Chris: Well, either way, it wouldn't make any difference.
Haydu: What do you mean, it won't make any difference!?
Chris: Because he wants you dead.
AJ has resumed his education after being enrolled at another private school but has not improved as a student, ignoring the New York Times provided to him by the school's curriculum and listening with zero interest as Carmela tries to read articles to him. Tony chastises AJ for his laziness and smacks him upside the head when he tries to talk back to him. Christopher arrives to drive Tony to a meeting with Uncle Junior, and Carmela seems disappointed that Furio, his usual driver, couldn't make it. During the car ride, Christopher is irked when Tony mentions his father's accomplishments as a feared mob hitman.
Arriving at Dr. Schreck's office, where they meet with Junior, Tony is amused as Junior attempts to flirt with an attractive nurse. During their meeting, Junior requests further funds to help with his legal fees, but Tony denies the request due to his own financial obligations and a recent shortage of funds from his crews. Junior then states his intention to have Bobby Baccala, his driver and general assistant, finally be made, a decision Tony approves of.
Christopher returns home to Adriana, rudely dismissing her new friend Danielle - secretly undercover FBI agent Deborah Ciccerone - and complaining about Tony's treatment of him, believing his apparent demotion to the position of driver is the result of alienation from Tony after questioning his judgment about the Jackie, Jr. situation. He shoots up heroin, now apparently a routine activity for him.
Carmela sees Angie Bonpensiero giving out food samples at a supermarket, which prompts her to worry more about finances. When she asks Tony for spare cash to make a real estate investment, Tony claims this is impossible, as he no longer keeps cash around the house. This proves to be a lie, as Tony stashes money under a paving stone in their backyard pool house. Carmela sits down with Tony and asks him seriously about what would happen to her and the kids in the event that Tony was imprisoned or killed. Tony remains evasive and reassures her that she will be taken care of, but is visibly unsettled when Carmela reminds him that "nothing lasts forever".
Chris drives Tony to the Bada Bing to meet up with Silvio, and Tony loses his temper at Georgie the bouncer for wasting ice, beating him with the ice bucket when he protests. Tony, Silvio, and Chris head to a warehouse near the Bing to meet with the captains, as Ralph Cifaretto is still barred from the premises of the club. Tony chastises his captains - Ralph, Albert Barese, Ray Curto, and Carlo Gervasi - for the family's financial slump, referencing Junior's mounting legal bills.
Tony buys duck feed despite it being the off-season for duck migration, using the bird feeder as a new hiding place for his cash. While buying the feed, he meets with Assemblyman Ronald Zellman in a neighboring restaurant to discuss their Esplanade deal. Zellman is optimistic that properties near the site will spike in price soon, and Tony recalls that Junior owns one such property on Frelinghuysen Avenue. Meeting with Junior, he offers to buy the Frelinghuysen warehouse from him, framing it as a favor to help with Junior's legal bills and not mentioning his own potential profit from the situation. Meanwhile, Junior continues to flirt with his nurse, this time attempting to invite her out on an excursion to Atlantic City, but she turns him down and reveals it's her last day working at Schreck's office. Junior is left crestfallen.
Carmela hosts a dinner. Despite Tony's wishes, she invites Rosalie and Ralph, as Rosalie is still grieving her son's death. Also present are Carmela's parents, Janice, and AJ's friend. Ralph dominates the conversation, telling stories about street racing until Tony shuts him down. Ralph goes to the bathroom and is followed by Janice. They do coke together and have sex. Adriana arrives with Danielle, who introduces herself to Tony, and an apparently medicated Rosalie shows her around the house. While listening to a boring story from Carmela's father Hugh, Tony takes note of Ralph and Janice's extended absence.
