In the first episode if you look closely, you can see Father Intintola is played by a different actor than in the the rest of the series.
And you can see Drea de Matteo as the hostess in the restaurant where Tony and his goomar dine in.
1. The first (or second?) time we see Tony and his guys at, there is a conversation that occurs between the crew where the color tone is red/ pinkish, especially in the background? Does anyone know what I'm talking about and why that decision was made?
I don't remember this but will watch it and get back to you. I do know early on the camera angles were very low and often askew (think of the angles used in the hijacking scenes of "46 Long") but Chase and co. decided that their writing was good enough that they didn't need weird camera angles to draw attention to the material.(I read that in one of the generic series guides, I think.)
2. In the same conversation, Silvio asks Tony something to the extent of "did you go to high school with a guy named Artie buck?" This question is really out of place for me as I was under the impression they were all friends with Artie/ dined at his restaurant quite regularly. Is this just because it's the pilot and the characters had not been established?
Yeah, pretty much. In " Boca", the ninth episode of the season, all three attend the game of their daughters' soccer match.
3. Who are the two older men walking with Tony and Junior when Junior says "you may run north jersey but you don't run your uncle junior!" do we ever see them again, what is their fate?
They're never mentioned again, to my knowledge. In that episode they're 'old school' associates to Junior.
4. Would Silvio really have carried out the bombing of the vesuvio? A high ranking guy like? Or can it just be chalked up to needing a recognizable character to commit a crime so the audience can connect to them and the storyline?
Yeah, someone that close (a
consigliere at that point?) would never do something at that point. Put it down to a lack of characters written for the pilot.
