What do you think about the beloved Pine Barrens episode? I had a ton of fun making this this video so please enjoy! During the editing I was finding myself still constantly laughing at the classic lines that appear throughout the episode. The music makes everything so much better. Is Pine Barrens overrated? Or is it the best episode in the series? Let me know down below 👇🏻
I think I agree with you. It’s not my personal favourite as I think the Sopranos is at its most awe inspiring with its most dramatic and thought provoking episodes such as Long Term Parking, Funhouse, Join the Club, etc… but it is 100% the funniest episode, one of the best for cinematography, and a monumental episode in the series that was once again groundbreaking. I’d also say it’s the most rewatchable, and like “College”, takes all of the best elements of the Sopranos and stacks it into a captivating hour, this time just with more humour. Great video as always! :)
The interior decorator line was one of the best things ever written. It's not a situation when you expect comedy, so it took me by surprise. I laughed out loud watching TV by myself, for a whole minute.
@@kirandarai8534 that's why it's not as funny imo though. A joke that your friend would say is just another throw away line like the 100 others that you've already heard. The interior decorator line works on so many different levels though. Paulie not knowing the difference between Chechnya and Czecholsovakia, confusing the interior ministry with an interior decorator, the fact that that they don't even wonder why Tony would even mention to them that he's a decorator by trade in the first place and that Paulie would also include this irrelevant bit of info to Chris who doesn't even question why they would have been told this bit of trivia etc. Vs a joke that most viewers at home could have said just as easily. I don't think any of us even laughed at the 'with what? His cock!?'joke because it's not even really a joke that's meant to be funny, just how some people speak. Maybe it's funny if you aren't used to that kind of banter though.
I genuinely love how the episode is now part of the Pine Barrens lore in real life. The Russian in the woods is now their modern day Jersey Devil folktale lol
They weren’t supposed to bury him. They were supposed to collect $5000 for Syl. The rest of the Looney Toons was because they thought they killed him. Not sure just how he got away.
I think that part of the greatness of the episode is the weird sense of the supernatural. Valery gets shot in the head, keeps running, and may ascend to the trees. Terrence Winter has noted the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens and "the spookiness of being in the woods." The episode teases something that we want and don't want to see--Christopher and Paulie finally getting what they deserve. And then it leaves us without closure. Brilliant.
@@Skrenja Yeah, for better or worse, The Sopranos often doesn't give closure. I think it's the biggest difference between The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.
@@Skrenja I can see why people don't like it but for me it made the show a lot more immersive and real, as real life is not a TV show and thus it doesn't follow the stablished "laws" of writing (you know, giving closure to relationships between the characters and their arcs and all that stuff); The Sopranos simply feels too natural because it has some characters that never solve their differences, some that stay pieces of shit and some others that even regress and go back to how they were before. Also, these two never fixing their relationship gave us the hilarious scene where they kill a waiter and call each other right the next day to talk about how glad they are no one got hurt.
Fun fact: Despite Pine Barrens being a real place in NJ, the forest scenes had to be shot in rural NY state, as Essex County executive James Teffinger (who was later busted for political corruption) denied a filming permit for the show, citing the "stereotypical" depiction of Italian-Americans
@@samanthab1923 YES. That was the go-to place to camp when you didn't want to travel far from Long Island or the City. I spent a lot of time there when I was a teen.
Gloria was looking for trouble answering his phone. He should have left her then. That could have been his wife, or one of his kids. That was proof she didn’t know her role.
You have to remember that Gloria took up with Tony because he was her ticket to the suicide that she was too scared to finish. That's why she answered the phone, threw the meat at his head, drove his wife home, etc. Keep in mind she spit in his face and said "Kill me, kill me," when he almost choked her out.
If you love dark humor Pine Barrens is amazing. Paulie & Christopher lost in the woods, freezing, starved, sucking on relish and ketchup packs, Paulie keeping the tic tacs for himself. Gloria bouncing a T-bone steak off Tony’s dome lol Also I’ve always loved movies/stories that take an unexpected twist and suddenly characters are stuck in survival mode. Iconic episode, arguably the best and one of my favorites
Back in 2000, 2001, I heard of the Sopranos but knew nothing about it. So one random Sunday evening, my wife and I decided to finally check it out. We put our newborn son to bed early and cracked open a bottle wine. It just so happened to be Pine Barrens. Needless to say, we were hooked after that!
