Denial, Anger, Acceptance
| "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" | |
|---|---|
| The Sopranos episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Nick Gomez |
| Written by | Mark Saraceni |
| Cinematography by | Alik Sakharov |
| Production code | 103 |
| Original air date | January 24, 1999 |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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see below |
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see below
"Denial, Anger, Acceptance" is the third episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was written by Mark Saraceni, directed by Nick Gomez and originally aired on January 24, 1999.
* = credit only
Christopher and Brendan Filone return the stolen truck to Comley Trucking, but Junior Soprano is not satisfied. Junior and Mikey Palmice discuss their options for dealing with the two and Tony, and Junior begins to agree with Mikey.
Silvio Dante approaches Tony on behalf of hotel owner Shlomo Teittleman, a Hasidic Jew, and a friend of Silvio Dante's. The man agrees to turn over 25% of his business to Tony if he is able to force the man's son-in-law into agreeing to a divorce with no compensation. This is because the son-in-law wants 50% and the government has put an end to the "self-policing" Hasidics previously available to the hotel owner. However, Tony's Jewish friend, Hesh Rabkin, warns Tony not to get involved with the Hasids. Paulie Gualtieri and Silvio accost Ariel, the son-in-law, but are unable to convince him to walk away from the marriage and the hotel with nothing. During a second encounter, where they kidnap him and fail to break him after a long fight in which Ariel proves adept at defending himself and not submitting to their demands, they seek help from Tony. Ariel challenges the men to kill him, believing his murder will bring spiritual harm to the Teittleman family, as well as to Paulie and Silvio. He references Masada, site of a long siege between a small number of Jews and legions of Roman soldiers that ended in the mass suicide of the Jews who chose death over enslavement. Paulie and Silvio can't crack him so they call Tony away from time with his mistress Irina to help them. Tony, angered by having to be dragged away from his fling, asks Ariel why in the world he is being so stubborn about this, especially since most men would be glad to be rid of a nagging wife. Ariel states that he has put up with his father-in-law for years, as well as providing for his wife by paying medical bills and vacations to Israel, and that he cannot accept a penniless divorce. Tony cannot intimidate Ariel either, so he is forced to swallow his pride and call Hesh in the late night hours, admitting he refused Hesh's advice not to get involved. After taking Hesh's suggestion that the threat of castration is worse than death, Tony is able to get Ariel to agree to the divorce on their terms. The next day, Shlomo refuses to give Tony his share, instead offering cash, because he believes he negotiated the solution through violence and threats, and he would instead offer Ariel 15% ownership of the motel. When Tony insists on the original 25% arrangement Shlomo says he has created a golem; when Tony asks what that means, he calls him a Frankenstein.
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