Pine Barrens (6 May 2001)

While Silvio has the flu, Chris and Paulie run his collections for him, which results in the pair getting lost in the woods and nearly freezing to death.

Director:

Steve Buscemi

Writers:

David Chase (creator), Terence Winter (teleplay),

Stars:

James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco

Cast

Episode credited cast:
James Gandolfini	...	Tony Soprano
Lorraine Bracco	...	Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Edie Falco	...	Carmela Soprano
Michael Imperioli	...	Christopher Moltisanti
Dominic Chianese	...	Junior Soprano
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 (credit only)
Aida Turturro	...	Janice Soprano (credit only)
Steve Schirripa	...	Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri (as Steven R. Schirripa)
Jason Cerbone	...	Jackie Aprile Jr.
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Aldredge	...	Hugh DeAngelis
Vitali Baganov	...	Valery

Storyline

Christopher and Paulie are out making collections but things get out of hand and they soon have a body to dispose of. They decide to dispose of it in Pine Barrens in South Jersey. They get to the woods only to find that their victim is still alive. He manages to run off on them and in the pursuit, Christopher and Paulie get themselves lost. As darkness falls, the cold takes over, and it's particularly hard on Paulie who has lost one of his shoes. They take refuge in an abandoned truck but have no choice but to call Tony and ask him to rescue them. Tony is still seeing Gloria Trillo, usually at lunch time. He decides to come clean and tell Dr. Melfi that he's seeing another of her patients. Gloria is something of a Jekyll and Hyde however with wide mood swings. Melfi asks Tony if Gloria's behavior reminds him of anyone. When Jackie Jr. fails to call her, Meadow is certain he is cheating on her. She sets out to find out what he's up to.

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Plot Keywords:

pine barrens | gangster | lost in the forest | classic episode | forest | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 2001 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brad Grey Television, Chase Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steve Buscemi has said on the commentary for the DVD that he was the one who threw the steak at Tony's head.

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Goofs

When Chris and Paulie open the trunk with the Russian inside, Chris mentions that he chewed through the tape. Why would they put tape on his mouth if they thought they had killed him. When they are walking through the woods with the Russian at gun point you can see that the Russian is wearing snow boots. Why would he be sitting in his own home in pajamas with boots on. Obviously the actor put the boots on so he could comfortably walk through the snow.

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Quotes

[Paulie is getting a manicure]
Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri: [to manicurist] Let's go with the satin finish.

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Connections

References Thirteen Days (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Coffee & TV"
Written by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree
Performed by Blur

User Reviews

Best episode of Season 3

As an actor, Steve Buscemi has a thing for playing acerbic, tastily verbose misfits or weirdos - Exhibit A: his collaborations with Tarantino and the Coen Brothers. And though I'm not familiar with his work as a feature film director, I'd guess he applies the same sensibility behind the camera, judging from the four episodes of The Sopranos he directed in Seasons 3-6: the typically black humor that characterizes the show reaches its culmen of darkness, pushing the absurdity button like never before. The best example of this is his first contribution to the show, the delightfully quirky Pine Barrens.

The title is taken from a wood just outside New Jersey, where Paulie and Christopher plan to bury a Russian hood who caused them trouble while they were collecting money on behalf of a flu-stricken Silvio. Things don't really go as imagined: the Russian isn't dead when they arrive, so he runs away in the middle of the woods. As Chris and Paulie pursue him, they get lost and must seek shelter in an abandoned truck, since staying out in the open during the night would most likely kill them (it's freezing cold). Back at home, on the other hand, Tony gets to experience Gloria's darker side after a jealous Irina calls him during a date, and Meadow's romance with Jackie Jr. comes to a painful end.

That last plot batch is handled with a lot of care, the result being a poignant closure to one of the season's predominant sub-stories. Elsewhere, however, Buscemi isn't as mannered; on the contrary, he exploits the surreal nature of ongoing events to deliver what can only be described as the darkest of comedies. The Tony-Gloria thing, for one, climaxes in a wonderfully crazy sequence that deserves to be cherished as one of the show's most memorable. But what really sets Pine Barrens apart from all other episodes is the central section: the prospect of watching two beloved characters freeze to death in the middle of nowhere should be downright terrifying, but the atmosphere created by the director and the profanely witty conversations between Sirico (at his best) and Imperioli have the opposite effect, inducing hysterical laughter instead of angst.

Quite simply a wonderful 50 minutes. The finest of the entire season.