprano crew who serves as his chauffeur and hitman, whom Tony dislikes intensely.

Deceased

  • Hector Anthony: killed accidentally when one of Brendan Filone's goons, Special K dropped his gun during a truck hijacking.

Title reference

46-Long is a large man's suit size.[1] Silvio, Pussy, etc all try on the Italian suits Christopher and Brendan hijacked.

Cultural references

  • When Pussy informs Paulie that he got the thieves address, he refers to them as "these Spice Girls", a reference to the British girl group, since the perpetrators Eduardo and Jerome are a gay couple and the former being Hispanic.
  • When Pussy and Paulie confront the guys who stole the science teacher's car, "Big Pussy" references criminal defense attorney Johnnie Cochran.
  • When Brendan and his two associates are hijacking the truck and Special K gets into the truck, there is a remark that "You couldn't drive a Fisher-Price"—a reference to the toy manufacturer.
  • When Brendan and Christopher meet with Tony at Satriale's, Brendan insults Jackie by referring to him as KemoSabe, a reference to Tonto's name for the Lone Ranger and a pun on the fact that Jackie is receiving chemotherapy.
  • When Brendan, Christopher and Adrianna are in line waiting to get into the night club, Martin Scorsese arrives in a limo and goes into the club.

Production

  • This is the only episode that features a teaser scene before the opening credits.
  • This episode was filmed ten months after shooting the pilot.
  • The restaurant's hostess from the pilot episode is now in a new role as Christopher's girlfriend, Adriana La Cerva. Drea de Matteo was cast as a restaurant hostess in the pilot episode only, but creator David Chase liked her performance so much that he developed the role of Adriana starting with this episode.
  • While investigating A.J.'s teacher's missing car, Big Pussy comments that he is "fuckin' Rockford over here." David Chase was a writer/producer for The Rockford Files for many years.

Reception

Alan Sepinwall was mildly positive toward the episode, writing that "some of it – particularly anything involving Tony and Livia […] feels fully-formed and very much of a piece with what we would come to know as one of the greatest shows ever made. And some of it is David Chase still fiddling with the knobs and levers"; Sepinwall considered the family-oriented scenes strong while viewing the subplot about the car theft as "still on the broader, lighter end of the comedy spectrum, […] It's not bad, but it's not quite right, either."[2] In The A.V. Club, however, Todd VanDerWerff praised "46 Long" as "a confident expansion of the show's universe", considering it an example of "the show's keen sense of generational conflict, of the ways that different kinds of people come into conflict with each other."[3]

Music

  • The song played when the truck driver drives up to where Brendan and Christopher are waiting to hijack his truck is "Piel Morena" by Thalía.
  • The song Tony sings at breakfast as Carmela tells him of Mr. Miller's stolen car is "A Whiter Shade of Pale".
  • The song played at the Bada Bing when Tony talks to Livia on the phone is "Instrumental" by Zino and the Human Beatbox.
  • The song played when Pussy goes over the books at his car shop is "This Time" by Richard Blandon & The Dubs.
  • The song played when Paulie and Pussy go to the coffee shop in search of the thieves is "Bop Hop" by Brooklyn Funk Essentials.
  • The song the Trinidadian nurse sings to herself as she does chores around Livia's house is "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".
  • The song played when Paulie and Pussy find the thieves apartment is "Chica Bonita (Levante las Manos)" by Artie the 1 Man Party.
  • The song played when Christopher and Brendan discuss hijacking the truck containing Italian suits at the nightclub is the Hardshell Mix of "Party Girl" by Ultra Nate.
  • The song played when Tony suffers a panic attack while packing up Livia's house is Symphony #3, Op. 36, by Henryk Górecki.
  • The song played when Tony beats Georgie with the phone and into the end credits is "Battle Flag" by Pigeonhed.

References

  1. ↑ Petersen, Stephanie (January 31, 2012). "Men's Suits Buying Guide". Overstock.com.
  2. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (June 10, 2015). "'The Sopranos' Rewind: Season 1, Episode 2: '46 Long'". Uproxx. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  3. ↑ VanDerWerff, Todd (June 9, 2010). "The Sopranos: "46 Long"/"Denial, Anger, Acceptance"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
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