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The Fleshy Part of the Thigh (The Sopranos episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Fleshy Part of the Thigh" is the sixty-ninth episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos
and the fourth of the show's sixth season. The episode was written by Diane Frolov
and Andrew Schneider
, directed by Alan Taylor
and originally aired on April 2, 2006.
has surgery to close the opening in his abdomen. With his condition improved, the insurance company representative wants to send Tony home as soon as possible. Before leaving, Tony interacts with two patients on his floor, John Schwinn, a former Bell Labs
scientist, and Da Lux, a rapper.
Da Lux expresses admiration for Tony, referring to him as an "Original G" (meaning "gangster"), though Tony is dismissive of it. Like Tony, he is hospitalized for gunshot wounds, injuries that many of his followers and colleagues believe will help his career by providing him "street cred". Bobby Baccalieri
proposes an idea to Marvin, one of the other rappers visiting the hospital: Bobby will help jump start Marvin's career by shooting him in the "fleshy part" of the thigh
. Marvin agrees, but later when the rapper doesn't come up with the entire fee for the "hit" Bobby instead shoots Marvin in the buttocks
.
Paulie Gualtieri
visits his dying Aunt Dottie, who informs him that she is actually his mother. Apparently she was helping the USO during "the war" and hooked up with a soldier named Russ. Because she was a nun and did not want to shame her family, she had her sister raise Paulie as if he were her son. Devastated by the news and questioning his own identity, Paulie struggles to remain focused at work. He confronts Nucci, the woman who raised him, and tells her he will no longer support her financially, and furthermore wants nothing more to do with her.
While watching a prize fight on satellite TV with Tony and Da Lux in Da Lux's hospital room, and when Paulie moans about how alone we all are, Schwinn discusses the interconnectivity
of all life, telling them how no event or entity can be understood independent from the rest of the world (referencing the work of Erwin Schrödinger
) (see Quantum mysticism
). Schwinn has ideas that are at odds with the beliefs of Pastor Bob, an Evangelical
Christian minister who visits Tony. Da Lux agrees with Schwinn: "everything is everything, I'm down with that." Later, Tony confides to Schwinn he's starting to believe we're all part of something bigger. Schwinn, who was originally in the hospital for sinus enlargement, found out that he had laryngeal cancer, which led to the removal of his larynx
, shortly before Tony checked out of the hospital.
Following Dick Barone's death, his son Jason takes over ownership of Barone Sanitation (for which Tony is a paid consultant), and tries to sell the company without first getting approval from Tony. After Tony, Paulie and Patsy Parisi make it clear that it will not be in his best interests to proceed with the sale, Jason discovers he is too far along in the process to back out. The company trying to buy Barone's routes is associated with Johnny Sack
. After a violent encounter between two garbage crews trying to work the same route, and after some negotiation, Tony agrees to terms with Sack (with Phil Leotardo working as intermediary) and allows the sale to go through. "Truth be told, there's enough garbage for everybody," Tony tells Phil. Tony also acquiesces to Jason's mother, who begs Tony to make sure no harm comes to her son. The pleading of a mother for her son drives Paulie to leave the hospital room in tears. As Tony is leaving the hospital, he again avoids confrontation by allowing an EMT
worker to keep money Tony originally claimed was taken from his wallet the night his uncle Junior
shot him.
Upon his release from the hospital, and after a few moments of observing the bustle of life outside while in a wheelchair, Tony observes, "from now on, every day is a gift." At the docks, Paulie viciously beats Jason, warning him not to say a word to Tony as he brandishes his gun. Paulie demands from Jason a monthly cut equal to the cost of Nucci's retirement home expenses.
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 fourth of the show's sixth season. The episode was written by Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov is an American television writer and producer. She has written for several television shows, including The Sopranos and Northern Exposure. She frequently co-writes episodes with her husband, Andrew Schneider.-Career:...
and Andrew Schneider
Andrew Schneider
Andrew Schneider is an American screenwriter and television producer, whose credits include writing for The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, and Alien Nation. He frequently co-writes episodes with his wife, Diane Frolov. In 1992 Schneider won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama...
