Mayham (The Sopranos episode)
Encyclopedia
"Mayham" is the sixty-eighth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos
and the third of the show's sixth season. It was written by Matthew Weiner
, directed by Jack Bender
and originally aired on March 26, 2006.
, Paulie Gualtieri
and a member of his crew, Cary DiBartolo, attempt to burgle the apartment of Colombia
n drug dealers. When the pair arrive, however, they find the apartment is not empty as expected. After murdering the superintendent and two drug dealers, they find a large amount of money hidden in the dishwasher. During his struggle with one of the drug dealers, Paulie is kicked hard in the groin, and later seeks medical attention.
Back at the hospital, Christopher Moltisanti
and Bobby Baccalieri
confront A.J.
about his attempt to purchase a gun. They tell him that if they were in his place they would want to do the same thing, but that he cannot go after Junior
, who is in custody. They assure him that Tony
would not want him involved. A.J. reacts as though he feels they are talking down to him and treating him like a kid. He afterwards accuses Carmela
of putting the two up to the talk, though she has no idea what he is talking about.
Tony's dream sequence from the previous episode continues: at his hotel room he receives a court summons from the Buddhist monks addressed to Kevin Finnerty, and he begins to question his actual identity. He seeks answers from the bartender as well as from the monks who initiated the summons, but does not get any answers.
Back in real life, tension is surging within the Soprano crime family. Although Gabriella Dante flatters husband Silvio
and suggests he could replace Tony, the pressure of being acting boss makes his asthma
worse to the point where he too ends up in hospital. In addition, his performance does not go down well with several associates. He makes rulings on how Bobby and Vito are to split Eugene Pontecorvo's former revenue and on the cut to be given to Carmela on behalf of Tony from Paulie and Vito's score. None of the parties involved like his decisions. Paulie and Vito delay giving the money to Carmela, since they do not want to part with it in the event Tony does not recover. Vito quietly starts a campaign to position himself as a potential new leader, pointing to his recent weight loss, which he has been discussing a lot since the season began, as a sign of better health. He also happens to be in the hospital when Meadow's fiancé Finn turns up, and quickly makes a rather threatening pass at him.
Carmela bumps into Dr. Melfi
at the supermarket, and gratefully receives an offer of help. Carmela later becomes livid when she and Tony's gang saw an A&E
special hosted by Bill Kurtis
which gave his own account of the Soprano shooting, including interpreting A.J.'s cursing at the media (from the previous episode) as a threat towards them. Carmela rushes home and drags A.J. out of bed, berating him for putting the entire affair on national television, and tells him that he is a cross that the rest of his family has to bear. The next day, she has a session with Dr. Melfi in which she reminisces on her attraction to Tony, her regret for insulting A.J., and expresses horror at having reared children into a crime family, giving them no option.
Despite orders to allow only family to see Tony, Silvio and, later, Paulie are smuggled in by Carmela and Meadow
. Silvio is quiet, standing at the doorway staring at his boss before walking over and clutching his hand. Paulie on the other hand is incapable of following Meadow's instructions to stay positive, and exclaims "he looks terrible" as he enters the room. Left alone with Tony, he then proceeds to treat his unconscious boss with an interminable and profanity-laden update of his current state of affairs, including the details of his injury and his big score. Tony's heart-rate escalates steadily, but Paulie appears not to notice it until he goes into cardiac arrest
. Hospital staff rush in and attempt to revive him.
In Tony's dream, Paulie's voice appears as muffled sounds from an adjoining room at his hotel, prompting him to bang on the wall and ask for some calm. Having found a flier for the Finnerty family reunion in his briefcase, he is greeted outside the venue by a man who looks like his cousin Tony Blundetto
. The man tries to get Tony to enter the light-festooned house, assuring him that "everyone's here" and that he is "coming home"; but he also tells Tony that he must first let go of his briefcase. Tony is reluctant, replying that his whole life is contained inside. Standing at the steps of the house, Tony hesitates for some time. With the figure of someone similar to his mother standing by the doorway in front of him, and the faint voice of a little girl coming from the trees behind him pleading with him not to go (in the hospital Meadow is calling to her father), Tony chooses not to enter the house and awakes in the hospital. His first words, after beckoning Carmela to come closer, are "I'm dead, right?"
