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Recap / The Sopranos S 2 E 3 Toodle Fucking Oo

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"You ride into town like some Vishnu-come-lately, trying to play the concerned daughter. Who the fuck are you kidding? You're just here to pick the friggin bones."
Tony Soprano

Tony is tipped off by an inside source in the police department that an out-of-control party is being thrown at Livia's old house. When he drives up to the home, he finds drunk kids verbally berating him, a fire engine on scene, a teenager being wheeled out of the home after overdosing and Hunter standing around in a daze. Tony verbally berates her and walks inside the home, where a boy is being arrested and another girl is heard vomiting uncontrollably. Meadow is standing near the old stove, and Tony rails at her for disrespecting his mother's legacy before dragging her out.

After driving Hunter home, Tony heads back with Meadow and attempts to force her to explain herself in front of the rest of the family. Meadow feigns ignorance and says that she could have taken Ecstasy but decided not to. After discussing the situation, Tony and Carmela decide to let Meadow select her own punishment (conceding that they can't hit or physically restrain her), and she opts to let them take her credit card for three weeks.

In the inner city, Adriana drops off Richie Aprile, the brother of the late Jackie Aprile (and her uncle), near a local pizzeria. Richie looks on in exasperation at the old business and walks inside, where he finds an old associate named Beansie Gaeta. After exchanging pleasantries, Richie asks why Beansie never corresponded with him and then asks to get a kickback from the pizzeria. Beansie refuses on the grounds that Richie has no right to tell him what to do, and that he only reports to Tony. Reacting in rage, Richie grabs a nearby coffee pot and smashes it into Beansie's head before punching him repeatedly.

Tony finds Richie drinking a coffee at Satriale's the following afternoon and warmly greets him. Chris also joins them but is loudly berated by Richie because the latter slapped his niece Adriana across the face. He warns Chris to keep his hands in his pockets. After Chris leaves, Richie attempts to discuss business with Tony, but the latter abruptly gets up and leaves, leaving Silvio to handle the meeting in his wake. Silvio tells Richie that he'll have to go through him to discuss business in the future, leaving Richie exasperated.

Afterward, Tony goes for a luncheon with the rest of the capos and Johnny Sack and he discovers that Richie beat Beansie so badly that he broke his cheekbone. At the same time, Dr. Melfi and a pair of her friends are having drinks in the restaurant, and she awkwardly runs into Tony. They exchange stilted greetings before she leaves. Tony feigns ignorance afterward and says that he barely knew her, then lies that he had sex with her to the amusement of the rest of the group.

It's revealed later that Dr. Melfi has been seeing her own psychiatrist, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg, and she criticizes herself for flippantly saying goodbye to Tony at the restaurant. Dr. Kupferberg asks her if she was hiding her true self from him, and she muses aloud if she did the right thing by not accepting him as a patient anymore. He tells her that it all depends on why she became a psychiatrist in the first place. Melfi then has a nightmare afterward where she envisions Tony dying in a car crash, then wakes up and jots some notes down in her journal.

Janice is at a yoga class when she discovers Richie in the same course, and they stare at each other for several moments. They awkwardly talk to each other after the class, and he admits that neither of them are getting any younger, establishing them as past lovers. Although Janice initially leaves abruptly, he attempts to win her heart again by buying expensive flowers and leaving them by Livia's bedside, claiming they were from her. Afterwards, Janice meets Richie for coffee and wonders if they have what it takes to make a relationship work. Richie says that they should try to give their relationship another shot for old times' sake.

When Janice goes to Livia's old house afterward, she's horrified to find it trashed, with food and debris on the ground and vomit on the walls. Janice (who previously defended Meadow's right to make her own choices) goes back to Tony's and loudly criticizes him for not punishing Meadow enough, prompting him to throw his bowl of cereal against a wall and rail at her for interfering in their lives. He storms off in anger and Carmela tells her the same thing, leading her to admit that she may have overstayed her welcome.

Tony goes to meet with Richie at a mall afterward, and apologizes for his actions before, admitting that he never talks business with any associates directly. He cautions Richie not to act overzealously and urges him to be respectful, despite the latter feeling shut out for not getting his businesses back. Richie goes to Junior while the latter is having a medical exam done for his hip (which is revealed to be sprained and not cracked) and pledges loyalty to him, telling him he'll do whatever the elder Soprano commands.

