History Recap / TheSopranosS3E3FortunateSon

* OverprotectiveDad: Combined with DatingWhatDaddyHates. Tony's justification for trying to drive Noah away from Meadow, and a rationalization for his racism.

* ThisIsReality: Christopher learns the hard way that, unlike how it's depicted in the gangster movies he's watched, becoming a made man does not mean he gets to live life on easy street. Instead, the promotion means he has more responsibilities and is under even more pressure to earn.

* InadequateInheritor: Chris mentions that Jackie Jr. having been Jackie Sr.'s kid may actually give him a [[RoyalBlood legitimate claim]] to become a gangster, if not the boss of the family someday. Aside from Tony's promise to Jackie Sr., Tony retorts with the additional reason he intends to keep Jackie Jr. out of the mob life. Jackie Jr. just doesn't have his father's acumen and isn't cut for leading the mob.

* InadequateInheritor: Chris mentions that Jackie Jr. having been Jackie Sr.'s kid may actually give him a [[RoyalBlood legitimate claim]] to become the boss of the family. Aside from Tony's promise to Jackie Sr., Tony retorts with the additional reason he intends to keep Jackie Jr. out of the mob life. Jackie Jr. just doesn't have his father's acumen and isn't cut for leading the mob.

* HairTriggerTemper: Jackie Jr. tries to start a fight in the pizza parlor over bumping into another customer. Chris uses his pull to pull the plug on it.

* GoryDiscretionShot: As Johnny Boy brings the meat cleaver down on Satriale's finger, we don't see any blood, only the Sopranos reacting to it.

* HairTriggerTemper: Jackie Jr. tries to start a fight in the pizza parlor over bumping into another customer. Chris uses his pull to pull the plug on it.

** Janice not knowing where Svetlana's ''laig'' is, taken UpToEleven when she concedes that if her mother's records were to magically reappear, so would the ''laig'' ... that she knows nothing about.

* BloodOath: We even see Chris and Eugene get their fingers pricked, and give drops of their blood, when they take the made man vows.

* ContinuityNod: Christopher, ever sensitive to not getting the respect he feels he deserves, is quick to praise Jackie Jr.'s work as wheel man for the heist, even if he did have a PottyFailure.

*** His initial conversation with Tony has him admit that he is aware of Tony's panic attacks and psychiatrist sessions, and expressing sympathy for Tony's plight, sincerely encouraging him to take better care of himself. This firmly establishes him as an AffablyEvil ReasonableAuthorityFigure but also as someone who knows ''everything'', which cannot be taken lightly.

** The second one is where Johnny Boy sees potential in Anthony to be his successor, since he didn't run when Satriale got his finger cut off. He begins to [[{{LikeFatherLikeSon}} cultivate]] Tony as [[{{DaddysLittleVillain}} Daddy's Little Villain]]. He also provides a bit of [[{{Foreshadowing}} Foreshadowing]] when he tells Tony that he should never gamble.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Jackie Jr. criticizes Chris for riding Tony's coattails. There may be some truth to that, but it doesn't change the fact that Jackie Jr. himself spends most of season three trying to ride his father's name to a higher place in mob.
* InadequateInheritor: Chris mentions that Jackie Jr. having been Jackie Sr.'s kid may actually give him a [[RoyalBlood legitimate claim]] to boss of the family. Aside from Tony's promise to Jackie Sr., Tony retorts with the additional reason he intends to keep Jackie Jr. out of the mob life. Jackie Jr. just doesn't have his father's acumen, and isn't cut for leading the mob.
* InternalReveal: Averted, because it's BlatantLies, but treated like a straight example when Tony informs Jackie Jr. that Richie was a rat who went into witness protection.

** The episode flashes back to Tony's first panic attack, and concludes with A.J.'s. Given that we know Johnny Boy had the panic attacks too, it reinforces that ItRunsInTheFamily.

* LooseLips: Dino lets it slip that he and Jackie Jr. have a campus robbery job planned. Averted in that there's no negative consequences for any participants, Dino included, after Chris wants in.

* MementoMacGuffin: Janice's and Svetlana's conflict over Livia's record collection escalates to put it mildly.

* ThisIsReality: Christopher learns the hard way that, unlike how it's depicted in the gangster movies he's watched, becoming a made man does not mean he gets to live life on easy street. Instead the promotion means he has more responsibilities and is under even more pressure to earn.

