History Recap / TheSopranosS3E10ToSaveUsAllFromSatansPower

** Paulie reflects that a high water point of Junior's feud with Jackie Sr. was when the former hijacked one of the latter's trucks. An amusing titbit, given how determined Junior was to redress the injustice of this happening to ''him'' in the first season.

--'''Silvio''': She's over here joking about the FBI! Since when is that funny?

** When Tony brings Silvio down into the basement to discuss Pussy, he mentions that Meadow took the only desk lamp with her to college. The same lamp that was secretly bugged by the FBI.

* CallBack: Carmela has been noticing that Charmaine has been [[SheCleansUpNicely Cleaning Up Nicely]] since leaving Artie. And that reminds her of when Charmaine, during the [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E1Pilot Pilot]], told her of having slept with Tony but not taking it further. It prompts Carmela to argue with Tony more than once during the episode and contributes to a brewing tension that will test their marriage to its limits.

Tony and Furio get into the taxi driven by Igor, the Russian who attacked Janice, and leave him bloody and beaten inside a Christmas display, with a Santa hat on. Janice is inspired by this to add more of a "brother angle" to the Christian Contemporary song she's been working on. After searching for a new Santa at Satriale's, with Tony himself turning down the part, the guys settle on Bobby Baccala. The shy Bobby is strongly opposed to doing this but is forced into it. He makes a very flat Santa and even antagonizes one child. In another flashback, Tony recalls that when Pussy dressed as Santa in 1995, he bristled when anyone tried to touch his belly. By contrast, he was also very good in the role. Tony tells Silvio that he thinks Pussy was already wearing a wire in Christmas of '95.

** The Big Mouth Billy Bass sings Al Green's "Take me to the river". The lyrics include: [[BurialAtSea "Take me to the river, drop me in the water".]]
** The episode ends with a shot of the tide coming on the Ashbury boardwalk, and the gospel theme "I've gotta feeling" playing in the background. The lyrics of the gospel themselves emphasize not fearing death for the prospect of [[DiedHappilyEverAfter Dying Happily Ever After]] and going to Heaven.

Tony visits the Asbury Park boardwalk to meet with Paulie. Before Paulie arrives, Tony flashes back to 1995 during the holiday season, when he met with Jackie Aprile, Sr. and Pussy Bonpensiero, both now deceased. In the flashback, Pussy references being involved with heroin, which would eventually get him flipped by the FBI, and already exhibits rather suspect behavior. Back in the present, Paulie arrives. When Tony mentions that he was reminiscing about Pussy, Paulie insists that he has put it behind him.

The newly divorced Charmaine Bucco starts displaying more cleavage while working as the hostess at Vesuvio's. She attracts the attention of Tony, Paulie, and Silvio, who attempt to flirt with her, but when she makes a joke about seeing FBI agents nearby they are unamused. Artie confronts her claiming she's a hypocrite for flirting and acting friendly with the mobsters she wanted him to stay out of business with. Charmaine snaps back that her work as a hostess is getting them more business than Artie's cooking. Carmela, meanwhile, is suspicious that Tony is interested in Charmaine, revealing that she knows they dated in high school.

** One scene later Jackie admits that he has flunked out of Rutgers. But he proceeds to try and convince Tony that he's going for fashion design instead. Problem is, Tony found the gun that Ralph gave him when Tony beat the crap out of him. Therefore, Tony knows Jackie is wanting to break into the mob, leading to the ImpliedDeathThreat noted below.
* CallBack: Carmela has been noticing that Charmaine has been [[SheCleansUpNicely Cleaning Up Nicely]] since leaving Artie. And that reminds her of when Charmaine, during the [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E1Pilot Pilot]], told her of having slept with Tony but not taking it further. It prompts Carmela to argue with Tony more than once during the episode, and contributes to a brewing tension that will test their marriage to its limits.

* FlashbackEcho: Tony remembers back to a meeting between himself, Jackie Sr. and Big Pussy. There's more than one layer to the echoes.

** Tony seeing Bobby in the Santa suit prompts the {{Flashback}} of when Pussy wore the suit shortly after the sit-down that he was absent for. Tony realizes that Pussy had his HiddenWire in the suit, since he was sensitive about Paulie touching it, and Pussy started asking for details about the garbage business as a front during what was supposed to be a festive occasion.

