"Full Leather Jacket" is the twenty-first episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and is the eighth of the show's second season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on March 5, 2000.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Starring
- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
- Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi
- Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
- Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
- Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr.
- Vincent Pastore as Pussy Bonpensiero *
- Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
- Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
- Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
- David Proval as Richie Aprile
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano
- and Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano *
* = credit only
Guest starring
Professional Leather Jacket Cleaner Video
Episode recap
Matt and Sean continue to work with Christopher, this time breaking into safes. They introduce themselves to Richie and listen to him make fun of Chris. At the Bada Bing, they try to introduce themselves to Tony in the bathroom, but are nervous and get into too much detail about their job with Chris. Tony calls Sean a "shit-eating twat" since he did not take precautions about listening devices. Chris goes to Adriana's mother's home, where he apologizes for abandoning and mistreating her. Chris then proposes to Adriana and presents her with a ring. Adriana accepts, but her mother warns her that if she gets hurt again, "this door is closed to you."
Carmela and Tony believe there are good colleges close to home for Meadow to attend, but are worried that she might get to go to her first choice, Berkeley. Carmela remembers that her neighbor, Jeannie Cusamano's twin sister, Joan O'Connell, is a prestigious alumna of Georgetown University, which is on Meadow's top list of colleges. When Jeannie fails to persuade Joan to write a letter of recommendation for Meadow, Carmela presents Joan with a ricotta pie and a folder of Meadow's high school transcripts. When Joan refuses to write the letter, Carmela implicitly threatens her. Later, Jeannie informs Carmela that Joan has caved in and agreed to write the letter.
Silvio and Paulie pressure Richie to build Beansie a ramp for his house to make it wheelchair-accessible, as part of Richie's reparations for crippling Gaeta in the first place. Richie initially refuses, sends his nephew Vito Spatafore and some construction workers to do the job upon hearing the request came from Tony. When Tony then hears from Beansie's wife that the job was left half-finished, Richie says they will completed after he is done renovating Livia's house. Richie gives Tony a dark-brown leather jacket formerly belonging to respected mobster Rocco DiMeo. Tony hesitantly accepts the gesture but then passes the jacket to the husband of his housekeeper. Richie is shocked to see him wearing the jacket.
Matt and Sean are humiliated when Furio collects Tony's cut from their safe-cracking operation with Chris and takes an additional $1,000 for himself. They realize that they are only small players and worry about their future potential. Later, while waiting for Chris, Matt brings up the idea of doing something drastic in order to be recognized. As Chris exits a diner in Kearny, he is ambushed by Matt and Sean and shot three times. Chris ends up killing Sean, while Matt flees to Richie's hangout. Richie becomes furious that Matt attempted an unauthorized hit and chases him down the street with a baseball bat. Matt takes off to hide someplace else. Soon after hearing about the shooting, Tony and his crime family arrive at the hospital and take vigil at Chris' bedside. As Chris lies in coma, Tony sits in a chair and asks, "How could this happen?"
First appearances
- Liz La Cerva: The mother of Adriana La Cerva.
- Bryan Spatafore: The brother of Vito Spatafore.
- Donald "Donny K" Kafranza: A soldier in Richie Aprile's crew.
Deceased
- Sean Gismonte: shot in the head in self-defense by Christopher Moltisanti.
Title reference
The episode's title is a play on the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, whose title refers to metal-jacketed bullets. Here it alludes to the leather jacket that Richie gave to Tony. After Christopher is shot, the camera pans the sidewalk showing the metal cartridge casings that have been expelled from the weapons.
Production
- Saundra Santiago plays a dual role portraying twin sisters, Jeannie Cusamano and Joannie O'Connell, in this episode.
- Although the episode was the eighth of the second season, it was the seventh to be produced.
- Unlike most other episodes, there is no song played over the end credits. Instead, all that is heard is the sound of Christopher's ventilator and the electrocardiogram machine.
- This is the shortest episode of the series, running just under 43 minutes.
- Sean Gismonte is killed by Christopher because he was restrained in the car by a seatbelt. This is similar to Livia's story to A.J. of how seatbelts can kill from the previous episode, "D-Girl".
Music
- The song played during the opening scene of this episode, when the Soprano family eats Chinese food, is "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
- The song played when Richie was reading the paper and then was joined by Paulie and Silvio, who told him to build a ramp for Beansie, is "Dancing in the Dark", sung by Tony Bennett on the 1993 album Steppin' Out
- The song played when Sean and Matt approach Tony in the Bada Bing's men's room is "Lap Dance" by the John Spencer Blues Explosion, on the album Xtra Acme USA
- The song played when Furio and his partner collect from Sean and Matt is "Up 'N Da Club" by 2nd II None, from the album Classic 220
- The song played as Richie and Carmela talked (while the Polish taxi driver was picking up a television) was "Fields of Gold" from the album Ten Summoner's Tales, by Sting
- The song played when Matt and Sean sit at the Bada Bing!, reflecting on their status, is "Fuck With Your Head" from the album Learning Curve, by DJ Rap
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon