Tony suffers a panic attack and then receives some big news.
This is a strong episode with some standout moments.
I love the quirky opening scene that shows the buildup to Tony's loss of consciousness with a rather outrageous moment of bigotry. In my youth I had a similar experience and relate to what the writers put Meadow through with this situation. Having fiercely loving parents is a privilege, but along with that comes the potential for conflict if their beliefs and values, particularly on emotive subjects like race differ your own.
The passing of actress Nancy Marchand had a big impact on the show, no more can you see it than in this episode. Janice is written back into the central plot immediately as an antagonist and verbal sparring partner for Tony, which feels sudden after the end of season 2, but it's nonetheless very entertaining. Plus the fallout from Marchand's death enabled the creation of some hilarious scenes in relation to her character, particularly the funeral and wake.
Edie Falco has a particularly good episode as her character has some of the best material and she makes it all feel so real in her delivery. Jamie-Lynn Sigler has great moments and has perfected that sudden look of destain she does when expressing annoyance.
James Gandolfini leads it exceptionally well as always and remarkably can make you loath, fear, and sympathise with a character in the same episode.
Visually it is a mixed bag, as it uses the camera to tell the story superbly. This is especially good during the painfully awkward wake scenes.
There are some aspects I personally would have done differently. The fake Nancy Marchand sequence is as good is 2001 technology allows, but i disagree that it was necessary to show her. Personally, I would have accepted that she had died off screen and not lost anything in the narrative. Plus I think the Artie flashback went on for too long. All it needed was a quick cutaway to her line about the fire. These are only minor gripes in another high quality episode.
8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.
