Join the Club

"Join the Club" is the 67th episode overall and the second episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos. Written by series creator/executive producer David Chase and directed by David Nutter, it premiered on March 19, 2006 in the United States. The episode's narrative details the aftermath of the shooting of series protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) by his uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese). Tony, now in a comatose state and hospitalized, has a dream-like experience in which he envisions himself as a travelling salesman not involved with the Mafia. Meanwhile, Tony's family and associates adjust to the possibility of Tony's not coming out of his coma, with Tony's wife Carmela (Edie Falco) struggling with the situation. Most interior hospital scenes of the episode were filmed at the North Hollywood Medical Center, Los Angeles, with additional exterior and interior scenes filmed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark. "Join the Club" is the only episode of the series directed by Nutter and the eighth of nine episodes for which Chase receives an individual writing credit. It attracted 9. 18 million American viewers and was generally well-received critically, with particular praise directed at Falco's performance in the episode. Since its premiere, the episode has frequently been cited by critics as one of the best of the series. It received two award nominations for directing.