Columbus Day ignites tensions between Italians and Native Americans, and Bobby receives devastating news about his wife.Columbus Day ignites tensions between Italians and Native Americans, and Bobby receives devastating news about his wife.Columbus Day ignites tensions between Italians and Native Americans, and Bobby receives devastating news about his wife.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
- Meadow Soprano
- (credit only)
Steve Schirripa
- Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri
- (as Steven R. Schirripa)
Kathrine Narducci
- Charmaine Bucco
- (as Katherine Narducci)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRalphie's accusations about Iron Eyes Cody are true. Cody was actually a man of Sicilian descent named Espera DeCorti.
- GoofsFurio, as an Italian, would refer to "Columbus" as "Colombo".
- Quotes
Anthony 'A.J.' Soprano Jr.: [Anthony Jr. tries to convince his father that Christopher Columbus was a slave trader] It's in my history book.
Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr.: So, you finally read a book, and it's bullshit.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2003)
Featured review
Those Italians, huh?
During its first season, in the beautiful The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti, The Sopranos dealt head-on with criticisms raised at it for conveying negative stereotypes, the fun of the show being that it was the mobsters themselves who chastised Hollywood's depiction of Italians. The theme resurfaces 38 episodes later, in the aptly titled Christopher.
Wait, forget that last part: the title has nothing to do with Chris Moltisanti, despite the fact Michael Imperioli co-wrote the episode with Laura Marino; it is actually related to Christopher Columbus, who becomes the subject of a heated debate. The controversy rises from Native Americans' decision to boycott Columbus Day celebrations, on account of the famous explorer contributing to genocide when he first came to America. Silvio, however, perceives this as anti-Italian discrimination and enlists Ralph's help to settle things. Speaking of Ralph, he also gets dumped by Janice when she lays her eyes on Bobby "Baccala" (Steven Schirripa), whose wife has died in a car accident, and indirectly upsets Johnny Sack after the latter is told by Paulie what Ralphie said regarding Ginny Sack's ass.
The death subplot notwithstanding, Christopher is one of the funniest stories in the show's run, although the humor stays pitch-black as usual: just like in the aforementioned Season One episode, the writers' way of satirizing Italian-American culture is priceless, especially when Ralph tells the protesters the most famous Native American actor of all time was actually a "ghinzo". The best bit, though, occurs when they manage to throw in a stab at the tensions between Italians themselves: as Furio points out, those from the North of Italy, like Columbus, have always looked down on those from the South, treating them like peasants ("terroni" is the word they use in the mother tongue). Bottom line: don't insult these guys; they're already too busy bad-mouthing each other.
Wait, forget that last part: the title has nothing to do with Chris Moltisanti, despite the fact Michael Imperioli co-wrote the episode with Laura Marino; it is actually related to Christopher Columbus, who becomes the subject of a heated debate. The controversy rises from Native Americans' decision to boycott Columbus Day celebrations, on account of the famous explorer contributing to genocide when he first came to America. Silvio, however, perceives this as anti-Italian discrimination and enlists Ralph's help to settle things. Speaking of Ralph, he also gets dumped by Janice when she lays her eyes on Bobby "Baccala" (Steven Schirripa), whose wife has died in a car accident, and indirectly upsets Johnny Sack after the latter is told by Paulie what Ralphie said regarding Ginny Sack's ass.
The death subplot notwithstanding, Christopher is one of the funniest stories in the show's run, although the humor stays pitch-black as usual: just like in the aforementioned Season One episode, the writers' way of satirizing Italian-American culture is priceless, especially when Ralph tells the protesters the most famous Native American actor of all time was actually a "ghinzo". The best bit, though, occurs when they manage to throw in a stab at the tensions between Italians themselves: as Furio points out, those from the North of Italy, like Columbus, have always looked down on those from the South, treating them like peasants ("terroni" is the word they use in the mother tongue). Bottom line: don't insult these guys; they're already too busy bad-mouthing each other.
helpful•4512
- MaxBorg89
- May 6, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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