From Where to Eternity (12 Mar. 2000)

Chris awakens from his coma with a message for Tony and Paulie. Carmela, meanwhile, wants Tony to take a cut.

Director:

Henry Bronchtein

Writers:

David Chase (creator), Michael Imperioli

Stars:

James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
James Gandolfini	...	Tony Soprano
Lorraine Bracco	...	Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Edie Falco	...	Carmela Soprano
Michael Imperioli	...	Christopher Moltisanti
Dominic Chianese	...	Junior Soprano (credit only)
Vincent Pastore	...	Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero
Steven Van Zandt	...	Silvio Dante
Tony Sirico	...	Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri
Robert Iler	...	A.J. Soprano
Jamie-Lynn Sigler	...	Meadow Soprano
Drea de Matteo	...	Adriana La Cerva
David Proval	...	Richie Aprile
Lillo Brancato	...	Matt Bevilaqua (as Lillo Brancato Jr.)
Aida Turturro	...	Janice Soprano
Nancy Marchand	...	Livia Soprano (credit only)

Storyline

Christopher is in hospital after the shooting but goes into cardiac arrest and must undergo emergency surgery. The surgery goes well but the doctor admits that Christopher was clinically dead for about one minute. When he awakens from his surgery, Christopher believes he had a out of body experience and saw his father and uncle playing cards in hell. They tell him that's where he's headed, and when he awakens he's convinced he's going to hell. After Carmella hears that another gangster's girlfriend gave birth, she decides Tony should have vasectomy. Pussy tells his FBI contact that he thinks Tony is onto him so he sets out to find the man who shot Christopher in the hopes that it will bring them closer together

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Plot Keywords:

gangster

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 2000 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Silvercup Studios - 4222 22nd Street, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brad Grey Television, Chase Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though usually the show performs just diegetic musics and songs, in this episode there's a massive use of Otis Redding's "My Lover's Prayer" as a non-diegetic theme.

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Quotes

Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr.: Excuse me, let me tell you something... When America opened up the floodgates and let all us Italians in, what do you think they were doing it for? 'Cause they were trying to save us from poverty? No, they did it because they needed us. They needed us to build their cities and dig their subways, and to make them richer. The Carnegies and The Rockerfellers: they needed worker bees and there we were. But some of us didn't want to swarm around their hive and lose who we were. We wanted to stay ...
[...]

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Connections

References Ghostbusters (1984)

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Soundtracks

"I Saved the World Today"
Written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart
Performed by Eurythmics

User Reviews

Three o'clock

That The Sopranos was more complex than the usual gangster story was clear right off the bat, and its will to explore new, unseen territories for the genre emerged clearly in Season 1, Episode 8, where Christopher (Michael Imperioli) engaged in a dream-based conversation with a guy he'd killed in the pilot. Few people, however, expected an episode like From Where to Eternity, written by Imperioli: a soulful (pun not intended) meditation on the afterlife, blood-riddled climax apart.

The aftermath of the previous episode's shootout sees Christopher struggle for his life, while all those around him swear revenge on who did it: Sean Gismonte died during the assault, but Matt Bevilaqua (Lillo Brancato) is still at large, which angers Chrissy' mom beyond imagination. "When you find him, I want him to suffer." she tells Silvio. "You hear me, Sil? I want that motherf*cker in agony!" The answer? "Don't worry, we'll do the best we can." And oddly enough, that cold comment gets the audience's sympathy, perhaps because Chris has evolved into one of the show's most likable characters, despite his occasional bouts of psychotic rage. On a quieter front, meanwhile, Carmela asks Tony to get a vasectomy, since she is tired of hearing of mobsters whose mistresses give birth to illegitimate children. The boss is naturally angered by the proposition, but doesn't give it much thought as he wants to avenge his nephew and enlists Pussy to help him.

A huge fan of old-school gangster flicks (as shown by his characterization of Christopher), Imperioli provides a clever reinterpretation of the classic revenge theme, using his opportunity in the writer's chair to fuse bloodshed and spirituality in a perfect package of great television. Chris's discussion with Tony and Paulie about the possible out-of-body experience he had while in a coma is one of the serial's most poignant scenes, especially when Paulie tries to comfort his young friend by saying he didn't see Hell, but Purgatory - before jokingly adding he will probably have to spend 6,000 years in that place. Considering the overall darkness of the series, that moment also has an eerily foreboding quality, as confirmed by the grim sequence where Matt receives his comeuppance. Don't let the apparently consolatory epilogue fool you: few shows analyze evil in its purest form with an eye as uncompromising as that of The Sopranos.