Is Lilyhammer Silvio’s Coma Dream?

Silvio Dante is the loyal and ever dependable consigliere on the Sopranos. Played by Steven Van Zandt, the character’s signature look and mannerisms made him one of the most recognizable symbols of the show. In fact the Silvio persona is so iconic, it would even be used in another show to capitalize off the Soprano’s success: that show being Lilyhammer.

Lilyhammer is a comedy drama series about a mobster named Frankie the Fixer, who goes into witness protection in the remote town of Lillehammer in Norway. Running for 3 seasons, the show had the distinction of being the first Netflix original, though we’ll look at what that actually means later.

The show is fun, with lots of homages to the Sopranos and also features a number of actors from that series, including of course Steven Van Zandt as the main character Frankie. But some people think that the connection to the Sopranos goes deeper than references. Some people believe that the entire show is a dream, happening while the character Silvio Dante is in a coma at the end of the Sopranos.

Alright, a little recap for those that somehow don’t know who Silvio is. Silvio is the consigliere, or advisor, to Tony Soprano, the boss of the DiMeo family. Silvio is typically a step away from the street level crimes of his compatriots, instead focusing on running the Bada Bing strip club that acts at one of the headquarters of their criminal operation.

Though Silvio typically remains in the background of most of the episodes, there are a few times we really get to see his personality shine. We learn that the normally calm and level headed man is easily upset when he loses at gambling.

“I stick motherfucking provolone in my socks at night, so they smell like your sister’s crotch in the morning!”

- Silvio

We also learn that he is particularly proud of his Italian heritage. In the episode “Christopher”, he uncharacteristically leads a charge to defend Christopher Columbus day from Native American activists.

“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s anti-Italian discrimination. Columbus Day is a day of Italian pride. It’s our holiday, and they want to take it away.”

- Silvio

However the most iconic and endearing trait of Silvio, is his habit of quoting The Godfather.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

- Silvio

In fact his impersonation is so iconic, more people attribute the line to him rather than Michael Corleone in Godfather 3. The impersonation was even used in a World of Warcraft commercial back in the day.

In the penultimate episode of the Sopranos “The Blue Comet”, Silvio is shot by the Lupertazzi family as part of the ongoing war with the Sopranos. Though he survives, he’s left in a coma and it’s unlikely that he will ever wake up.

“Doctors don’t think he’ll recover consciousness.”

- Paulie

The loss of Silvio is one of the most devastating things the family goes through. All throughout the show, Silvio has constantly supported Tony. He’s the only one who is really willing to give Tony the real advice that he needs, and not just what he wants to hear. This is because they have known each other since they were very young, and were part of a crew together in their early days.

“When we was kids, we had our own little crew. Me, [Jackie Aprile], Tony, Silvio Dante.”

- Ralph

When Tony becomes the boss of the DiMeo family, he makes Silvio his consigliere and number 2 guy. When Tony is shot and left in his own coma, Silvio takes over as acting boss of the family. Though the stress of the job ultimately proves too much for Silvio, he’s still shown as completely loyal to Tony, never thinking of stealing power for himself like others such as Vito and Paulie do. So the loss of Silvio is a real blow to the family, and part of the overall bleak tone we see in the final episode.

Alright so what exactly does this have to do with Lilyhammer? Well Lilyhammer tells the story of Frank the Fixer Tagliano. After being set up for a hit by his boss, he becomes an informant and enters the witness protection program. He asks to be sent to Lillehammer in Norway, both because no one will search for him there and also because he likes the country. He then proceeds to get into various conflicts as he builds a new semi criminal enterprise in his new country.

The theory goes that this show in its entirety is Silvio’s dream while he is in his coma. Afterall, when Tony was in his coma, he also had a dream in which he was living an alternate life as a salesman. To go along with this idea, when Tony is in a coma, Silvio comes in and holds his hand, and when Silvio is in a coma, Tony does the same, drawing a parallel between both experiences. And finally for what it’s worth, Silvio also has this line in the show.

“What do you speak Norwegian?”

- Silvio

However there are some problems with this theory. For example, in Tony’s coma dream, he’s still named Tony Soprano.

