“Unidentified Black Males” Review
Grade: A-
“Endless, Nameless”
The Sopranos has always boasted a large stable of talented writers and directors. Chief among them, obviously, is series creator David Chase, the uncompromising auteur who oversaw all aspects of production and single-handedly revolutionized television as an artistic medium. Second in command would be Terence Winter, who joined the team in season two and penned 25 episodes during his tenure. And right behind him is Matthew Weiner, who received credit for 12 episodes over the series’ final two seasons.
It’s somewhat strange, then, that “Unidentified Black Males” brings all the series’ prime architects together (including Tim Van Patten, The Sopranos’ most frequent director). After all, this is just an inconsequential episode in the middle of season five. The installment holds little significance in the grand scheme of things. But therein lies the beauty.
Winter and Weiner have a knack for perfectly nailing down the series’ in-between moments — the lulls in action when the day-to-day lives of the characters take center stage. And that’s exactly where “Unidentified Black Males” luxuriates, an hour where nothing much happens yet not a single moment is wasted.
First and foremost, “Unidentified Black Males” is filled with hilarious dialogue. It’s easily the funniest episode of the season and perhaps one of the funniest episodes of the series. Each conversation — whether casual or crucial — brims with scathing humor, and the actors deliver every line so naturally that it seems like they’re improvising. Yet that’s just another testament to how talented the writers are.
We watch as Meadow Soprano’s boyfriend, Finn De Trolio, gets a job at one of the mafia construction sites, where he just gets to joke around with the guys all day and talk about sports. Elsewhere, Tony Soprano attends a funeral for a New York City associate named Joey Peparelli, where an error on the headstone becomes a hysterical sight gag. It’s an episode that carries over the easygoing vibe of last week, content to spend lighthearted time with the characters. They’re doing nothing, but it’s okay because we’re doing nothing with them.
Even the annoying argument between the hypocritical Meadow and the clueless Finn is turned amusing — I could listen to them talk in circles all day. Same thing with Tony, Vito Spatafore, Paulie Gualtieri and all the rest. Every ire and insult are carefully constructed works of art, and “You oughtta know, sweetie” becomes the poetry of the streets.
Of course, “Unidentified Black Males” is also filled with the thought-provoking introspective themes that we’ve come to expect from The Sopranos. The title, for instance, refers to the unnamed perpetrators whom the characters commonly blame their crimes on (e.g., Jackie Aprile Jr.’s death, Tony Blundetto’s injured foot, etc.), which is at once a condemnation on American justice and an indictment on the series itself.
By nature, “unidentified black males” are inconsequential — an easy scapegoat for our racist main characters. So maybe that’s why the episode chooses to take such a leisurely approach. The carefree storylines and humorous tones are only made possible by the privileged lifestyles of the Sopranos, who remain oblivious and unaffected by real-world problems.
Ironically, although I might be reading too much into it, the episode spends an unusual amount of time with Finn and Vito, who are “minority” characters in the amount of screentime they usually receive. Likewise, Vito is surprisingly revealed to be a sexual minority, as Finn accidentally catches him blowing a male security guard at the construction site. In a sense, the two of them are only abnormal when it comes to the confined world of The Sopranos, but it’s still interesting to see things from their outsider perspective.
The revelation of Vito’s sexuality is ultimately played for laughs, as is Tony’s memorable therapy session with Dr. Melfi, in which he reveals that unidentified black males were not the reason why he was physically unable to be there for his cousin 17 years ago; he was instead put in the hospital by a panic attack caused by his mother. Tony even suffers a mini attack during the session as he confronts his long-repressed guilt. He then compares therapy to taking a shit.
If only this therapy session had occurred four years earlier. As it stands now, Tony is too entrenched in his ways to truly change. Furthermore, Melfi doesn’t seem too interested in the breakthrough anyways. She’s become desensitized and disinterested in the familiar routine, and she’s disgusted when Tony tells her he’s treating last week’s encounter with Carmela like a one-night stand. This is a man who is beyond saving.
And so “Unidentified Black Males” is one of those classic Sopranos episodes where the brilliance comes from the characters being so true to themselves, for better or worse. Tony is dismissive of a major psychological breakthrough, Meadow cooks chili on the hottest day of the year, and Carmela only cares about money. Nothing much happens, but it’s engrossing, nonetheless.
The pessimistic main theme of The Sopranos is that people never change. But when they’re this entertaining, do we really want them to?
STRAY ROUNDS
- Ever the upholder of old-school values, Tony becomes irate at Finn when he pays for dinner. I’ll admit, I’m a fan of Finn after this episode. His stoned obliviousness is extremely funny.
- Witnessing Vito blow a security guard causes Finn to fear for his life. Later that day, Vito invites Finn to watch the Yankees-Padres game. It could be bribery, or it could be intimidation. We never get to find out what Vito would’ve done because Finn is ultimately too scared to go to the game. I’d imagine Vito would continue to subtly threaten him without resorting to violence due to the fact that Finn is dating the boss’ daughter.
- The black bear returns to the Soprano house as Carmela is desperately trying to contact a divorce lawyer, symbolizing that she’ll never be free from Tony’s inescapable presence. Predictably, he’s already consulted with all the lawyers in town, meaning they cannot legally take on Carmela as a client. Furthermore, no family law attorney wants to go after a mob boss’ finances anyway.
- At the end of the episode, Finn and Meadow decide to get engaged (groan…are they the most comically immature couple in the world?). Carmela cries when she hears the news, but it’s not tears of joy. Meadow’s happiness, however naive it might be, reflects how trapped Carmela is in her current situation. She hopelessly looks out at Tony enjoying himself in the swimming pool. It’s a good ending that is similar to the conclusion of “Eloise.”
- Meadow has certainly fallen a long way from the intelligent critical-thinker she was back in “College.” Now that she’s in university, her faux-liberal self-righteousness is off the charts. Even worse is her justification of the Mafia as a force of good, in which she deludes herself into believing they bring certain modes of conflict resolution from the old country — “the poverty of the Mezzogiorno, where all higher authority was corrupt.” The scene then dissolves into a funeral for one of Johnny Sacrimoni’s soldiers. To paraphrase Dr. Melfi from a previous episode, what do poor Italian immigrants have to do with the coldblooded murder of Joey Peeps? Meadow has easily become one of the most insufferable characters on the show.
- Absolutely hilarious scene: the headstone for Joey Peeps is actually inscribed with ‘PEEPS.’ Tony berates Silvio Dante, who supplied the plaque: “Peeps? It’s a fuckin’ nickname! His family name is Peparelli!”
- At the funeral, Phil Leotardo makes small talk with Silvio, asking how his children are doing. Later in the episode, we see Agent Sanseverino scolding her young daughter in the car. Little moments like these are Terence Winter specialties, showing that everyone has their own life outside this thing of ours.
- Bobby Darin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” is played over the end credits. It’s a nice folk rock tune from an early rock ‘n’ roll star, and it was originally sung by Christopher Moltisanti in “No Show,” albeit with slightly different lyrics: “If I were a carpenter, and you were a douchebag…”
- “Unidentified Black Males” was written by Terence Winter and Matthew Weiner and directed by Tim Van Patten. After The Sopranos, both Winter and Weiner created acclaimed TV shows of their own: Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men, respectively.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
- “The fundamental question is, will I be as effective as a boss like my dad was? And I will be. Even more so, but until I am, it’s gonna be hard to verify that I think I’ll be more effective.”
- “Put me in, coach.”
- “I woke up this morning and the depression just washed over me.”
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