Later, heavily sedated and still largely unable to talk, Tony sits in a chair at the foot of his bed and listens as Christopher tell him of his next attempt at entering the movie industry. Christopher has threatened J.T. Dolan and forced him to write the script of a film he wants to produce with financial backing from Little Carmine and others. Christopher wants to make a low-budget digital film marrying the two genres of slasher
and mob films, a cross between Saw
and The Godfather II, and a presentation to his associates descends into farce.
With Tony now conscious, Paulie and Vito rush to get their cuts to Carmela. In the hospital lobby, when they hand over the cash, Carmela is initially grateful. However, before the elevator doors close, she turns around in time to see their facial expressions turn sour. While she is perplexed for a few seconds, she eventually sees through the timing of their generosity. In the final scenes of the episode, Christopher asks Tony to invest in his movie project just as soon as he recovers. Eventually, Carmela arrives and the episode closes with her tending to Tony's chapped lips.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
and the third of the show's sixth season. It was written by Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner is an American writer, director and producer of television drama. He is the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner of the AMC television series Mad Men. He is also noted for his work on the HBO series The Sopranos, on which he served as a writer and producer...
, directed by Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
and originally aired on March 26, 2006.
Guest starring
- Tom AldredgeTom AldredgeThomas Ernest "Tom" Aldredge was an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Aldredge was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Lucienne Juliet and W. J. Aldredge, a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps...
as Hugh De Angelis - Elizabeth BraccoElizabeth BraccoElizabeth Bracco is an American actress who is best known for her role as Marie Spatafore, wife of Vito Spatafore, on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos....
as Marie Spatafore - Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as Man - Carl CapotortoCarl CapotortoCarl Capotorto is an American actor, known for his portrayal of Little Paulie Germani on The Sopranos. He is also the author of Twisted Head: An Italian-American Memoir.-External links:*...
as Little Paulie Germani - Max CasellaMax CasellaMax Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
as Benny Fazio - Timothy DalyTimothy DalyJames Timothy "Tim" Daly is an American stage, screen and voice actor, director and producer. He is best known for his television role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings and for his voice role as Superman/Clark Kent in Superman: The Animated Series, as well as his recurring role of the...
as J.T. Dolan - Tony DarrowTony DarrowTony Darrow is an American actor.Darrow was born Anthony Borgese and grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Darrow had plenty of opportunity to observe would be mobsters and their attitudes while growing up in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a child, Tony was gifted with a great...
as Larry Boy Barese - Bill KurtisBill KurtisBill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
as Himself
- James Vincent Romano as Cary De Bartolo
- Suzanne ShepherdSuzanne ShepherdSuzanne Shepherd is an American actress and theater director. She is best known for her portrayal of Karen's overbearing mother in the film Goodfellas, and Carmela's overbearing mother in the television program The Sopranos. Shepherd studied acting with Sanford Meisner, and later went on to teach...
as Mary De Angelis - Paul SchulzePaul SchulzePaul Schulze is an American actor best known for portraying Ryan Chappelle on the FOX series 24 from 2001 to 2004 and Father Phil Intintola on HBO The Sopranos from 1999 to 2006....
as Father Phil Intintola - Maureen Van ZandtMaureen Van ZandtMaureen Van Zandt is an Italian-American television actress best known for her small role Gabriella Dante, a close friend to Carmela Soprano on the HBO series, The Sopranos....
as Gabriella Dante - Ed Vassalo as Tom Giglione
- Danielle Di Vecchio as Barbara Soprano Giglione
- Lenny VenitoLenny VenitoLenny Venito is an American actor who has made appearances in movies such as Gigli, Men in Black II, and War of the Worlds.Starting in 2006, Venito has been featured in The Sopranos as the character nicknamed "Murmur," who helped shake down actor Ben Kingsley and violently mug actress Lauren Bacall...
as Murmur
Episode recap
On a tip from Vito SpataforeVito Spatafore
Vito Spatafore, Sr., played by Joseph R. Gannascoli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was a member of the DiMeo Crime Family and a subordinate of Tony Soprano. He was married to Marie Spatafore with two children, Francesca and Vito, Jr., and was a closeted homosexual...
, Paulie Gualtieri
Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...
and a member of his crew, Cary DiBartolo, attempt to burgle the apartment of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n drug dealers. When the pair arrive, however, they find the apartment is not empty as expected. After murdering the superintendent and two drug dealers, they find a large amount of money hidden in the dishwasher. During his struggle with one of the drug dealers, Paulie is kicked hard in the groin, and later seeks medical attention.
