History Recap / TheSopranosS1E5College

That night, Carmela is greeted by an unexpected guest -- [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E1Pilot Father Phil]], who stopped by to see how she's feeling. Having sent A.J. out to a friend's house earlier that day, Carmela invites him to stay over and watch a movie and have dinner. Soon after, she gets a phone call from Melfi's office and learns that Tony has been seeing a female psychiatrist.

** Tony often refers to Father Phil Intantola as "Monsignor [[''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]] ''Jughead"]], due to his skinny frame yet voracious eating habits.

** Tony often refers to Father Phil Intantola as "Monsignor [[''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]]''Jughead"]], due to his skinny frame yet voracious eating habits.

* TheStoolPigeon: Fabian became an informant, leading to a lot of convictions of [=DiMeo=] crime family members.

Meadow asks what he's doing, and he claims that he thought he saw "[[BlatantLies an old friend]]". They weave through traffic and miss the turnoff for Colby College. After some cajoling from her, he stops at a nearby hotel that's down the road from the college and claims that he didn't know the man.

Tony has taken Meadow on a trip to various college campuses in Maine to decide on which one she wants to attend.

* SpottingTheThread: Meadow claims that she knows her father is in the Mafia because she found a US$ 50,000 worth of gold Krugerrands and a .45 caliber gun "while searching for Easter eggs" one year.

* AssholeVictim: This was the first episode that actually showed Tony Soprano committing a murder on-screen; before it, he had always left the dirty work to his underlings. Being an early episode, though, network executives at Creator/{{HBO}} still had their doubts about whether or not the series could sustain an audience in the long-term, and they argued that viewers would drop out in droves if they had to see the show's protagonist remorselessly killing an FBI informant [[KarmaHoudini without consequences]]. First, they tried to convince David Chase to write an alternate version with Tony letting the informant live, or just having Christopher kill him instead. When that didn't work, Chase compromised by agreeing to make the guy as unsympathetic as possible, writing in additional scenes where he's seen peddling drugs to local teenagers and even planning to kill Tony right in front of his daughter.

* ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun: Meadow first starts to show [[SherlockScan Sherlock Scan]] levels of [[HyperAwareness Hyper-Awareness]] when she realizes that Tony forced her into a car and rushed off from the gas station in order to follow Fabian. She's likewise suspicious of Tony making payphone calls when his own cell and the motel phones were readily available. She's naturally curious why Tony has to be off during one of her interviews, and is late coming back. Then she notices the dirt on Tony's shoes and the small amount of blood on his hands while they're driving to the next college interview. She knows something definitely went down between Tony and Fabian, but she decides to let it drop.

** Tony tracks Fabian to his house, but drives away when he notices that Fabian is with his family in the house.
** Fabian tries to invoke this when Tony comes to kill him as a way of begging for mercy, informing him that he had a clear shot on him at the motel the night before, but didn't shoot while he had the chance. The reason is that he realizes Tony is with his daughter. The viewers, however, know that Fabian is truncating quite a bit when he claims this. He was absolutely ready to shoot Tony at the time, even if it meant killing him in front of his daugther, and didn't show a single sign of hesitation as he took aim. The only reason why he decided against it was the sudden appearance of some other motel guests and he thought it too risky to have witnesses.

* MoodWhiplash: A quiet moment with a [[{{Bambification}} deer]] is followed by Tony appearing out of the blue and ferociously murdering Fabian. Finally a band of birds/ducks crosses the sky.

* POVCam: As Fabian points his weapon at Tony in the hotel parking lot.
* ProperlyParanoid: Fabian carries a HandCannon and is smart enough to recognize he's being stalked, but misses his chance to kill Tony.

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: How Tony and the rest of the Jersey mob feels about Fabian's fate.

* TerribleArtist: {{Downplayed| Trope}}. Fabian actually isn't half bad at wood carving, but he never really got hang of how to carve lips, a running joke in the [=DiMeo=] Crime Family being the bust he once made of Music/FrankSinatra with really bad lips as a gift for Jackie (Christopher mentions that he thought said bust was supposed to be Creator/ShaquilleONeal). It comes back around when Tony scopes out a local business owned by "Frederick Peters", and spots a home-made bust of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan with really weird-looking lips, confirming to him that he has indeed found Fabian Petrulio.

'''Season 1, Episode 05:'''
!College

They get back on the road. As they drive, Meadow drops a bombshell on him - [[ArmorPiercingQuestion she asks if he's part of the Mafia]]. He blusters through an answer, claiming that he's in the waste management business and the idea that he's a mobster is outrageous. He [[ConfessToALesserCrime admits]] to her that some of his money comes from illegal gambling. She tells him that she likes having the famiily reputation at school.

Carmela pours out her frustrations to Phil, and talks about how much she fears for the sanctity of her own soul. Phil gives her an impromptu communion ceremony, but when it seems as though the action may lead to something romantic, Phil suffers a bout of nausea because of his intolerance for alcohol (or so he claims at any rate). Carmela leaves the infirmed man lying on the couch and goes to bed.

Tony tells Meadow over dinner how proud he is of her. After hearing him explain his family's heritage, she admits that [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E3DenialAngerAcceptance she took drugs with friends a couple weeks earlier to get through her SAT test]]. Tony is irate and asks why she'd admit something like that, and she explains that [[FromACertainPointOfView he was honest with her]], so she felt like she could tell him.

