The third season of the American crime drama series The Sopranos began airing on HBO with a two-hour premiere on March 4, 2001, before concluding on May 20, 2001, and consisted of thirteen episodes. The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 27, 2002.[1]
| The Sopranos | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 Region 1 DVD cover art | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | March 4 – May 20, 2001 |
| Season chronology | |
The story of season three focuses on the relationship between Tony and his children — Meadow, as she begins her first year at Columbia University, and Anthony Jr., who is having behavioral troubles in high school. Tony's relationship with his aging mother, Livia, is brought to a head. Uncle Junior, released from prison, now deals with health issues. Dr. Melfi experiences a horrifying personal trauma, but begins to make real progress in discovering the root causes of Tony's panic attacks. Also featured heavily are Christopher's rise in the mob when he becomes a made man, Jackie Aprile Jr. joining the crime family and Tony's extramarital affair with another one of Dr. Melfi's patients, Gloria.
Cast
edit- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano (13 episodes), the underboss of the DiMeo crime family, who struggles with his relationship with his children and the son of his late friend.
- Lorraine Bracco as Jennifer Melfi (12 episodes), Tony's therapist, who undergoes a trauma and is tempted to make use of her connections.
- Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano (13 episodes), Tony's wife, whose struggles with her husband's work as it becomes more severe.
- Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti (13 episodes), Tony's cousin and a DiMeo soldier who is unhappy with his new responsibilities.
- Dominic Chianese as Corrado "Junior" Soprano, Jr. (8 episodes), Tony's uncle and the boss of the family, who is still stuck on house arrest.
- Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante (12 episodes), the family's loyal consigliere.
- Tony Sirico as Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri (12 episodes), a short-tempered capo who begins having issues with Chris.
- Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr. (11 episodes), Tony's son, whose disciplinary issues become more and more severe.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano (13 episodes), Tony's daughter, whose choice of boyfriends puts her at odds with her father.
- Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano (1 episode; archive footage through digital effects), Tony's petulant mother, who may testify against him in court.
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva (9 episodes), Chris's fiancée.
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano (8 episodes), Tony's dramatic sister who gets into a feud with her mother's caretaker.
- John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco (7 episodes), Tony's non-mob friend who runs a restaurant.
- Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri (8 episodes), Junior's kind-hearted aide.
- Federico Castelluccio as Furio Giunta (10 episodes), a soldier under Tony.
- Robert Funaro as Eugene Pontecorvo (7 episodes), a DiMeo soldier.
- Kathrine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco (4 episodes), Artie's moral wife.
- Joe Pantoliano as Ralph Cifaretto (9 episodes), a volatile, crude soldier with ambitions that clash with Tony.
Episodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" | Allen Coulter | David Chase | March 4, 2001 | 11.26[2] | |
|
Three months later, the Sopranos are being monitored by the FBI. DiMeo soldier Patsy Parisi is depressed on his birthday due to the murder of his twin brother, having correctly suspected Tony as the man responsible. As the FBI watch Tony's house, they spot a drunken Patsy stumbling into his backyard, pointing a gun at the unsuspecting Tony but finding himself unable to shoot and instead urinating in his pool. The agents bug Tony's basement after learning that he tends to have his conversations there, but their first attempt fails when the basement floods. They sneak a bug into a lamp the second time around. | |||||||
| 28 | 2 | "Proshai, Livushka" | Tim Van Patten | David Chase | March 4, 2001 | 11.35[3] | |
|
Tony meets Meadow's mixed race boyfriend, Noah Tannenbaum, and has a panic attack after arguing with him. He goes to visit Livia, trying to find out what she said after being detained, only for her to die from a stroke later that night. Tony admits to Melfi his relief at her being dead, only to immediately berate himself for thinking that way. He has to argue with Janice to get her to go to the funeral, and she forces Svetlana Kirilenko, Livia's caretaker, to move out so she can move in. At Livia's wake, Janice makes it a big event against Livia's wishes, and it falls apart when Carmela and her father begin insulting Livia because of the strain she put on their relationship. Later that night, Tony watches The Public Enemy and begins to cry when the main character's mother expresses excitement at him coming home from the hospital. | |||||||
| 29 | 3 | "Fortunate Son" | Henry J. Bronchtein | Todd A. Kessler | March 11, 2001 | 8.37[4] | |
