Damn right, Uncle Jun': this is a gangster epic that just won't let complacency or conventional film-making rules take over - it's too good for that to happen.
Episode 3 goes on with the development of three subplots introduced in the previous show, 46 Long: Uncle Junior seeks revenge for being humiliated by Christopher, the resentful Livia, angry at her son for placing her in a nursing home, gives some advice on the matter, and the medical condition of Tony's boss Jackie Aprile (Michael Rispoli) doesn't seem to get any better. In addition, Meadow asks Chris for some speed so that she can stay awake all night preparing for her SATs, and a friend of Tony's Jewish associate Hesh Rabkin (Jerry Adler) asks for help with a son-in-law situation.
The main pleasure of watching Denial, Anger, Acceptance originates from the fact that this is the first episode to draw parallels between the Soprano family and the Roman empire. Though most of Tony's crew is originally from Avellino, in the South of Italy, they have always felt a closeness to the greatness and violence associated with the once almighty Rome. The most obvious reference, from the pilot onwards, is the name David Chase chose for Tony's mother: Livia. Okay, so Chase claims it is based on his own mother, but it is hard not to be reminded of another Livia, the woman who married emperor Augustus and, according to Roman historians, plotted to keep the imperial power on her side of the family. She had a very sharp mind and conspired with subtlety, a characteristic Livia Soprano has obviously inherited - her conversation with Uncle Junior is a masterclass in restrained nastiness, and it leads to an inevitably brutal outcome.
The best in-joke, though, remains the scene where Tony, Paulie and Silvio confront the Jewish son-in-law and the latter mentions the battle of Masada, in which the Jews chose death ahead of slavery. "Where are they now?" he asks, referring to the Roman oppressors. "You're looking at'em, a**hole." is Tony's straight-faced reply. It is not a mere sign of Italian pride: there is something very ancient in Tony's code of honor and use of violence. No wonder the HBO-produced Rome continued in that direction: sex, blood, power and paranoia. Of course, The Sopranos did it first and, obviously, best.