| "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request..." | |
|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Steve Buscemi |
| Written by | Terence Winter |
| Cinematography by | Phil Abraham |
| Production code | 605 |
| Original air date | April 9, 2006 |
| Running time | 52 minutes |
"Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request..." is the 70th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the fifth of the show's sixth season. Written by Terence Winter and directed by Steve Buscemi, it originally aired on April 9, 2006. On its debut, the episode was the most-watched show of the week on U.S. cable TV.
* = credit only
A judge decides Junior's mental condition has deteriorated to the level where he can be held in a private psychiatric facility while awaiting his retrial. Tony does not want to see or hear of his uncle again. Carmela quickly fetches a newspaper with a report about Junior's "cushy psych lockup" and throws that section in the trash before Tony can see it.
At the Bada Bing, Ahmed and Muhammad ask Chris about getting some Tec-9 semi-automatic weapons for their "family troubles." Dealing with a phone call, Chris does not answer.
Johnny is granted a six-hour strictly controlled release from prison in order to attend his daughter Allegra's wedding, all extra security expenses to be borne by him. At the wedding, Tony collapses bending down to remove his shoes at the request of U.S. Marshals. During the reception, he talks to Johnny for the first time since his arrest. Through Phil, Tony has received Johnny's request to take care of killing New York capo Rusty Millio who, Johnny fears, may trigger another power struggle within the Lupertazzi family; Tony has refused. As a personal favor, Johnny himself asks Tony to do it. Watched by U.S. Marshals, they join Johnny's aged relatives, either deaf or senile, at a large table and, pretending to speak to them, discuss the situation obliquely. Tony reluctantly agrees. Shortly after, he suggests to Christopher that a contact from Italy should be brought in to kill Rusty and leave the country the same day.
Johnny's happiness at the wedding is cut short when the Marshals tell him his time is up. He cries in front of the guests as Marshals haul him away; his wife Ginny faints. Led by Phil, the Lupertazzis and Tony's crew speak of their loss of respect for Johnny. Only Tony stands up for him.
At home later that night, Vito tells his wife he is heading out to make collections, but instead goes to a gay club. Dancing in leather fetish garb, he is spotted by two New York associates making collections. Although Vito tries to pass it off as a joke, they call him a "fag" and leave. Vito collects a gun and some cash from home and checks into a motel. After an exploratory phone call to Silvio, he makes no further contact with anyone and does not return calls from Tony.
Tony returns to work with a new bodyguard and driver, Perry Annunziata, a muscular, hot-headed young man. Tony shows his scar to his crew and begins to bore them describing his medical procedures. He tells Dr. Melfi that they are giving him "certain looks" and are beginning to question his judgment. She advises him to "act as if you are not feeling vulnerable." Tony asserts himself through an act of unpredictable violence: finding a pretext, he starts a one-sided fight with Perry that ends with Perry bleeding on the floor and Tony walking away, seemingly unscathed. However, when he retreats to the bathroom he vomits blood. Leaning on the bathroom sink, he looks at himself in the mirror and smiles. Then he vomits again.
This episode led the Nielsen U.S. cable ratings for the week of April 3 to 9 with 8.58 million viewers and a 5.1 rating.[1] This was the fourth straight episode of the season with declining viewership.[2]
Television Without Pity graded the episode with an A-.[3]: 1 Its review concluded: "Like Vito, Tony's façade and secret life have disappeared to a much greater extent than ever before."[3]: 9
For The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall found the scene of Vito at the gay bar to be "cheap and over-the-top" while praising the overall plot and character development of Tony: "Though he's physically weakened, the people around him seem to be changing more than he is."[4]
