Pie-O-My

"Pie-O-My"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 5
Directed by Henry J. Bronchtein
Written by Robin Green
Mitchell Burgess
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code 405
Original air date October 13, 2002
Running time 54 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

"Pie-O-My" is the 44th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the fifth of the show's fourth season. Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Henry J. Bronchtein, it originally aired on October 13, 2002.

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Ralphie's racehorse, "Pie-O-My", wins an important race and makes a lot of money. Ralphie gives Tony some of the winnings. Tony shows a growing fondness for the horse that Ralphie distinctly lacks. As Ralphie continues to give Tony a "taste" of the earnings, Tony's growing expectation of an increasing share creates tension between the two. Meanwhile, Carmela asks Tony to sign some financial papers, among them a life insurance trust. Tony's accountant advises against the trust since Carmela would be the sole beneficiary and it would cause Tony problems in a potential divorce. Tony eventually signs some of the papers, but refuses to sign the trust, claiming it would allow the authorities to trace their illegal finances. When Tony tries to make up to a frustrated Carmela and offers her money to purchase a stock she mentioned, she angrily tells him that it has already split and they've missed their chance.

Adriana is unhappy that the Crazy Horse is being used as a Mafia hub. She also grows paranoid that her activities as an FBI informant will be discovered. The handlers press her for information, arranging meetings with her that disrupt her daily routine and assigning a new female agent, Robyn Sanseverino, to be her contact. The agents claim to Adriana that Christopher is in danger by working with dangerous criminals; they deny her assumption that Richie and Pussy's disappearances were due to them entering witness protection and tell her she could help Chris by cooperating with them. Adriana avoids going out with Chris for dinner with Tony, and later approaches him with an idea to move to California to start a new life there. Chris dismisses her worries about him as negativity. Adriana tells the FBI about Patsy's steady income of illegal suits. After returning home, she relieves stress with an injection of Chris' heroin.

Janice continues taking an interest in Bobby. She interferes in a conversation between the new widower and Mikey Palmice's widow JoJo, then gives the dinner that JoJo had made for Bobby to Junior. In trying to get closer to Bobby, Janice takes credit for Carmela's lasagna and advises him to get over his grief by focusing more on his work. After she tells him that Junior is counting on him, Bobby pulls himself together and completes a neglected task for Junior: meeting with a union shop steward to intimidate him into changing his vote in an upcoming election. Junior is displeased by the unflattering likeness painted by a courtroom artist on a TV news report. During the next day's proceedings, he fixes the artist with an intimidating stare. With veterinarian's fees for Pie-O-My piling up, the vet refuses further treatment until he is paid. Ralphie refuses to take action when the horse becomes sick during the night, passing along Tony's number; Tony rushes to the stables and settles the bill. Tony tells the vet he'd better hope the horse "makes it" before going into the stall to sit with the animal, where he comfortingly strokes her neck, telling her that everything will be all right.

First appearances

Title reference

  • The episode's title is the name of Ralph's race horse, Pie-O-My.

Connections to other episodes

References to other media or events

  • At the stables, Hesh references Seabiscuit, who was, at the time, a frequent pop culture reference due to the popularity of the book about him. This episode aired before the release of the 2003 motion picture of the same name.
  • A scene in this episode pays homage to Mr. Rogers' performance of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Junior takes a cardigan sweater out of his closet and says: "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...and I gotta rot in that courtroom".
  • In a scene where Adriana was at home watching television, she was watching a Body by Jake infomercial.
  • In a scene where Tony is lying in his bed watching TV (prior to receiving the call from the stables about the horse being sick), he makes a comment to Carmela about a "Churchill TV movie". This might be a reference to The Gathering Storm (2002 film), a BBC–HBO co-produced television biographical film about Winston Churchill, which aired in April that same year, six months before this episode.

Music

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