@@seanswinton6242 apparently to get tony to laugh, bobby(the actor) talked to props and brought in a huge black dildo and came in holding it while off camera, and thats the scene they used to capture his laughter
I think it's the aspect of being lost in the woods unable to use weapons/violence that they normally would use in order to get them out of the sticky situations made this episode funny. We get to see these people completely out of their elements and that's what makes it so great. Getting lost in the woods, for two wise guys, is just something they have no way of knowing how to deal with. That element of seeing infallible, strong masculine characters completely breakdown is really comical and why I enjoyed Pine Barrens so much. Also, I'm from North Jersey but go to school in South Jersey and the Pine Barrens is only an hour away, so it's cool to see a local area being mentioned, though it was actually filmed in Upstate NY because they couldn't get permits to shoot, the Pine Barrens is a preservation area in NJ
I think Funhouse fits that description better. The dream scenes are hilarious and creative, and the ending is waaay more dramatic and emotional than Pine Barrens
Humor is so important in making a show feel real. Laughter and humor is like the most common way people relate to each other positively. So funny shows like the sopranos work so well 🤣
the sign of how good it was is that virtually every series on streaming now has a pine barrens type episode.better call saul and breaking bad did it in the desert.
I also think both College and Pine Barrens encapsulate the core themes of the show, especially Tony trying to balance his family life with his mafioso life. There’s also definitely themes of isolation, loneliness and despair in Pine Barrens, through metaphors, etc.
Funny story about this episode. The actor who plays Bobby said that James had told him he wanted his laugh in the scene where Bobby shows up at June's house in hunting gear to be really genuine. So when the camera cuts to James laughing Bobby is off camera waving around a huge black dido between his legs. True story look it up
Pine Barrens is great, but IMO the episode prior to it is better. To Save Us All from Satan’s Power is incredible because you see how it was before Jackie Sr. got Cancer and before Pussy Flipped. Then the clever ending of Meadow getting Tony the talking fish just reiterates Pussy’s importance to Tony’s character, and the show overall. But I’ve said too much.
I think what makes the Pine Barrens episode so special is that there is a lesson to be learned for all people. When they were stuck out in the woods in the snow freezing, nothing mattered but the simple things in life. We all need not forget that simple things we take for granted is all we really need
"Pine Barrens" is not Buscemi's debut as a director. He directed the film Trees Lounge, which significantly influenced the production of The Sopranos due to David Chase hiring its casting director.
Chrissie and Paulie are so great together in all their scenes in every episode, Tony Sirico and Michael Imperioli had such good chemistry... This is easily one of my favorite episodes
I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t have this episode in my top. It’s a great episode but I have never understood how people can think it’s the best episode of the show, let alone the best episode of TV.
@Recentleaf Exactly, even if I also object to it being the funniest, I just don’t get how it has reached such an untouchable status among the fanbase when in reality it’s just a pretty good episode.
I never watched The Sopranos and I just don’t have the time to watch, but your content makes me feel I can understand and not feel I’ve missed out. Thank you!
I watched this when aired on Sunday nights in 2001, what made it amazing was how funny it was...laughing out loud stomach hurting funny...because it was so outside the box from the usual tone of the show, so the comedy completely caught you off guard...
My favorite part of this episode is actually when Tony is driving Pauli’s and Chris back to civilization and Chris is in the backseat shivering and devouring a sandwich unconcerned with the car conversation. Lol
I live right on the edge of Wharton State Forest, basically a state-sanctioned area of South Jersey that is part of the Pine Barrens. I can confirm that it basically turns into the wilderness very quickly. Fun fact, New Jersey is so damn flat that the highest elevation point in South Jersey is a hill with a fire tower on it called Apple Pie Hill in Wharton State Forest, where you can climb the tower (but not enter the platform - it's locked,) and see over the treetops. If you look to the west, you can see Philadelphia, and if you look east, you can see Atlantic City.
I'm currently watching through The Sopranos for the first time ever. This episode was probably the best episode of anything that I have seen in my life.
Tbh I kind of think Pine Barrens is a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing episode but I just think that episodes like College, Funhouse, Whitecaps, Soprano Home Movies, Kennedy and Heidi and Made in America are much better.
Chris and Paulie have great dialogue in the snow but I totally agree. While those two can be pretty impulsive (like killing that waiter in season 5), Paulie trying to kill a Russian Paul Bunyan for something as stupid as a request and an a slight insult? Just seemed a bit ridiculous as the driving point of the plot
Because it's an amazing stand-alone episode. You could find someone that never watch any previous episode out this one on, and he would find it enjoyable as hell
Pine barrens is special because it literally is a comedy and crime drama rolled into one. Whenever you think something serious is about to happen, you're laughing your backside off again.
I think the thing that makes this episode so funny is over complication. It’s actually hilarious that all Paulie & Chrissy had to do was collect the money from Val, but instead turned into a complete ordeal 😂. This is def a top 3 episode.
Even as a 12 year old kid first watching the series on DVD, when I saw Pine Barrens, i knew i was watching something special. I couldn't explain why, but i just knew and i kept coming back to the episode.
