Kennedy and Heidi

"Kennedy and Heidi" is the eighty-third episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the sixth episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, the eighteenth episode of the season overall. It was written by Matthew Weiner and series creator and showrunner David Chase, and was directed by Alan Taylor. The episode premiered in the United States on May 13, 2007.

Near the beginning of "Kennedy and Heidi", series protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) are involved in a car accident that leaves Christopher incapacitated. In a subplot, A.J. (Robert Iler) continues with his college courses and reconsiders his relationship with his friends. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for writing and won for directing.

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 Sigler as Meadow Soprano
• Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano Baccalieri
• Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri
• Frank Vincent as Phil Leotardo
• John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco
• Ray Abruzzo as Little Carmine Lupertazzi
• Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
• Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile
• Katherine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco

* = credit only

Guest starring

Plot summary

The heads of the Lupertazzi and DiMeo crime families meet to discuss the removal of asbestos from a building project. Tony Soprano rejects Phil Leotardo's demand of a 25% cut of the money from the illegal dumping. Christopher Moltisanti drives Tony home in the dark along a winding road. He is agitated and repeatedly changes the radio station, finally settling for a CD of The Departed soundtrack. As the road curves and Christopher ups the stereo volume, he swerves into the opposite lane, then must swerve to avoid a car, causing his Cadillac Escalade EXT to go off the road and roll over. Tony suffers minor injuries but Christopher is seriously injured and has difficulty breathing. He tells Tony he will not pass the drug test and will lose his driver's license, angering Tony as Christopher had promised to stay away from drugs lest he be a liability. Tony begins to call for help, but after noticing that a tree branch has impaled Christopher's vehicle directly where his daughter would have been seated had she been in it, Tony suffocates him, then calls an ambulance. At the hospital, he leads the staff and his family to believe that Christopher died from the crash.

In a dream, Tony admits to Dr. Melfi that he killed Christopher along with Big Pussy and his cousin Tony Blundetto. He also regrets ever placing Christopher in a position of power, considering that to be his "biggest blunder," and is relieved that Christopher's death has now eliminated that blunder. After he awakens the next day, Tony asks Carmela if she feels any relief at Christopher's death, which she denies. When meeting with Dr. Melfi for real, he tones down the rhetoric from the dream and simply recalls Christopher as a liability (due to his drug use and weakness, as well as his continuing resentment of Tony for killing Adriana) and an embarrassment (due to his thinly-veiled portrayals of Tony and Adriana in Cleaver), and says he resents having to feign remorse in front of his family. At Christopher's wake, Tony is disgusted by the ostentatious display of sorrow. He and Carmela make an appearance at the wake of Paulie's adoptive mother Nucci, who has died of a stroke; Paulie is angered by the poor attendance and thinks Christopher has upstaged him once again.

A.J. continues to spend time with Jason Parisi, Jason Gervasi and their friends at their frat house. They are amused to learn that Victor, whom they injured with sulfuric acid, had to have two toes amputated, which he has publicly attributed to his accidental spillage of car battery acid. A.J. impresses his therapist by telling him he is taking college courses (at Rutgers) again. After Jason and his friends racially taunt and physically abuse a Somalian student, A.J. joins in, but afterwards relapses into depression.

Tony eavesdrops on Joane, Carmela and Christopher's widow, discussing Christopher's death. On a private trip to Las Vegas, he receives a phone call telling him that the asbestos must be dumped somewhere, and another call from Phil, who refuses to assist with the asbestos and mocks him over Christopher's death. Tony meets Sonya, a stripper Christopher knew, and tells her about his death. They have sex and smoke marijuana; she tells him he seems sad. They take peyote and win in roulette. Tony mumbles "he's dead" and collapses on the floor laughing, seemingly attributing his winning streak to the fact Christopher is no longer in his life. In Jersey, the asbestos is dumped into a lake. Tony and Sonya watch the sunrise over the Red Rock Canyon, where Tony cries: "I get it!"

Deceased

• Christopher Moltisanti: seriously injured in a car crash and then murdered by suffocation by Tony by squeezing his nose shut when he was gasping for air; he dies after choking on his own blood pouring down his airways. According to Tony, killed for using drugs again, being a danger to him and his crime family and generally disappointing Tony in the last few years.
• Marianucci Gualtieri: stroke.

Title reference

• Kennedy and Heidi are the names of the teenage girls driving the car that nearly collides with Christopher's vehicle. Heidi refuses to stop after the accident for fear of losing her learner's permit for the curfew violation.
• Tony remarks that Chris's wife, Kelli, behaves and dresses like Jackie Kennedy at Christopher's wake.

