University (The Sopranos)

"University (The Sopranos)"

"University" is the thirty-second episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the sixth of the show's third season. The teleplay was written by Terence Winter and Salvatore J. Stabile from a story idea by David Chase, Terence Winter, Todd A. Kessler, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess. It was directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on Sunday, April 1, 2001.

Guest starring roles

• Ariel Kiley as Tracee
• Suzanne Shepherd as Mary De Angelis
• Tom Aldredge as Hugh De Angelis
• Ari Graynor as Caitlin Rucker
• Patrick Tully as Noah Tannenbaum
• Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile
• Jason Cerbone as Jackie Aprile, Jr.
• Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
• John Fiore as Gigi Cestone
• Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
• Frank Santorelli as Georgie Santorelli
• Joseph R. Gannascoli as Vito Spatafore
• Michael Garfield as Len Tannenbaum

Episode recap

One afternoon at the Bada Bing, Tony receives a "thank you" gift from one of the strippers, a young girl named Tracee. She thanks Tony for helping her find a doctor to diagnose her son's sickness. When she presents Tony with some homemade bread, he is gratified but explains that he cannot accept gifts from employees, since strippers are not supposed to make friends with their bosses. Tracee apologizes and leaves.

Meanwhile at Columbia University, Meadow is becoming closer to her boyfriend, Noah Tannenbaum. As they draw close to becoming intimate, Meadow's roommate, Caitlin, walks in and interrupts. Meadow asks if she needs to use the room, but Caitlin says she was feeling lonely and scared after seeing a horror film with friends, exhibiting something similar to the Mean World Syndrome. Meadow and Noah try to calm her down and remind her that she has been warned in the past not to see things that frighten her. Caitlin proceeds to pull her hair out as a sign of nervousness. Noah makes up an excuse to leave, and after a few moments of discomfort between Caitlin and Meadow, Meadow decides to go up to Noah's room, making sure she takes her X-Acto knife in case Caitlin grows more depressed. Noah empathizes with Caitlin and suggests they be patient with her. Meadow thus comes to adore Noah even more and loses her virginity to him. Later, Noah and Meadow plan to cheer Caitlin up by taking her out for her birthday. After an evening out with Caitlin, they spot a homeless woman babbling, which induces Caitlin to give her money. As she approaches the woman, Cailtin discovers a newspaper in her rear instead of underwear. Caitlin is more shocked and upset than ever and sobs in the dorm room. Meadow becomes tired of Caitlin's growing homesickness and seeks solace at the Soprano home. She tells her mother that she is in love with Noah and subtly hints that she has been intimate with him. Meanwhile, Caitlin visits Noah and pesters him for company. He is irked by this, as he is writing a term paper, for which he eventually receives a C-. Meadow tries to console him about it, but his father has already filed a restraining order against Caitlin because of it. Meadow meets Noah's father, Len, for dinner one evening and they discuss his profession and that of her father. The following day, Noah breaks off his relationship with Meadow, telling her that she is too negative and cynical. Meadow becomes extremely upset and takes it out on her parents.

Tracee continues to get closer to Tony as she shows off her new braces. As she dances, Tony and Silvio remark that she is good looking and has a great, natural body, but her teeth are a "train wreck" and that Silvio's "juicing" her on the loan. One afternoon as Tony leaves the club, she follows him to his car where she tells him that she is pregnant with Ralphie's baby. She seeks advice on whether to have an abortion or to keep the baby. Tony warns her that because her other son has experienced domestic abuse (at her hands) and that as the child is Ralphie's, "You'd be doing this kid and the next few generations a favor."

Unfortunately for Tracee, Ralphie does not seem to help the problem. As he becomes obsessed with the 2000 film Gladiator, he begins to shout out quotes from the film and plays around roughly with Georgie at the VIP lounge. After constantly making wise remarks and loud outbursts, things become tense when Ralphie finds a chain and proceeds to swing it at Georgie, injuring his eye. Tony sends Ralphie to take Georgie to the emergency room. A few days later, Silvio is shocked to find that Tracee has not showed up for work. Silvio then goes to her home where she is cooking for Ralphie and watching television. He forces her to get dressed and slaps her as she is entering his car. Ralphie watches and laughs from the window as she is dragged into the car.

The following night, Ralphie sees Tracee at the VIP lounge, where she insults him in front of the other associates and capos. Ralphie then follows her out to the deserted Bada Bing parking lot where he teases her into thinking he will support her, then gleefully calls her a "cocksucking slob." She punches him and Ralph becomes extremely violent and brutally beats her to death. Soon after, Soprano associates find Tracee's body and Tony blames Ralphie for what happened. As Ralphie is placed against the wall, Tony violates a well-established Mafia code and assaults him, a made man (made men are never to strike one another), but he justifies this by stating that Ralphie disrespected the Bing. Ralphie tries to defend himself yelling, "I'm a made guy!" Tony takes Tracee's death badly and becomes emotional during a therapy session with Carmela and Dr. Melfi. He lies and says that a young associate from Barone Sanitation died. Days later, the Bada Bing strippers wonder where Tracee went. One of the Bing girls mentions that she actually heard something along the lines of what actually took place, that she left with Ralphie and never came back, but one of her co-workers strongly advises her to keep her mouth shut. As the episode ends, Georgie is training a new stripper to work at the Bada Bing in place of Tracee.

Deceased

• Tracee: Bada Bing stripper murdered by Ralphie in the parking lot

Title reference

• Much of the episode revolves around Meadow's university experiences.
• The title is also refers back to an earlier episode, "Commendatori" in which, witnessing Furio's beating of a young mafia wannabe, a Neapolitan man remarks, "This is the University of Naples." Tracee, who is as much a star of "University" as Meadow, is punched in the face, recalling the severe blow to the face that the young would-be gangster's mother receives in Commendatori. Thus, "university" is a metaphor for life lessons, specifically those learned from tangling with the underworld.

Trivia

• After being introduced to Meadow, Noah's father says he sat next to a talkative Tim Daly of Wings fame on his flight into New York. Daly would later play the role of J.T. Dolan on The Sopranos, beginning with the episode "In Camelot".
• According to actress Ariel Kiley, who plays Tracee, the stripper murdered by Ralphie Cifaretto, a lot of subscribers canceled their HBO service because of the episode.
• After meeting his father Noah and Meadow see the Francis Ford Coppola film Dementia 13.

Music

• The song played during Tracee's show and during the end credits is "Living on a Thin Line" by The Kinks from the 1984 album Word of Mouth . According to Terence Winter, it is the series' most asked about song.
• The song in the background during the first scene between Noah and Meadow is The Dolphin's Cry by Live.
• When the hooker is trying to get into the VIP room of the Bada Bing, "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC is playing.

External Links

• "The Sopranos" University at IMDb