Marco Polo (''The Sopranos'')

"Marco Polo"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 5
Episode 8
Directed by John Patterson
Written by Michael Imperioli
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code 508
Original air date April 25, 2004
Running time 53 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"Marco Polo" is the 60th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the eighth of the show's fifth season. Written by Michael Imperioli and directed by John Patterson, it originally aired on April 25, 2004.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Episode recap

As tensions rise in New York, Little Carmine is recruiting supporters in exchange for new washing machines. However, their business is interrupted when Little Carmine's party boat, recently refurbished, is found damaged and sinks. Meanwhile, Tony meets with Johnny and agrees to pay for the damage to Phil's vehicle in the recent car chase. To save money, Tony has the work done in the late Pussy's body shop, now run by his widow Angie. Phil is uncooperative with Angie, and claims numerous problems with the car. In response, Tony sends Tony B to accompany Phil back to the shop. Despite Tony B determining the car to be fine, Phil sticks Angie with the cost of $2,000 to replace a seat. Tony B then meets with Phil's aide, Joey Peeps.

Tony B meets Tony at the Bada Bing to deliver him his cut from the car airbag scheme. He uses the opportunity to ask for more jobs, but his cousin tells him to be patient. Little Carmine's crew begins courting Tony B through Angelo, his old prison buddy. Angelo and Rusty approach Tony B and offer him a freelance job: to assassinate Joey in retaliation for Johnny's hit on Lorraine. Tony B, knowing that Tony wants to keep his family out of New York hostilities, turns them down.

Carmela's father, Hugh De Angelis, accidentally falls off the roof of her house and injures himself. Carmela plans a large surprise 75th birthday party for him, but tells Tony that he should not attend due to their separation. After Junior ruins the surprise by telling Hugh that he would not be attending his party, Hugh gets involved with planning the occasion. His wife Mary reveals to him that Russ Fegoli, an old friend of the couple, will be attending with his wife. However, when Hugh gets word that Tony is not invited, he demands the "man of the house" attend. Carmela reluctantly invites Tony on short notice.

When Tony arrives at the party, Mary seems embarrassed by his behavior: Tony plays with grill sausages, cracks crude jokes, and confuses Fegoli's doctorates. He presents Hugh with a Beretta Giubileo shotgun, but Fegoli passive aggressively notes that the best Berettas are never legally sold outside Italy. Afterwards, Tony tosses the now-devalued shotgun into the trunk of the car. Later, as the guests begin to leave, Mary apologizes for Tony's conduct to the Fegolis. However, Carmela expresses disgust at her mother, commending Tony for his gift to her father and his good treatment of the guests. As Artie leads the younger guests in a game of Marco Polo, Tony and A.J. grab Carmela and throw her in the pool. After everyone else is out of the pool, Tony and Carmela find themselves alone. A few kisses in the pool lead to the two of them spending the night together.

Tony B admires and envies Tony's wealth and family. He finds his sons are dissatisfied with returning to their own home after they had so much fun at the Sopranos' residence. He is shocked to find they stole A.J.'s 1996 Summer Olympics pin collection, justifying their action as A.J. having so many goods that he would not even notice anything missing. The next morning, Tony B calls Rusty and agrees to do the hit. He finds Joey in his car outside a New York brothel and shoots him along with his female companion. Tony B's foot is injured when the vehicle rolls over it, causing him to limp back to his car to make his getaway.

Deceased

Title reference

  • After Hugh's birthday party, a game of Marco Polo breaks out in the Sopranos' pool.
  • Marco Polo is an example of the high Italian culture Mary De Angelis seeks to emulate.

References to previous episodes

  • Sal Vitro is seen landscaping at the Sacrimoni residence per the deal that was set up in the episode "Where's Johnny?".

Other cultural references

  • The movie Junior is watching when Bobby enters is the Fellini film, La Dolce Vita. Junior references the opening scene, in which the statue of Jesus is flown over Rome by helicopter, with the comment: "You could tell it was a dummy!"
  • When Tony arrives at the house for Hugh's party, he responds to Carmela's complaints about his tardiness by reciting, "Pins and needles, needles and pins". This is a line from a ditty frequently recited by Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners, which in turn references the nursery rhyme: "Needles and pins, Needles and pins. When a Man marries his Trouble begins."[1]
  • Johnny Sack buys a Maserati Coupé and takes Tony for a drive.
  • At Angelo's urging, Tony B does a Jackie Gleason impersonation for Rusty, who does not seem to be impressed.
  • The restaurant where Angelo, Tony B, and Rusty (played by Frankie Valli) meet is The Four Seasons Restaurant (temporarily closed for relocation as of March 2018), formerly inside the Seagram Building in New York, a subtle nod to Valli's famous band.
  • The sign for the Bada Bing says "Holyfield vs Lewis, Sat Nov 13". This is a reference to the rematch between heavyweight champions Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, which took place on Saturday, November 13, 1999.

Music

  • The song on the radio in the opening scene is Mason Williams' "Classical Gas".
  • The song played over the end credits is "Bad n' Ruin" by Faces, it's also played at the Bada Bing, when Tony S and Tony B have their meeting.
  • The song playing on Sal Vitro's radio as he tends to Johnny Sack's garden is "Come Go With Me" by The Del-Vikings.
  • One of the songs played at Hugh's birthday party is "Bandstand Boogie", best known as the original theme of American Bandstand.
  • Another song played at the party is "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" by Perez Prado.
  • The song played toward the end of the party while Tony S is talking to Tony B is "Allegheny Moon" by Patti Page.
  • The song being played on saxophone when the party is closing is "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael.
  • Toward the end of the episode, as Joey Peeps is about to leave the brothel with Heather the prostitute, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" (from 1986's Slippery When Wet album) is playing in the background.

References

  1. ↑ J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps (1843). The Nursery Rhymes of England: Obtained Principally from Oral Tradition (2 ed.). London. p. 122.
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