At the Bada Bing, the group holds a homecoming party for Richie. Despite the associates giving him monetary tributes, Richie is incensed that Beansie didn't give him money and stews over it, even after Silvio gets a stripper to give him a blowjob. Richie drives to Beansie's pizzeria and insults him for not coming, leading the latter to panic. Richie pulls out a gun and fires several shots at him before he flees. Afterward, Beansie tries to get back to his vehicle but is impeded when Richie drives up and runs over his leg twice.

Tony learns what happened and races to the hospital. He finds Beansie laid up with a head brace and bolts in his legs, and learns that he may never walk again. Beansie laments what happened and asks Tony to take care of it. Tony confronts Richie afterward and threatens serious consequences if he disrespects his authority ever again...

Meadow becomes conflicted after hearing Janice rant about how disrespectful she is, and asks Carmela for money to buy a CD for a school performance. However, she instead uses the money to buy cleaning supplies and goes to clean Livia's house, clearly remorseful for her actions. When Tony arrives to change the locks, he looks inside and is surprised to find her scrubbing the floor while gagging on the stench of vomit.

He turns away from the door, confused by his daughter's sudden remorse...

Tropes:

  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Beansie (who was previously cold and dismissive of Richie) immediately gets down and pleads for him to stay calm when the latter pulls out a gun and threatens him with it.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: More than once, but each to a different degree.
    • Dr. Melfi is astonished at her own use of "toodle-oo" to say goodbye to Tony, and fears that it reflects her losing professional distance from Tony and developing a thing for Tony, even as she is well aware she shouldn't for her own good.
    • Janice dives straight into it with Richie with both feet.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Mixed in with Foreshadowing. Carmela proclaims that she can't wait for Bratty Teenage Daughter Meadow to move out on her own, and leave the house. Tony provides Carmela with a Cassandra Truth warning that she may be afraid of being left in an empty nest if it actually comes to that.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Richie mentions his interest in Janice to Tony precisely to trigger this reaction, in an effort to troll him during their argument.
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: Both Meadow and Hunter run into this again, but Meadow gets some Character Development after realizing that Janice doesn't respect her anymore.
  • Car Fu: Richie ends up using his vehicle to pin Beansie, then runs over his legs for good measure.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Richie points out that he knows how Chris slapped Adriana across the face, and warns him to be more respectful of his niece in the future.
    • Dr. Melfi brings up the patient who committed suicide under her watch (in the season-opener) while speaking with Dr. Kupferberg.
    • For that matter, the fact that Melfi sees a therapist herself, which was discovered by Vin Makazian last season.
    • The terrible comedian at the Bada Bing makes a joke about the Meadowlands while welcoming Richie back from prison.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Meadow has plenty of wisecracks to throw in Tony's direction while he's driving her home from the party.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: Paulie tells the group a dirty joke about a woman who gives blowjobs, then (as is his custom) explains the same joke immediately afterward as everyone else looks on in exasperation.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Richie holds a grudge against the Soprano crew (with the exception of Corrado, Livia and Janice) for not paying him what he feels is owed after his stint in prison. Even after Tony threatens him not to assault any other associates, Richie still acts flippant.
  • Enemy Mine: Richie makes a veiled offer along these lines to Junior when they meet in a doctor's office. Tony is, of course, held out as their common enemy.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Richie, who is introduced swearing after seeing what happened to the old pizzeria, then berating and beating Beansie after the latter makes the mistake of not taking him seriously.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Tony is revolted by Richie's treatment of Beansie.
  • Feminine Women Can Cook: Inverted. Meadow and Hunter are seen trying to make grilled cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate but screw it up in a spectacular fashion. Meadow awkwardly stabs at the sandwiches with a spatula, cooks the hot chocolate in a pan, and proceeds to spill half the substance all over the counter and floor while pouring it into mugs.
  • Exact Words:
    Tony: I thought I told you to back off of Beansie.
    Richie: I did... then I put it in drive.
  • Foreshadowing: When meeting with Tony at the mall, Richie reminds Tony that he helped him and his brother, Jackie, get a "pass" after robbing a card game of DiMeo capo "Feech" La Manna. This is the first reference to the story, which is retold with more detail in later seasons.