, directed by Alan Taylor
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
and originally aired on April 2, 2006.
Guest starring
- Jerry AdlerJerry AdlerJerry Adler is an American theatre director, production supervisor and a television and film actor.Adler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Pauline and Philip Adler, who was a general manager of the Group Theatre...
as Hesh Rabkin - 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 - 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 - John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia as Albie Cianflone
- Chris DiamantopoulosChris Diamantopoulos-Early Life:Diamantopoulos was born in Toronto, Canada and he attended East York Collegiate Institute. He is of Greek descent.-Career:He portrayed Robin Williams in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Mork & Mindy', a television movie about the behind-the-scenes drama during the making of...
as Jason Barone - Frances Ensemplare as Nucci Gualtieri
- Hal HolbrookHal HolbrookHarold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
as John Schwinn - Lord JamarLord JamarLord Jamar is an American emcee and actor. He is a member of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian, which formed in 1989. As an actor, he is best known for his role of Supreme Allah on the TV series Oz. He has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, and The Sopranos...
as Da Lux - Will JanowitzWill JanowitzWill Janowitz is an American film, television and stage actor as well as writer. He is first generation American with his mother having been born in the Czech Republic and his father Berlin, Germany.- Biography :...
as Finn DeTrolio - Turk PipkinTurk PipkinTurk Pipkin is the co-founder of The Nobelity Project, an education and action non-profit which seeks to find solutions to many pressing global problems, and which advocates for basic rights for children everywhere...
as Aaron Arkaway - Anthony "Treach" CrissTreachAnthony Criss , better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.-Career:...
as Marvin - MuMs da SchemerMuMs da SchemermuMs da Schemer is a poet and actor best known for his role as Arnold "Poet" Jackson on the HBO series Oz....
as Mop - 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 - Rob Devaney as Pastor Bob Brewster
Episode recap
Tony SopranoTony 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...
has surgery to close the opening in his abdomen. With his condition improved, the insurance company representative wants to send Tony home as soon as possible. Before leaving, Tony interacts with two patients on his floor, John Schwinn, a former Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
scientist, and Da Lux, a rapper.
Da Lux expresses admiration for Tony, referring to him as an "Original G" (meaning "gangster"), though Tony is dismissive of it. Like Tony, he is hospitalized for gunshot wounds, injuries that many of his followers and colleagues believe will help his career by providing him "street cred". 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...
proposes an idea to Marvin, one of the other rappers visiting the hospital: Bobby will help jump start Marvin's career by shooting him in the "fleshy part" of the thigh
Thigh
In humans the thigh is the area between the pelvis and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb.The single bone in the thigh is called the femur...
. Marvin agrees, but later when the rapper doesn't come up with the entire fee for the "hit" Bobby instead shoots Marvin in the buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
.
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:...
visits his dying Aunt Dottie, who informs him that she is actually his mother. Apparently she was helping the USO during "the war" and hooked up with a soldier named Russ. Because she was a nun and did not want to shame her family, she had her sister raise Paulie as if he were her son. Devastated by the news and questioning his own identity, Paulie struggles to remain focused at work. He confronts Nucci, the woman who raised him, and tells her he will no longer support her financially, and furthermore wants nothing more to do with her.
While watching a prize fight on satellite TV with Tony and Da Lux in Da Lux's hospital room, and when Paulie moans about how alone we all are, Schwinn discusses the interconnectivity
Interconnectivity
Interconnectivity is a concept that is used in numerous fields such as cybernetics, biology, ecology, network theory, and non-linear dynamics. The concept can be summarized as that all parts of a system interact with and rely on one another simply by the fact that they occupy the same system, and...
of all life, telling them how no event or entity can be understood independent from the rest of the world (referencing the work of Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
) (see Quantum mysticism
Quantum mysticism
Quantum mysticism is a term that has been used to refer to a set of metaphysical beliefs and associated practices that seek to relate consciousness, intelligence or mystical world-views to the ideas of quantum mechanics and its interpretations...
