This is the episode that got me hooked into this show and made me realize its excellence. I saw the premiere pilot episode back when it first aired in early 1999, but this is the one that made me watch regularly. Steve Buscemi is an excellent director and his directorial style is definitely what this series needed. There's a bittersweet quirkiness to this episode that makes you laugh and yet it sucks you into the drama that these characters are experiencing. Paulie and Christopher are stuck in the woods with a crazy Russian on the loose who should have been dead. Tony begins to see the type of person Gloria really is. Meadow also realizes what a mistake she's made in having a relationship with Jackie Jr. This is absolutely one of the best episodes ever done in the series, and I believe that this could have made a great movie in itself, if it were extended by another 45 minutes or so. I only wish that they could have filmed the scenes where Chrissy and Paulie were stuck in the woods in the REAL Pine Barrens of southern Jersey, because it doesn't seem as authentic with the mountainous terrain which doesn't exist at all in that part of the state. Definitely a classic.
Review of Pine Barrens
