User Reviews

In a way, the entire season has led to this point, the culmination of the fourth year's excellence. Whoever Did This is painful, vital, shocking and deeply compelling - quintessential Sopranos!

The center of the episode is Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano), who arguably has his most memorable scenes in this show: it starts with him making a prank call to Paulie's mother (obscenely funny) and ends with a violent confrontation with Tony over the death of Pie-o-My. The fight climaxes in Ralphie's own death, which Tony has to cover up with some assistance from the drug-riddled Christopher.

Ever since he made his debut in the series at Livia's funeral, Ralph stood out as one of the show's most colorful, disgusting and oddly charming characters, and much like Pussy Bonpensiero and Richie Aprile he gets the great exit he deserves. Over the course of twenty episodes, Pantoliano rampaged and stole one scene after the other, bringing a whole new edge to the program and winning a well-deserved Emmy for his trouble. Then again, it's hard to deny one to a guy who ultimately gets clipped not because he might have killed a horse (the official explanation for what happened), but for openly calling Tony fat: the result is an emotionally unbearable fistfight whose setting (a kitchen) might have inspired a similar scene in Kill Bill: Vol.1.

"I have come to reclaim Rome!" Ralph bellowed in the sixth episode of Season Three, quoting his favorite movie, Gladiator. Too bad he had to face the scariest emperor of all: Tony Soprano.

... says Ray Liotta's narration about the whacking of Tommy in Goodfellas. This episode of The Sopranos sees the sudden death of a similar character.

I had this feeling about Ralph Cifaretto from the moment he shows up on The Sopranos in Season three. He seems to step into the position held by Ritchie Aprile before he dies - that of violent troublemaking mobster who seems to be just itching to get whacked. But Ralph's lows are lower than even Ritchie's and his rare humanizing moments a bit warmer.

The episode leads you down the primrose path of having you believe that maybe Ralph is going to change after his son is accidentally shot by an arrow while playing with a neighbor's kid. His son lies in the hospital unconscious for days while Ralph doesn't know if he will live or die, and if he lives, how disabled he will be due to possible brain damage from loss of blood. Ralph makes amends with Rosalie Aprile for dumping her when her son died and even visits a priest to talk about his troubles.

But then the old obnoxious defiant Ralph comes out during a visit from Tony, and maybe Ralph did do what Tony beats him to death for - killing their horse for the insurance money - and maybe he didn't. He said that he didn't do it, but he was the only person besides Tony who would have profited from what happened. So Ralph survived beating his mistress to death outside of the Bing, insulting the wife of a New York underboss, and in general just being a jerk, only to be killed over the death of a horse for which maybe he was not responsible.

The fight between Tony and Ralph is impromptu, and therefore there are no guns involved. They two have it out hand to hand in Ralph's kitchen using whatever they can grab - steak knives, pot lids, and even bug spray, but it is ultimately the linoleum floor and Tony's bare hands that kill Ralph. Tony may be the boss, but Ralph was a made man, so Tony just wants to have it seem that Ralph disappeared, so he calls Christopher to help him dispose of the body. And even to Chris, Tony lies about Ralph's death, saying he found him dying.

So who could have killed the horse? Only a theory, but it could have been Paulie. Paulie is starting to resent Tony and for sure resents Ralph, for both personal and monetary reasons. He could have reasoned that if he burns down the barn with Tony's horse in it, this will at least wound Tony to the core, but if it also gets Ralph whacked it would be bonus points. But does this sound like the detailed reasoning of the same guy who lost a Russian commando and "interior decorator" in the woods in Wiley Coyote style earlier in the season? It's one of those questions never answered.

This is the finest episode of season 4 and maybe the finest in The Sopranos history. The episode starts with Junior Soprano ending up in hospital after falling down some steps outside the courtroom during his trial. Then Ralph's son Justin ends up in hospital with an arrow in his body. Then we find out there was a fire at the stables and Pie O My is dead. Tony confronts Ralph and accuses him of the fire, and If you have seen this episode you know what happens next. Chris and Tony then dispose of the body in a grizzly manner. This episode truly shows the true colors of the way these people live. Joe Pantoliano won the Emmy for best supporting actor for submitting this episode. This is a true masterpiece of television.

This is the first episode of the downfall of Tony. From here on it's all going south. Also I think the fact that Ralphie mentioned the meat eating really upset tony. Meat has been a trigger for tony in the past, i.e. His first collapse in the pilot, the collapse as a young boy, meat has always been a trigger to him. The one thing about this episode that I always remembered is the performance by the actress who played Lois the horse trainer. She's unbelievable even saying so few words, she stole that scene. Very real and honest. 'You eat sausage and beef by the cart load!' - I always thought that was a good point lol. Not good enough to stop him getting killed though I guess. Tony killed Ralphie neither because of Tracy or Pie O My, rather Ralphie calls him a hypocrite, I always liked how the show does this, how they trick you by using Tony's rationale. My favorite episode of the series, the one that made an otherwise poor 4th season. The acting by Pantoliano, the goat smiling at the camera as one of the many hints of Satan, the fight between Tony and Ralphie á la Gladiator, Chris´ addiction setting us up for the events in The Silent Type, the shot of Tony staring at Tracee´s picture, and many more iconic moments.

