User Reviews

What ever happened to Gary Cooper?

Let's first go over the elephant in the room-the fact that this episode is the lowest rated episode of the entire series because it covers PC stereotyping and feuding heritages. But as much as I may not like these kinds of topics either, The Sopranos, handles it magnificently. Ending it all with the perfectly written, hard-nosed monologue Tony has at the end that ties the theme of this episode with a nice, clean bow.

We begin with Baccala reading a newspaper headline about Native Americans planning to protest the Christopher Columbus parade and statue in town. "Insert crude Italian heckling here". Of course everyone we know on the show disagrees because to them Columbus is a hero and always will be.

We hear Furio go on about how he hates the people from North Italy (and that he is from the South). This is Italian vs Italian conflict and hatred, which is important to note (and tells us the problem isn't uniquely American).

A few scenes later we are in the Soprano household with Carm, Furio and Tony. The TV is on and we see an interview between a Native American doctor (enforcing the anti-Italian protests), an Italian guy and an African American moderator. The NA and Italian get into a bit of a tiff over Columbus as we hear the cries that he was a genocidal maniac while the Italian claims he was merely a man of his time.

Then later, we are with Tony, Hesh, and others at Hesh's farm. One guy makes the Columbus = Hitler comment, and Hesh kicks him off hos farm due to the anti-semitic hue of the comparison.

Ton and the guys meet with a NA casino boss from Connecticut who they seek help from. And finally, there is the awesome monologue Tony has at the end.

I briefly mention all of these scenes because they are important to the message this episode tries to convey to us; particularly those of us who are American. And this message is as relevant today as it was nearly 20 years ago. The message is that no matter what our backgrounds are or where we are from we are all people who should treat each other with respect. And as Tony beautifully states when he begins with "whatever happened to gary Cooper?" he preaches to Silvio that everything he has ever done isn't because of his Italian background or the Italian stereotypes, but because he made his own choices when the time came. This is exactly right.

"Christoper" is easily one of the best examples of thematic fluidity in The Sopranos and is understandably rated lowest due to the topics it covers, but it is most definitely a highlight in this fantastic show.

During its first season, in the beautiful The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti, The Sopranos dealt head-on with criticisms raised at it for conveying negative stereotypes, the fun of the show being that it was the mobsters themselves who chastised Hollywood's depiction of Italians. The theme resurfaces 38 episodes later, in the aptly titled Christopher.

Wait, forget that last part: the title has nothing to do with Chris Moltisanti, despite the fact Michael Imperioli co-wrote the episode with Laura Marino; it is actually related to Christopher Columbus, who becomes the subject of a heated debate. The controversy rises from Native Americans' decision to boycott Columbus Day celebrations, on account of the famous explorer contributing to genocide when he first came to America. Silvio, however, perceives this as anti-Italian discrimination and enlists Ralph's help to settle things. Speaking of Ralph, he also gets dumped by Janice when she lays her eyes on Bobby "Baccala" (Steven Schirripa), whose wife has died in a car accident, and indirectly upsets Johnny Sack after the latter is told by Paulie what Ralphie said regarding Ginny Sack's ass.

The death subplot notwithstanding, Christopher is one of the funniest stories in the show's run, although the humor stays pitch-black as usual: just like in the aforementioned Season One episode, the writers' way of satirizing Italian-American culture is priceless, especially when Ralph tells the protesters the most famous Native American actor of all time was actually a "ghinzo". The best bit, though, occurs when they manage to throw in a stab at the tensions between Italians themselves: as Furio points out, those from the North of Italy, like Columbus, have always looked down on those from the South, treating them like peasants ("terroni" is the word they use in the mother tongue). Bottom line: don't insult these guys; they're already too busy bad-mouthing each other.

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.

While Silvio and the boys get into a major squabble with some Indians over Christopher Columbus, Janice is being singled out for being married to mob boss Tony during a church-sponsored forum on the image of Italian-Americans. If things aren't bad enough, Furio reminds the boys that northern Italians look down their noses at southern Italians -- and all of the mob boys are descended from southern Italy peasant stock, of course. The episode is pure comedy. The ending, involving a trip to an Indian casino, will have you crying with laughter as Tony -- who has tried to stay out of all this and ends up very angry with Silvio -- somehow gets to play the patsy. It's Indians 1, Italian-American mobsters 0.

Micheal Imperoli wrote this one but he is much more talented than this effort. Funny thing is now that in 2021, "Columbus Day" is now 'Indigenous People's Day' so I guess he deserves credit for foresight. (Even though the guest speaker in this episode bragged about Rudy Giuliani being Italian....oof!!)

Wtf is this episode? There's a scene where the camera literally hovers on a TV news program about Columbus for like 3 full minutes. Every other scene is characters talking about Columbus, like it's an hourlong PSA about something that nobody actually cares about. Seriously wtf is this?

The only episode of this show that borders on bad, in my opinion.

Wtf is this crap? Ended up skipping through it. Here's some more text.