The Blue Comet

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Blue Comet
Series = The Sopranos


Caption = Bobby at the model train store holding his Blue Comet.
Season = 6
Episode = 20
Airdate = Start date|2007|06|03
Production =
Writer = David Chase and
Matthew Weiner
Director = Alan Taylor
Photographer =
Guests = Ricky Aiello
Gregory Antonacci
Edoardo Ballerini
Peter Bogdanovich
Pete Bucossi
John Cenatiempo
Dominic Chianese, Jr.
John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia
Miryam Coppersmith
Matilda Downey
Michael Drayer
Frank John Hughes
Eric Mangini
Julie Mangini
Angelo Massagli
Arthur Nascarella
Artie Pasquale
Joseph Perrino
Anthony Ribustello
Matt Servitto
Lenny Venito
Emily Wickersham
Episode list = List of "The Sopranos" episodes
Season list = Infobox The Sopranos season six
Prev =
Next ="The Blue Comet" is the eighty-fifth episode of the HBO television series "The Sopranos". It is the eighth episode of the second half of the show's sixth season (the broadcast of which was split into two parts), the twentieth episode of the season overall, and the penultimate episode of the series. It was written by series creator/executive producer David Chase and executive producer Matthew Weiner and was directed by longtime series director Alan Taylor. It originally aired in the the United States on June 3, 2007. "The Blue Comet" was watched by eight million viewers and is widely regarded as one of the best "Sopranos" episodes. Lorraine Bracco was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the episode.

In the episode, a war erupts between the Lupertazzi and DiMeo crime families, leading to the shooting of people close to DiMeo boss and series protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). In a parallel storyline, Tony's psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Bracco) gains some new insight on Tony and decides to drop him as a patient.

Plot

Burt Gervasi picks up his newspaper outside his home and is startled for a moment by Silvio Dante, who has dropped by. They go into the house, where Silvio garrottes him from behind in the kitchen as the family dog barks. Silvio tells Tony Soprano, in the backroom at the Bada Bing, that he killed Gervasi, who had been considering switching factions to Phil Leotardo's side and had asked Silvio to join him.

During a sit-down with his consigliere, Albie Cianflone, and Butch DeConcini, Phil refers to the Soprano crime family as the "pygmy" group, brings up the homosexuality of Vito Spatafore, the beating of Coco, the disappearance of Fat Dom, and the murder of his brother Billy. He indicates he wants to "decapitate" the Jersey crew and do business with whatever is left, and orders hits on Tony, Silvio, and Bobby Baccalieri. At Satriale's, Tony learns of the hit from Agent Harris. Tony sits down with Bobby and Sil and decides that they have to hit Phil first. Tony later decides that he will bring in the Italian hitman, Italo, who killed Rusty Millio.

A woman at a dinner party with Dr. Melfi, Elliot, and other medical professionals tells her of the study by Samenow and Yochelson that Elliot had mentioned to Melfi before that claims sociopaths take advantage of talk therapy. Melfi becomes irritated with Elliot for raising the subject again and then angry when he reveals to everyone present that Tony Soprano is her patient. Later, while in bed, Dr. Melfi reads the study herself, which includes the contention that sociopaths often express great affection for "babies" and "pets". At her next appointment with Tony, he rips out a BBQ recipe from an issue of "Departures Magazine" while waiting outside her office. Inside, Tony talks about Meadow's change of heart concerning medical school and then A.J.'s depression, including the cost of his therapy, but Dr. Melfi responds with some bitter remarks, shows little interest in what he has to say and asks him if he's even considered other patients when he "defaced" her "reading material". She then tells Tony that she can recommend him to some other therapists who do not use talk therapy. Tony, at first befuddled, chalks up her reaction to "female menopause" but then angrily walks out, telling her that her dropping of him as a patient after seven years is "immoral" considering that he is suffering through his son's crisis. Melfi tells Tony that as he is in crisis, she doesn't want to waste his time. On the way out, in front of Melfi, Tony puts the page back into the "Departures" magazine. With little remorse, Melfi then slams the door shut on Tony, seemingly ending their professional relationship once and for all as Tony angrily and confusedly "Departs".

Paulie Walnuts and Patsy Parisi heed Tony's plan for a hit on Phil. Corky Caporale arranges the hit but it fails when the "cousins from Italy" hired to do the job kill Phil's goomah and her father, mistaking him for Phil. When Corky is told of the hit on the phone, while he's in an adult video store, he thinks little of the fact that the murdered man spoke Ukrainian, simply responding "Whatever," and he calls Patsy Parisi to tell him that the job is done and wonders about Phil speaking Ukrainian. Patsy puts it off and just transmits "It's done."

At Vesuvio's, Tony and Carmela put a good face on Meadow's decision to not pursue medical school as they talk to Charmaine and Artie Bucco.

