Episode no. Season 2Episode 2 Original air date January 23, 2000 | Production code 202 | |
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Written by Robin GreenMitchell BurgessFrank Renzulli | ||
"Do Not Resuscitate" is the fifteenth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the second of the show's second season. It was written by Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess and Frank Renzulli, directed by Martin Bruestle and originally aired on January 23, 2000.
Contents
Starring
* = credit only
Episode recap
Tony Soprano visits Uncle Junior in jail, upset that he wasn't put on the visitors' list for three weeks. Junior tells Tony to be careful what he says as the prison officials record inmates' conversations. Junior tries in vain to convince Tony that Livia had nothing to do with the shooting. Tony won't talk business but asks to meet with Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri, Junior's now highest-ranking soldier. When a meek Bobby meets Tony at Satriale's, Tony tells him that Junior can still "earn" on a "subsistence level" via his shylock businesses and the pipe fitters' union, but everything else he had now belongs to him, though Junior will still hold the official title of boss for any future indictments. Before leaving, Bobby quotes, "to the victor belongs the spoils." Tony angrily tells Bobby to shove his "quotations book up your fat fuckin' ass" and to get out.
The following day, Junior's lawyer, Harold Melvoin, successfully gets Junior out of jail after convincing the judge that Junior has a recurring medical issue. The judge agrees to release Junior but he must remain under house arrest with a position-monitoring bracelet, and on the condition that he can only leave the house for grocery shopping, family functions, and doctor's appointments. During one such doctors appointment at which Tony is present, Junior tells Tony that the owner of the Green Grove Nursing Home, Freddie Capuano, has been discussing Soprano family business with others, saying that "Tony Soprano likes to fluff his mother's pillows" and also implied that he Junior and Livia were having an affair. Tony makes sure Capuano disappears and shortly thereafter, a New Jersey State Trooper finds Capuano's abandoned, idling Cadillac and his toupée on the ground near the Passaic River.
After Pussy has surgery for his back, his "friend" Agent Skip Lipari takes him home. It is revealed that Pussy has been working with the FBI since at least 1998, but it is unknown to what exact extent. Now that informant Jimmy Altieri has been whacked, Skip wants Pussy to step up and "stop being Tony's errand boy." Pussy tries to convince Skip that he is over Tony and that he wants to help the government. However, Pussy continues to lie to Lipari and provides him with mostly false information.
When Tony learns that Massarone Brothers Construction is facing problems due to a lack of African American workers, which is causing anti-union protests, he accepts Jack Massarone's offer to stop the dissent. Tony then sends in several mob associates to successfully break the strike and send the protesters away from the construction site for good. Tony later visits Reverend James, Jr., where it is revealed that he is in on it with Tony. He arranged the protest so that the Soprano crew could break it up and extort Massarone for thousands. The Reverend states "My protesters would kill me if they knew I was lining my pockets with their blood."
In the hospital, Janice Soprano continues to visit Livia, still upset and pitying herself. When Janice asks Meadow what brings Livia joy, Meadow tells her that Livia enjoys old recordings of The DeCastro Sisters and Mario Lanza. Janice then purchases a few of their CD's and a stereo and plays them for Livia, who becomes very emotional and bonds with Janice for the first time in years. Later, Livia begins to choke on a cookie but is quickly attended by a nurse. The nurse then discusses with Janice whether to make Livia a "DNR"—otherwise known as "Do Not Resuscitate"— if she ever enters a comatose state or is kept alive artificially. Janice considers this and talks it over with Tony, who advises her to do whatever she wants and that she can even move into Livia's house if she should choose believing that they deserve each other. A.J. overhears this and asks Livia if "DNR" is the same as "DNA," as he is writing a school paper on the subject. Livia is shocked that her children are discussing this behind her back. The next day, when Janice tells Livia she is ready to go home, Livia says, "Why? So you can 'not resuscitate' me?" she then calls Janice by a different name and tells her she isn't fooled by her for a minute, Janice slyly assures her she just wants to take her home and "take care of her". Later, Livia calls Carmela at home and tells her about her troubled offspring, and promises to leave her remaining wealth to her grandchildren. Carmela warns her to never call the house again. Livia begins to say "if anything should happen to me..." but Carmela hangs up before she can finish her sentence.
That same evening, Junior slips in the shower while shaving and believes that he has fractured something, maybe a hip. Bobby Bacala then frantically calls Tony for help and Tony hurries over to find Junior lying on the couch, soaking wet, in his bathrobe. Tony suggests that they call an ambulance, to which Junior objects. Junior begs Tony not to let him die with such guilt over him and to make peace with his mother, Tony then picks up his uncle in his arms and drives him to the emergency room