* YouAreNotReady: A.J. is overwhelmed when he catches glimpses of the big wide world with adult responsibilities while visiting Meadow. He's subsequently pessimistic about being able to amount to anything at dinner with Tony and Carmela. Then his football coach praises his leadership on the field, and anoints him defensive captain. The last event is what triggers A.J.'s first panic attack.

!Fortunate Son

Christopher gets a call from Paulie, telling him to dress nicely and meet in a nearby shopping center. Chris excitedly shaves and gets ready, certain he is about to get made. Adriana, while proud of him, shows a bit of superstitious paranoia. Christopher remarks that she "watches too many movies". However, as he meets with Paulie her anxiety appears to have rubbed off on him. It's unwarranted, though, as Chris is brought to a basement gathering to conduct the ceremony of finally being made along with associate Eugene Pontecorvo, with Tony presiding over it. The two new mobsters prick their fingers, then rub a burning card between their palms while swearing oaths of loyalty to the mafia. During this ceremony, Christopher is troubled to see a black bird watching him from just outside the window.

A celebration is held subsequently at the Bada Bing. Paulie tells Chris that he is now in charge of his sportsbook, and will kick up to Paulie. Meanwhile, Tony encounters New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi along with Johnny Sack, and is displeased when he finds that Carmine, though non-judgmental, is aware of Tony's panic disorder.

Jackie Aprile, Jr., the son of Tony's deceased friend and previous Jersey boss, is envious of Christopher's new promotion. His friend Dino tries to ingratiate himself to Chris when they encounter him at a pizza parlor, and mentions an upcoming heist at a college charity concert by Jewel, to Jackie's chagrin as the heist was his and Dino's plan. Jackie then makes a scene when he confronts another patron "disrespecting" the pizza parlor. Chris, unimpressed, leaves. Tony later confronts both Jackie and Chris - he convinces Jackie that his uncle Richie went into witness protection, and orders Chris not to let Jackie get involved with crime, out of respect to his father's wishes.

In therapy, Dr. Melfi broaches the subject of recommending Tony a behavioral therapist to continue the next stage of his treatment. Tony seems perplexed by this, especially in light of his mother's recent death. Tony attends a football game AJ is playing, and is proud when AJ recovers a fumble for his team. AJ is fairly unenthusiastic, however, and would rather play Nintendo than go for celebratory hot dogs with Tony.

Later, Janice, as revenge for Svetlana Kirilenko refusing to give up Livia's record collection, which Svetlana insists Livia bequeathed to her, steals her prosthetic leg and hides it. Tony visits the house and encounters Irina, Svetlana's cousin and his former goomah, there, who informs him of the theft of the leg. Tony binges on gabagool in the kitchen and suddenly has a flashback to his childhood -- he walked in on his father strong-arming the butcher Satriale and chopping his finger off. Later Tony's mother and father became flirtatious and intimate after Johnny got a free roast from Satriale, and Tony suffered an early panic attack. Tony discusses this memory with Melfi, who notes the correlation between Tony's panic attacks and meat, perceiving a possible breakthrough in therapy.

Christopher, making rash decisions with his sports book, falls behind on his kickup to Paulie, who gives him one second chance to make up the payment. Backed into a corner, Chris remembers the benefit concert Jackie had mentioned and carries out the heist with Jackie and Benny Fazio, as Dino is in jail. Jackie drives for them, and while he pisses his pants the heist is successful, and Christopher returns to Paulie's good graces. Paulie tells Christopher to get some rest. Only a couple hours later, however, Julie mentions to Tony that Chris had worked with Jackie against his wishes. Tony beeps Chris, who is in bed, but Chris ignores his newfound responsibilities.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The made men vows, blended with the characters' [[{{RaisedCatholic}} Catholic background]], explicitly invokes this. Tony promises Chris and Eugene that they'll burn in hell if they don't honor their vows, vows which will very frequently require them to lie, steal and commit murder.

In therapy, Dr. Melfi broaches the subject of recommending Tony a behavioral therapist to continue the next stage of his treatment. Tony seems perplexed by this, especially in light of his mother's recent death. Tony attends a football game AJ is playing, and is proud when AJ recovers a fumble for his team. AJ is fairly unenthusiastic, however, and would rather play Nintendo than go for celebratory hot dogs with Tony. Later, Janice steals Svetlana Kirilenko's prosthetic leg while she is staying in Livia's home. Tony visits the house and encounters Irina, Svetlana's cousin and his former goomah, there. Tony binges on gabagool in the kitchen and suddenly has a flashback to his childhood - he walked in on his father strong-arming the butcher Satriale and chopping his finger off. Later Tony's mother and father became flirtatious and intimate after Johnny got a free roast from Satriale, and Tony suffered an early panic attack. Tony discusses this memory with Melfi, who notes the correlation between Tony's panic attacks and meat, perceiving a possible breakthrough in therapy.