References to prior episodes

• Tony and Phil mention the Barone Sanitation sale, which happened in "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh."
• Tony has been involved in a number of car accidents in the past, and, as in this episode, was not harmed seriously in any of them. He crashed his truck when escaping hitmen in "Isabella," crashed it when passing out from a panic attack in "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...," and, in "Irregular Around the Margins", when a wild animal runs in front of an Escalade during a nighttime ride, Tony and Adriana flip the truck and it is totalled.
• In the pilot episode, when Christopher is first introduced, he is wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony to New York City. Right before he dies, he is wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony back from New York. According to an article in TV Guide, Michael Imperioli states that he does not know if this is intentional or a coincidence.
• Christopher dies in large part due to his drug addiction (it both contributed to him crashing the car, as he was intoxicated, and as one of the motives for his murder by Tony). Christopher struggled with his drug addiction for many years, most notably since the trip to Naples, Italy, seen in the Season 2 episode "Commendatori", where he picked up the habit of injecting heroin from the Italian gangster Tanno. Following the drug intervention in "The Strong, Silent Type" (Season 4) and his stay in rehab, Christopher's life was marked with periods of being clean and relapses after particularly stressful experiences. Additionally, in "The Strong, Silent Type," Tony asks Junior for advice on how he should deal with Christopher, after having learned of his addiction. Junior tells him that he should be "put out of his misery," as it used to be done by the mob in the old days.
• In "The Strong, Silent Type", when Tony discovers during the intervention that Christopher accidentally sat on and suffocated Adriana's dog Cosette, he remarks that he "ought to suffocate" Christopher. Coincidentally, Christopher dies suffocating on his own blood as Tony smothers him.
• In "Long Term Parking," in one of his rants complaining about Tony in front of Adriana, Christopher says: "That’s the guy, Adriana. My uncle Tony. The guy I’m going to hell for." Throughout the series, Christopher did work for Tony and followed his orders, committing numerous criminal acts. Christopher was ultimately killed by Tony himself, upon his boss' decision. And if he did die, Christopher believed he would go to hell, as once, near death (clinically dead), in "From Where to Eternity" (Season 2) he said he already went to the afterlife, which he believed was hell.
• Right after the scene when Christopher's death is confirmed to Carmela, Tony awakes suddenly from a dream of Kelli hearing the news to the sound of a crow cawing, just prior to Silvio and Paulie's entering Tony's room to offer condolences. Christopher saw a crow at his making ceremony initiating him into the mafia in "Fortunate Son", which he interpreted as a bad omen.
• Carmela tells Tony that it was Christopher who comforted her in the hospital when Tony got shot by Junior ("Join the Club").
• In "Chasing It", Carlo relates to Tony the Twilight Zone episode, "A Nice Place to Visit", in which a dead gangster, Rocky Valentine, finds himself unable to lose when gambling and able to have any woman or any other pleasure he desires. Originally, he believes himself in Heaven, until it is revealed he is actually in Hell. In this episode, Tony finds himself in a similar situation while in Las Vegas, winning at roulette and having sex while high on peyote. Also, at one point during this trip, he encounters a flashing red devil logo on a slot machine.

Other cultural and historical references

• Al Lombardo, angry, says that Syracuse is losing a basketball game when in the family gathering after Christopher's death.
• Hanging out with the Jasons, A.J. and a girl compare antidepressants Lexapro and Wellbutrin.
• The English teacher at A.J.'s class talks about Wordsworth.
• A.J. says he took a class about and is interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict. A.J. remarks that "nobody knew who started it."
• Carmela is watching an old episode of The Dick Cavett Show where Cavett is interviewing Katharine Hepburn.
• At Christopher's wake, Tony comments, "fucking James Brown" when Joanne breaks down crying. He also says the mourning Kelli looks like Jackie Kennedy with her appearance and the sunglasses.
• After witnessing the savage beating of the unarmed black cyclist, A.J., distressed, asks his therapist, "Why can't we all get along?" This could be a reference to exactly the same famous phrase said by Rodney King, a black man beaten by Los Angeles police in an incident that sparked national protests and riots.

Music

• The song that Christopher puts on the car stereo and on full volume as he is driving Tony right before the crash is Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", performed by Roger Waters featuring Van Morrison & The Band, the first track from the soundtrack of The Departed.
• The song playing when Tony is first being driven in a taxi in Las Vegas is "Are You Alright?" by Lucinda Williams.
• The song playing in the background when Tony first meets Sonya is "Outta My Head" by M. Ward.
• The song playing in the background as Tony and Sonya are having sex is "The Adultress" by The Pretenders.
• The song playing in the background when Tony and Sonya are talking in bed is "Space Invader" by The Pretenders, which was also featured in the season 2 episode "House Arrest."
• The song played over the end credits is "Minas de Cobre (for Better Metal)" by Calexico.

Awards

• The episode's director, Alan Taylor, won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.

References

External links

• "Kennedy and Heidi" at HBO
• "Kennedy and Heidi" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Kennedy and Heidi" at TV.com