It’s a misconception that Tony is Kevin Finnerty in his dream. Kevin may represent a different part of Tony’s subconscious, but his main consciousness is still called Tony, and tied to Tony’s experiences. So why would Silvio have a completely different identity as Frank Tagliano? It’s not only a case of a name, he has a completely different backstory. He’s not even from New Jersey, he’s part of the New York families. Even if we say it’s a dream and dreams can be weird, you’d think that the dream would be rooted in some way to his actual identity and experiences.

Now I’ve seen some explanations like this one from Locke VSP on Reddit that try to explain how the dream is a representation of Silvio’s subconscious, but these always strike me as reaching. It’s the same thing as people believing that Walt died in Breaking Bad and the final episode was just his dying fantasy. Or I guess more accurately it’s like the Malcolm in the Middle theory.

Now of course, there’s another reason we can discount any evidence from the Sopranos. The Sopranos was in no way setting up a sequel to come out five years later from a Norwegian studio. Rather the idea is that Lilyhammer builds on from the already existing Sopranos material and works it into their premise. So instead let’s take a look at Lilyhammer, and see what evidence exists for this theory.

Well the main thing is the fact that the main character both looks like and acts like Silvio Dante. They share many similar mannerisms and traits, and Frankie is portrayed as mostly an honorable person like Silvio. But this is of course simply due to the fact that they are both played by Steven Van Zandt.

Little Steven was not an actor before the Sopranos. David Chase decided to cast him simply because of his appearance and the fact that Chase was a big fan of Bruce Springsteen. Van Zandt played in Springsteen’s E Street Band. He was originally considered for the role of Tony Soprano, but he wanted it to go to a real actor. So instead the role of Silvio was created specifically for him.

There’s actually a line of dialogue in the Sopranos that I think is a reference to this.

“Back when Jackie was at the end, he floated the idea of me stepping up to the big seat. Not Tony, me.”

- Silvio

So the fact that Steven does a similar performance in both roles can just be attributed to the fact that he isn’t a classically trained actor. Also Lilyhammer really relies on the Sopranos fame to draw in its audience, so having Steven do a Silvio affect makes sense from a marketing standpoint.

However the biggest hint that the show is a dream is this. In the third season, Frankie is shot. He winds up in the hospital, and while he is there another patient who is not lucid delivers this line:

“It’s all a dream Silvio. It’s all a dream.”

- Lilyhammer Patient

Well that confirms it right? It’s just like when Tony heard Meadow’s voice in his dream. It’s Silvio’s subconscious, or maybe his wife Gabriella, telling him that he is dreaming.

But there’s a problem with this. See, in the Season 2 finale, Frankie goes back to New York. We then get this line from his ex, played by Maureen Van Zandt, who is his wife in real life and who also played Silvio’s wife Gabriella.

“The return of Frankie the Fixer. This is like a Sopranos episode.”

- Angelina

Yup, they reference that the Sopranos is a show in this world. So unless Silvio is also dreaming that his New Jersey life was made into a reality tv show or something, then we have to accept that the Sopranos references are just references. The show is paying homage to it’s iconic predecessor, while not trying to be a secret sequel or something like that.

Now full disclosure, I haven’t actually seen all of Lilyhammer. I compiled this evidence mostly from Youtube clips and Reddit, so there may be other little hints or things in the show that I am not aware of. I was planning on watching the show eventually once I finished the others I need to get through, but there’s a problem. Netflix is actually taking the show down from their platform, as Little Steven sadly tweeted.

Now you might be saying, I thought this was the first Netflix original? Why is Netflix taking down its own show? Well you see just because a show is billed as a Netflix original, doesn’t mean Netflix actually made it. The show was actually made by NKR1, which is Norway's largest broadcast company. Netflix had exclusive North American distribution rights, which is why they billed it at their own show. However, probably due to contract reasons, the show will be pulled from Netflix.

That’s the reason why I made this video now. I’m sad that a show with even a peripheral connection to the Sopranos is being taken down, and I’m also sad I didn’t get to watch it in its entirety. There just wasn’t enough time Michael. There just wasn’t enough time.

It’s also devastating to people like Little Steven who poured their heart and soul into the show. Steven served as an executive producer on the show, and actually composed most of the soundtrack himself in his own studio.

So even though this is another one of those classic Kino videos where I take 15 minutes to discuss what ultimately amounts to a simple no, I wanted to draw some attention to this show. No idea where it will land or if it will be made available to the public on some other platform, but if you’ve got some time, try and give it a watch before it goes.

And remember, our true enemy has yet to reveal himself. You fucking schifuza.