Tony is having a dream where he stares suggestively at Dr. Melfi. He walks out of his office and sees Silvio having sex with a stripper while Paulie and Big Pussy look on passively. When he walks back into Melfi's office, Jackie Sr. appears and Melfi's face changes to that of his mother...
He wakes up with a start in bed with Irina, then returns home and gives some advice to AJ about staying focused in school before retiring for the night.
The next day, Chris walks out of the hospital with Adriana after his mock execution at the hands of Junior's goons. Despite her attempts to get him to lighten up, he is intensely paranoid and wonders if Tony did it to him because he gave drugs to Meadow. They drive to Brendan's apartment and are horrified when they discover his corpse in the bathtub.
Adriana drives Christopher to the local high school where he harshly questions Meadow about whether she told Tony about the drugs. Meadow tells him she had nothing to do with it and says she hates being a Soprano. Chris apologizes before letting her go on her way.
Tony drives to Melfi's office, but narrowly avoids Silvio, who is coming out of a dentist's office in the same building. At their session, Tony expresses reservations about doing therapy as Melfi prods him about his narcissism and relationship with his mother.
Later, he goes to visit Livia at Green Grove and tries to get her to participate in some of the group activities and trips. She continues to be belligerent and annoyed before he leaves.
He then meets a contact outside the retirement home — Dirty Cop Vin Makazian. Tony asks him to get as much information as he can find on Melfi, but not to bother or hurt her in any way. Makazian sarcastically agrees and heads on his way.
Tony goes down to the hospital to visit Jackie Sr., whose condition is fading rapidly. Chris arrives and tells him about Brendan's death. The group immediately figures out that Junior and Mikey were behind the hit. Chris wants to get revenge on the latter, but Tony tells him that he'll deal with it himself. On his way out of the hospital, Tony sees a staple gun and takes it with him.
Mikey is sitting in his car outside a deli where Junior is eating lunch when Tony arrives. Despite his attempt to act friendly, Tony harshly beats him and uses the staple gun to attach a parking ticket to his chest.
Tony heads inside and finds Junior, who is eating lunch with his capos. When he attempts to smooth over the situation, Junior is angered and tells him that "his boys" had to be taught a lesson, before claiming that Chris works for him now. Tony is angered and tells him that it's not going to happen, and Junior says that he had better show up armed the next time he wants to talk, before rudely dismissing him.
That night, Makazian and his partner are trailing a vehicle that the former claims was at the scene of a triple homicide. They stop the car, where it is revealed that Melfi was being driven home after dinner by a date. The man, a lawyer named Randall, steps out of the car and attempts to understand what's happening, but Makazian brutally beats and arrests him. He then antagonizes Melfi before driving off.
Makazian meets with Tony the next day and gives him a breakdown of Melfi's schedule. He also reveals that Melfi is seeing a shrink of her own, Dr. Elliot Kauferberg. He thanks Makazian for his info before leaving.
Later, Tony meets with his capos and discusses the situation. Despite his attempts to argue otherwise, they all agree that Tony has the smarts and abilities necessary to lead the New Jersey crew. When he gets back home, he suffers from another panic attack in the kitchen. Carmela comes down to aid him, and he tells her that he's planning to quit therapy. She says that it's still good to go in the face of everything that's happening in his life, and insinuates that she'll leave him if he stops going.
He goes back to Melfi's and reveals his current stress with his uncle and mother. She offers to give him a book on letting others think they have the illusion of control, and his ears perk up...
A.J. gets into a fight with a fellow student, Jeremy, who insults him and rips his shirt at school. After Tony inadvertently runs into Jeremy's father at a garden store and (unknowingly) intimidates him (Tony just happened to be holding an ax), the latter tells his son to apologize to A.J. and give him the money for a new shirt. A.J. is left confused and bewildered. When he goes to Meadow for advice, she claims that their father is part of the Mafia and his reputation caused Jeremy and his father to back down...
Tony is taking his medication and reading the book on elderly care at the Bada Bing when a news report comes on stating that Jackie Sr. died that afternoon. He and the rest of the crew break down upon learning about what happened and give a toast to their fallen leader.
At that moment, Chris arrives and tells them that Junior's crew is attempting to muscle their way into their operations. Tony tells him that it's not the time, but Chris insists on action or else he'll question Tony's leadership. Tony threatens Chris before storming out.
Tony goes to Junior's armed but reveals to the latter that he wants him to be the leader of the crew in exchange for a pair of front operations. Junior is incredibly relieved and happy to hear it and hugs Tony in response.