* GilliganCut: Tony and Silvio remark how a [[TheMole rat]] like Big Pussy often gets flipped in a matter of hours, and shows up again that very day in order to throw off the targets of the sting. Next scene is Paulie asking Silvio and Tony what they're getting their [[TheMistress Goomahs]] for Christmas. Doubles as {{Foreshadowing}} that Paulie will himself engage in disloyal behavior.

-->'''Charmaine''': All these years I've sat here and kept my mouth shut. [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame I didn't want you and yours boys comin' in here]]. And look what happened. [[ToxicFriendInfluence Look what you've done to my husband]].

* SheCleansUpNicely: Tony, Paulie and Silvio have this reaction when they notice Charmaine sporting a CleavageWindow.

** The episode ends with a shot of the tide coming on the Ashbury boardwalk, and the gospel theme "I've gotta a feeling" playing in the background. The lyrics of the gospel themselves emphasize not fearing death for the prospect of [[DiedHappilyEverAfter Dying Happily Ever After]] and going to Heaven.

'''Season 3, Episode 10'''
!To Save Us All from Satan's Power

The newly divorced Charmaine Bucco starts displaying more cleavage while working as the hostess at Vesuvio's. She attracts the attention of Tony, Paulie and Silvio, who attempt to flirt with her, but when she makes a joke about seeing FBI agents nearby they are unamused. Artie confronts her claiming she's a hypocrite for flirting and acting friendly with the mobsters she wanted him to stay out of business with. Charmaine snaps back that her work as a hostess is getting them more business than Artie's cooking. Carmela, meanwhile, is suspicious that Tony is interested in Charmaine, revealing that she knows they dated in high school.

Tony and Furio get into the taxi driven by Igor, the Russian who attacked Janice, and leave him bloody and beaten inside a Christmas display, with a Santa hat on. Janice is inspired by this to add more of a "brother angle" to the Christian Contemporary song she's been working on. After searching for a new Santa at Satriale's, with Tony himself turning down the part, the guys settle on Bobby Baccala. The shy Bobby is strongly opposed to doing this, but is forced into it. He makes a very flat Santa and even antagonizes one child. In another flashback, Tony recalls that when Pussy dressed as Santa in 1995, he bristled when anyone tried to touch his belly. By contrast, he was also very good in the role. Tony tells Silvio that he thinks Pussy was already wearing a wire in Christmas of '95.

* CallBack: Carmela has been hearing that Charmaine has been [[SheCleansUpNicely Cleaning Up Nicely]] since leaving Artie. And that reminds her of when Charmaine, during the [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E1Pilot Pilot]], told her of having slept with Tony but not taking it further. It prompts Carmela to argue with Tony more than once during the episode, and contributes to a brewing tension that will test their marriage to its limits.

** Even from the beginning, he's having to make decisions about who gets what pieces of action from the [[{{RealEstateScam}} Esplanade project]] in the manner of a gift-giver.

** Tony had to warn Pussy against dealing heroin because of the heat it would bring, while Pussy was himself feeling the pressure to earn more. When Tony meets Paulie at the same spot by the shore, Paulie wants a piece of the [[RealEstateScam Esplanade action]]. It doubles as {{Foreshadowing}} as Paulie will himself venture into actions that can be considered disloyal when he feels he's hard done by.

* AnxietyDreams: Silvio has one where he sees a thoroughly dead Silvio lying in the closet room of the Bing. It causes him to wake with a sweating start.

* WorkingWithTheEx: Artie and Charmaine are still working together at Satriale's, in a situation that doesn't make either of them happy.

* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: Tony becomes angry after getting TheReasonYouSuckSpeech from Charmaine, and wants to leave the Vesuvio restaurant. Silvio is curious to check out his competition in the form of a recently opened strip joint when Tony wants to leave. That same strip joint is where Tony can catch Jackie Jr. [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on Meadow]] with a lap dance. There's just enough plausible [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality Narrative Causality]] to keep the unfolding of events from becoming an all-out ContrivedCoincidence.

** He keeps and constantly checks a list of things he needs to do leading up to Christmas. Some of them are helpful, some of them not so much, so much so that the list itself invokes the RuleOfSymbolism. The whole exercise is evocative of the Christmas carol verse: "He's making a list, he's checking it twice. He's going to find out who's naughty or nice.

* ContinuityNod: The Big Mouth Bill Bass gift again reminds Tony of his dream of Big Pussy appearing to him as a fish.