|
Chris is initiated as a made man, but finds that he still has to kick up to Paulie. Jackie Aprile Jr., looking to get into the game despite his late father's wishes, tips Chris off to a benefit concert he can rob, leaving Tony enraged that Chris involved Jackie. When Svetlana continues to refuse Janice her mother's record collection, she steals her prosthetic leg. Tony goes to Svetlana's house to try and broker peace, encountering Irina Peltsin, her cousin, and feels a bout of anxiety looking at cuts of meat. He recounts to Melfi that as a child, he saw his father chop off the finger of the owner of Satriale's, and later had his first panic attack after seeing his parents dance when Livia became excited over meat. Melfi realizes that Tony pulled meat out of the fridge after his fight with Noah, and establishes a connection between meat and his anxiety. A.J. is made defensive captain of his school's football team, but has a panic attack when his team praises him. | |||||||
| 30 | 4 | "Employee of the Month" | John Patterson | Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess | March 18, 2001 | 7.96[5] | |
|
Richie's successor, Ralph "Ralphie" Cifaretto, begins dating Rosalie and takes Jackie out to collect from a debtor. Angry that he involved Jackie in his activities, Tony promotes soldier Gigi Cestone to capo instead of Ralphie. Men break into Janice's house, beat her, and force her to get Svetlana's leg. In the hospital, she reflects on her behavior and decides to devote herself to God. While walking to her car, Melfi is raped and the man is released after a mistake with the chain of custody. Eating at a fast food shop, she notices the rapist being lauded as the employee of the month there, and has a dream where a Rottweiler saves her from him. She admits to Elliot Kupferberg that she is tempted to give the rapist's information to Tony, and abruptly cries in their next session. When Tony asks if there is anything she wants to say, she pauses before responding "no." | |||||||
| 31 | 5 | "Another Toothpick" | Jack Bender | Terence Winter | March 25, 2001 | 7.40[6] | |
|
Carmela and Tony attend a session with Melfi together, where they are unable to resolve their issues. As they drive home, Tony is ticketed by a cop that he tries and fails to bribe. While visiting home, Meadow takes the bugged reading lamp, unknowingly halting the FBI's investigation. Adriana quits as a hostess at Nuovo Vesuvio, leading Artie to angrily express his attraction to her around Tony, who warns him to lay off. He and his wife argue about his friendship with Tony, leading her to plan a divorce. Soldier Vito Spatafore's brother is beaten into a coma by the godson of elderly hitman Robert Baccalieri, who takes Tony's order to take care of it. He kills him, but dies in a car crash while leaving the scene. Junior is unable to bring comfort to his aide and Baccalieri's son Robert "Bobby" Jr. due to his own recent stomach cancer diagnosis. Tony runs into the cop, having been demoted, and tries to offer him money, but he turns it down. | |||||||
| 32 | 6 | "University" | Allen Coulter | Story by : David Chase & Terence Winter & Todd A. Kessler and Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess Teleplay by : Terence Winter and Salvatore J. Stabile | April 1, 2001 | 8.44[7] | |
|
Tracee, a Bada Bing stripper who is having regular sex with Ralphie, has formed a friendly relationship with Tony and tells him that she is pregnant with Ralphie's child. Ralphie's behavior in the Bada Bing becomes more and more reprehensible, and he eventually beats Tracee to death when she mocks him in front of his friends. Tony attacks Ralphie despite him being a made man, and admits to Melfi and Carmela in their next session that Tracee (without revealing her identity) dying young saddened him. Meadow's Columbia University roommate finds herself unhappy at college. Noah attempts to cheer her up by inviting her to spend time with him and Meadow, but she soon attaches herself to them and interferes with his studying. After Meadow learns that Noah is placing a restraining order on her roommate, he breaks up with her, deciding that she is "too negative." As Meadow returns home in a foul mood, the strippers at the Bada Bing wonder what happened to Tracee. | |||||||
| 33 | 7 | "Second Opinion" | Tim Van Patten | Lawrence Konner | April 8, 2001 | 9.21[8] | |
|
The tumor in Junior's stomach is partially removed. As Junior begins to suffer due to the effects of chemotherapy and his doctor is too busy to return his calls, Tony and Furio intimidate him into prioritizing Junior. Georgie Santorelli buys a Big Mouth Billy Bass for the Bada Bing. Tony, reminded of Pussy, beats him with it in a rage. As Chris continues to delay his payments to Paulie, he catches him sniffing Adriana's underwear and complains to Tony. Paulie warns him to never go to Tony again, but then shows him the Billy Bass and they both laugh. After Tony learns that Angie is supposedly struggling but observes a new car in her driveway, he destroys it and warns her to only come to him for money. Melfi passes Carmela along to a colleague, who recommends that she take her children and leave Tony, and refuses to accept her "blood money." She informs Tony that she promised money to Columbia, something he had not wanted to do. She insists that he has to do this for her, and he reluctantly agrees. | |||||||