  • Gut Feeling: Tony pauses noticeably when he hears that Richie brought flowers to Livia in the hospital. It's sinking in for him that Richie is already laying the groundwork for a power-play against him.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Richie is clearly annoyed about being cut out of his old earnings, to the point he verbally berates, beats up, and runs over Beansie for daring to question him about it.
  • I Am the Noun: Tony reminds Richie that he's the recognized boss of the crime family: "I'm the motherfuckin' fuckin' one who calls the shots".
  • Improvised Weapon: Richie beats Beansie with a coffee pot and a chair during his introductory scene.
  • It's All About Me: The reason Tony and Carmela don't consider punishments like taking Meadow's car away or grounding her is because those punishments would inconvenience them by forcing them to drive her to school or stay at the house to make sure she doesn't sneak out.
  • Karma Houdini: Hunter claims that she got off scot-free after the underage party because her parents feared that she would become bulimic again if she was punished.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Meadow gets hit hard with the gravity of the damage she caused to Livia's house when she eavesdrops on the argument Janice has with Tony and Carmela.
  • Never My Fault:
    • Subverted with Meadow. She initially pleads ignorance (citing this trope by name) and fakes out her parents by choosing a punishment that doesn't affect her in any way. She later concedes for real that what she did was wrong and cleans Livia's home (which is filled with vomit and debris) by the end of the episode.
    • Janice tries to convince Richie that Tony lives by this trope when they discuss why Tony won't take Livia in. Whatever truth there may be to it, there's no doubting that it's Janice's first deliberate and identifiable step into Lady Macbeth territory. It's obvious she's playing Richie to pit him against Tony.
  • No-Respect Guy: Richie has this reaction when he gets out of jail, discovering that Beansie doesn't take him seriously and Tony doesn't want to discuss business directly with him.
  • Old Flame: Janice is this for Richie, who successfully convinces her to rekindle their relationship by the end of the episode.
  • Opinion-Changing Dream: Dr. Melfi experiences one of Tony passing out in his car and crashing headlong into an oncoming semi. It convinces her to reverse her stance and resume providing therapy to Tony.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Meadow becomes remorseful over her actions at the party in Livia's old house and ends up deciding to clean it herself. When Tony sees her cleaning and gagging in the house, he is perplexed by her sudden show of remorse.
    • Tony helping Beansie blow his nose in the hospital.
  • Political Correctness Is Evil: How Tony feels about contemporary legal restraints on using physical discipline against children.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Richie warns Chris that if he wants to slap Adriana again he should marry her. He only disapproves because Adriana, his unmarried niece, falls under his "protection".
  • Promoted to Opening Credits: David Proval (Richie Aprile), who joins the opening credit roll.
  • Smug Smiler: Meadow, after she plays Tony and Carmela for what she regards as her Unishment.
  • That's an Order!: Tony reminds Richie of who the official boss of the family is now, and warns him against stepping out of line again, following Richie's paralyzation of Beansie.
  • Title Drop: When Dr. Melfi says "toodle-oo" to Tony as a goodbye.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: How Richie regards Tony for not immediately cutting him into a large part of the pie, as Richie mentions during their argument that he helped get Tony out of a severe punishment for robbing a protected card game long ago.
  • Unishment: Sort of. Meadow didn't exactly want to lose her credit card for three weeks, but she suggests it herself to slime her way to the most lenient punishment she can think of. She even takes the edge off by finagling for a small cash allowance to pay for her gas. The smug smile she wears once she has her back turned says it all.
  • Vomit Discretion Shot: A teenage girl can be heard vomiting throughout the entire sequence where Tony enters Livia's old house and finds Meadow.
  • We Do Not Know Each Other: An almost example. Dr. Melfi greets Tony at a restaurant, and Tony acknowledges her, but minimally. It's bad enough that rumors are going around about him seeing a shrink. He's that much more terrified of it going around that he's seeing a woman shrink for fear that his status as mafia boss could diminish. He may also have been trying to protect her identity, since she was previously endangered during Tony's civil war with Junior. When the other mobsters start to joke around and race to the assumption that Melfi gave Tony a one-off blowjob, he rolls with it without blinking.
  • Wild Teen Party: Meadow has one of these in her grandmother's empty house. Tony has to break it up and square the cops.
  • Work Hard, Play Hard: Meadow's justification for having the party at Livia's house, she's been studying hard for weeks and needed one to take the edge off.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Discussed. When deciding on Meadow's punishment, Tony tells Carmela that they can't hit or restrain Meadow in any way, because she would then sue them for child abuse.

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