The genius of The Sopranos’ most shocking episode

Unexpected violence

Tony’s shooting is arguably the ultimate example of how The Sopranos’ consistently surprised viewers with violence. It follows Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) murdering Tracee (Ariel Kiley) in University (s3:6) and Janice Soprano (Aida Turturro) shooting Richie Aprile (David Proval) in The Knight In White Satin Armor (s2:12). “Years of watching more conventional movies and television makes you think you know where the next threat to one of the characters is coming from,” Seitz tells the BBC. “But on The Sopranos you don’t. That’s what makes Uncle Junior shooting Tony so stunning.”

If viewers had predicted that Tony would one day be shot, no one “expected it to happen in the first episode of the season” and “by a frail, senile old man,” Sepinwall wrote in the Star-Ledger the day after the episode aired. Before Members Only, television shows would save such dramatic plots for season-ending cliffhangers, especially those where it looked like a character might die.

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Members Only is notable for ever-so-briefly promoting Eugene to being a major character, continuing The Sopranos’ practice of letting unknown or inexperienced actors thrive. After starring on stage opposite Gandolfini in A Streetcar Named Desire some years earlier, Funaro was managing a Manhattan comedy club when he auditioned for The Sopranos. Creator David Chase had also previously convinced E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt to make his acting debut as Silvio Dante, and cast Tony Sirico, who had appeared in only minor film roles before The Sopranos, as Paulie Walnuts. “The best decision I ever made,” Chase tells the BBC, when asked about casting local talent. “That gave it such a sense of realism. We could give them anything and they could do it.”

Before Members Only, Eugene had appeared in 24 episodes of The Sopranos across three seasons but had uttered little dialogue and nothing was known of his backstory. Over the course of the episode, we learn that Eugene has a wife, daughter, and a son with a drug problem. He’s an FBI informant, has just inherited $2m and wants to leave his New Jersey mob life to retire in Florida. After both Tony and the FBI tell Eugene he can’t leave, he decides to kill himself.