Tony and his captains have a sitdown with Carmine Lupertazzi, the boss of the New York mob. This time, Tony allows Chris to sit in on the meeting. Afterward, Carmine and Johnny Sack depart as a group of Icelandic stewardesses arrive and the Jersey mobsters party with them. Late into the night, as Chris smokes heroin in the bathroom with one girl, Tony knocks on the door and tells him they're going for a drive. Chris remains disgruntled by his driver position, and uncertain where they are going. Tony has him stop outside a Hooters restaurant where a cop named Barry Haydu is holding his retirement party. Tony reveals that Haydu is the man who killed Christopher's father, who was useful because of his position as a cop before. As of his retirement, Tony gives Christopher the go-ahead to kill him. Christopher waits for Haydu in his home, knocking him out and cuffing him to a banister. When Haydu regains consciousness, an inebriated Christopher questions him about Dickie Moltisanti, but Haydu denies everything. Christopher has a moment of doubt but resolves that even if Haydu is not his father's killer, he still has to die because Tony wants him dead. Haydu breaks free of the post he's cuffed to and exclaims "I'm sorry" before Christopher shoots him dead. Looting Haydu's wallet, Chris finds only a $20 bill.
Tony eats with Bobby Baccala while Haydu is killed, discussing his recent promotion. Bobby is pleased with being made but feels it should have happened sooner. Meanwhile, Junior gets a call from his lawyer, revealing the presence of an FBI mole in Dr. Schreck's office. Tony and Bobby visit Junior in the morning and find Bobby's wife Karen and their children there. Junior is certain that the nurse with whom he flirted was the mole, and seems to be in the midst of an existential crisis, miserably telling Tony that he's nothing but an old man going to jail.
At a therapy session with Dr. Melfi, Tony says Junior's words snapped things into focus for him. He speaks frankly about the potential outcomes of his life as a mobster, saying that higher-ranking mafiosos generally end up being murdered or imprisoned. He then explains that he intends to rely only on family, channeling all of his orders through Christopher to insulate himself from the hazards of being the boss. Christopher, meanwhile, visits his mother's house and puts Haydu's $20 bill on the fridge as a memento.
Tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Haydu tries to offer his boat to buy Chris out of killing him. Chris doesn't accept the offer.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Tony claims that Haydu killed Dickie at the behest of a man named Jilly Ruffalo, whose old cellmate Dickie had previously killed. Since Tony is the only source on this and he has the incentive to lie to Christopher, it's unclear how much if any of this is true.
- The Many Saints of Newark only partially answers this question. Jilly Ruffalo's involvement in Dickie's death is untrue - it was actually Junior who had Dickie killed, as he felt slighted by Dickie's rising star in the Jersey Mob and was angry at Dickie for laughing at him when he tripped in the rain. However, it's unclear if Tony is aware of this. The film also pointedly does not reveal the face or name of the man who pulls the trigger on Dickie, leaving the question of Haydu's involvement unanswered. The only thing Tony says which was 100% correct is that Dickie was carrying TV Trays when he died.
- And a Diet Coke: Tony starts off with scrambled eggs, no oil, and tomato slices. But watching Bobby eat his steak and onion rings has a predictable effect.
- Armour-Piercing Question: Carmine asks Tony if there's anything about the Esplanade that he should know about. He doesn't force an answer from a reluctant Tony, but he clearly suspects Tony of holding back on some level.
- Artistic License – Economics: Tony and Silvio assert that only organized crime and show business enjoy immunity from a recession in the mainstream economy. It makes sense in story given that providing a fuller and more accurate exposition would probably have taken too long, and gotten in the way of making their ultimate point, that the recession of 2001 is not an excuse for the capos to be bringing in fewer earnings. Be that as it may, certain sectors that deal with items that are in constant need (e.g. groceries) continue to be stable precisely because a recession doesn't alter fundamental basic human needs. And on the contrary, sometimes (but not always) entertainment industries can get hit pretty hard by recessions, as was the case for the 2008 depression.
- Bad Boss:
- Chris sees Tony as one, at least for much of the episode, and for much of the series while we're at it.