Tony goes back to Melfi's after to explain how the book helped, but she appears to be distracted. She offhandedly tells him about how Randall got beaten up, then changes the subject back and asks if he still wants to continue with his therapy. Tony says yes, and agrees that it's given him a lot of good ideas...
A funeral is held for Jackie Sr., with the various mob crews in attendance. Silvio asks if making Junior the head of the family was a wise move. Tony reveals that he wants to let Junior think he has the power, but all the decisions really go through him.
Tony notes that the FBI is in the distance taking photographs of Junior and smiles to himself. At the same time, A.J. stares at the assembled members of the Mafia and stares in shock after Meadow gestures to them...
Tropes:
- Anxiety Dreams: The episode starts with Tony dreaming that everybody finds out that he's seeing a psychiatrist, which at this point in the series is one of his worst fears. The dream ends with Dr. Melfi turning around in her chair, only for her face to be replaced with that of Livia's. That bit provides Foreshadowing of Tony's unresolved Parental Issues with respect to Livia.
- Authority in Name Only: Tony's plan is to let Uncle Junior officially hold the title of family boss, while he'll actually be running the show with the Capos behind Jun's back.
- Bad Boss: Tony is a real asshole to Makazian.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Discussed. Adriana asks Christopher if he soiled himself in front of a nurse while in the hospital. He dodges the question. Yo-yo Mendez similarly asks if Chris had a "B.M." during the incident.
- The Chains of Commanding: The looming death of Jackie prompts a discussion among the Capos at the Bada Bing about who should become the next Boss. None of the Capos want it, including Tony, in recognition of the responsibility and stresses that come with it.
- Chekhov's Lecture: Tony listens to Dr. Melfi's advice about letting the older enemy think he or she has won. He doesn't skip a beat in putting the advice into motion.
- Cleavage Window: Invoked. When Melfi goes to see Randall at the end of the episode and is standing outside the front door, she drops the shawl and pushes up her bra to make her cleavage more prominent.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Meadow is telling A.J. the truth about Tony and asks him whether he knows any other people who work in waste management and live in a Big Fancy House like theirs, A.J. points out their Uncle Jackie does. Meadow then decides to just show him information on the internet to prove it.
- Dirty Cop: Vin Makazian.
- The Dreaded: Jeremy's father obliges him to give the $40 to A.J., just on account of Tony's reputation.
- Drives Like Crazy: Adriana, during Chris' questioning of Meadow.
- Due to the Dead: Tony and the rest of the crew give a toast to Jackie Sr. after his passing.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The episode features some oddball moments compared to the rest of the series, including Tony admitting to having someone killed while Melfi is distracted thinking about what happened to Randall, Junior not making a fool of himself at a funeral, one of the strippers at the Bada Bing getting a momentary focus when she talks about Jackie, and several shout-outs to The Godfather and Scarface (1983) (including wry commentary on their meaning).
- "Eureka!" Moment: Tony has one when Melfi suggests he allow his mother to have the illusion of being in control. He realizes this would be the perfect way to handle his power struggle with Junior.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Chris is genuinely enraged and saddened by Brendan's death.
- Tony (and the rest of the crime family) are arguably even more upset at the demise of Jackie Aprile, Sr.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Jackie Sr. wants his own son to stay away from the Mafia, and tells Tony as such.
- Eye Scream: When Chris and Adriana discover Brendan's corpse, his right eye has been replaced by a bloody hole with flies crawling on it.
- Foreshadowing:
- Tony's nightmares where he sees Livia replacing Dr. Melfi in the office will suggest he suffers from a psychosexual complex where he feels drawn to women who share the same qualities as his mother.
- Tony references the first hit he ever did during the session at Melfi's at the end of the episode.
- Paulie indicates that he knows where Mikey lives ...
- Raymond Curto cites a factor in favor of allowing Uncle Junior to become the boss. Junior has good relations with New York. It becomes the first allusion to the New York family as the Greater-Scope Villain of the series.
- Heel Realization: Both of the Soprano children get this. Meadow claims that she hates her family after Chris and Adriana drive through a parking lot at top speed questioning her, and A.J. gets it at the end when he sees the New Jersey crew at Jackie Sr.'s funeral.
- I Let You Win: Part of Tony's plan involves making Junior think he runs the family (and take any heat from the police), while the day-to-day decisions are still made by him.
