Silvio gets angry about protests against Columbus Day.
This is a very enjoyable episode with great humour and character moments.
It's clever writing when you can take group of violent criminals and make them funny, and the writers do it with great satire and social commentary.
From the opening few scenes we see some of the Soprano crew and their wives in settings that imply they have way too much time in their hands, and it lays the foundation perfectly for what is to come.
Themes of individual self worth and group identities are brilliantly worked into a fairly light hearted (by usual standards) plot, and the results are hilarious at times. I only have to look at Steven Van Zandt's face and body language in certain scenes and it makes me laugh. The violence at the protest gets darkly funny with Artie showing his true colours and poor Georgie suffering again. As it happens I laugh wondering what Tony is going to say when he finds out?
Tony is nicely written as having the good sense to see through all the divisive bulls**t associated with racial politics and see the real motivations of businessmen and politicians in these situations. His angry rant at the end is priceless and wonderfully delivered by James Gandolfini. It all felt very appropriate at the time of release in the immediate post 9-11 period and is especially so now in the even more divided age we live.
The subplots involving Bobby, Janice, and Ralph contains more scenes of humour in addition to a tragic event that is depicted quite cleverly within the episode's narrative. Janice speaking to her therapist is hilarious, along with her scenes with Ralph (especially the one involving the Rocky theme). Steve Schirripa is fantastic in this episode and conveys the emotion incredibly well.
Other key plot elements that lead on to bigger moments are placed well within the episode such as one quite destructive telephone conversation, the continued hint of attraction between two characters, and the introduction of a certain animal.
For me it's a 9.5/10 but I round upwards.
