The Sopranos 3.11

Pine Barrens

Tony sends Paulie and Christopher to pick up some money that is owed to Silvio. Paulie gets into an argument with Valery, the guy who owes the money. A fight breaks out and they think that they've killed him. They load the body into the trunk of Paulie's car and head for the Pine Barrens to get rid of the body.

Tony is getting ready for a meeting with Slava, Valery's boss. He asks if they got the money. Tony isn't happy when Paulie tells him what happened and what they are getting ready to do. Tony tells them to make sure that no one ever finds the body.

Paulie and Christopher get down to the Pine Barrens, in South Jersey. They find that Valery is still alive. They untie him and walk him out into the woods at gunpoint. They are going to have him dig his own grave when Valery makes a break for freedom. They shoot at him but only hit him once. Valery keeps running.

Paulie and Christopher lose Valery's trail. They wind up walking around in circles unable to find their way back to the car. The sun sets. Paulie tries calling Tony but the connection is poor and Tony doesn't have any advice for them. They wind up spending the night in the woods in an abandoned van that they find. They spend most of the night arguing.

Tony tells Dr. Melfi what she already suspected, that he is having an extra-marital affair with Gloria Trillo. His relationship with Gloria goes from bad to worse after that. He makes plan to come to her place for dinner but then shows up three hours late. He patches things up with her but then he gets another call from Paulie and decides that he has to leave to help Paulie and Christopher. Gloria doesn't take it well.

Tony and Bobby go looking for Paulie and Christopher. Bobby shows up in hunting gear which gives Tony a good laugh. They get to the Pine Barrens before the sun comes up and eventually find their missing friends. Paulie's car is gone. There is no sign of Valery.

Meadow is sick. Richie tries to comfort her but is more interested in sex than taking care of Meadow. Richie says he will come back the the next night but doesn't. He makes up a story about needing to get the oil in his car changed. One of the other students on Meadow's floor drives her over to Richie's place. They sit in the car until he comes out, with a prostitute.

Tony goes to see Dr. Melfi again. He doesn't know what went wrong with Gloria or why she got so angry. Dr. Melfi's only response is to ask Tony if Gloria and Irina remind him of anyone else.

Thoughts

This episode was directed by Steve Buscemi. It is the first of four episodes of the show he directed. He also shows up in season 5 playing Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto.

Most of this episode is Paulie and Chris stuck in the woods. It's a classic. I forgot about the other two plots. I knew that things were going to go south between Tony and Gloria but I didn't remember how it would happen.

There's humor in this episode, all of it in the scenes involving Paulie and Chris, but on the whole this is a fairly dark episode. Knowing that Valery will not show up again, after he runs off, kills some of the tension but this is still a good episode to watch.

It is an unusual episode in that a healthy portion of the episode takes place in the woods. It is a memorable episode and a well made one but I'm not sure I would classify it as a favorite.