"The Sopranos" The Test Dream (2004)

Director:

Allen Coulter

Writers:

David Chase (creator)
David Chase (written by) ...

TV Series:

"The Sopranos" (1999)

Original Air Date:

16 May 2004 (Season 5, Episode 11)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Cousin Tony heads off to avenge the death of his good friend, while a dream reveals to Tony what he must do to prevent a full-scale war.

Plot Keywords:

Actress Playing Herself | Gangster | Psychiatrist | New Jersey | Mafia

Cast

James Gandolfini	...	Tony Soprano
Lorraine Bracco	...	Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Edie Falco	...	Carmela Soprano
Michael Imperioli	...	Christopher Moltisanti
Dominic Chianese	...	Junior Soprano (credit only)
Steve Van Zandt	...	Silvio Dante (voice) (as Steven Van Zandt)
Tony Sirico	...	Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri
Robert Iler	...	A.J. Soprano
Jamie-Lynn Sigler	...	Meadow Soprano (as Jamie-Lynn DiScala)
Drea de Matteo	...	Adriana La Cerva (credit only)
Aida Turturro	...	Janice Soprano (credit only)
Steve Schirripa	...	Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri (credit only) (as Steven R. Schirripa)
John Ventimiglia	...	Artie Bucco
Kathrine Narducci	...	Charmaine Bucco (as Katherine Narducci)
Vincent Pastore	...	Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Brad Grey Television

Trivia:

Phil Leotardo, played by Frank Vincent, kills Angelo Garepe in the trunk of his car, while Angelo is begging for mercy. Vincent's character in Goodfellas (1990) was killed in the same way.

Quotes:

Annette Bening: There is something "Bugsy" about him.

Movie Connections:

Features Chinatown (1974)

Soundtrack:

Three Times a Lady

The finale - part 1

The Test Dream is beautiful, mysterious, entrancing, filled with hidden meanings. It's one of the best Sopranos episodes ever, and constitutes the first third of Season Five's finale.

The whole fifth series dealt with the return of two ex-cons, Tony's cousin Tony Blundetto (Steve Buscemi) and Johnny Sack's henchman Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), and it is these two figures who determine most of the actions in these three concluding episodes. The story starts with Phil brutally murdering a friend of Blundetto's as retribution for what the latter did to his brother (juicy detail for Scorsese fans: the guy Phil kills dies in the exact same way Vincent did in Goodfellas). Upon receiving the news, Tony tries to contact his cousin, but in vain: Tony B. is nowhere to be found, hiding away from everyone in his quest for revenge.

But that's merely the prologue, in a way: as the title suggests, the core of this show is a dream, and a test dream at that. Occupying more screen-time than anyone's ever granted a fantasy sequence, Tony's visions lead him to one logical conclusion: to avoid a full-scale war between New York and New Jersey, he will have to kill Cousin Tony.

Dream sequences have always played an important part in the Sopranos mythology, never more so than in this episode: aside from Annette Bening's presence, open for interpretation, the truly intriguing thing about The Test Dream is the fact that the characters guiding Tony towards "the light" are all people who died, in one way or another, through their association with him - Pussy Bonpensiero, Ralph Cifaretto, Mikey Palmice, Carmine Lupertazzi, heck, even Pie-o-My the horse shows up. They all died because of Tony, and their point is, in order to preserve peace, he must kill another person, and one he truly cares for at that. Now, who said the series glamorizes the mob?