SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER

Season 2/3

I am a little confused about something. I haven't had a chance to see Season 3 properly yet, but I think Gigi Cestone(sp)gets moved from the Tony Soprano crew to be captain of the Aprile crew.

My question is whether Gigi(sp) was the guy who whacked Philly Parisi in the first episode of Season 2. Is that right? We didn't see much of him after that in Season 2 I think. Seems like he came out of nowhere, disappeared and then reappeared in the first episode of Season 3 when Patsy Parisi starts asking questions about what happened to his brother, Philly.

Am I getting mixed up?

I don't think you're mixed up. The only things I remember about Gigi are: He whacked Philly. He hated Ralph. And he died taking a dump.

JL's right on, Wiseguy! And say, WG: Where you been, dude?? Anyway, good to see ya' back in th' saddle!

Here's what I've gleaned about Gigi Cestone. He used to be a member of Junior's crew back when Jackie Aprile Sr was still alive and in charge. We see this in the flashbacks in the Season 3 episode "To Save Us All From Satan's Power", the Christmas episode.

At some point, he went on the lam and left town for a long while. He went to Boston. During that time, he was somehow lured over to Tony's crew. When the coast was clear and we could return to Jersey, he was a member of Tony's crew, unbeknownst to Junior and his crew.

Philly Parisi took over Junior's crew after the death of Mikey Palmice and the imprisonment of Junior. But he was definitely anti-Tony and was spreading all sorts of rumors about Tony's mental problems and Tony wanting to kill Livia. Therefore, he had to go.

Philly picked up Gigi from the airport, but Philly didn't know he had already been back, and was now a member of the Tony Soprano crew. Gigi, of course, killed the unsuspecting Philly. This was partly because of Philly talking too much, and partly because he had to go to cement Tony's power.

Gigi, throughout Season Two, was a soldier in Tony's crew. When Richie Aprile went away, there was a vacancy in the capo position of the Aprile crew. The newly-returned Ralph Cifaretto (who had been on the lam in Miami for the past few years) rejoined his old crew, and as Junior put it, "whipped it into shape". He didn't officially have the title of capo, but was acting as if he did.

Tony had some reservations about Ralphie, and chose to install Gigi as capo of the Aprile crew, much to Ralphie's displeasure. Ralph felt that promotion should have been his, and during Gigi's tenure as capo, he was always undermining Gigi and being a general all-around pain in the ass.

Gigi, as we know, had a heart attack and died while trying to deal with some constipation. Tony then had no choice but to promote Ralphie to capo. His choices were Vito Spatafore, Donny K, Eugene Pontecorvo, and Ralphie. For all of his violent tendencies and annoying behavior, Ralphie was the only choice.

Whoa, nicely clarrified ChrisY2J!

Speaking of Gigi Cestone, I recall hearing that the actor that played him, John Fiore, helped make some unauthorized Sopranos documentary. Is there any truth to this? I haven't seen it anywhere.

Yes, it is true. It's called "Sopranos Unauthorized - Shooting Sites Uncovered". Amazon.com has it for $17. I have't seen it though, so I don't know if it's any good.

I picked this up at "Best Buy" today for $15. It's 2hrs long, and looks pretty interesting.
After I watch it, I'll post whether I think it was worth it.