The Sopranos: 10 Continuity Errors You Didn’t Notice
The Sopranos was an undoubtedly polished series, but that doesn't mean there aren't at least a few flubs and continuity errors in the series.
The Sopranos is TV perfection, and, plot-wise, it’s almost airtight. Most arcs make sense, with the storylines having a realistic feel about them. The character development is also magnificent, with most of the mobsters, their associates, and their families juggling between progress and regress.
The only notable problem with the HBO show is also very easy to miss. As is the case with many other TV shows, there are a couple of continuity errors scattered all over The Sopranos. Given how fascinating the stories are, viewers might not easily notice things such as nail polish suddenly appearing on a character’s fingers.
The Color Of A.J.’s Trousers
A.J. never stops being a headache to his parents throughout the series. In season five’s “All Happy Families,” his poor grades force Tony and Carmela to visit his guidance counselor, Robert Wegler, who comes up with suggestions on how he can improve his SAT scores. Interestingly, Carmela makes a questionable Sopranos dating choice by starting an affair with Wegler days later.
During the meeting where Wegler and Carmela first see each other for the first time, A.J. is asked to leave for speaking out of turn. When he stands up, his trousers are beige, but, when he walks through the door, he is wearing black trousers.
Nail Polish On Paulie’s Fingers?
Salvatore’s stint as an FBI informant on The Sopranos comes to an end when Tony has a weird dream about him and becomes paranoid. He searches the street soldier’s house and finds wires. Silvio and Paulie then take him on a boat trip where they all fire shots at him before throwing his body in the ocean.
When his body falls on the boat’s floor, Paulie reaches down to yank his chain off. Instead of Paulie’s hands spreading the chain out, it’s a woman’s hand that can be seen, probably belonging to a member of the production crew. It has dark nail polish on it. None of the three men on the boat have nail polish.
Tony’s Blood Stain
Tony has a habit of making bad jokes directed at his sister Janice. He does so again when he, Carmela, and the Bacala’s are on a family getaway. Bobby doesn’t take too kindly to his wife being made fun of, so he punches Tony, and a fight starts. Surprisingly, Bobby emerges as the victor, with Tony coming up with dozens of excuses for why he lost.
After the fight, a large bloodstain can be seen on Tony’s undershirt right before he goes to bed. The next morning, Tony is still wearing the same undershirt, but the bloodstain is somehow noticably smaller.
Artie And The Bathroom
All the blame is laid on Artie when Tony suffers from food poisoning in season two’s “Funhouse.” Being the good friend that he is, the restaurateur shows up at the Soprano home to defend himself and help figure out where the source of Tony’s woes is. It’s soon discovered that Tony also ate at an Indian restaurant with Salvatore Bonpensiero the previous night.
When Artie enters Tony’s bedroom, he heads to the bathroom. Later, he and Carmela have to help Tony go to the bathroom. At that point, Artie surprisingly asks “where’re we headed?” implying that he has no idea where the bathroom is, yet he was there a couple of minutes ago.
Valentina’s Magazine
One of Tony’s numerous mistresses seen throughout The Sopranos, Valentina La Paz gets distracted while preparing eggs for Tony. As she suggests taking a vacation with the mob boss in Antigua, she doesn’t notice her robe catching fire, and part of her face and hair are burned in the process. Tony later visits her in the hospital where he informs her that he’ll be going back to Carmela.
When Tony first shows up in her hospital room, Valentina is reading a magazine, and she places it on her lap. Whenever the camera is on Tony, the magazine appears, but, when it’s on Valentina, it disappears.
The Pen
Realtor Julianna Skiff is part of the reason why bad blood develops between Tony and Christopher. She first meets Tony while she is trying to purchase his building, Caputo’s Poultry. The two flirt, but Tony dilly-dallies, so she goes on to develop a relationship with Christopher, with the two forming one of the worst couples on The Sopranos. Tony sees this as a betrayal by both of them.
A continuity error pops up during the meeting to sign the contract. Tony picks up a pen, ready to sign, but, in the next shot, the pen is in the exact position that it was before.
Tony’s Disappearing Escalade
Tony’s friendship with Agent Harris proves to be very beneficial to both, especially at the height of the war between New York and New Jersey. In season six’s “The Blue Comet,” Harris talks to Tony at Satriale’s Pork Store and informs him that Lupertazzi Crime Family boss Phil Leotardo is planning to whack one of Tony’s men.
When Harris follows Tony outside of Satriale’s, the don’s affordable Cardillac Escalade can be spotted behind Tony. In the next shot, a red Jeep appears right where the Escalade was.
A Stack Of Cash
After the death of Philly Parisi, Gigi defects from Junior’s crew to Tony’s crew. He becomes close to Tony and is eventually rewarded by being made Capo of the Aprille crew. Gigi also frequents the back rooms of the Bing where Silvio, Tony and other high level mobsters like hanging out.
Right before Gigi’s heart attack in season three’s “He Is Risen,” she and Tony are shown sitting next to the poker table. A stack of money from the previous night’s game is visible, but, when the two finish chatting, the money is gone. There is no other person in the room, and no one else could have taken it.
Junior’s Glasses
A hit is ordered on Mustang Sally when he assaults Vito’s brother Bryan. Despite being old and sickly, Bobby Baccala’s father Bobby Sr. offers to do the job since he is Sally’s godfather. Baccala tries to get Tony to make someone else to whack the offender, but he isn’t successful. Baccala’s fears are confirmed when Bobby Sr. crashes his car and dies shortly after the hit.
Junior gets very upset when Bobby breaks the news to him, and he throws things around in a fit of anger. In between throwing things, his glasses keep appearing and disappearing on his face.
Hesh’s Ice Tea
In the first season, New York rapper and record producer Massive Genius not only befriends Christopher, but he also gets into a feud with Tony’s friend, the loan shark Hesh Rabkin. He takes Hesh to court, though the Sopranos storyline gets dropped, with Massive never appearing again for the remainder of the series.
As Hesh and Massive are discussing their issues, Hesh leans forward to pick a glass of ice tea. In the next shot, the glass has disappeared. Hesh is no longer holding it, and it can’t be seen on the table, either.