Janice talks to Tony as he is draining the backyard pool and tries to get him to pay for Uncle Junior's living arrangements or Junior will have to be moved to a state facility, as Junior has run out of money and refuses to communicate with his accountant; Tony angrily refuses to contribute and tells Janice that Bobby is in "Exile on Main Street" after Janice implies Bobby supports her demands to Tony on behalf of the man who shot and nearly killed him. At the Bada Bing, Silvio and Paulie learn of the mistake when Murmur shows them a newspaper article on the murders and its accompanying photos of the victims. Silvio comes to Tony's house and tells him that the hit failed and they conclude that Phil has been hiding out in an unknown location ever since ordering the strike on New Jersey.

Phil's plan is put into action when two hitmen enter a hobby shop (Trainland in Lynbrook, New York) where Bobby Baccalieri is at a counter, buying a vintage model Blue Comet train. As Bobby looks up, they open fire, riddling him with bullets sending him crashing onto a model train display. After Silvio and Patsy gather up documents from the back room at the Bada Bing, their car is blocked by the car of Petey B. and Ray-Ray, Phil's hitmen, as it pulls into the parking lot. As Sil reaches into a bag for a gun, the assassins shoot, hitting Sil twice in the abdomen and once in the shoulder. Patsy fires back and then runs off into a ravine behind the club as Petey exhausts his magazine. A bloody, unconscious Sil is left in the car. Later, Paulie tells Tony that Sil is in a coma from which doctors do not think he will awake.

At the Soprano home, Carmela and Rosalie Aprile are looking at photos of their trip to Paris. Tony takes Carmela aside and tells her about the attack on Bobby and Silvio. Carmela, deeply shaken, listens as Tony explains that they must pack up and hide out for a while. She suggests that they visit Janice first. When Tony goes upstairs to A.J.'s room, A.J. is with Rhiannon, an ex-girlfriend of his former friend Hernan. Tony kicks her out and tells his son of Bobby's death. When A.J. begins to talk of depression, Tony roughly pulls him out of bed and orders him to pack. Carmela and Meadow show up at the Baccalieri household where Janice, in a state of shock, sits across from her step-children.

Tony, along with Paulie, Walden Belfiore, Carlo Gervasi, and Dante Greco, drive to a safe house. Tony goes upstairs and into a bedroom, closes the door, then lies down on the mattress, reminiscing about talking to Bobby out on the boat by his cottage while clutching the AR-10 assault rifle that Bobby gave him for his 47th birthday.cite episode
title = The Blue Comet
episodelink = The Blue Comet
series = The Sopranos
serieslink = The Sopranos
credits = David Chase and Matthew Weiner
network = HBO
airdate = 2007-06-03
season = 6
number = 20] cite web
url=http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/episode/season6/episode85.shtml
title=Episode guide - Episode 85 - "The Blue Comet"
publisher=HBO
accessdate=2008-03-09]

Title reference

* The "Blue Comet" was a passenger train operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey which ran between Atlantic City and Jersey City from 1929 to 1941. Bobby is buying a Blue Comet train model right when he is murdered.
* The "Blue Comet" is also a Hopi Indian prophecy which states that a comet will be seen in the sky as a final warning to mankind.

Reference to other media

The study Melfi is shown reading is "The Criminal Personality" by Dr. Samuel Yochelson and Dr. Stanton Samenow. Dr. Samenow watched this episode after being notified that his study was featured. He had never seen the series before. In an interview, he stated that he disagreed with Dr. Kupferberg's interpretation of his study and with the way Dr. Melfi ended her professional relationship with Tony. [cite web|url=http://www.chroniclejournal.com/CP_stories.php?id=48238 |title= Author of 1976 study of criminals surprised to find it featured in 'Sopranos'|author=Branswell, Helen|publisher="The Vancouver Sun"|date=2007-06-09|accessdate=2007-06-13] Other psychoanalysts have stated similar opinions in reaction to the episode. [cite web|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/entertainment/tvradio/20070606-0522-tv-sopranos-therapy.html|title= What's up with Dr. Melfi? Real-life therapists scratch heads over latest 'Sopranos' move|publisher=Associated Press|author=Noveck, Jocelyn|date=2007-06-06|accessdate=2007-06-13]

References to the real mafia

* Phil's complaints about the inattention to induction rituals closely mirror those the New York-based mafia commission made about the Jersey-based Decavalcante family.
*Paulie references a war in the 1970s involving the Colombo crime family.

