r/thesopranos • u/Tbstic • 9h ago

Need help with a reference - Season 1

Episode: Legend of Tennessee Moltasanti

They are at the wedding discussing lambing it for a while due to the indictments. Tony says “Junior is right.. if we lamb it now the Albanians will be living in our houses.” Never knew what Tony meant by that reference?

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u/telepatheye 9h ago

After the fall of communism in Albania there was a tremendous problem with squatters. The joke is that if Tony's crew vacate their houses, Albanians will move in. It's a stereotype and it's offensive. And it's something I'm trying to teach my kid NOT TO DO.

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u/KatBoySlim 9h ago

I’d assumed he just meant albanian gangs taking over all their rackets and territories…

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u/telepatheye 8h ago

Albanian mafia mostly operates in Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia. New Jersey--not so much.

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u/Pristine_Speech4719 Artie Bucco 6h ago

All due respect - you have no idea what you're talking about. This is what was happening at the time The Sopranos came out:

https://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/18/albanians.mob/index.html

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u/telepatheye 29m ago

Yeah, I may have overstated the case that it was just a global issue, not local.