When I finished this episode for the first I remember instantly thinking “that was the best episode so far”. It’s my favorite and I wasn’t shocked when I found out it’s also popular online
I grew up like 15 mins or so from the Pine Barrens and I can say from experience that theres alot of cell phone dead zones you can get easily lost in the woods and no one will hear you scream. I can see why theres so many mob stories about it
The disappearance of the Russian and Christopher starving for Roy Rodgers and mixing ketchup and relish together and Paulie eating all the tic tacs.. I died laughing so Best Episode Ever🙈
What makes this episode even more brilliant is the fact that the snow fell at the last minute. So, all the brilliant scenes where Paulie and Christopher were freezing in the snow had been rewritten at the last minute.
It was so much going on in this episode. Covering so many topics: interior decorating killer surviving an unsurvivable bullet wound, Tony's anxiety, Gloria's crazy jealousy, Paulie and Chris bro-hammingly dying together, and Carmela being the insufferable wife she only knows how to be.
Watched the Sopranos beginning to end more times than I can count and still call Pine Barrens my favorite. Drove through that part of NJ a couple times over the years and just laugh out loud …
If you are a massive Sopranos fan, then it's damn near impossible to name a favourite episode. Not ONE episode bored me...they all had something fresh. Pine Barrens was indeed hilarious and impeccably acted. The chemistry between Chrissy & Paulie was absolutely spot on.
It’s a great episode, the comedy in it had me laughing often and I made the “his house looked like shit” joke the other day in public and a guy perked up and replied loudly because he got the reference to it.
One of the best comedic episodes in the series. I am a bit partial to this one due to where it was filmed. The Pine Barrens winter scenes were actually film in Harriman State Park, Lake Tiorati, near Sloatsburg NY. This is actually part of the Appalachian trail and one of my favorite place to play as a child! I recognized it almost immediately.
I might be in the minority, bu my favorite episodes are the coma episodes with Kevin Finnerty. The supernatural / dreamlike elements elevate the show from great to masterful in my book.
@@KidFresh71 Not more wacking, just some storylines that actually have substance to them. But we get it, you're smarter than everyone else and this is your only platform to prove so...
Can't say most favourites but I totally loved those episodes. They are some of higher rated episodes too so I don't think it's really that much of minority.
If Valeri really was a badass commando, wouldn't he have taken one of their guns after KO'ing them with the shovel? They're both on the ground seeing stars, and he takes off running when he could've just shot them
@@darrellanderson4189 No, what you could do is have him take one of their guns while they're down on the ground, and it jams instead of firing. Valeri could just toss it down in frustration and run away, but at least you establish this stiff, lumbering drunkard really does possess all this elite military training Tony later warns them of. Valeri could even look at the gun's brand and say, "Piece of American shit!!!" There's still drama and comedy to be mined from even a little sequence like that. P.S: And if you *really want to go meta* here, you could even have Christopher ask Paulie what time it is, where Paulie responds with "Just turned 3:00" when suddenly, out of nowhere, BAM!!! Shovel to the head.
this episode was easily the funniest of the series for me so far and i’ve ever seen it was just so funny paulie is hilarious, he was cuffin the tic tacs is crazy lol
At first when I saw this video, I was thinking it was just gonna be another video about how great pine barrens is or whatever the fuck, but it was actually a pretty entertaining analysis and stood out from the other Pine Barrens videos out there; very nice 👌🏿 me personally, I like the Pine Barrens episode, I just feel like it's the one that EVERYONE talks about because it is seen as the best, which I won't argue that because it is a good one and it is very different; it has that Fargo quirky dark humor to it, that signature Steve Buscemi twist on it that you'd see in a Cohen Brother's film or a Tarantino flick. When it comes to my favorite episode... That's a tough one... Idk, I like the creepy/scary shit like the Test Dream and the other dream sequences where we see the shadow woman in the old house Ralph "the devil" leads Tony to as Tony slowly becomes more humbled and stripped of his ego and image along the way. I also like the episodes where Janice gets hurt (decked by Richie and beat up by the Russian).
What do you think about the beloved Pine Barrens episode?
I had a ton of fun making this this video so please enjoy! During the editing I was finding myself still constantly laughing at the classic lines that appear throughout the episode. The music makes everything so much better.
Is Pine Barrens overrated?
Or is it the best episode in the series?
Let me know down below 👇🏻
I think I agree with you. It’s not my personal favourite as I think the Sopranos is at its most awe inspiring with its most dramatic and thought provoking episodes such as Long Term Parking, Funhouse, Join the Club, etc… but it is 100% the funniest episode, one of the best for cinematography, and a monumental episode in the series that was once again groundbreaking. I’d also say it’s the most rewatchable, and like “College”, takes all of the best elements of the Sopranos and stacks it into a captivating hour, this time just with more humour. Great video as always! :)
The interior decorator line was one of the best things ever written. It's not a situation when you expect comedy, so it took me by surprise. I laughed out loud watching TV by myself, for a whole minute.
My one problem in it is they pumped their own gas. No one in Jersey pumps their own gas.
