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"Whoever Did This"-Episode 48- 11/10/02

Wow! Can you believe it? I NEVER thought it would happen! With all the bad things Ralphie did in the past and got a "pass", who'd have thought he'd get whacked by Tony over a horse? I have to say I never saw it coming. The incredible writing and directing brought memories of the past full circle.

Ralph's son is severely wounded and hospitalized in grave condition after an arrow plunged into his chest while playing with a friend. We see a much different side of Ralph. He appears genuinely grief stricken over his son's condition. He takes comfort from Roe, offers to marry her, donates an annual scholarship fund in JJ's name and seeks help from Fr. Phil. It all seemed to good to be true, but his world was crumbling quickly. Tony tells him he's seeing Valentina (Leslie Bega) so he won't hear it through the "grapevine". Sounds much like the same scenario with the assemblyman and Irena, but the outcome was much different. After being bombarded with so many life changing problems the worst is yet to come!

Tony gets a phone call from the stable owner and learns that Pie-O-My has been burned and put down. When he arrives she tells Tony that the fire appeared to be electrical in nature. In the distance the goat is alive and well and Tony's demeanor changes as he looks up at the dangling, smoldering, electrical box on the ceiling. He stops to take a final look at the horse and then sees it being dragged away wrapped in cloth and chains.

Next we see Tony at Ralph's house. Tony informs him that Pie-O-My was badly burned in a fire at the stable and had to be put down. Anyone would think this would be the last thing the guy could take given all the events over a period of a few days. He seems "upset" but continues with preparing breakfast. Tony believes that Ralph either did this or had it done so he could collect the insurance. The fight ensues, the scene is very long, the knife was drawn, things got out of hand and in the end Ralph took his final breath. Tony took a hit in the eyes with a shot of raid and a good knee to the groin. Cause of death....... blunt trauma to the head. Poll time! Did Tony plan to kill Ralph when he went to his house, or did he become enraged by Ralph's reaction, or did he feel he had no choice but to kill him after Ralph pulled the knife, aside from all the physical bodily damage that had been done? Post your thoughts below! Keep in mind at this point that Tony already told Paulie "hands off" even if he was the one who pranked his mom on the phone. "He's a good earner". Who's going to take the heat for his disappearance? Paulie made his case public and they all know Johnny Sack was out to whack him over the Ginny weight thing.

Tony needs help with the body so he calls Christopher who just finished shooting up. Christopher shows up with a lie, a bag of gloves and a jug of bleach. He sees Ralph on the floor. Tony tells him he found him this way. He claims the blood on his shirt is from trying to move him himself. Like no one could notice the physical damage he sustained during the final show down!.....Tony can tell Christopher is high and starts calling him a junkie. They get their act together, haul Ralph to the bathtub and go about the business of covering up the crime. Tony decides he needs to "disappear", "no body, no murder". To mask body identification they remove the hands and sever the head with a meat cleaver......(pretty gross!, but they should have used a better fake head) Who knew Ralph wore a rug??? The body was wrapped and chained, the head, hands, and rug put in a bowling bag. As dark approaches they go about dumping the body in a river and bury the bag in a field. After cleaning up the mess and dumping the body they go to the bing to clean up. Tony still looks rough, limping, eyes still burning, and wearing clothes he'd generally never be caught in. Christopher is mysteriously missing and we see Tony in the final scene calling for Christopher, opening the door to the bing, and walking into a bright light......... Could there be some hidden meaning here too?

So much symbolism was evident in this episode. Ralph's death scene mimicked Tracy's, with physical unrelenting brute force. Both were acts of rage during a sudden unexplainable lapse in judgment. There is a picture of Tracy hanging at the Bing as if it's offering justification for Tony. There is a tie in to the ducks. Tony was attached to the ducks and the horse in much the same way. Ralph's body was wrapped much like the horse as they dragged it away. Lots of focus on the eyes, the goat, Junior, and Tony (the raid and the bright light at the final shot). There have been a lot of "eyes" focus since season one..... could it have some deep underlying psychological meaning, similar to the hawk at Christopher's initiation? He still brings that up and he thinks it's a curse.

Ralphie leaves us with one good parting laugh. He plays a cruel, but quite humorous joke on Paulie's mother (something to do with a gerbil being stuck where it shouldn't have gotten to begin with :P). He was able to figure out that Paulie is the snitch behind the scenes with Johnny Sack. Hopefully the guys in the crew, seen laughing in the background, are smart enough to pass it on to Tony.

Let's hope Ralphie's passing doesn't do irreversible damage to the workings of the show........ RIP

So what else happened in this episode? Well...........plenty of food for thought!
Junior is still on trial and is seen leaving the court house on a Friday afternoon. He gets hit in the head with some camera equipment and falls on the stairs. The family gathers at the hospital and find out that he was "confused" and may have a concussion, but the Dr. feels he could also be suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's or another organic brain deterioration. He was admitted for closer observation. Scheming minds realize that this may be the perfect way to get the court case dropped "with prejudice". The plan is to get him home with a 24 hour RN (hired through the Russian connection)and allow some testing to see if he is truly capable of continuing with the trial from a mental standpoint. On and off there seems to be some question as to whether he's faking or it's real....... sound familiar??? The family all think he's faking since that's the plan. Junior doesn't want to look like a fool for the rest of his life, but apparently is willing to do it as a tradeoff for jail time. Lot's of shifty looks from the examiners as he bumbles his way through the tests. Whenever Junior is in the episode you have to expect at least one knee slapper. Junior goes out for the paper in his pajamas, the feds are watching, he walks to the neighbor's house(looking confused) and asks for ice cream. Gotta love it! When he comes back in the house he looks confused. Poll time! Who thinks he's faking, and who thinks he is starting to lose that spark? Post your comments below!

The preview for next week, though often misleading, looks like Ralphie's passing will be a focus point again. Ralph was the guy keeping NJ and NY tied together in the Esplanade project. Both sides relied on him heavily. Tony's cash flow will become a problem too. His absence will be noticed very quickly, unlike Richie and Pussy. How close is Christopher being followed by the Feds? They knew about the drug abuse and they know where he goes (more than Ade). This slip could haunt Tony for a long time! Christopher, though he was high, was acting very peculiar and suddenly disappeared.

We've waited a long time for something BIG..... It happened in a BIG way! Joey deserves an Emmy for this episode and it could bring the "Best Drama" Emmy back to the Sopranos in 2003. Does anybody REALLY like "The West Wing" with this kind of drama on TV??? :P

Who's Sorry Now:
The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy

Ralphie's real life story!