Sopranos Recap

So last night, while sitting around with a bunch of family in a den in Italian suburbia, we fulfilled our Sunday obligation and watched The Sopranos at 9 o'clock -- we've found that the clan that watches it together, stays together.

Well, a lot of last night's episode revolved around a modern iteration of one of the old-style saints' festivals which, once upon a time, were widely in practice in this country, brought over and maintained by people who grew up with 'em on The Boot. They would be weeklong events, with food carts (lots of zeppole), Masses, processions, and just another time for the diaspora to congregate.

These days, they've mostly fallen by the wayside -- the largest, of course, is September's San Gennaro festival on Mulberry Street in New York.

But on last night's show, the ritual (both the social and the para-liturgical) were executed to the hilt for TV, which was fun to see as it opened it to a wider audience.

And who else noticed the birettas?

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