@@JaneLame I agree. LOL
I have to admit it's my favorite episode.😁
“He killed 16 Czechoslovakians…guy was an interior decorator”
“His house looked like shit”
One of the best lines ever in any tv show
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Chris put the icing on the cake
I couldn’t breath I was laughing so hard the first time I heard his. I loved Pauly and Chris. So fucking funny.
"I'll leave you here you one shoe cocksucker" has to be #2
I also loved "If we were trying we wouldn't even come close!"
After Chris shoots the deer.
That just made me laugh out loud watching it
Chris not knowing the Cuban missile crisis really happened is my favourite part of the episode, absolute gold 😂😂
I wonder what movie he saw about it. Only one I can think of is XMen First Class which didnt exist yet.
@@davidmorrissey8820 probably JFK.
@@davidmorrissey8820 13 Days staring Kevin Costner
@@davidmorrissey8820 maybe he was talking about a documentary?
Yeah but he did notice his house looked like shit 🤣
Paulie's wings sticking out the sides of his head and his eyes all bulging is one of the funniest things I've ever seen
Been on the red bull
Ayeee ohh! MOTHA FUCKA!!!
Looks like a koala 🐨
It didn’t look too bad
That Sirico even allowed that to happen is one of the reasons the episode is so special.
"Could be him out there stalking us."
"With what? His cock?:
Hardest I ever laughed in the entire series. My throat was hurting from laughing so hard.
Yeah that line was honestly funnier than the interior decorator line to me bc it feels like something me or my friends would actually say
Never mentioned my fav line: "Yer a regular .. fukkin Bruno Magli over there" (para). :-D
😂😂😂😂😂
@@kirandarai8534 that's why it's not as funny imo though. A joke that your friend would say is just another throw away line like the 100 others that you've already heard.
The interior decorator line works on so many different levels though. Paulie not knowing the difference between Chechnya and Czecholsovakia, confusing the interior ministry with an interior decorator, the fact that that they don't even wonder why Tony would even mention to them that he's a decorator by trade in the first place and that Paulie would also include this irrelevant bit of info to Chris who doesn't even question why they would have been told this bit of trivia etc. Vs a joke that most viewers at home could have said just as easily. I don't think any of us even laughed at the 'with what? His cock!?'joke because it's not even really a joke that's meant to be funny, just how some people speak. Maybe it's funny if you aren't used to that kind of banter though.
"Listen to this prick giving orders"....my chest hurts from laughing to that
How can you leave out the scene where Gloria throws a London broil at Tony's head and Jr smells it on him later ??😂😂😂
What have you been eating steak 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Are you sure that was in this episode specifically? I thought it was the next one but is it how it ends in this episode?
@@nasaswag9159 Junior maybe older, but his sense of smell is on point.
@@pladampa haha!! Sure is! Smelled the White Castle on Bobby quick too, lol
That was Steve Buscemi who actually threw the steak off screen.
Pine Barrens is funnier than the entire series of Friends put together
(its amazing how many mopes took the time to comment in defense of Friends)
yes...lol
That show sucks lol
My neighbours jokes are better than Friends *
A hemorrhoid is funnier than Friends.
@Sith Jawa Never was.
Paulie was such a great character, he was the comic relief in the Sopranos
“he wasn’t fully rehabullitated” is my favorite Paulie line
Because he was an actual gangster....
paulie? he’s the guy who’s father was run over by a trolley right?
Paulie wasn't acting I don't think. Dude did time in the can because he was a legitimate gangster
As opposed to the rest of the idiotic badly written characters? Seinfeld for grease balls.
I think people like the whole Fargo meets Soprano's feel of the episode
Yes! It's practically a stand alone.
Glad I wasn't the only one who saw that
I am a big fan of Fargo and yeah this was my favorite episode.
Chris and Paulie needed their own comedy mob spin off after this masterpiece.
The funniest thing to me is how annoyed Tony gets at the Mayonnaise.
"Mayonaishe, MAYONAISHE!"
@@laminatesnow4651 WE STILL SAY MAYONNAISE MAYONNAISE in Tony’s accent ALL THE TIME 😆
When he uncontrollably laughs at Bobby's hunting vest.. that's mine
😂😂😂😂😂😂
And the bad reception 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣
The entire series is hilarious. I don't even consider The Sopranos to be a drama, I am 100% positive that it was always meant to be a dark comedy.
Exactly
“We should have went to Roy Rogers!”
“And I should have f****d Dale Evans!!”
Lol it always drove me nuts they didn't stop, but I bet the Russian would've escaped.
How many times has that sentence been uttered in America?
"And I could've f'd Dale Evans, but, I didn't."