He leaves Meadow to talk with a pair of girls who attend Colby, and goes to make a phone call. Chris gets on the line and tells him that the plates didn't match. He tells him that he'll get Paulie or Silvio to look into the matter, and tells him he did good work while staring at Meadow across the restaurant.

Afterwards, Tony leaves her at the hotel and sneaks to the address that was registered to the plates. He finds Fabian in the back of the house with a woman in a hot tub. As he looks on, a young girl comes out and asks for them to put her to bed because she's scared. Tony realizes that Fabian has a family and sneaks away, though not before the latter notices his car driving off.

Fabian drives to a local mechanic and asks if anyone was asking questions about him. The mechanic, Pete, offers to let Fabian know if he sees anyone before he leaves. As they go, Tony is revealed to be nearby strolling through the local community, and makes a note of Fabian's alias. He searches through a phone book and finds an travel agency he works at. After taking a look inside, Tony realizes that this is Fabian's business and plans to ambush him the next day.

The next morning, Tony drops Meadow off for an interview at Colby, and says he has to go handle some business.

Tony ambushes him from behind and puts him in a stranglehold. Fabian begs for his life and says that he didn't kill him when he had the chance because of Meadow's presence. Tony strangles him anyway and leaves his body by the office. He goes back to pick up Meadow afterwards. Despite her realization that something happened between him and the man, Tony dissuades her concerns and they drop the matter.

* SpottingTheThread: Meadow claims that she knows her father is in the Mafia because she found a wad of money and a gun "while searching for Easter eggs" one year.

* AssholeVictim: This was the first episode that actually showed Tony Soprano committing a murder on-screen; before it, he had always left the dirty work to his underlings. Being an early episode, though, network executives at Creator/{{HBO}} still had their doubts about whether or not the series could sustain an audience in the long-term, and they argued that viewers would drop out in droves if they had to see the show's protagonist remorselessly killing an FBI informant [[KarmaHoudini without consequences]]. First, they tried to convince David Chase to write an alternate version with Tony letting the informant live, or just having Christopher kill him instead. When that didn't work, Chase compromised by agreeing to make the guy as unsympathetic as possible, writing in additional scenes where he's seen peddling drugs to local teenagers.

That night, Carmela is greeted by an unexpected guest - [[Recap/TheSopranosS1E1Pilot Father Phil]], who stopped by to see how she's feeling. Having sent A.J. out to a friend's house earlier that day, Carmela invites him to stay over and watch a movie and have dinner. Soon after, she gets a phone call from Melfi's office and learns that Tony has been seeing a female psychiatrist.

Carmela pours out her frustrations to Phil, and talks about how much she fears for the sanctity of her own soul. Phil gives her an impromptu communion ceremony, but when it seems as though the action may lead to something romantic, Phil begins to throw up because of his intolerance for alcohol. Carmela leaves the infirmed man lying on the couch and goes to bed.

* CantHoldHisLiquor: Father Phil (a practicing priest) has a ''very'' low tolerance for alcohol, despite presumably performing Communion with the visitors to his parish.

* AccidentalMisnaming: When pleading with Tony to be spared, Fabian refers to him as "Teddy"; so much time has passed that he doesn't even remember Tony's name.

** Fabian tries to invoke this when Tony comes to kill him as a way of begging for mercy, informing him that he had a clear shot on him at the motel the night before, but didn't shoot while he had the chance. The reason is that he realizes Tony is with his daughter. The viewers, however, know that Fabian is truncating quite a bit when he claims this. He was absolutely ready to shoot Tony at the time, even if it meant killing him in front of his daugther. The main reason why he decided against it was the sudden appearance of some other motel guests and he thought too risky to have witnesses. At most, Meadow's presence only made him hesitate slightly.

** Fabian gets the drop on Tony, but doesn't shoot while he has the chance. The reason is that he realizes Tony is with his daughter.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Tony calls out Carmela for spending the night hanging out with a priest friend, then hastily tries to cover himself when she reveals that she knows he's been going to a female psychiatrist. [[YourCheatingHeart To say nothing of his mistress, Irina]].

* TheStoolPigeon: Fabian.

* CantHoldHisLicquor: Father Phil (a practicing priest) has a ''very'' low tolerance for alcohol, despite presumably performing Communion with the visitors to his parish.

* [[ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun Clues, Evidence and a Smoking Gun]]: Meadow first starts to show [[SherlockScan Sherlock Scan]] levels of [[HyperAwareness Hyper-Awareness]] when she realizes that Tony forced her into a car and rushed off from the gas station in order to follow Fabian. She's likewise suspicious of Tony making payphone calls when his own cell and the motel phones were readily available. She's naturally curious why Tony has to be off during one of her interviews, and is late coming back. Then she notices the dirt on Tony's shoes and the small amount of blood on his hands while they're driving to the next college interview. She knows something definitely went down between Tony and Fabian, but she decides to let it drop.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Father Phil (a practicing priest) has a ''very'' low tolerance for alcohol, despite presumably performing Communion with the visitors to his parish.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Tony notices a sign at Bowdoin College that reads: "No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true."

* EvenEvilHasStandards: TheMafia forbids killing in front of the victim's family, and it shows up more than once in this episode.

* BlatantLies: "There is no Mafia!"

* TheOathBreaker: Tony explicitly invokes as a justification to Fabian for strangling him to death.