7 TV Shows That Suddenly Dropped Major Plot Threads
3. The Sopranos Misplaces A Russian
Like with Walt on Lost, this had to be here. Pine Barrens is generally considered one of The Sopranos' finest episodes, a bizarre character piece about Christopher and Paulie. After messing up a collection trip to see Valery, a Russian mobster, they injure him, take him to the woods...and he escapes as they shoot him. In the head.
As Paulie and Chris are stuck in the woods for the rest of the episode, they bond, and...well, that's it. Immediately the fandom wanted to know where the heck Valery went, but he never returned to the show. He could have, though. As Alan Sepinwall explains, Terrence Winter, writer of the episode and creator of Boardwalk Empire, wanted creator David Chase to let him address the issue in the final season. Tony and Chris would visit the local Russian mob boss and see a brain-damaged Valery sweeping the floor. Chris would be worried, but Valery would have no clue who he was because, well...brain damage. The mob boss would explain a Boy Scout troop found him with his skull missing and saved his life at the last minute.
Winter got Chase to agree to include the scene...but he dropped it from the script at the last minute, leaving Winter to plead with him. God, youre making a huge mistake leaving that on the table! Chase just didn't understand why the fans were so into the idea of finding out what happened to Valery.