!Tropes:

** Chris and Benny rob the campus concert while wearing ''Film/{{Scream}}'' masks.

* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: Tony intends to keep his promise to Jackie Sr. to keep Jackie Jr. out of the mob life.

* RealityEnsues: Christopher learns the hard way that, unlike how it's depicted in the gangster movies he's watched, becoming a made man does not mean he gets to live life on easy street. Instead the promotion means he has more responsibilities and is under even more pressure to earn.

** The episode flashes back to Tony's first panic attack, and concludes with A.J.'s. Given that we know Johnny Boy had the panic attacks too, it reinforces that it's InTheBlood.

* PortendOfDoom: How Chris sees the [[CreepyCrows Creepy Crow]] at the window.

* OverprotectiveDad: Combined with DatingWhatDaddyHates}. Tony's justification for trying to drive Noah away from Meadow, and a rationalization for his racism.

In therapy, Dr. Melfi broaches the subject of recommending Tony a behavioral therapist to continue the next stage of his treatment. Tony seems perplexed by this, especially in light of his mother's recent death. Tony attends a football game AJ is playing, and is proud when AJ recovers a fumble for his team. AJ is fairly unenthusiastic, however, and would rather play Nintendo than go for celebratory hot dogs with Tony. Later, Janice steals Svetlana Kirilenko's prosthetic leg while she is staying in Livia's home. Tony visits the house and encounters Irina, Svetlana's cousin and his former goomah, there. Tony binges on gabagool in the kitchen and suddenly has a flashback to his childhood - he walked in on his father strong-arming the butcher Satriale and chopping his fingers off. Later Tony's mother and father became flirtatious and intimate after Johnny got a free roast from Satriale, and Tony suffered an early panic attack. Tony discusses this memory with Melfi, who notes the correlation between Tony's panic attacks and meat, perceiving a possible breakthrough in therapy.

* {{Foreshadowing}} combined with the vow of [[{{UndyingLoyalty}} Undying Loyalty]] that is required of a made man:

* {{Foreshadowing}} on a more general level:

* HarsherInHindsight: One of the conversations in the background at Christopher's celebration mentions that more needs to be done about terrorism. This episode originally aired on March 11, 2001, six months to the day before 9/11.
* HighHopesZeroTalent: Paulie, [[{{TheAce}} The Ace]] at sports betting, gives Chris the reigns over the gambling racket as his first new responsibility as a made man. Chris struts in like he's going to make a killing, but it proves disastrous. Chris both never bothers to research the detailed information on sports teams and players that would inform good bets [[{{InformedAbility}} like Paulie does]], nor does he listen to the hired bookies who try to give him advice.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Jackie Jr. criticizes Chris for [[{{Nepotism}} riding Tony's coattails]]. There may be some truth to that, but it doesn't change the fact that Jackie Jr. himself spends most of season 3 trying to ride his father's name to a [[{{DudeWheresMyRespect}} higher place in mob]].
* InadequateInheritor: Chris mentions that Jackie Jr. having been Jackie Sr.'s kid may actually give him a [[{{RoyalBlood}} legitimate claim]] to boss of the family. Aside from Tony's [[{{EvilParentsWantGoodKids}} promise]] to Jackie Sr., Tony retorts with the additional reason he intends to keep Jackie Jr. out of the mob life. Jackie Jr. just doesn't have his father's acumen, and isn't cut for leading the mob.

* LooseLips: Dino lets it slip that he and Jackie Jr. have a campus robbery job planned. Averted in that there's no negative consequences for any participants, Dino included, after Chris wants in.

** The episode flashes back to Tony's first panic attack, and concludes with A.J.'s. Given that we know Johnny Boy had the panic attacks too, it reinforces that it's [[{{InTheBlood}} In The Blood]].

* OverprotectiveDad: Combined with [[{{DatingWhatDaddyHates}} Dating What Daddy Hates]]. Tony's justification for trying to drive Noah away from Meadow, and a rationalization for his [[{{PoliticallyIncorrectVillain}} racism]].