I genuinely love how the episode is now part of the Pine Barrens lore in real life. The Russian in the woods is now their modern day Jersey Devil folktale lol
“two dimwit mobsters lose a guy there supposed to bury in the woods”
it sounds like the start of a bad joke but it manages to be so hilarious
Very Buscemi-esque humor
@@Boobalopbop
The episode was directed by Steve Buscemi. 👍 😀
They weren’t supposed to bury him. They were supposed to collect $5000 for Syl. The rest of the Looney Toons was because they thought they killed him. Not sure just how he got away.
Fargo with mobsters
@@aisle_of_view Fargo meets Pulp Fiction
I think that part of the greatness of the episode is the weird sense of the supernatural. Valery gets shot in the head, keeps running, and may ascend to the trees. Terrence Winter has noted the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens and "the spookiness of being in the woods." The episode teases something that we want and don't want to see--Christopher and Paulie finally getting what they deserve. And then it leaves us without closure. Brilliant.
I hated how there was no closure. They should have finished that thread somehow.
@@Skrenja Yeah, for better or worse, The Sopranos often doesn't give closure. I think it's the biggest difference between The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.
@@n.dhingra7765 I get that, but it's done to an almost obnoxious degree in The Sopranos lol.
@@Skrenja I can see why people don't like it but for me it made the show a lot more immersive and real, as real life is not a TV show and thus it doesn't follow the stablished "laws" of writing (you know, giving closure to relationships between the characters and their arcs and all that stuff); The Sopranos simply feels too natural because it has some characters that never solve their differences, some that stay pieces of shit and some others that even regress and go back to how they were before.
Also, these two never fixing their relationship gave us the hilarious scene where they kill a waiter and call each other right the next day to talk about how glad they are no one got hurt.
@@Skrenja lol it’s like David Chase gets his rocks off leaving things unresolved 😂
Fun fact:
Despite Pine Barrens being a real place in NJ, the forest scenes had to be shot in rural NY state, as Essex County executive James Teffinger (who was later busted for political corruption) denied a filming permit for the show, citing the "stereotypical" depiction of Italian-Americans
Classic jersey. Horrible leaders.
James Teffinger. He had the toughest reputation in Essex County for denying permits but didn’t come around again after Richie got through with him.
The real Pine Barrens are way south of Essex County. More Ocean & Atlantic. They filmed in Harriman State Park in NY right over the line from NJ.
@@samanthab1923 YES. That was the go-to place to camp when you didn't want to travel far from Long Island or the City. I spent a lot of time there when I was a teen.
P Heresy That's right! My mom was from Yonkers NY & she would go to 7 Lakes Dr. with her friends. I drove thru once years ago, beautiful area.
*_,,I heard they're gonna jack a load of these Pokey-man cards"_*
(Salvatore Bonpensiero, The Sopranos, 1999)
Pine Barrens is the much needed comedic break in that series. Loved every minute of it.
It truly does stand out as one of if not the best episode in the series.
Paulie and Chrissy’s utter failure, the event causing an epic fight between tony and Gloria, the cell phones never working etc
Gloria was looking for trouble answering his phone. He should have left her then. That could have been his wife, or one of his kids. That was proof she didn’t know her role.
Yeah, and the way Irina handled it so well was a really good juxtaposition; she knew her place in Tony’s life
She was suicidal and was engaging in dangerous and wreckless behavior. She provoked Tony to beat and kill her, remember.
That was her role: Crazy Side Piece
You have to remember that Gloria took up with Tony because he was her ticket to the suicide that she was too scared to finish. That's why she answered the phone, threw the meat at his head, drove his wife home, etc. Keep in mind she spit in his face and said "Kill me, kill me," when he almost choked her out.
If you love dark humor Pine Barrens is amazing. Paulie & Christopher lost in the woods, freezing, starved, sucking on relish and ketchup packs, Paulie keeping the tic tacs for himself. Gloria bouncing a T-bone steak off Tony’s dome lol Also I’ve always loved movies/stories that take an unexpected twist and suddenly characters are stuck in survival mode. Iconic episode, arguably the best and one of my favorites
Back in 2000, 2001, I heard of the Sopranos but knew nothing about it.
So one random Sunday evening, my wife and I decided to finally check it out. We put our newborn son to bed early and cracked open a bottle wine. It just so happened to be Pine Barrens. Needless to say, we were hooked after that!
My personal favorite is "Live Free or Die"
Currently, I'm on my 4th rewatch. I'm on season 5 ep 4(All Happy Families)
The best part about Pine Barrons was Paulie's hair getting mussed.
Absolutely
The scene where it’s Tony and AJ in the kitchen/ sitting room and Tonys on the phone talking ab ‘the package’ actually so funny oh my god
IS THERE ANY WAY THE PACKAGE COULD SURVIVE !?
"The package hit Chrissy with an implement, and ran off".
When Bobby showed up in the hunter outfit I laughed out loud along with Tony.
I did too. I thought Bobby looked like Elmer Fudd hunting Bugs Bunny!