- Tony really lays into the capos for not earning enough.
- Blatant Lies:
- Tony tells Carmela that he doesn't have any cash stored up around the house.
- He also tells Carmela that he's working late, just before several Icelandic stewardesses come in.
- Book Dumb: Whatever talents Bobby might have, nobody would mistake him for an intellectual. He mixes up Quasimodo The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Nostradamus when trying to bring up that the latter apparently predicted September 11th. It's pretty telling that Tony of all people is the one to correct him.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Chris kills Haydu.
- Breaking the Bonds: Haydu can't break the handcuff, but he manages to break loose the staircase post that the cuff was attached to. It only leads to the inevitable.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Haydu insistently maintains to Chris that he never killed his father.
- Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Ralph conspicuously announces he needs to go to the washroom. His reason is to get a little privacy to snort his cocaine. Janice soon joins him.
- Close to Home: Just the sight of Angie doing a low-paying job at the supermarket is enough to turn Carmela into a Nervous Wreck over how she and her kids will fare should something happen to Tony, given his line of work.
- The Con:
- Assemblyman Zellman buys property on Freelinghuysen Avenue through a shell company, and tips off Tony as well about how properties along it are going to spike in value in conjunction with the Esplanade project.
- Tony buys a property from Uncle Junior on Freelinghuysen Avenue as a seeming goodwill gesture to help Junior pay for his legal expenses. He conveniently does not mention the profit he'll make after selling it once its value spikes on account of the Esplanade project.
- Continuity Nod:
- Tony still doesn't respond well to comments in the "Poor you"/"Sucks to be you" vein.
- Ralphie is still banned from the Bing.
- Cop Killer Manhunt: Haydu tries to intimidate Chris out of killing him by suggesting Chris will be on the receiving end of one of these. It doesn't work.
- Creepy Souvenir: Chris takes a $20 bill out of Haydu's wallet after killing him. Chris then goes to visit his mom, gazes at the Memorial Photo of his father, and then pins up that same $20 bill on the fridge door just underneath a family photo.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!:
- Played straight with Chris, who peels off celebratory gunshots after killing Haydu. He has avenged his father and he also interprets being told about Haydu with the blessing to kill him as a sign of increasing trust from Tony, along with the promise of moving even further up. He turns out to be right on the latter point.
- Deconstructed by Tony himself, who admits to Dr. Melfi that pretty much any Mafiaso of note almost always ends up killed or jailed.
- Deadpan Snarker: Johnny Sack continues to be the tri-state area's ruling champion.
- Descent into Addiction:
- Chris always was a heroin user, but he ramps it up in response to the pressures of trying to gain Tony's approval. Adriana notes that he's using more frequently, and he's taken to injecting the needle into his feet to try and increase the high.
- And it turns out that Ralph is doing as much cocaine as ever.
- Dirty Cop: Haydu is in bed with the mob due to his gambling addiction and carried out a series of contract killings to Work Off the Debt.
- Dirty Old Man: Uncle Junior can't help himself around the nurse. It turns out to be a source of legal trouble for him.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Haydu broke free of his cuff and tried to fight back, but just couldn't reach his Hidden Gun in time before Chris gave him a Boom, Headshot!
- The Dreaded: Paulie's reputation as a tough Mafia soldier precedes him, and he uses it to scare inmates away from the phone or from changing the TV channel.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Tony sees a squirrel come out of the bushes while he goes out for his morning paper. The knowledge that squirrels keep their acorn stashes hidden underground gives Tony new ideas about keeping his cash hidden. He also gets one after figuring out that the nurse was a sting on Uncle Junior. It gets him to ponder how to restrict the flow of information from himself to his underlings so as to minimize the possibility of any substantial criminal charges sticking to him.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: After avenging Dickie's death, Chris visits his mother and brings her a picture of his father in the hopes it will move her and leaves her some money
- Even Evil Has Standards: It's hinted that Carmine, just like Johnny Sack, will not partake of the kind of debauchery that Tony and the boys indulge in. He promptly leaves when he notices the Icelandic stewardesses coming in.
