"Whoever Did This" is the 48th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the ninth of the show's fourth season. Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on November 10, 2002.

Starring

• = credit only

Guest starring

• Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile • Joseph R. Gannascoli as Vito Spatafore • Robert Funaro as Eugene Pontecorvo • Leslie Bega as Valentina La Paz • Murielle Arden as Elodi Colbert • Dan Castleman as Prosecutor Castleman • Richard D'Alessandro as Dennis Capozza • Frances Ensemplare as Nucci Gualtieri • Tim Kang as Dr. Harrison Wong • Dane Curley as Justin Cifaretto • Ellen Orchid as Dr. Sharon Zalutsky • Frank Pando as Agent Grasso • Richard Portnow as Harold Melvoin • Allia Kliouka Schaffer as Svetlana Kirilenko • Paul Schulze as Father Phil Intintola • Matt Servitto as Agent Harris • Susan Jhun as News Reporter Allison Pak • Marissa Matrone as Ronnie Capozza • Rosa Nino as Iñez Muñoz • Elena Solovey as Branca Libinsk • Maria Elena Ramirez as Neighbor • Manon Halliburton as Lois Pettit, the horse trainer

Synopsis

Junior is hospitalized with a concussion after a boom mic sends him falling down the courthouse steps. He soon recovers and enjoys his hospital stay as a respite from the RICO trial. Tony recognizes this as a potential advantage and convinces Junior to feign dementia during his competency hearings. He gives a good performance but begins exhibiting actual signs of dementia in private. Ralphie's 12-year-old son Justin is hit in the chest with an arrow while play-acting The Lord of the Rings with a friend, resulting in significant blood loss and brain damage. While delivering some cash to Tony, Ralphie cries openly. Expressing a desire for some kind of redemption, he meets with Father Phil and establishes a scholarship at Rutgers in Jackie Jr.'s name. Everyone sympathizes with him except Paulie. His mother recently received a traumatic prank phone call, and Paulie correctly suspects that it was from Ralphie, retaliating against him for ratting him out to Johnny. At the stables, a fire breaks out, apparently caused by faulty electrical wiring. Pie-O-My is badly burned and has to be euthanized. Tony is devastated and immediately suspects Ralphie, later confronting him at his home over the suspicious timing of the fire: the $200,000 insurance pay-out would cover Justin's medical bills. Ralphie vehemently denies the accusation, but their argument escalates into a physical fight, culminating in Tony strangling Ralphie to death. Tony calls Christopher for help; he arrives late and high on heroin. Tony never outright admits to Christopher that he killed Ralphie, and Christopher never expresses outright suspicion. Together, they dismember Ralphie's body in his bathtub with a meat cleaver, and meticulously clean the place before leaving. They bury his severed head, toupee, and hands on a farm; they throw the rest of his body off a cliff into the water below, and into a flooded quarry. After the disposal, they clean up at the Bada Bing, where Tony passes out and wakes up alone the following morning.

Deceased

Title reference

Connections to prior episodes

Other cultural references

Music

True-crime influence

Jason Bautista was convicted of killing his mentally ill mother in Riverside, California, on January 14, 2003, then dumping her decapitated body with its hands removed off Ortega Highway in Orange County. Jason's half-brother, Matthew Montejo, who was 15 years old when Jason killed their mother, testified in court that he helped dispose of her body and that they got the idea to chop off her head and hands to hide the crime from this episode.

Awards

"Whoever Did This" was Joe Pantoliano's 2003 winning submission for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, along with the episode "Christopher".