8 TV Mysteries You Didn't Know Were Revealed

For seven seasons, the antics of James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano and his literal and figurative 'family' utterly wowed.

While the series had many pivotal characters who were mainstays of the show's seven years, one particular character has gone down in legend despite only appearing in two episodes of this iconic HBO series. That character, of course, is 'the Russian', aka Valery (Vitali Baganov).

Season Three's Pine Barrens episode stands out as one of the most entertaining episodes of The Sopranos' 86 outings. At the core of that offering is Valery, a Russian who Paulie and Christopher kill and take out to the middle of a snowy woods in order to dispose of the body.

The catch here, is that the Russian is somehow still alive when the trunk is popped open. Getting the better of his two rivals, Valery heads off into the distance, only to then be shot in the head by Paulie. Again though, the Russian is up on his feet and making his escape.

It's never answered in The Sopranos whether Valery survived all of this, yet show creator David Chase revealed in Alan Sepinwall's The Revolution Was Televised book that the Russian did indeed live.

There was a scene written where Valery would appear briefly in the show's final season, shown as a janitor who had suffered brain damage from his battle with Paulie and Chris. With part of his skull missing, the Russian had been rescued by a Boy Scout group after the war of Pine Barrens.