Long Term Parking
"Long Term Parking" is the 64th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the 12th of the show's fifth season. Written by Terence Winter and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on May 23, 2004.
Starring
- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
- Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi *
- Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
- Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
- Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano Jr. *
- Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
- Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
- Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano Jr.
- Jamie-Lynn DiScala as Meadow Soprano *
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano Baccalieri *
- Vincent Curatola as Johnny Sack
- John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco
- and Steve Buscemi as Tony Blundetto
Guest starring
Synopsis
recoils from the escalating violence of the New York mob war, and Johnny Sack becomes the new boss of the Lupertazzi crime family. In a sit-down with Tony, both Johnny and Phil make threats against his blood relations. Johnny says he wants Tony B "on a fucking spit." Tony B, in hiding, calls Tony to apologize. Tony tells him not to come back and says he will look after his sons. He further admits why he was not at the hijack where Tony B was arrested decades earlier, saying that he has always felt guilty; "Now we're even." Ending the call, they tell each other to take care. Tony has the call traced. His cousin is in upstate New York, near their uncle's now-empty house.Tony and Johnny meet alone. Tony says he knows where Tony B is, and what has to be done. Johnny refuses to let Tony handle it himself, and further refuses to promise that it will be quick. Tony then refuses to give up Tony B's location and the meeting ends in antagonism.
Tony punishes Christopher for bungling a cigarette smuggling operation. Back home, Chris rants about Tony's treatment of him and what he sees as his favoritism towards Tony B. Adriana, stressed, is diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.
When FBI surveillance of Adriana's nightclub catches her behaving oddly with a bag of garbage, she is brought in. She admits that she was cleaning up after a murder was committed in her office at the club: drug dealer Matush Giamona killed a customer who claimed he had been ripped off. Threatened with imprisonment for covering up the murder, Adriana is told she has to wear a wire. She refuses, but persuades the FBI that Chris is ready to turn. They let her go, with a deadline for bringing him in.
When Adriana tells Chris she has been talking to the FBI, he reacts violently and begins to strangle her before he breaks down crying. They eventually agree to flee and start a new life. However, while getting gas for his Hummer H2 the next morning, he thoughtfully watches a poor family in front of the gas station, their meager possessions strapped to the roof of a run-down car.
Adriana receives a call from Tony. He tells her that Chris has tried to kill himself but is alright; Silvio will come to take her to the hospital. But he drives her to an area of deserted woodland, turns off the road onto a track, then stops. He drags her out of the car. As she crawls away, crying, he shoots and kills her off screen. Chris dumps a suitcase of her belongings in a landfill and puts her car in long-term parking at the airport. At the Bada Bing, Tony sees that Chris is doped on heroin; Chris says the pain is too much. Tony loses control and beats him up, saying Chris is not the only one with pain.
Tony and Carmela negotiate over her desire to build a house on spec in partnership with her father. Tony agrees to pay $600,000 for the land. He promises that his "midlife crisis will no longer intrude any more" into their marriage. The couple are reconciled and he moves back in. Tony goes to see Valentina in the hospital and breaks up with her.
Deceased
- Gilbert Nieves: stabbed to death by Matush Giomana.
- Adriana La Cerva: shot by Silvio Dante for being an informant to the FBI.
Title reference
- Christopher parks Adriana's car in the "Long Term Parking" section at the airport.
- "Long term parking" could refer to a long-term decision, or putting oneself in a lasting or binding situation: Adriana suggesting she and Christopher join the Witness Protection Program; Carmela and Tony moving back in together; Tony B.'s attempts to disappear; and Christopher's and Tony's guilt over the death of Adriana.
- Death can be viewed as a "long term parking" of the human body.
- The title could refer to the state of Christopher's soul, which could be forever damned for his betrayal of Adriana
- When Adriana is picked up by the FBI outside the pharmacy, she mentions that her car is still in the parking lot.
Production
- Many fans speculated that Adriana had survived because her death was not shown on-screen. However, Drea de Matteo confirmed in her 2005 DVD commentary that Adriana was indeed killed. De Matteo quotes Van Zandt as saying: "Do
think I was shooting squirrels?" Later in the DVD commentary, de Matteo talks about the strong fan reaction to Adriana's death. - In 2014, during an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, de Matteo stated: "All of us had known already that my character was dying - Van Zandt was actually the most pissed off about it, he didn't want to do it, he just didn't want to do it. And I had to talk him into how awesome it was gonna be and how important it was, he didn't want to pull me out of that car, he didn't want to call me a c-word, he didn't want to shoot me in the head, but David made a specific point not to show my character actually getting the bullet to her head. I'm not sure if that was for cliffhangers reasons, but he said it was from respect for the character."
- Van Zandt and de Matteo asked David Chase to cut out the scene where Christopher tells Tony about Adriana in order to keep her death at the hands of Silvio a surprise. The scene was later aired in the sixth-season episode "The Ride," as a flashback.
Music
- Lou Christie's song "Summer Snow" is playing in Phil Leotardo's flashback of his brother Billy's murder.
- The song playing when Tony enters his Bada Bing office near the end of the episode is "Super Bon Bon" by Soul Coughing.
- The Shawn Smith song, "Leaving California," plays in the background while Silvio drives with Adriana.
- The song playing in Silvio's car when he parks in the woods is "Barracuda" by Heart.
- The song played over the end credits is another song by Shawn Smith,"Wrapped in My Memory," from Shield of Thorns.
Awards
- Terence Winter won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his work on this episode.
- Tim Van Patten was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work on this episode.
- Drea de Matteo won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in this episode.
- Michael Imperioli won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in this episode.
- Empire named "Long Term Parking" the best Sopranos episode of all time.
- In 2005, TV Land included this episode as part of its 'Top 100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History', ranking it # 56.