- Foreshadowing:
- Carmela reads a news story about Mafiasos in Italy getting busted for influence-peddling and racketeering, which sets up the various twists and turns the Jersey mob experiences when they get into bed with authority figures over the course of the episode.
- Chris notices, as he's leaving the party with Tony, that Ralph is passed out and almost completely naked except for socks and a hat normally worn by the Icelandic stewardesses. It will gradually be revealed that Ralph has some pretty peculiar Fetishes.
- Grumpy Old Man: Uncle Junior is always one, but is up to eleven in this episode on account of his legal troubles and related expenses.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Tony has this reaction when he lays eyes on Danielle.
- Hookers and Blow: Doing the Icelandic stewardesses is enough for Tony. Chris wouldn't be Chris if he wasn't doing the stewardesses and doing drugs at the same time.
- Jerkass: Pretty much a full circle that winds round and round.
- Uncle Junior to Tony.
- Tony to Chris, and the capos.
- Chris to Danielle.
- Just a Gangster: Tony takes a hard pass on Dr. Melfi's advice to try and get out of the mob life. He sees a way to make it work.
- Lazy Bum: A.J. is as listless and unmotivated as ever.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Chris kills Haydu and then plants a gun on the man to make the crime scene look like a suicide. This is not the brightest move, as Chris had fired multiple rounds into Haydu.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Ralph and Janice do each other in Tony's bathroom. Tony distinctly notices their empty chairs while they're at it.
- Manipulative Bastard: Tony callously exploits Chris's grief over his father to make him feel indebted to him and secure his loyalty.
- Mean Boss: Tony beats the crap out of Georgie yet again, over tossing away too much ice.
- Memorial Photo: Chris goes to visit his mom, and stares for prolonged periods of time at a framed picture of his father.
- Misplaced Retribution: Tony comes into the Bing looking stressed and angry over various issues, including an argument over money with Carmela. Poor Georgie happens to be there at the moment for him to vent his rage on, with "too much ice" serving as a convenient excuse.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Paulie begins in earnest to feed confidential information to Johnny Sack in the wake of feeling resentful towards Tony's treatment of him. Paulie lampshades his motivations by mentioning how Tony can only design to speak to him through middlemen, and how Tony and Silvio can barely mention him in conversation with others. Also doubles as a Continuity Nod to season two when Big Pussy felt increasingly marginalized in favor of Paulie and Furio.
- Mouth of Sauron: Tony plans to make Chris this for himself, with the idea of minimizing the possibility that any incriminating conversations can ever be traced back to him personally. It also overlaps with trying to groom Chris as his Number Two, and eventual successor.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Any doubts that Johnny Sack is playing Paulie should be removed by noticing that Johnny is impatiently rolling his eyes while listening to Paulie rant about his gun charge. He'd love nothing more than to hang up, but it's all he can do to patiently sit through it for the sake of cultivating Paulie as his leak.
- Never Suicide: Chris places the same gun he used to kill Haydu in Haydu's hand, finger on the trigger.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Tony on Georgie.
- ...Or So I Heard: Implied when Paulie describes how he got locked up after being pulled over for not using his turn signal: they found a gun under the seat that was "apparently" used in an unsolved murder 8 years before.
- Parental Neglect: Subtly implied to a mild degree with Deborah. Her baby is often crying in his crib without attention while Deborah and her husband, both law enforcement officers, are busy prepping themselves for their jobs.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Ralph brags about winning a street race against somebody with a "big Jew grin", clearly meaning the other person was a Greedy Jew. He realizes that A.J.'s friend has a Biblical name, and once realizing that at least one person in the audience is at least half-Jewish, tries to blow it off with a half-hearted apology.
- Quickly-Demoted Leader: How Chris feels about being Tony's driver.