This is one of the ultimate Sopranos episodes. And its also probably the most emotional of all the episodes, which says a lot. The emotions are different, raging from first humor then tragedy and grief and finally revenge. Tony puts an end to Ralph's miserable and villainous existence in a highly emotional and exhilarating scene. The fight was well choreographed and must have taken a toll on the actors, but it paid off because it looks so realistic.

Rarely any other TV character deserved to die like Ralph Cifaretto. He got away with a murder so foul and brutal and continued living like nothing happened. This was in a way payback for everything that happened in episodes "University" and "He is risen". Ralph murdered an innocent young girl and then got promoted as a better man died, a man he despised. And to top it all off, he killed another beautiful innocent creature for his own gain. This was in a way God's own judgment over Ralph. First he took his son away, then his own life.

That last scene with Tony wandering around the Bing and then seeing Tracee's picture on the wall was poignant beyond words. Some viewers wondered previous to this whether Ralph deserved such a violent end, after what happened to his son and his "repentance" and desire to mend his ways.This scene made it all clear to them. Tony with all his flaws was the avenging angel who rid the world of another evil being.

Superb work from the writers Green and Burgess and a great performance by Pantoliano and also Gandolfini. One plus also is the absence of Bracco and her at times pointless character dr. Melfi. This is as good as TV shows can get.

Ralph goes through a tragedy with his son being hit by an arrow. And after Tony gets the call that there was a fire in the barns and the horse is dead. He suspects Ralph and Ralph doesn't make it easier to thin otherwise as he comes with his "it is just a horse". So Tony kills him and has Chris help him with the body.

Great episode. I was happy to see Ralph finally die. The most disgusting character there is. Even his whole losing his kid thing didn't make me feel for him. I applauded Paulie when he said what he did about him.

And for somebody who likes animals I was happy to see what was that killed him. OF course it is not as simple as about the horse. What he said about the dead animal was parallel to what he said about the girl he killed, "it is just a whore". So he paid for his inhumanity. And I must say the scenes where his body was separated was pretty gruesome.

Finally, after eight episodes, The Sopranos has returned to the beautiful quality it was since the very first season. First of all, a lot of interesting events happened in this episode, most of which is going to have a profound affect on the four last episodes of the season. First of all, Ralph's son, Justin (whom we never knew existed) gets hospitalized for taking a archery arrow in the chest, when he was fooling around with his friend. Ralph is a mess about it, and his kid may not live. But, even before that, to get back at Paulie for telling Johnny Sack he made fun of "shamu's fat ass", Ralph makes a call to Paulie's mother at green grove, posing to be a police detective, and tells her they found her son sucking a boy scout's d*ck, and they also found a gerbil in his rectum. The funniest scene ever created on The Sopranos - Period! Paulie's mom is so upset they have to put her on pills to sleep. Paulie gets so furious, he asks Tony's permission to whack Ralph, Tony doesn't give Paulie permission seeing as though Ralph's a good earner. I found Junior faking Alzheimer's for a government psychiatrist, so they think he's certifiably insane, was hilarious. But just when everything is going good for Tony, he gets a call about Pie-O-My being burned to in a fire, thinking it was Ralph, he goes over to his house and confronts him. They get in a huge entertaining fight including eggs, a frying pan, raid, and a butcher knife, that ends with Tony choking the life out of Ralph. Later, he calls Christopher to help dispose of the body. They cut Ralph's body into pieces, and put his severed head in a bowling bag. You also find out Ralph wears a toupee. On top of it all, Tony confronts Chris about his problem. It all ends with Tony waking up in the Bada Bing after disposing of Ralph, and looking for Christopher. But where is he? Getting high is my guess. Although not the best episode ever, it was definitely the most mind-blowing, rip-roaring and racy episode ever in Sopranos history. Joe Pantoliano needs an Emmy and Golden Globe for his astounding and haunting performance and Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess (the writers) are geniuses. Written by Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess ; Directed by Tim Van Patten. My Rating: 10/10

Pie O My is dead, burned alive. Tony frets over the loss of a good horse. Tony then goes to see Ralphie (the wonderful Joe P.). The smart-mouth and callous Ralphie has screwed up one time too many, and Tony snaps. Ralphie stupidly chooses to fight back, and the battle is on. It is one of the series' best fight scenes. Later in the episode, this will be laughed off as Tony and a doped-up Christopher stuff body parts into a valise, ending with a wig on top, sort of like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. The biggest issue for these gangsters is how much Ralphie earned for the family, of course. Tony plays dumb about the whole thing, but then sees a way to turn the missing Ralphie to his favor in his ongoing war with Carmine. A great episode, if you can take the kitchen-based battle.

I want give 9.5 🌟 to this episode. It is so good and satisfying. Because Ralph was killed who is my hatest character. Yeah he is good actor but i didn't like him in show. One of the satisfying episode in sopranos.