Live Free or Die (The Sopranos)

Last updated
"Live Free or Die"
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 6
Directed by Tim Van Patten
Written by David Chase
Terence Winter
Robin Green
Mitchell Burgess
Cinematography by Alik Sakharov
Production code606
Original air dateApril 16, 2006 (2006-04-16)
Running time55 minutes
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request..."
Next 
"Luxury Lounge"
The Sopranos season 6
List of episodes

"Live Free or Die" is the 71st episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the sixth of the show's sixth season. Written by David Chase, Terence Winter, Robin Green, and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on April 16, 2006.

Contents

Starring

* = credit only

Guest starring

Synopsis

Christopher reports to Tony and his crew that Vito has been spotted in a gay club. Meadow reveals to Carmela that Finn witnessed Vito performing oral sex on a security guard. As a result, Finn is taken by Tony to the back room of Satriale's where, very frightened, he is made to repeat the story for the crew. The main reaction is disgust and anger; Carlo says they should "put him down for the honor of the family." Tony, despite everything, is hesitant to kill Vito. As he tells Dr. Melfi, he abhors homosexuality, and is “a strict Catholic”; but he doesn’t mind what happens between consenting adults, and he cares about Vito as a friend and an earner. "I had a second chance,” he says. “Why shouldn't he?"

Benny, Dante Greco and Terry Doria visit Vito and his mistress at a beach house on the Jersey Shore, where he's been lying low. They try to escort him to see Tony, but he speeds away. Vito returns home later that night, kisses his sleeping children, packs some keepsakes, necessities, and cash, and drives off into a stormy night. After his car hits a downed tree branch, he proceeds on foot and finds himself stranded in a small town in New Hampshire. Exhausted, he checks into an inn. Vito has cousins in New Hampshire but cannot find them. He stays in the pleasant town, comfortable in its friendly, open-minded ambiance.

Meadow starts an internship at a law firm handling white collar crimes, although she is also working as a volunteer in a law center. In an argumentative conversation with Finn, she contrasts the soft treatment of white-collar criminals with the harsh treatment of others, for example, the humiliation of Johnny at his daughter's wedding. Finn challenges her values and notes her hypocrisy: Tony's crew is going to punish Vito for his sexual orientation. Meadow storms out.

Carmela is still pressuring Tony to get permission from the building inspector to move forward with her spec house, which he seems to keep forgetting. She is appalled to find that Hugh has been selling materials salvaged from the construction site. Carmela also discovers that Angie Bonpensiero has secretly branched out into business with members of the crime family, putting money up for street loans and buying stolen car parts.

Tony informs Chris that two Italian hitmen will be sent over to the U.S. to kill Rusty, and tells him to hire a "third party" to equip them with weapons and act as an intermediary between the assassins and the Soprano family. Chris gives the task to Corky Caporale, a Soprano family associate who speaks Italian, and pays him in heroin.

First appearances

Title reference

Production

Night Club scene filmed at Big Al's Redzone in Queens.

Other cultural references

Music

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References

  1. Martin, Brett (2007-10-30). "Welcome to New Jersey: A Sense of Place". The Sopranos: The Complete Book. New York: Time. p. 32. ISBN   978-1-933821-18-4.