Proshai, Livushka

I'm binging Sopranos because I never saw the series live and now I'm able. The first season was hard to get through due to the slow character building, the long glances, the silence between dialog...but the second season got exciting and pulled me in!

But OMG, season 3 has sucked so far! And this episode was the worst BY FAR! The writing, the acting, the editing (especially Livia's scenes) was just bad! Was the show drawing such an audience that the execs thought they could walk through the season and still draw an audience?

It's got to get better or I'm done! Season 6 seems like a far stretch to reach!

Nancy Marchand certainly knew how to pick her TV roles: she won four Emmys for playing Mrs. Pynchon on Lou Grant, appeared on Cheers as Frasier Crane's mother and ended her career with the first two seasons of The Sopranos, for which she won a Golden Globe and received her last two Emmy nominations. Unfortunately, she passed away before production on the show's third season had begun, requiring David Chase to revise the whole outline for the series (originally Series 3 was centered around the possibility of Livia Soprano testifying against her son in court).

As such, the episode opens with one last scene between Tony and his mother (the sequence was achieved with CGI trickery), before cutting to the boss suffering another panic attack. The trigger of the event, however, is not Livia but Meadow's new boyfriend, whom Tony despises for being half African-American and half Jewish. He doesn't have much time to express his anger, though, as the family soon receives a call announcing Livia's death. New problems ensue at the funeral, as Janice (Aida Turturro) initially refuses to show up out of fear she might be arrested (she famously murdered her crazy lover Richie Aprile in Episode 25) and tensions manifest between Tony and one of his captains, the potentially dangerous Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano).

It is the latter character who somehow dominates the events of Season 3 (and 4, for that matter), spitting obscenities at whoever he pleases and caring absolutely nothing about the consequences of his actions. Pantoliano, no stranger to villainous roles (The Matrix and Memento above all), retrieves the cheekier side he showed in comedies like Risky Business and Midnight Run and merges it with a latent psychosis that helps craft an instantly compelling colorful persona.

At the end of it all, though, the episode is entirely in Marchand's hands, despite the fact she was already dead when it was filmed. Okay, so her "final scene" looks quite bad (you can tell it's a lookalike on whom a digital image of the actress has been superimposed), but the energy, wit and cruelty Marchand displayed in 26 episodes as the calculating Soprano matriarch more than make up for that one flaw, lending the central section of Proshai, Livushka ("Farewell, little Livia" in Russian) an almost solemn atmosphere. A fitting goodbye to an excellent actress.

After rewatching this episode, I have mixed feelings about Tony's relationship with his mom. Sometimes it seems like Tony feels guilty about Livia's death, but other times it appears that he just wants to rush through the condolences and the chaos of the funeral. He even seems uncomfortable when his friends try to comfort him. It reminds me of "The Stranger," a book by Albert Camus, where the main character is indifferent to his mom's death. This connection makes more sense when you consider how often existentialism comes up in the show. However, by the end of the episode, we see a private moment with Tony that reveals what's really going on in his head-things he hasn't even told Melfi. Despite Tony hating his mom and their messed-up relationship, deep down he wishes he had a different kind of mom and that things could've been different with her love, now that she's gone. Janice's stubborn funeral planning for Livia is one of the funniest and most awkward parts of the whole show. Christopher's impromptu speech, not realizing he's at a funeral, is unforgettable.

Tony suffers a panic attack and then receives some big news.

This is a strong episode with some standout moments.

I love the quirky opening scene that shows the buildup to Tony's loss of consciousness with a rather outrageous moment of bigotry. In my youth I had a similar experience and relate to what the writers put Meadow through with this situation. Having fiercely loving parents is a privilege, but along with that comes the potential for conflict if their beliefs and values, particularly on emotive subjects like race differ your own.

The passing of actress Nancy Marchand had a big impact on the show, no more can you see it than in this episode. Janice is written back into the central plot immediately as an antagonist and verbal sparring partner for Tony, which feels sudden after the end of season 2, but it's nonetheless very entertaining. Plus the fallout from Marchand's death enabled the creation of some hilarious scenes in relation to her character, particularly the funeral and wake.

Edie Falco has a particularly good episode as her character has some of the best material and she makes it all feel so real in her delivery. Jamie-Lynn Sigler has great moments and has perfected that sudden look of destain she does when expressing annoyance.

James Gandolfini leads it exceptionally well as always and remarkably can make you loath, fear, and sympathise with a character in the same episode.

Visually it is a mixed bag, as it uses the camera to tell the story superbly. This is especially good during the painfully awkward wake scenes.

There are some aspects I personally would have done differently. The fake Nancy Marchand sequence is as good is 2001 technology allows, but i disagree that it was necessary to show her. Personally, I would have accepted that she had died off screen and not lost anything in the narrative. Plus I think the Artie flashback went on for too long. All it needed was a quick cutaway to her line about the fire. These are only minor gripes in another high quality episode.

8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

Does anyone notice around the 8 minute mark, Livia's head is like edited on to another persons body? The lighting isn't right and the whole scene comes off as very awkward.