** Carmela isn't any better, she's just less obvious about it. She has to [[{{EyesAlwaysAverted}} look down]] when Meadow and Noah hug each other, as though she's having to cover her eyes during a particularly gruesome scene during a horror movie. And by now, she's learned that she won't make progress by trying to force the issue, but Meadow is now starting to catch on to Carmela's more [[{{ReversePsychology}} indirect methods]].

** Adriana's nervous about Christopher heading off to get made, which Christopher attributes to "watching too many movies". This specifically references ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'', in which [[spoiler: Tommy De Vito was whacked under the pretense of being made]]. In the next scene, while Christopher waits for Paulie in the parking lot, a dolly zoom similar to a scene of paranoia in Goodfellas is used.
** The bookies trying to help Chris [[{{InformedAbility}} inform]] him that Paulie is [[{{TheAce}} The Ace]] at sports betting, as he researches the sports teams and their players, and every other possible angle, before placing successful bets. That makes Paulie a Shout-Out to Sam "Ace" Rothstein of ''Film/{{Casino}}'' fame.
** Chris getting bitten by [[{{ThePeterPrinciple}} The Peter Principle]] as he moves from [[{{DumbMuscle}} street thug]] to running a gambling racket also has shades of Nicky Santoro, also from ''Film/{{Casino}}''.

* SinkOrSwimMentor: Paulie pulls no punches when laying it out for Chris the [[{{RealityEnsues}} realities]] and responsibilities that come with being a made man. "Welcome to the NFL, rookie!"

* SpottingTheThread: The normally slow A.J. has one of his sharp moments when he figures out, just from seeing Noah and witnessing the tense interaction between Carmela and Meadow, that Tony called Noah a [[{{PoliticallyIncorrectVillain}} "mulignan"]].

* YoureNotMyFather: Meadow takes this attitude towards Tony as she's still angry at him for his [[{{PoliticallyIncorrectVillain}} racist]] treatment of Noah.
** During one call, she asks Carmela if Tony is [[{{TheKlan}} "burning a cross"]] in the backyard.
** When Tony answers the phone for another call, she [[{{TranquilFury}} coldly]] and repeatedly asks for either A.J. or Carmela while not wanting to speak to him.
** Carmela also doesn't think it's a good idea for Tony to visit her, at least not yet.

A celebration is held subsequently at the Bada Bing. Paulie tells Chris that he is now in charge of his sportsbook, and will kick up to Paulie. Meanwhile, Tony encounters New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi along with Johnny Sack, and is disoriented when he finds that Carmine, though non-judgmental, is aware of Tony's panic disorder.

Tony attends a football game AJ is playing, and is proud when AJ recovers a fumble for his team. AJ is fairly unenthusiastic, however, and would rather play Ninendo than go for celebratory hot dogs with Tony. In therapy, Dr. Melfi broaches the subject of recommending Tony a behavioral therapist to continue the next stage of his treatment. Tony seems perplexed by this, especially in light of his mother's recent death. Later, Janice steals Svetlana Kirilenko's prosthetic leg while she is staying in Livia's home. Tony visits the house and encounters Irina, Svetlana's cousin and his former goomah, there. Tony binges on gabagool in the kitchen and suddenly has a flashback to his childhood - he walked in on his father strong-arming the butcher Satriale and chopping his fingers off. Later Tony's mother and father became flirtatious and intimate after Johnny got a free roast from Satriale, and Tony suffered an early panic attack. Tony discusses this memory with Melfi, who notes the correlation between Tony's panic attacks and meat, perceiving a possible breakthrough in therapy.

Christopher, making rash decisions with his sportsbook, falls behind on his kickup to Paulie, who gives him one second chance to make up the payment. Backed into a corner, Chris remembers the benefit concert Jackie had mentioned and carries out the heist with Jackie and Benny Fazio, as Dino is in jail. Jackie drives for them, and while he pisses his pants the heist is successful and Christopher returns to Paulie's good graces. Paulie tells Christopher to get some rest. Only a couple hours later, however, Paulie mentions to Tony that Chris had worked with Jackie against his wishes. Tony beeps Chris, who is in bed, and Chris just rolls over, ignoring his newfound responsibilities.

* YoureNotMyFather: Meadow takes this attidue towards Tony as she's still angry at him for his [[{{PoliticallyIncorrectVillain}} racist]] treatment of Noah.

* BloodOath: We even see Chris and Eugene get their fingers pricks, and give drops of their blood, when they take the made man vows.