@@seanswinton6242 apparently to get tony to laugh, bobby(the actor) talked to props and brought in a huge black dildo and came in holding it while off camera, and thats the scene they used to capture his laughter
For real though!! My husband and I couldn’t help laughing with Tony!
“I found some ketchup packets!”
“Are they clean?”
LOL
MMM MIX IT WITH THE RELISH!!!
Paulie germaphobic ass
You left out the best and funniest scene of all. Gloria threw food at Tony Soprano That's gotta be resolved.
They gotta have a sit down and see how much restitution Gloria has to make to Ton'
IS THERE ANY WAY THE PACKAGE COULD SURVIVE
Honestly one of the greatest episodes ever
The Package Hit Chrissy with an Implement and Ran Off
It's hard to say. With a flesh wound, maybe. A headshot, I don't know. Then again, anything is possible.
@@enak413 t im sorry, but the package escaped
That Cuban missile crisis line is probably my favorite from the series. The delivery is spot on and hilarious
One of the best episodes Paulie and Christopher are a comedy team
I think it's the aspect of being lost in the woods unable to use weapons/violence that they normally would use in order to get them out of the sticky situations made this episode funny. We get to see these people completely out of their elements and that's what makes it so great. Getting lost in the woods, for two wise guys, is just something they have no way of knowing how to deal with. That element of seeing infallible, strong masculine characters completely breakdown is really comical and why I enjoyed Pine Barrens so much. Also, I'm from North Jersey but go to school in South Jersey and the Pine Barrens is only an hour away, so it's cool to see a local area being mentioned, though it was actually filmed in Upstate NY because they couldn't get permits to shoot, the Pine Barrens is a preservation area in NJ
It’s the quintessential Sopranos episode. A perfect blend of drama and humor. (Incidentally- my favorite episode is The Test Dream)
All the episodes the features Tony’s dreams are amazing.
Test dream is freaky
I had a dream about The Test Dream once. Annette Bening was in my dream in Tony’s dream. It was Inception-like shit and it was awesome
I think Funhouse fits that description better. The dream scenes are hilarious and creative, and the ending is waaay more dramatic and emotional than Pine Barrens
Paulie and his shoe. "Guy was an interior decorator. His apartment looked like shit" Ketchup packs 🤣🤣🤣
Mix it with the relish 😀
@@itzAurora_Xoxo lol
R.I.P. Paulie Walnuts...
Paulie should've just put the remote back on the "docking station"
listen to this pr**k givin orders. You got some balls my friend.
Humor is so important in making a show feel real. Laughter and humor is like the most common way people relate to each other positively. So funny shows like the sopranos work so well 🤣
the sign of how good it was is that virtually every series on streaming now has a pine barrens type episode.better call saul and breaking bad did it in the desert.
Man what a great episode. My mom and I were in tears laughing. “I could lose a foot here” & the ketchup packets ughhh so many good lines in this one.
nice picture
Putting the ad in the middle of the interior decorator scene is 🤣
Rest In Peace Tony Sirico
The episode reminds me of College in that it's basically an episode that stands on its own and isn't too involved with the overall plot of the season.
I also think both College and Pine Barrens encapsulate the core themes of the show, especially Tony trying to balance his family life with his mafioso life. There’s also definitely themes of isolation, loneliness and despair in Pine Barrens, through metaphors, etc.
@@maxeyre2024 Lol there’s no themes in Pine Barrens. It’s just trying to be funny.
You’re right about College tho
Funny story about this episode. The actor who plays Bobby said that James had told him he wanted his laugh in the scene where Bobby shows up at June's house in hunting gear to be really genuine. So when the camera cuts to James laughing Bobby is off camera waving around a huge black dido between his legs. True story look it up
I was going to mention this. I heard the story in the Gandolfini tribute that HBO did.
Pine Barrens is great, but IMO the episode prior to it is better. To Save Us All from Satan’s Power is incredible because you see how it was before Jackie Sr. got Cancer and before Pussy Flipped. Then the clever ending of Meadow getting Tony the talking fish just reiterates Pussy’s importance to Tony’s character, and the show overall.
But I’ve said too much.
Yeah but you gotta get over it.
That’s a great one too, so many fantastic episodes! But I’d still say Pine Barrens is more rewatchable.
I actually prefer the episode AFTER Pine Barrens. Amour Fou, can’t get enough of that episode
You know i can't take this shit seeiously,no way eps 10 of S3 is better,that one of the absolute worst S3 episode ngl
I think what makes the Pine Barrens episode so special is that there is a lesson to be learned for all people. When they were stuck out in the woods in the snow freezing, nothing mattered but the simple things in life. We all need not forget that simple things we take for granted is all we really need
We never get to meet this Pine Baron
I watched this when it aired, and countless times since. I just within the past year finally realized that Chrissy says, “ you one shoe 🐔 sucker”.
The way Chrissy tries to light a fire just to have a cig is hilarious.
