Cold Cuts (The Sopranos) - References To Other Media

References To Other Media

• On the drive to Kinderhook, Tony B. confides to Christopher: "that 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' cartoon used to scare the piss out of me", and adds: "very sorry people" used to call Tony B. Ichabod Crane. According to a notation by Washington Irving, the character of Ichabod Crane was based on a schoolteacher whom Irving befriended in Kinderhook, New York, in 1809.
• In the audio commentary, the episode's director, Mike Figgis, points out how the scene where Christopher and Tony Blundetto dig up the skeletal remains of a man Christopher knew (and killed) symbolically referenced the famous Yorick scene in Hamlet.
• Of Johnny Sack's belief that Tony Blundetto killed Joey Peeps, Silvio comments that Sack should be "out looking for the real killers, instead of spending all his time on the golf course." This line is a not-so-subtle jab at O.J. Simpson, who in the years after his acquittal on murder charges claimed to be seeking "the real killers" while he was often criticized for spending all of his free time playing golf.
• Dr. Melfi quotes W.B. Yeats' "The Second Coming" during a session with Tony in this episode. These lines are recalled when Tony brutally beats Georgie with a telephone, permanently damaging Georgie's hearing in one ear and prompting Georgie to ask that Tony not visit him. "The falcon cannot hear the falconer/Things fall apart/the centre cannot hold." This poem will later be used prominently in season six (including an episode titled "The Second Coming"), predominantly in relation to A.J.'s depression.
• When Uncle Pat remembers where the missing bodies are buried, Chris likens him to Johnny Mnemonic.