- Rank Up: For Bobby. He's not only going to become a made guy in-universe, but he's also going to get more and more screen time after this episode.
- Real Life Writes the Plot:
- Notice how Paulie has less and less screen time during season four and spends a lot of it via limited appearances while in jail? Tony Sirico was recovering from back surgery at the time.
- For another example that's mixed in with
Harsher in Hindsight, there's a story
that a real-life mobster may have called up James Gandolfini and told him that: ‘Listen, you’re a great actor, we like what you’re doing, but you got to know one thing: ‘A don never wears shorts.’ When David Chase heard about it, he worked it into Carmine's line to Tony.
- Retirony: Tony points out to Christopher a man enjoying his retirement party in the nearby restaurant as being the cop who murdered his father. When an understandably incensed Christopher asks him why he's only just now being told this, Tony explains the man has been useful. Until tonight, of course.
- Ripped from the Headlines: It would have been impossible for the creators not to have made some reference to September 11th, airing as this episode originally did almost exactly a year after the attacks.
- Tony makes a reference to the Enron scandal of 2001, "We don't have those Enron-type connections". This episode aired approximately a year after the news of the scandal first broke. Tony is implying that while he's doing very well, it's not so much as to justify the immense corporate-scale kind of laundering that was involved in the scandal.
- Tony brings up the 2001 economic recession so that he and Silvio can together make the point that organized crime is not affected by downturns in the mainstream economy. The recession is therefore no excuse for the capos bringing in fewer earnings.
- Robbing the Dead: After killing Haydu, Chris empties his wallet, disappointed to find just a $20 bill.
- Seinfeldian Conversation: Bobby almost starts one after confusing Nostradamus with Notre Dame. Tony isn't interested in continuing it.
- Shout-Out: During the scene in which Janice and Ralphie are snorting cocaine in the bathroom, Janice comments "Oh Bartleby, Oh Humanity" a reference to the drama surrounding Jackie Jr.'s death. This is the last line from Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener".
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: A minor variant: during Tony's meeting with his capos, he throws Albert's echolalia right back at him.Tony: The guy. We talked about this, over at the other place, with the guy. The councilman. What the fuck happened to that?
Albert: It petered out-
Tony: It petered out.
Albert: It died on the vine!
Tony: It died on the vine. - Undercover Cop Reveal: The nurse that Uncle Junior loved to flirt with turns out to be an FBI agent who can get close enough to eavesdrop on Junior because of his thing for younger girls. She initially claims she's quitting her job as a nurse to go back to school. It later turns out that she was pulled out in order to keep her safely in hand as a witness for the upcoming trial against Junior.
- Visual Title Drop: A visual one, if you pay attention as the camera zooms in on the bill on Mrs. Moltisanti's fridge. Printed on all U.S. paper currency are the words, "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private".
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Chris on more than one level.
- Chris hears that his long-dead biological father was once a Living Legend in The Mafia, who could win wars against rival gangs almost by himself, and he feels pressured to live up to that hype and be worthy of him.
- Chris is also anxious and stressed out over his seeming inability to please Tony, who on a very real level is a father figure for him.
- Wicked Cultured: Carmine to Tony: "A Don doesn't wear shorts". Carmine considers it beneath the head of a Mafia family to be anything other than a Sharp-Dressed Man, even at a backyard cookout.
- You Do Not Want To Know: Tony refuses to give Carmela information on accounts that will funnel money to her should she become a widow on the basis that knowing that information makes her an accomplice vulnerable to prosecution. Carmela obviously isn't satisfied.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Jersey mob tolerated Haydu, despite having taken out one of their own, because him being Trapped by Gambling Debts drove him into the mob payroll, making him useful to them. That ends with the onset of his Retirony, and that is when Tony gladly feeds him to Chris.
- You Killed My Father: Chris kills Haydu to avenge his father after Tony unhooks his leash.