). Schwinn has ideas that are at odds with the beliefs of Pastor Bob, an Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian minister who visits Tony. Da Lux agrees with Schwinn: "everything is everything, I'm down with that." Later, Tony confides to Schwinn he's starting to believe we're all part of something bigger. Schwinn, who was originally in the hospital for sinus enlargement, found out that he had laryngeal cancer, which led to the removal of his larynx
Larynx
The larynx , commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume...
, shortly before Tony checked out of the hospital.
Following Dick Barone's death, his son Jason takes over ownership of Barone Sanitation (for which Tony is a paid consultant), and tries to sell the company without first getting approval from Tony. After Tony, Paulie and Patsy Parisi make it clear that it will not be in his best interests to proceed with the sale, Jason discovers he is too far along in the process to back out. The company trying to buy Barone's routes is associated with Johnny Sack
Johnny Sack
John "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, played by Vince Curatola, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family...
. After a violent encounter between two garbage crews trying to work the same route, and after some negotiation, Tony agrees to terms with Sack (with Phil Leotardo working as intermediary) and allows the sale to go through. "Truth be told, there's enough garbage for everybody," Tony tells Phil. Tony also acquiesces to Jason's mother, who begs Tony to make sure no harm comes to her son. The pleading of a mother for her son drives Paulie to leave the hospital room in tears. As Tony is leaving the hospital, he again avoids confrontation by allowing an EMT
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
worker to keep money Tony originally claimed was taken from his wallet the night his uncle 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...
shot him.
Upon his release from the hospital, and after a few moments of observing the bustle of life outside while in a wheelchair, Tony observes, "from now on, every day is a gift." At the docks, Paulie viciously beats Jason, warning him not to say a word to Tony as he brandishes his gun. Paulie demands from Jason a monthly cut equal to the cost of Nucci's retirement home expenses.
First appearances
- Albie Cianflone: Soldier (later Consigliere) in Phil Leotardo's crew.
Title reference
When discussing ways to increase a rapper's popularity, Bobby proposes delivering to him a relatively benign gunshot wound to "the fleshy part of the thigh". Further, when Paulie approaches Aunt Dottie from the foot of her death-bed, he attempts to cover her with a blanket, which she immediately pulls back away. Paulie is apparently disturbed by the view of her uncovered lower limbs.Music
- The song playing during the end credits is a condensed version of "One of These Days" by Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. - The song that plays as Jason Barone is rowboating is the first verse of "The Three BellsThe Three Bells"The Three Bells", also known as "Jimmy Brown" or "Little Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by The Browns in 1959. The single reached number one on the U.S. country and pop charts,. outperforming a competing version by Dick Flood. The version by The Browns also hit number ten on the Hot R&B...
" by The BrownsThe BrownsThe Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also...
. The song would be used again in the next episode, "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request...". - The song that Tony plays on the stereo under his meeting with Phil is "Foreplay/Long TimeForeplay/Long Time"Foreplay/Long Time" is a song by the rock band Boston, released on the band's eponymous debut album, and as their second single, on Epic Records in 1976. It combines an instrumental introduction, "Foreplay", to the main song "Long Time", generally played as one on the radio and listed as one track...
" by BostonBoston (band)Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...
. - During the scene in the hospital as Tony and Paulie watch the fight, Schwinn makes a comment of everything being related to which DeLux responds "Everything is everything, I can dig that." The actor playing Delux is Lord JamarLord JamarLord Jamar is an American emcee and actor. He is a member of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian, which formed in 1989. As an actor, he is best known for his role of Supreme Allah on the TV series Oz. He has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, and The Sopranos...
from the rap outfit Brand NubianBrand NubianBrand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, consisting of three MC's: Grand Puba , Sadat X and Lord Jamar , and two DJs: DJ Alamo and DJ Sincere...
. Brand Nubian's third album is titled Everything Is Everything.