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"Soprano Home Movies" is the seventy-eighth episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the first episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, the thirteenth episode of the season overall. It was written by supervising producers Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, series creator/executive producer David Chase, and executive producer Matthew Weiner, and was directed by longtime series director Tim Van Patten. It originally aired in the United States on April 8 2007, attracting 7.7 million viewers. Critical and fan reception of the midseason premiere was mostly favorable; critics especially praised the episode for its calm, contemplative storytelling. "Soprano Home Movies" garnered a number of awards nominations and was the episode submitted to Emmy Award voters to represent the season, leading to a win for "Outstanding Drama Series."

The episode is set eight months after the preceding episode. The plot of "Soprano Home Movies" details a trip Tony (played by James Gandolfini) and Carmela (Edie Falco) make to Janice (Aida Turturro) and Bobby's (Steve Schirripa) lake front vacation home in upstate New York to celebrate Tony's forty-seventh birthday. Tensions arise at the vacation home, culminating in a fistfight between Tony and his brother-in-law, Bobby. After losing the fight, Tony contemplates how to get back at Bobby.

Plot

In a flashback to 2004, a neighborhood teenage boy witnesses Johnny Sack's arrest and Tony's dropping of his gun in the snow as he fled the scene. The same teenage boy later picks up and fires the gun.

Essex County authorities arrest Tony on a gun charge. Tony spends a short period of time in lockup before appearing in court with his attorney, Neil Mink, and is immediately released on bail. In New York, a party is held for Phil Leotardo, who has recently returned from the hospital.

Out of jail, Tony returns home to a warm welcome. Later, he and Carmela travel to Janice and Bobby's upstate New York lake front vacation home to celebrate Tony's forty-seventh birthday. Once at the vacation home, Tony fires Bobby's customized AR-10 assault rifle in the nearby woods; Bobby gives Tony the firearm as a birthday present. The two then fish on the lake in a boat. Tony raises the fact that Bobby has never "popped his cherry" in regard to actually murdering someone and juxtaposes this with the kill record of Bobby's father. Bobby replies that he has "come close," but that his father never wanted it for him. Back in New Jersey, A.J. uses his parents' bedroom to entertain his new girlfriend and has friends over for a party while his parents are away.

Tony, Carmela, Bobby, and Janice celebrate Tony's birthday with karaoke, drinking, and Monopoly. An argument starts with harmless discussions of Monopoly house rules. Tensions are amplified when, over Tony's objections, Janice relates a childhood story of their father and mother; and reach a crescendo with Tony's hurtful remarks about Janice's looks and past promiscuous behavior. Fed up, Bobby hits Tony in the face and the two have a fight. Tony ends up bloodied and bruised on the floor with Bobby getting the better of him. Janice scolds Bobby for hitting Tony, and Bobby runs outside and attempts to drive off drunk in his SUV but reverses into a tree. He returns inside and apologizes to Tony and the two couples go to bed. Tony wakes up in the middle of the night and tells Bobby and Janice that Bobby beat him in a fair fight. The next day, the couples seem to make amends, but as the day progresses Tony increasingly obsesses over losing the fight to Bobby.

Tony and Bobby leave for a pre-arranged business meeting. They meet with two Quebecers who are interested in doing business with Tony. As a part of a business arrangement, Tony agrees to arrange the murder of one of the Quebecer's former brother-in-law and asks Bobby to take care of it. Back at the vacation home, Carmela and Tony leave for home and Bobby sets off for Montreal to do the murder. He finds his target in the laundry room of an apartment building and kills him by shooting him twice.

Back home, Tony watches a DVD given to him by Janice. Mink calls, informing Tony that the gun charge, though dropped by Essex County, has been picked up by the FBI. Bobby returns to his lake front house, picks up his daughter, and gazes out over the lake.

Production

The episode title derives from Janice's birthday present to Tony: a DVD onto which she has had transferred old home movies of them and their sister during their childhood. This was an idea of executive producer/co-writer Matthew Weiner, whose sister actually used to tape-record him as a child. The working title for the episode was "A Few Kind Words" which refers to something Tony says his father used to say "was all he wanted for his birthday." The episode was listed under this title until two weeks before airing when the correct title was revealed as "Soprano Home Movies" through the official HBO website.

"Soprano Home Movies" was the first episode of the final pod of episodes to be produced, following a six-month-long production hiatus. In preparation for shooting the episode, and also to get the actors comfortable in their roles again, series creator David Chase held several rehearsals with James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Aida Turturro, and Steve Schirripa.

The scenes at the lake front vacation home were filmed over two weeks in June 2006 in Putnam Valley, New York. Additional interior shots were filmed six months later at Silvercup Studios, New York, where a replica of the cabin had been built in a sound stage. The lake seen multiple times in the episode is Lake Oscawana. The scenes of Tony and Bobby fishing were filmed on location on the lake but much closer to the shoal than it appears in the episode. The scenes in Montreal were actually filmed in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Filming of the scenes in New Jersey and the Soprano residence took place on location in Essex County and in Silvercup Studios. The ripping of Bobby's shirt when he commits his first murder was not in the script but was added during production.

Gregory Antonacci, who plays Phil Leotardo's advisor Butch DeConcini on the show, is now billed in the opening credits. Joseph R. Gannascoli has been removed from the main credits as his character was murdered two episodes prior to "Soprano Home Movies." The characters Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola), and Junior Soprano (Dominic Chianese) do not appear in the episode but the actors who play them are still listed in the opening credits.

Reception

Ratings

"Soprano Home Movies" drew an average of 7.7 million viewers when it first aired on HBO on Sunday 8 April 2007 in the United States, a significant drop from the 2006 season premiere, which attracted 9.5 million viewers, and the lowest ratings for a The Sopranos premiere episode since the season two premiere, which drew roughly the same number of viewers as "Soprano Home Movies."