- Improvised Weapon: Chris uses a yo-yo as a garrote when he nearly strangles the man dealing drugs on a corner he previously ran.
- Innocence Lost: Until this episode, AJ completely believed that Tony and his associates worked in "waste management" and failed to notice all the clues that this was just a cover for his real profession. Once Meadow sits him down and explains the truth, he's stunned.
- Internal Reveal: Meadow explains to AJ just what their father does for a living, with the help of some internet material on organized crime. Previously he had taken the "waste management" title at face value.
- Is That a Threat?:Tony: What's that, a threat?Carmela: No, Tony, it's a rave review!
- Jerkass: A drunken, troubled Makazian attacks Dr. Melfi's date when he really doesn't need to.
- Killed Offscreen: Jackie Sr.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Jeremy the bully gives A.J. the $40, after being obliged by his father. Jeremy's father previously received (an imagined) An Offer That Can't Be Refused from Tony.
- Learned from the News: Jackie Sr.'s death is discovered while watching TV news at the Bada Bing.
- Leg Focus: Dr. Melfi wears low-cut skirts during this episode. It gets emphasized during Tony's Anxiety Dreams. The point of course is to highlight Tony's growing attraction to her.
- Male Gaze: During Tony's dream sequence, the camera pans up Melfi's legs.
- Manly Tears: Tony cries after learning of Jackie's death.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
- Makazian harshly beats Melfi's date (and steps on him) after being asked to find out more information on her by Tony.
- Tony also gives one to Mikey.
- Chris gives one to Yo-Yo Mendez as well, despite his neck brace
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Tony simply showing up at the gardening center and asking Jeremy's father how the boys are doing is enough to make the father bring Jeremy in line and give A.J. the $40.
- Pac Man Fever: Tony comes in to find A.J. playing Mario Kart 64 and then joins him in the race. We get the correct sounds, there is a cartridge in the Nintendo 64 and they consistently stay on the same track (Luigi Raceway); A.J. does a bit of button-mashing, but not too egregious. A.J. does mention to Tony that he should "watch out for the ghosts" and, while Boos are one of the weaker items (and a non-avoidable one), they do at least exist in the game. To really nitpick, they complete all three laps of Luigi Raceway in some 20 seconds (though the time shown on the screen shows a more realistic 2 minutes 27 seconds)! All in all a pretty faithful representation of Mario Kart on TV. Oh, and Tony holds the N64 controller one-handed, using the central grip, only moving the analog stick.
- Police Are Useless: Discussed. Makazian and his partner are the only cops shown in the episode, they are shown trumping up charges against an innocent man and brutally beating him, and Melfi's threat to sue the department never amounts to anything.
- Revenge Before Reason: Chris's one consuming thought is to immediately and violently avenge Brendan's death, to the point of repeatedly ignoring advice from more experienced mobsters on the need to be patient about things.
- Shout-Out:
- Two to The Godfather - Pussy mentions that Brendan got "the Moe Greene special", while Tony mentions going to the mattresses.
- Tony's dream with the heartbeat soundtrack and a mysterious figure he taps on the shoulder references a dream sequence in Angel Heart.
- Single-Episode Handicap: Chris is forced to wear a neck brace for the duration of the episode, causing him to rely more on threats and stationary attacks (attempting to strangle a man laying on the ground) than out-and-out fistfights.
- Stalker with a Crush: Tony firmly steps in this direction when he hires Makazian to tail Melfi, and more specifically to find out who she's seeing.
- Title Drop: Both Adriana and Yo-Yo Mendez reference "Meadowlands" as the place where Chris was subjected to a mock execution.
- Too Much Information: Makazian offers to give Tony pictures of Melfi undressing in her home, to the latter's disgusted reaction.
- Two Decades Behind: Tony expresses a hesitancy to accept leadership of the crime family with Jackie's death regarded as on the horizon. Larry Boy Barese tries to persuade him to stake his claim on the basis that Uncle Junior is too behind the times to be an effective leader, and that New York recognizes it.
- Wham Episode: Jackie Aprile dies, creating a change in the family's status quo and establishing the conflict that dominates the first season.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Chris has it in his head that going after Uncle Junior and Mikey with heavy machinery in both arms like Tony Montana in Scarface (1983) would actually be a good idea.
- Xanatos Gambit: Tony puts a long-term plan into action, which involves letting Junior think he runs the New Jersey crime family. As a result, Tony settles the dispute with his uncle, gets a pair of front operations for his trouble, and avoids any law enforcement heat.