Production

* When Paulie is speaking while on the main floor of the hideout, a cardboard cutout of Silvio is visible in the corner. One of the show's writers said that the hideout is a place where odds and ends, such as this promotional cutout from the Bada Bing, are stored.cite web
url=http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/second_opinion_the_blue_comet.html
title=Second opinion: The Blue Comet
last=Sepinwall
first=Alan
publisher="The Star-Ledger"
date=2007-06-05
accessdate=2008-09-17]

*Additional scenes involving Burt Gervasi and Silvio Dante were shot but cut from the episode.cite video
people=Van Zandt, Steven; Nascarella, Arthur
year=2007
title="The Blue Comet" commentary track
medium=DVD
publisher=HBO]

Music

* The instrumental piece played over the end credits is "Running Wild" by Tindersticks.
* "When The Music's Over" by The Doors is played in a scene at the Bada Bing.
* When Tony and Sil begin boxing in slow motion, it is because Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana intermezzo" (from the "Raging Bull" opening titles) is playing in the restaurant.

Reception

Ratings

When first aired in the United States on HBO on Sunday 4 June 2007, the penultimate "Sopranos" episode attracted an average of eight million viewers. Only the series finale, which drew 11.9 million viewers, received better ratings that season.cite web
url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-starterwifearmywivesratings,0,998623.story
title=Big Ratings for 'Wife,' 'Wives'
publisher= [http://www.zap2it.com/ zap2it.com]
date=2007-06-05
accessdate=2008-03-08] cite web
url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-sopranosfinaleratings,0,4265982.story
title='Sopranos' Body Count: 11.9 Million
publisher= [http://www.zap2it.com zap2it.com]
date=2007-06-12
accessdate=2008-03-08]

Critical response

The critical reception of "The Blue Comet" was very favorable. Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" wrote that " [The] second-to-last episode was certainly a classic" and praised it for its suspenseful storytelling.cite web
url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/06/the_end_is_near.html#more
title=The end is near for Tony Soprano and his crew
last=Ryan
first=Maureen
publisher="Chicago Tribune"
date=2007-06-04
accessdate=2008-03-08] Matt Roush of "TV Guide" gave the episode a favorable review, writing "It was a sensational way to get us primed for Sunday's series finale."cite web
url=http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Roush-Dispatch/Sopranos/800016375
title=It's Almost Over for The Sopranos
last=Roush
first=Matt
publisher="TV Guide"
date=2007-06-04
accessdate=2008-03-09] Brian Tallerico of UGO called the episode "mind-blowing" and "intense" and gave it an "A".cite web
url=http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=17364
title=Sopranos Column - Episode 6.20: "The Blue Comet"
last=Tallerico
first=Brian
publisher=UGO
accessdate=2008-03-08] Tom Biro of television webblog TV Squad was impressed with the episode and awarded it the highest score of "7".cite web
url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/04/09/the-sopranos-soprano-home-movies-mid-season-premiere/
title=The Sopranos: Soprano Home Movies (midseason premiere)
last=Biro
first=Tom
publisher=TV Squad
date=2007-04-09
accessdate=2008-02-20] Alan Sepinwall of "The Star Ledger" called "The Blue Comet" "a superb, scary, thrilling episode."cite web
url=http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/sopranos_rewind_the_blue_comet.html
title=Sopranos Rewind: The Blue Comet
last=Sepinwall
first=Alan
publisher="The Star-Ledger"
date=2007-06-04
accessdate=2008-03-08] Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote "Every moment in this bloody, bullet-riddled penultimate episode is about regular, familiar old ways that have now gone terribly, irreversibly awry. [...] In the last hours of this epic drama, every detail glitters with bitter meaning".cite web
url=http://www.ew.com/ew/allabout/episodes/0,,20000023_20041259,00.html
title=The Sopranos - The Blue Comet
last=Schwarzbaum
first=Lisa
publisher="Entertainment Weekly"
accessdate=2008-03-08] Brian Zoromski of IGN awarded the episode a score of 9.1 out of 10, writing "Overall, 'The Blue Comet' was a very well done, sometimes shocking, build-up to next week's series finale."cite web
url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/794/794050p1.html
title=The Sopranos: "The Blue Comet" Review
last=Zoromski
first=Brian
publisher=IGN
date=2007-06-04
accessdate=2008-03-08]

Awards

In 2007, Lorraine Bracco was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance in "The Blue Comet" but did not win. Bracco had previously been nominated three times in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series."cite web
url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2007/07/finally-your-of.html
title=Finally! Your official Emmy episode cheat sheet!
last=O'Neal
first=Tom
publisher="The Los Angeles Times"
date=2007-07-24
accessdate=2008-03-08] In 2008, sound mixers Mathew Price, Kevin Burns, and Todd Orr were nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television."cite web
url=http://www.cinemaaudiosociety.org/casawards/cas2008nominees.php
title=2008 CAS Award Winners and Nominees - Cinema Audio Society
publisher=Cinema Audio Society
date=2008
accessdate=2008-03-08]

References

External links

* [http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/ HBO.com — "The Sopranos" official website]
*imdb title|0141842|The Sopranos
*imdb title|0995838|"The Blue Comet"
* [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/the-sopranos/recaps.php Television Without Pity – "The Sopranos" recaps]
* [http://www.the-sopranos.com/ "The Sopranos" — Family Values]