Critical response

The episode was generally well-received by critics. The Chicago Tribune wrote "this is loose, contemplative Sopranos storytelling at its best." Entertainment Weekly was impressed with the midseason premiere and wrote that, despite not being a very eventful episode on the surface, "everything happened." The San Francisco Chronicle praised the episode, writing "the series remains as vital and interesting as ever There may be no better (or realistic) way to go forward into this Sopranos swan song." IGN awarded the episode a score of 9.5 out of 10, citing the calm, subtle storytelling as a great strength. The Star Ledger gave the episode a positive review and praised it for featuring the character of Bobby Bacala in a more prominent role, writing "The hour was largely a refresher course on Tony, Janice and their history, but it also gave Bacala the dignity he's so often been deprived by the writers." PopMatters called the premiere "stellar," wrote that "David Chase repeatedly re-imagines ordinary family scenarios—like a weekend trip to the mountains—in brutal, gangster terms Such signature exaggerations remain both hilarious and unsettling," and awarded the episode a score of 9 out of 10 (shared with the following two episodes). Television webblog TV Squad gave the episode a favorable review, writing "All in all, big thumbs up from me." Television Without Pity gave the midseason premiere an A-, writing "...while, on the surface, not much happened, I think there were a ton of callbacks to previous episodes, and that familiar Soprano tension was used to good effect." The New York Times gave the episode a mixed review, calling it "solemn" and wrote that "even before last season the series had started to sag in places, a creative fatigue that matched the main characters' weariness and also the audience's."

Awards

"Soprano Home Movies" was nominated in four categories for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. It was the submitted The Sopranos episode for consideration in the category of "Outstanding Drama Series;" it won, giving the show its second win in the category and making The Sopranos the first drama series to win the award for its final season. It was also nominated but failed to win in the categories of "Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series" (Phil Abraham), "Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series" (William B. Stich), and "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" (Aida Turturro). The episode was also submitted for Emmy consideration in the categories of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" (Steve Schirripa) and "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series" (Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider and David Chase & Matthew Weiner); however, it was not nominated. Episode director Tim Van Patten was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award in the category of "Drama Series (Night)" but lost out to Mad Men's Alan Taylor, also a director for The Sopranos.

References

1. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (2007-04-11). "'Sopranos' ratings take a hit". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. For fan response, see:
   • Average score of 8.6/10 on IMDB based on 274 votes.
   • Average score of 8.6/10 on TV.com based on 227 votes. Several favorable fan reviews.
   • Average score of A- on Television Without Pity based on 18 votes. Favorable recap-review.
   (Votes are as of 2008-02-23)
3. ^ Ryan, Maureen (2007-04-05). "Ari Gold and Tony Soprano return, and we can't look away". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa. "The Sopranos - Soprano Home Movies". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. ^ Goodman, Tim (2007-04-02). "A tidy finish? Fahgeddaboutit". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. ^ O'Neal, Tom (2007-06-30). "Report: Top 10 Emmy finalists for drama & comedy series". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
7. ^ "Emmy winners". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
8. "Kaisha" ends with a Christmas Eve dinner at the Soprano residence, making the date 2006-12-24. In "Soprano Home Movies", they celebrate Tony's forty-seventh birthday. In "Another Toothpick" Tony's birth date is given as 1960-08-24. This means almost exactly eight months elapsed between the episodes.
9. ^ Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider and David Chase & Matthew Weiner (2007-04-08). "Soprano Home Movies". The Sopranos. Season 6. Episode 13. HBO. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
10. ^ "Episode guide - Episode 78 - "Soprano Home Movies"". HBO. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
11. Goldsmith, Jeff (2007-09-15). "The Sopranos Pre-Emmy Q&A". Creative Screenwriting Magazine at blogspot. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
12. "The Sopranos general information". Cheap Television. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
13. "Re: Sopranos Final Titles and Dates (TBC-Tenuous Bruce Content)". XYWE. 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
14. ^ Steve Schirripa (2007). "Soprano Home Movies" commentary track (DVD). HBO.
15. Ryan, Maureen (2006-03-14). "The comeback". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
16. Zoromski, Brian (2007-04-09). "The Sopranos: Soprano Home Movies Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. Sepinwall, Alan (2007-04-08). "Sopranos Rewind: Livia's legacy, Bacala's broken heart". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2008-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
18. Carroll, Marisa (2007-04-25). "No Turning Back". PopMatters. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. Biro, Tom (2007-04-09). "The Sopranos: Soprano Home Movies (midseason premiere)". TV Squad. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. Reed, Kim (2007-04-10). "The Sopranos - "Soprano Home Movies"". Television Without Pity. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Stanley, Alessandra (2007-04-08). "This Thing of Ours, It's Over". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
22. "Sopranos scores hat-trick at Emmys". RTE. 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2008-02-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. O'Neal, Tom (2007-07-24). "Finally! Your official Emmy episode cheat sheet!". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. "The 59th Primetime Emmy® Awards and Creative Arts Emmy® Awards Nominees are..." Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
25. Boomer (2007-07-26). "2007 Emmys Confirmed Episode Submissions". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
26. "DGA Announces Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in All Categories for 2007". Directors Guild of America. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
27. "DGA Award Winners and Special Award Recipients". Directors Guild of America. 2008-01-26. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• HBO.com — The Sopranos official website
• The Sopranos at IMDb
• "Soprano Home Movies" at IMDb
• Television Without Pity — The Sopranos recaps
• The Sopranos — Family Values

• The Sopranos episodes