Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood

Did You Know?

• The title references both Mr. Ruggerio, Tony's neighborhood plumber, and Angelo Ruggiero, whose home the FBI bugged to gather information on John Gotti and the Gambino crime family.
• The title is also a reference to the children's TV show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ended the same year this episode was broadcast.

Synopsis

FBI agents review their surveillance of Tony Soprano. Despite years of phone taps and recordings from Pussy Bonpensiero, they have no incriminating evidence. Agent Skip Lipari notes that Pussy, file number CW16, is "probably compost"; Agent Frank Cubitoso removes Pussy's photograph from the wall. Lipari reports that Tony holds conversations in his basement, believing the central air conditioning noise masks them.

The FBI obtains legal authorization to plant a listening device there. They enter the house weekly when it is empty. The first week they find an old reading lamp suitable for hiding a microphone, photograph it, and plan to replace it with a replica containing a bug. The second week the plan is aborted when the water heater fails and floods the basement.

The third week they successfully install the replacement lamp and begin listening. Meadow adjusts to life at Columbia University with her volatile roommate Caitlin. Tony and his crew eat at Satriale's; Patsy Parisi, mourning his twin Philly on their birthday, suspects Tony's involvement in Philly's death. While the FBI watches Tony's house, they see a drunken Patsy on the pool patio aiming a gun at Tony through the window.

Patsy lowers the gun, urinates in the pool, and leaves. Tony does not see him. Days later, Tony confronts Patsy alone, telling him the past is past, and compels him to declare twice that he has put his grief behind him.

Production

The 2001 season premiere was a two-hour event, with this episode serving as its first half. Federico Castelluccio, who plays Furio Giunta, receives main cast billing in the opening credits, but only for episodes where he appears. It marks the first time Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, is absent from those credits. A board inside the FBI displays the suspected rank of each mobster, revealing that Mikey Palmice had been promoted to consigliere before he died. The bureau’s code names for the Soprano family include Tony as Papa Bing or Der Bingle, Carmela as Mrs. Bing, Meadow as Princess Bing, A.J. as Baby Bing, and their home as the Sausage Factory.

Music

The opening scene features the intro to Alabama 3's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlife" as Tony walks down his driveway; the same band performs the show's theme. When the FBI plants a bug in Tony's house, a mashup of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme" and The Police's "Every Breath You Take," created by HBO's Kathryn Dayak, plays. Tony sings along to Steely Dan's "Dirty Work" while driving. In the dormitory, Ras Kass's "Van Gogh" plays as Caitlyn tells Meadow about the man on the train. Ganjah K's "Scud Missile" is heard from the car when Anthony's friends pick him up for school. Tony exercises to the Eagles' "Hotel California" near the episode's end. Elvis Costello's "High Fidelity" closes the episode as Tony and Carmela talk in front of the bugged lamp.