Boca (''The Sopranos'')

"Boca"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 9
Directed by Andy Wolk
Written by Jason Cahill
Robin Green
Mitchell Burgess
Cinematography by Phil Abraham
Production code 109
Original air date March 7, 1999
Running time 51 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"Boca" is the ninth episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It was written by Jason Cahill, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, directed by Andy Wolk and originally aired on March 7, 1999.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Tony, Silvio, and Artie invite Meadow's soccer coach, Don Hauser, to have drinks at the Bada Bing after a victory. When a newspaper reports that Hauser is leaving for a coaching job with the University of Rhode Island, the mob fathers begin trying to convince him to stay. Paulie delivers a 50-inch television to Hauser's house and insists he take it. Christopher returns the coach's "missing dog" after apparently stealing it himself.

However, it's revealed that Hauser has an ongoing sexual relationship with one of his players, Ally Vandermeed, a close friend of Meadow's and the star of the team. Shortly after Hauser's job announcement, Ally tries to kill herself by slitting her wrists while her teammates are hanging in a park. When Tony and Carmela learn of the suicide attempt, Meadow informs them about the inappropriate relationship between Hauser and Ally.

Meanwhile, Junior visits Boca Raton, Florida for a weekend with Bobbi Sanfillipo. Bobbi values Junior's skill at performing cunnilingus, but Junior does not want her to discuss this as he feels it would damage his masculine reputation in the DiMeo family. However, Bobbi has already discussed her sex life at a hair and nail parlor. The gossip reaches Carmela and Tony, the latter of whom makes veiled jokes towards Junior at a golf game. For his part, Junior responds with a reference to Tony's therapy. Later, an enraged Junior confronts Bobbi and puts an end to their relationship.

After Tony learns of Hauser's affair, he contemplates murdering him in punishment. After hearing advice from Artie and Dr. Melfi, Tony calls off the hit. Hauser is arrested by the police. After this, Tony arrives home after a night of drinking on Xanax and confesses to Carmela (and an eavesdropping Meadow) that he "didn't hurt nobody." Carmela then looks up at the balcony, seeing Meadow.

First appearance

Title reference

  • Junior takes a trip down to Boca Raton, Florida, every year with his girlfriend Bobbi Sanfillipo.
  • The word "boca" in Spanish or the Italian "bocca" mean "mouth." This may be a reference to Junior secretly performing oral sex on his girlfriend, which plays a large role in the episode, or could refer to the many instances of gossiping in the episode.
  • The title "Boca" (mouth) may also refer to the growing suspicion that Tony has become an FBI informer, as voiced early in the episode by Mikey Palmice to Junior Soprano, as well as to the worry that he is talking about the business to his psychiatrist.

Production

  • This episode wrongly reports the location of the University of Rhode Island (URI), claiming that it is in Providence when, in fact, it is in Kingston on the other side of the state. While URI has a satellite campus (the Feinstein Campus) in Providence, URI's sports teams play in Kingston.
  • Actor Steven Van Zandt wore his own golfing hat for a scene in which Silvio plays a round of golf.[1]
  • The Roxbury High School Girls' Soccer team (Succasunna, New Jersey) played the extras for both the opposing team and members of Meadow's team. The team used this opportunity as a fundraiser.

Other cultural or historical references

  • Junior mentions the "Escobedo brothers" to Mikey Palmice when explaining how it is possible for a psychiatrist to testify against a patient. This is a reference to the Menendez Brothers in Beverly Hills, who killed their parents and were later turned in to the police by their psychologist, L. Jerome Oziel.
  • Junior hitting Bobbi in her face with a pie when they break up was used as an homage to The Public Enemy, where the main character does the same to his girlfriend with a cut-in-half grapefruit when he says he is leaving her. David Chase has cited The Public Enemy as an enormous influence.[2]
  • Over dinner, while discussing Ally's suicide attempt, Tony, under influence of what Dr. Melfi told him previously how self-inflicted shallow cuts to the wrists are actually a cry for help, says how she didn't really want to kill herself: "It wasn't like frigging Cobain, it was just a little suicidal gesture." He was referring to the iconic rock musician Kurt Cobain, troubled lead singer of Seattle grunge band Nirvana, who committed suicide with a shotgun at the age of 27.

Music

  • When Junior is dancing with his girlfriend in Boca, the Spanish song played is "Frente a Frente" written by Mexican singer Juan Gabriel and sung by Spanish singer Rocio Durcal. This song is also played again when Corrado Soprano breaks up with her.
  • In an early scene, Meadow and her friend are watching the Morphine video for "Buena" and the song is played at the end of the episode and into the closing credits.
  • When Coach Hauser visits the Bada Bing with Silvio Dante, the song played in the bar is "Can't You Feel the Fire" from Steven Van Zandt's album Freedom – No Compromise.
  • The song played when Charmaine confronts Artie in the basement about Tony's attempted bribing of Coach Hauser is "Little Joe" by The Spaniels.
  • The song Tony sings when he taunts Junior while they play golf is "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)".
  • The song played at the Bada Bing when Tony debates making the call to have Coach Hauser killed is "A-Hoy" by B-Tribe.
  • The song played when Tony comes home drunk and singing to himself is "There Was a Time".
  • When Tony ponders what to do with Coach Hauser in his office, the song in the background is "Woke Up This Morning (Urban Takeover Mix)" by Alabama 3, who also perform the song's Chosen One Mix in the opening credits.

References

  1. ↑ Juliet Polsca, HBO. "Dressing the Sopranos". Retrieved Oct 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ Martin, Brett (2007-10-30). ""Woke Up This Morning": The Birth of a Show". The Sopranos: The Complete Book. New York: Time. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-933821-18-4.
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