| 34 | 8 | "He Is Risen" | Allen Coulter | Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and Todd A. Kessler | April 15, 2001 | 8.60[9] | |
|
Meadow and Jackie develop an attraction to each other and soon begin to date. When Ralphie refuses Tony's offer of a drink, he uninvites him and the Apriles from Thanksgiving. Ralphie gives him a halfhearted apology for his behavior, which Tony ignores. Cestone suffers a fatal heart attack while on the toilet, and Tony realizes nobody but Ralphie is qualified for capo, reluctantly promoting him. When he gratefully asks Tony to share a drink with him, Tony leaves. He meets one of Melfi's patients, car saleswoman Gloria Trillo, and goes to her place of work to test drive a car with her. She later calls Melfi from Tony's boat, telling her that she needs to reschedule her next appointment. Melfi hears Tony's voice in the background but is unable to identify it. | |||||||
| 35 | 9 | "The Telltale Moozadell" | Dan Attias | Michael Imperioli | April 22, 2001 | 8.64[10] | |
|
Tony continues his affair with Gloria, and they both lie to Melfi about their recent bouts of happiness, although she is suspicious. A.J. and his friends vandalize his school, but the school chooses not to punish him because of the value he adds to the football team. Annoyed at the lack of consequences, Tony and Carmela ground him for a month. Chris takes over a club and gives it to Adriana to run, and she renames it to the "Crazy Horse". Jackie's drug dealer friend is caught dealing and thrown out, only for Jackie to assure him that he has Chris's permission, leading to the dealer being beaten. Chris ignores Jackie when he tries to get things settled. Tony catches Jackie in an illegal casino and warns him to be on his best behavior if he plans to date Meadow. | |||||||
| 36 | 10 | "...To Save Us All from Satan's Power" | Jack Bender | Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess | April 29, 2001 | 8.44[11] | |
|
As Christmas approaches, Tony has Bobby fill in for Pussy as Santa Claus, which prompts Tony's memories of Pussy in the role. Tony specifically remembers Christmas 1995 and Pussy being extremely sensitive about people touching his Santa costume, and now suspects Pussy may have been wearing a wire under it, determining that the FBI must have turned him on a trip to Boca Raton earlier that year. Bobby takes the role, but is awkward and unappealing as Santa. When Janice complains about lasting pain in her wrist, Tony tracks down the man who beat her and brutalizes him, leaving Janice disturbed when she sees a report about it on the news. Tony goes to a strip club, where he finds Jackie receiving a lap dance. He beats him up, and Jackie later admits to Tony on Christmas that he flunked out of college. Meadow gives Tony a Billy Bass as a gift, which he fakes enjoyment of while his family laughs at it. | |||||||
| 37 | 11 | "Pine Barrens" | Steve Buscemi | Story by : Tim Van Patten & Terence Winter Teleplay by : Terence Winter | May 6, 2001 | 8.79[12] | |
|
With Silvio out with the flu, Tony has Paulie collect from a Russian debtor, and he brings Chris along. Paulie starts a fight with the Russian, and believing he killed him, they take the body out to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, only for the Russian to attack them and flee into the woods. As his tracks vanish, Paulie and Chris realize they are lost. They take shelter in an abandoned truck for the night, and Paulie calls Tony for help, leading to a fight with Gloria before he leaves with Bobby to go find them. Lured by Paulie firing his gun in frustration, the two groups meet up but find Paulie's car (and the money he took from the Russian) gone. As they drive back to north New Jersey, Tony warns Paulie that he will need to take care of the Russian if he ever turns up. Meadow discovers Jackie cheating on her when she is too sick to have sex with him, and she breaks up with him. Tony admits to Melfi that he is seeing Gloria, and does not get the parallels she tries to draw between Gloria and Livia. | |||||||
| 38 | 12 | "Amour Fou" | Tim Van Patten | Story by : David Chase Teleplay by : Frank Renzulli | May 13, 2001 | 5.81[13][a] | |
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As Carmela begins to fear the possibility of ovarian cancer, she becomes emotional at seemingly random things. She confesses her situation to a priest, who advises her to ignore Tony's immoral actions and live with the money he earns for her. She later discovers that she has a thyroid problem. After hearing how his father and Tony made names for themselves by robbing an elite card game, Jackie gathers his friends and they rob one themselves, unaware that several made men are inside. Jackie kills the dealer when he mocks him, leading to a gunfight that gets his friends killed. The next day, Ralphie and Tony are unable to come to an agreement on what to do about Jackie, with Tony ready to have him killed and Ralphie wanting to give him a pass. When Gloria bumps into Carmela and discovers who her husband is, she calls the Soprano house. Tony storms over to her house and tells her that they are through, but she goads him into nearly killing her by threatening to tell his family about their affair. He sends Patsy to threaten her with murder if she ever tries to contact Tony again. | |||||||