Back at the hospital, Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher Moltisanti
Christopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...
and Bobby Baccalieri
Bobby Baccalieri
Robert "Bobby Bacala" Baccalieri, Jr., played by Steve R. Schirripa, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was a Capo and later the acting underboss of the DiMeo Crime Family, as well as Tony Soprano's brother-in-law...
confront A.J.
Anthony Soprano, Jr.
Anthony John "A.J." Soprano, Jr. , played by Robert Iler, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Usually just called "A.J.", he is the son of Carmela and Tony Soprano. He is a prototypical underachiever and is a constant source of stress and anxiety for his parents...
about his attempt to purchase a gun. They tell him that if they were in his place they would want to do the same thing, but that he cannot go after Junior
Junior Soprano
Corrado John Soprano, Jr., played by Dominic Chianese, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Usually referred to as "Junior" or "Uncle Jun", he is the mentor and surrogate father for capo Tony Soprano. A younger Corrado sometimes appears in flashbacks and is played by Rocco...
, who is in custody. They assure him that Tony
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
would not want him involved. A.J. reacts as though he feels they are talking down to him and treating him like a kid. He afterwards accuses Carmela
Carmela Soprano
Carmela Soprano née DeAngelis, played by Edie Falco, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the wife of Mafia boss Tony Soprano and the program's most prominent female character.-Character biography:...
of putting the two up to the talk, though she has no idea what he is talking about.
Tony's dream sequence from the previous episode continues: at his hotel room he receives a court summons from the Buddhist monks addressed to Kevin Finnerty, and he begins to question his actual identity. He seeks answers from the bartender as well as from the monks who initiated the summons, but does not get any answers.
Back in real life, tension is surging within the Soprano crime family. Although Gabriella Dante flatters husband Silvio
Silvio Dante
Silvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...
and suggests he could replace Tony, the pressure of being acting boss makes his asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
worse to the point where he too ends up in hospital. In addition, his performance does not go down well with several associates. He makes rulings on how Bobby and Vito are to split Eugene Pontecorvo's former revenue and on the cut to be given to Carmela on behalf of Tony from Paulie and Vito's score. None of the parties involved like his decisions. Paulie and Vito delay giving the money to Carmela, since they do not want to part with it in the event Tony does not recover. Vito quietly starts a campaign to position himself as a potential new leader, pointing to his recent weight loss, which he has been discussing a lot since the season began, as a sign of better health. He also happens to be in the hospital when Meadow's fiancé Finn turns up, and quickly makes a rather threatening pass at him.
Carmela bumps into Dr. Melfi
Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi, M.D., is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco.-Character description:...
at the supermarket, and gratefully receives an offer of help. Carmela later becomes livid when she and Tony's gang saw an A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
special hosted by Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
which gave his own account of the Soprano shooting, including interpreting A.J.'s cursing at the media (from the previous episode) as a threat towards them. Carmela rushes home and drags A.J. out of bed, berating him for putting the entire affair on national television, and tells him that he is a cross that the rest of his family has to bear. The next day, she has a session with Dr. Melfi in which she reminisces on her attraction to Tony, her regret for insulting A.J., and expresses horror at having reared children into a crime family, giving them no option.
Despite orders to allow only family to see Tony, Silvio and, later, Paulie are smuggled in by Carmela and Meadow
Meadow Soprano
Meadow Mariangela Soprano , played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos.-Character:Meadow is the first-born child of Tony and Carmela Soprano...
. Silvio is quiet, standing at the doorway staring at his boss before walking over and clutching his hand. Paulie on the other hand is incapable of following Meadow's instructions to stay positive, and exclaims "he looks terrible" as he enters the room. Left alone with Tony, he then proceeds to treat his unconscious boss with an interminable and profanity-laden update of his current state of affairs, including the details of his injury and his big score. Tony's heart-rate escalates steadily, but Paulie appears not to notice it until he goes into cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
. Hospital staff rush in and attempt to revive him.
In Tony's dream, Paulie's voice appears as muffled sounds from an adjoining room at his hotel, prompting him to bang on the wall and ask for some calm. Having found a flier for the Finnerty family reunion in his briefcase, he is greeted outside the venue by a man who looks like his cousin Tony Blundetto
Tony Blundetto
Anthony "Tony" Blundetto, played by Steve Buscemi, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is Tony Soprano's cousin who is released from prison at the beginning of the show's fifth season. Tony Blundetto first appears as a calm, composed, and reformed criminal ready to pursue...