"Pine Barrens" is not Buscemi's debut as a director. He directed the film Trees Lounge, which significantly influenced the production of The Sopranos due to David Chase hiring its casting director.
Chrissie and Paulie are so great together in all their scenes in every episode, Tony Sirico and Michael Imperioli had such good chemistry... This is easily one of my favorite episodes
I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t have this episode in my top. It’s a great episode but I have never understood how people can think it’s the best episode of the show, let alone the best episode of TV.
@Recentleaf Exactly, even if I also object to it being the funniest, I just don’t get how it has reached such an untouchable status among the fanbase when in reality it’s just a pretty good episode.
Absolutely agree. It’s hilarious sure, but I don’t know how people can think that’s the best The Sopranos has to offer
I never watched The Sopranos and I just don’t have the time to watch, but your content makes me feel I can understand and not feel I’ve missed out. Thank you!
I watched this when aired on Sunday nights in 2001, what made it amazing was how funny it was...laughing out loud stomach hurting funny...because it was so outside the box from the usual tone of the show, so the comedy completely caught you off guard...
My favorite part of this episode is actually when Tony is driving Pauli’s and Chris back to civilization and Chris is in the backseat shivering and devouring a sandwich unconcerned with the car conversation. Lol
I live right on the edge of Wharton State Forest, basically a state-sanctioned area of South Jersey that is part of the Pine Barrens. I can confirm that it basically turns into the wilderness very quickly. Fun fact, New Jersey is so damn flat that the highest elevation point in South Jersey is a hill with a fire tower on it called Apple Pie Hill in Wharton State Forest, where you can climb the tower (but not enter the platform - it's locked,) and see over the treetops. If you look to the west, you can see Philadelphia, and if you look east, you can see Atlantic City.
Which speaks to the fact that Jersey is a small state, one that could tip over.
I'm currently watching through The Sopranos for the first time ever. This episode was probably the best episode of anything that I have seen in my life.
Try Four days out of Breaking Bad, and Bagman from Better Call Saul , this episodes reminds me to Pine Barrens
Tbh I kind of think Pine Barrens is a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing episode but I just think that episodes like College, Funhouse, Whitecaps, Soprano Home Movies, Kennedy and Heidi and Made in America are much better.
I agree, but I think it depends on humour culture. Maybe other people liked all the references
Chris and Paulie have great dialogue in the snow but I totally agree. While those two can be pretty impulsive (like killing that waiter in season 5), Paulie trying to kill a Russian Paul Bunyan for something as stupid as a request and an a slight insult? Just seemed a bit ridiculous as the driving point of the plot
Agree
Because it's an amazing stand-alone episode. You could find someone that never watch any previous episode out this one on, and he would find it enjoyable as hell
Pine barrens is special because it literally is a comedy and crime drama rolled into one. Whenever you think something serious is about to happen, you're laughing your backside off again.
I think the thing that makes this episode so funny is over complication. It’s actually hilarious that all Paulie & Chrissy had to do was collect the money from Val, but instead turned into a complete ordeal 😂. This is def a top 3 episode.
By far, my favorite episode for belly laughs. Brilliant writing and acting.
My Comrades and I refer to this episode as "Soviet Docking Station Episode"
Brilliant thank you. For you’re dedication.😊
Even as a 12 year old kid first watching the series on DVD, when I saw Pine Barrens, i knew i was watching something special. I couldn't explain why, but i just knew and i kept coming back to the episode.
Bada Bing Crosby had the makings of a Varsity Athlete I'd say after seeing her throw Tony's gift out of the boat
When I finished this episode for the first I remember instantly thinking “that was the best episode so far”. It’s my favorite and I wasn’t shocked when I found out it’s also popular online
I just watched it last night, easily one of my favorites so far!
I grew up like 15 mins or so from the Pine Barrens and I can say from experience that theres alot of cell phone dead zones you can get easily lost in the woods and no one will hear you scream. I can see why theres so many mob stories about it
I always loved pine barrens and it's probably my favorite episode because it had equal amounts of action and dark humor
The disappearance of the Russian and Christopher starving for Roy Rodgers and mixing ketchup and relish together and Paulie eating all the tic tacs.. I died laughing so Best Episode Ever🙈
What makes this episode even more brilliant is the fact that the snow fell at the last minute. So, all the brilliant scenes where Paulie and Christopher were freezing in the snow had been rewritten at the last minute.
“What are you a doctor now?” My favorite line from the episode.
It was so much going on in this episode. Covering so many topics: interior decorating killer surviving an unsurvivable bullet wound, Tony's anxiety, Gloria's crazy jealousy, Paulie and Chris bro-hammingly dying together, and Carmela being the insufferable wife she only knows how to be.
"We should have stopped at Roy Rogers!"