| 39 | 13 | "Army of One" | John Patterson | David Chase & Lawrence Konner | May 20, 2001 | 9.46[14] | |
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A.J. is expelled from school for stealing test answers, and Tony posits sending him to military school, which Carmela is against. Paulie is shorted money he is owed from Ralphie and is not helped by Tony, prompting him to talk to the underboss of the New York-based Lupertazzi family, Johnny "Sack" Sacrimoni. The FBI has an agent befriend Adriana using a false identity. After another talk with Tony, Ralphie has Vito kill Jackie, and his death is framed as a drug deal gone wrong. His death prompts Carmela to change her mind and let A.J. go, only for him to have a panic attack while Carmela dresses him. Tony decides to not have him go, bitterly espousing his hatred of his "putrid gene" to Melfi. After Jackie's funeral, a distraught Meadow repeats the drug deal story to his sister, who insists he was killed by Italians. At the wake at Nuovo Vesuvio, Junior, having been released from house arrest, sings "Core 'ngrato". Drunk, Meadow heckles him, and leaves when Tony notices. He follows her outside, and she decries the funeral as "bullshit" and runs away. Tony goes back inside and puts his arm around his son. | |||||||
- Notes
- ^ Denotes individual program numbers were not available so household viewers are listed instead.
Reception
editReviews
editThe third season of The Sopranos received widespread critical acclaim, garnering a score of 97 out of 100 on Metacritic[15] and a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 9.5/10. Caryn James of The New York Times cited the show as a pop-culture phenomenon and stated, "Even measured against insanely high expectations, the series is as good as it has ever been."[16] The Los Angeles Times lauded the series as the "elitist of the elite", adding: "...The Sopranos resurfaces once more as a superbly written and executed hybrid of popular entertainment and high art, offering up its own Golden Age of TV".[17] Detroit Free Press commended the series creator, David Chase, and singled out the show's writing and acting for praise: "The Sopranos, even as series creator David Chase changes pace this season from power struggles to family matters, is still as good as television gets: wonderfully written, superbly acted, always unpredictable."[15]
Awards and nominations
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Sopranos - The Complete 3rd Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
- ^ Johnson, Allan (March 8, 2001). "Crushing Camelot". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (March 14, 2001). "Mostly duds crowd crop of new shows". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on August 6, 2002. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (March 21, 2001). "NBC's skids greased as new shows fumble". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on June 9, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (March 28, 2001). "NCAA playoffs set remotes a-clicking". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (April 4, 2001). "NCAA finals see a jump in viewers". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (April 4, 2001). "New Shows, NCAA Hoops Deliver for ABC, CBS". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (April 18, 2001). "'Survivor 2' has 'Friends' for lunch". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on June 11, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (April 25, 2001). "'Survivor's' flat when it should be bubbling". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on October 25, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (May 2, 2001). "In heated sweeps, WB has the advantage". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on May 7, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (May 9, 2001). "'Survivor' gives CBS a sweet sweeps boost". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (May 16, 2001). "NBC edging to win adult 18-49 viewers". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (May 23, 2001). "As season ends, it's NBC and CBS". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on June 11, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ Downey, Kevin (May 31, 2001). "Surprising strength of NBC's Thursday". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on October 25, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
- ^ a b "The Sopranos : Season 3". Metacritic. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- ^ James, Caryn (March 2, 2001). "TV WEEKEND; 'Sopranos': Blood, Bullets, And Proust". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ "They Keep Pulling Us Back In". March 2, 2001. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees / Winners 2001 Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "59th Golden Globe Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "The 8th Screen Actors Guild Awards". Sagawards.org. Retrieved June 16, 2024.