true nature of the series finale's ambiguous ending. Production To combat leaked storylines, the writers and Chase used to devise fake scenes to confuse the set. The scene in which Uncle Junior shoots Tony was also shot with Phil Leotardo in a window shooting at Tony instead. The "traditional" season premiere sequence involving The Star-Ledger newspaper is not featured. Instead, a montage of the characters is featured showcasing what has happened in the past two years. A new version of the scene with the delivered newspaper appears in the fifth episode of the season, "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request." Frank Vincent (Phil Leotardo), Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi), Joseph Gannascoli (Vito Spatafore), and Toni Kalem (Angie Bonpensiero) are promoted to starring cast and are now billed in the opening credits but only for the episodes in which they appear. Of the four, only Frank Vincent is billed in an individual credit; the others are paired (although Dan Grimaldi would be credited individually in the second part of Season 6). Jamie-Lynn Sigler is again billed by her original last name in the opening credits, following her separation from her agent and husband, A.J. DiScala, after Season 5 ended. Despite the episode's focus on his character, Robert Funaro (Eugene Pontecorvo) does not appear in the opening credits. Season 3 is the only season in which he does. In the original broadcast of this episode (March 12, 2006), no previews for the next episode were shown in order to keep the aftermath of Tony's shooting a mystery. References to prior episodes Pussy Malanga, the man Uncle Junior was convinced is after him and whom he eventually mistakes Tony for is the same mobster Uncle Junior wanted to kill in Artie Bucco's first restaurant in the pilot episode. Dr. Melfi recalls that Tony grabbed a pillow in order to smother his mother in "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano," but Tony denies this, saying he only grabbed the pillow to occupy his hands. Dr. Melfi calls the home that Tony put his mother in a "retirement community" and Tony corrects her and calls it a nursing home. Before this, whenever somebody called it a nursing home, Tony always corrected them and called it a retirement community. Other cultural references Tony refers to his forgetful Uncle Junior as "Knucklehead Smiff." Vito asks Agent Harris if he had lost weight due to the Atkins diet. When Eugene