Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood

"Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 1
Directed by	Allen Coulter
Written by	David Chase
Cinematography by	Alik Sakharov
Production code	302
Original air date	March 4, 2001
Running time	49 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
see below
Episode chronology

"Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" is the twenty-seventh episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and is the first of the show's third season. It was written by David Chase, directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on March 4, 2001.

Starring

• James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
• Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi *
• Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
• Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
• Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr. *
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
• Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
• Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
• Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano *
• Federico Castelluccio as Furio Giunta

* = credit only

Guest starring

• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Also guest starring

Episode recap

As the episode opens, FBI agents are listening to recorded conversations between FBI informant Big Pussy Bonpensiero and Tony. Agent Skip Lipari and his colleagues agree that Pussy is likely dead; without his court testimony, several of their more promising cases against Tony are now unprosecutable. As the agents discuss the possibility of wiretapping Tony's conversations, Lipari recalls that Tony takes his associates down to his basement to discuss private matters that cannot be discussed away from home, counting on the noise of the vast 6,000-square-foot (560 m²) home's five central air conditioning units to mask any conversation. If the FBI were to obtain a search warrant and plant a listening device in the basement near where Tony's conversations take place, they would be able to maintain a high level of surveillance on the Soprano home. Chief Frank Cubitoso goes to obtain the court order but is warned by the judge not to linger there for too long. The FBI discover a one-hour-and-forty-five-minute period each Tuesday when nobody is home. When the Sopranos leave for their activities on Tuesday and the maid goes to English lessons and a picnic with her husband, the FBI "breaks into" the Soprano home to look around the basement and discover an old reading lamp which could serve as a decoy for a hidden microphone. They take several pictures of the lamp and plan to create an exact replica of it with an embedded listening device, then return the following Tuesday to plant it. However, the FBI's plans are temporarily foiled when the house's 120-gallon water heater explodes and the basement is flooded. The maid discovers the mess and calls Tony and Carmela, who return home (narrowly missing a fleeing undercover FBI van) and gather old relics and boxes before they are destroyed by the water. Tony then calls on his plumber, Mr. Ruggerio to ask him to fix the mess. The following week, after the water heater is fixed and the basement is put back in order, the FBI agents plant the new lamp and quickly leave before the maid returns from lunch.

Meanwhile, Meadow is adjusting to life at Columbia University, where she meets her very energetic but homesick roommate, Caitlin Rucker. A.J. is cutting classes to smoke cigarettes with friends. Carmela begins taking tennis lessons with Adriana La Cerva. She is soon upset when she discovers her coach is moving away (and is married) and has been replaced with a woman who has more of an interest in Adriana.

Tony is still running his crew and is concerned about a possible garbage war involving his company, Barone Sanitation. He then gathers with his friends at Satriale's, where he finds a still-distraught Patsy Parisi mourning over his deceased twin brother (Phillip "Philly Spoons" Parisi) on their birthday. Tony acts as if he does not know what actually happened, but Patsy suspects Tony had something to do with it. The following day, while the FBI watches, a drunken Patsy aims a gun at Tony from his pool patio. However, he then puts the gun down and urinates in the pool instead, none of it seen by Tony. However, some days later, when Tony brings up to Patsy his favorable position in Tony's crew and all the money he has been earning which enables him to provide for his family and then inquisitively quizzes him whether he is still held back by his brothers death, Patsy seems to have settled his mind and pleads his allegiance to Tony.

First appearance

• Caitlin Rucker: Meadow's roommate at her college dormitory.

Title reference

• Mr. Ruggerio is Tony's neighborhood plumber; one of the FBI agents says the Soprano house is in "Mister Ruggerio's Neighborhood."
• Like Tony in this episode, real-life Mafioso Angelo Ruggiero had his house bugged by the FBI, yielding crucial evidence that led to the indictment of John Gotti.
• The title is also a nod to the PBS' children TV series "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". In Italian, Ruggerio and its variant Ruggero are the direct translation of the English name Roger.

Production

• Although this episode aired first in season three, "Proshai, Livushka" was the first to be shot.
• The episode was part one of a two-hour season premiere when it originally aired in 2001.
• Federico Castelluccio (Furio Giunta) is now billed in the opening credits as part of the main cast, but only in episodes in which he appears.
• First episode in which Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) is not billed in the opening credits.
• FBI Codenames for the Sopranos:
  • Tony - Papa Bing / Der Bingle
  • Carmela - Mrs. Bing
  • Meadow - Princess Bing
  • A.J. - Baby Bing
  • The Soprano residence - The Sausage Factory

Music

• The music playing when Tony walks down his drive-way in the first scene is the intro to "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife"' by Alabama 3, who also perform the opening theme song.
• The episode features the "Peter Gunn Theme" (by Henry Mancini) and "Every Breath You Take" (by The Police) mashed up by Kathryn Dayak from HBO. The music is played when the FBI are planting the bug in Tony's house.
• While driving, Tony sings along with Steely Dan's "Dirty Work".
• In the dormitory, when Caitlyn is telling Meadow about the man on the train, "Van Gogh" by Ras Kass is being played in the hallway.
• When Anthony is being picked up for school by his friends, the song heard playing in the car is "Scud Missile" by Ganjah K.
• Tony listens to "Hotel California" by Eagles while exercising at the end of the episode.
• Elvis Costello's "High Fidelity" plays at the very end of the episode, as Tony and Carmela converse in front of the bugged lamp.

External links

• "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" at HBO
• "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" at TV.com