Saw the whole series for the first time in the past few months, this episode stood out
Watched the Sopranos beginning to end more times than I can count and still call Pine Barrens my favorite. Drove through that part of NJ a couple times over the years and just laugh out loud …
From Start To End,...Definitly Most Hilarious Of The Soprano"s Show"s !!!!
It was Paulies messed up hair that cracked me up!
One of the best episodes ever. Very well directed
BEEN WAITING FO THIS ONE!!!
It's a comedy genius episode, definitely the best episode out of all the seasons.
If you are a massive Sopranos fan, then it's damn near impossible to name a favourite episode. Not ONE episode bored me...they all had something fresh. Pine Barrens was indeed hilarious and impeccably acted. The chemistry between Chrissy & Paulie was absolutely spot on.
Exactly! That’s why I said a bunch of my favourites, you can’t pick one, it’s like picking ice cream. Yes, the chemistry was great.
That TEST dream could've been deleted and I wouldn't shed 1 tear / the whole Spatafore gay arc .....stroonz
Agreed. I can’t
It’s a great episode, the comedy in it had me laughing often and I made the “his house looked like shit” joke the other day in public and a guy perked up and replied loudly because he got the reference to it.
One of the best comedic episodes in the series. I am a bit partial to this one due to where it was filmed. The Pine Barrens winter scenes were actually film in Harriman State Park, Lake Tiorati, near Sloatsburg NY. This is actually part of the Appalachian trail and one of my favorite place to play as a child! I recognized it almost immediately.
I might be in the minority, bu my favorite episodes are the coma episodes with Kevin Finnerty. The supernatural / dreamlike elements elevate the show from great to masterful in my book.
You are definitely in the minority
It was amazing!
@@traviscoates6878 Oh, you're one of those simple minded Sopranos fans who prefers "more whacking, less yacking." Got it.
@@KidFresh71 Not more wacking, just some storylines that actually have substance to them. But we get it, you're smarter than everyone else and this is your only platform to prove so...
Can't say most favourites but I totally loved those episodes. They are some of higher rated episodes too so I don't think it's really that much of minority.
If Valeri really was a badass commando, wouldn't he have taken one of their guns after KO'ing them with the shovel? They're both on the ground seeing stars, and he takes off running when he could've just shot them
Yep, massive plot hole no one talks about for some reason.
Then the episode would have ended there..and we would have missed out on all the funny shit.
@@darrellanderson4189 No, what you could do is have him take one of their guns while they're down on the ground, and it jams instead of firing. Valeri could just toss it down in frustration and run away, but at least you establish this stiff, lumbering drunkard really does possess all this elite military training Tony later warns them of. Valeri could even look at the gun's brand and say, "Piece of American shit!!!" There's still drama and comedy to be mined from even a little sequence like that.
P.S: And if you *really want to go meta* here, you could even have Christopher ask Paulie what time it is, where Paulie responds with "Just turned 3:00" when suddenly, out of nowhere, BAM!!! Shovel to the head.
That was one of the funniest episodes! I laughed my self silly.
this episode was easily the funniest of the series for me so far and i’ve ever seen it was just so funny paulie is hilarious, he was cuffin the tic tacs is crazy lol
Pine Barrens is Shakespeare mob style. Every word is note perfect. 👌
''MIX IT WITH THE RELISH''
For all the awesome one liners this episode, Tony's "Mayonaise, Mayonnaise!" line made me laugh the hardest
Great episode. I’d say the intervention scene is up there on the same level. Ive seen that scene several times and still laugh out loud.
At first when I saw this video, I was thinking it was just gonna be another video about how great pine barrens is or whatever the fuck, but it was actually a pretty entertaining analysis and stood out from the other Pine Barrens videos out there; very nice 👌🏿 me personally, I like the Pine Barrens episode, I just feel like it's the one that EVERYONE talks about because it is seen as the best, which I won't argue that because it is a good one and it is very different; it has that Fargo quirky dark humor to it, that signature Steve Buscemi twist on it that you'd see in a Cohen Brother's film or a Tarantino flick. When it comes to my favorite episode... That's a tough one... Idk, I like the creepy/scary shit like the Test Dream and the other dream sequences where we see the shadow woman in the old house Ralph "the devil" leads Tony to as Tony slowly becomes more humbled and stripped of his ego and image along the way. I also like the episodes where Janice gets hurt (decked by Richie and beat up by the Russian).
Pine barrens felt like a short black comedy film. It feels like its almost a spin off
EXACTLY
Best episode on many levels! RIP Tony Sirico!
Everything makes it so special.
The Directing, the location, the off the chart acting.
People love this episode because of how funny it is
Monetize that opinion!
You must of been top of your fuckin class
They need the Benny Hill soundtrack playing while they're out there lol
Best Soprano's episode ever by far !!!
Dude I subbed to you like a week ago and I’m dumbfounded how much stuff you have to say. For a fan of the show this the a cherry on top.