. The man tries to get Tony to enter the light-festooned house, assuring him that "everyone's here" and that he is "coming home"; but he also tells Tony that he must first let go of his briefcase. Tony is reluctant, replying that his whole life is contained inside. Standing at the steps of the house, Tony hesitates for some time. With the figure of someone similar to his mother standing by the doorway in front of him, and the faint voice of a little girl coming from the trees behind him pleading with him not to go (in the hospital Meadow is calling to her father), Tony chooses not to enter the house and awakes in the hospital. His first words, after beckoning Carmela to come closer, are "I'm dead, right?"
Later, heavily sedated and still largely unable to talk, Tony sits in a chair at the foot of his bed and listens as Christopher tell him of his next attempt at entering the movie industry. Christopher has threatened J.T. Dolan and forced him to write the script of a film he wants to produce with financial backing from Little Carmine and others. Christopher wants to make a low-budget digital film marrying the two genres of slasher
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
and mob films, a cross between Saw
Saw (film)
Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell...
and The Godfather II, and a presentation to his associates descends into farce.
With Tony now conscious, Paulie and Vito rush to get their cuts to Carmela. In the hospital lobby, when they hand over the cash, Carmela is initially grateful. However, before the elevator doors close, she turns around in time to see their facial expressions turn sour. While she is perplexed for a few seconds, she eventually sees through the timing of their generosity. In the final scenes of the episode, Christopher asks Tony to invest in his movie project just as soon as he recovers. Eventually, Carmela arrives and the episode closes with her tending to Tony's chapped lips.
First appearances
- Cary DiBartolo: Soldier in the Gualtieri crew
Deceased
- Building Superintendent: shot by Colombian #1
- Colombian #1: shot by Cary DiBartolo and Paulie
- Colombian #2: shot by Cary DiBartolo and then stabbed by Paulie
Production
- Ray AbruzzoRay AbruzzoRay Abruzzo is an Italian-American actor, noted for his appearances on television.He made regular appearances in the following series: Dynasty , The Practice and The Sopranos .Other TV credits include: Falcon Crest, Murder She Wrote, L.A...
(Little Carmine) is now billed in the opening credits but only in the episodes in which he appears. - Paulie GualtieriPaulie GualtieriPeter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...
refers to Carmela SopranoCarmela SopranoCarmela Soprano née DeAngelis, played by Edie Falco, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the wife of Mafia boss Tony Soprano and the program's most prominent female character.-Character biography:...
as the "Princess of Little Italy". This is an homage to Steven Van ZandtSteven Van ZandtSteven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
and his band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, who recorded a song by the same name.
Title reference
- After Vito gave Paulie bad information about the stick-up job (saying the place was empty), Paulie does not want to give him his full cut of the money, saying that the job was "mayham", which is an apparent malapropismMalapropismA malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
of the word "mayhem." - The members of the Soprano crew jockeying for position and Silvio's ineffectual leadership results in mayhem.
Music
- The instrumental piece played over the end credits is "The Deadly Nightshade" by Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
. - Sheryl CrowSheryl CrowSheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
's rendition of "The First Cut Is the DeepestThe First Cut Is the Deepest"The First Cut Is the Deepest" is a 1967 song written by Cat Stevens, originally released by P. P. Arnold in the spring of 1967. Stevens' own version of the song is technically a cover, and originally appeared on his album New Masters in December 1967....
" can be heard playing on Tony's stereo during his coma. - A rendition by The MysticsThe MysticsThe Mystics is an American rock and roll group that began in Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1950s. The group was known as The Overons, a quintet that, when signed to Laurie Records, consisted of Phil Cracolici , Albee Cracolici , George Galfo , Bob Ferrante , and Al Contrera...
of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is being played while Carmela is wetting Tony's lips. - In one of the episode's first scenes "La Gata" by Nicky JamNicky JamNick Rivera Caminero is known artistically as Nicky Jam is a Puerto Rican singer. He was born to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father...
is playing in the Colombians' office when Paulie enters. - The mariachi music played in the country house when Tony Blundetto is welcoming Tony Soprano is "La Feria de las Flores" by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.