Christopher slips further into heroin addiction as Adriana partakes along with him. After they shoot up, Chris gets an unexpected call from Tony, asking to meet with him. During this meeting, Tony finally reveals his game plan to Christopher, explaining that he'll be giving his orders primarily through him from now on. Tony also notices Christopher's intoxicated state, but Christopher writes it off as some wine he drank.
Artie and Charmaine Bucco still struggle financially with Vesuvio's, drawing minimal patrons while Tony and his guys eat there regularly on a rapidly growing unpaid tab. Artie is drawn to Elodie, the new French hostess, who ropes him into making a business deal with her brother Jean-Philippe, investing in a brand of French vodka called Armagnac. Charmaine is skeptical, noticing immediately how Elodie plays on Artie's attraction to her in order to get her way. Disregarding Charmaine, Artie looks to borrow money from one of his connected acquaintances in order to make the investment but avoids Tony at first. He goes to Ralph Cifaretto, who turns him down because Tony would protect Artie if he didn't pay back.
AJ dates a girl named Devin Pilsbury and spends time with a group of friends who are intrigued by his mob-connected family. When the topic of front businesses like the olive oil company from The Godfather comes up, AJ remembers that his dad owns a strip club and tries to direct his friends to it. They end up at Satriale's instead and leave shortly. Later, AJ and Devin are making out at his house, but Carmela comes home, interrupting them. AJ calls Meadow, hoping to use her dorm room to have sex with Devin, but she misunderstands his wording and invites him to the South Bronx Poverty Law Center where she works, instead. AJ and Devin are exposed to a much rougher and lower-class lifestyle, prompting AJ to muse about the wealth and privilege of his family.
Carmela considers setting Furio up with a recently single friend of hers. While discussing the matter in bed with Tony, she mentions that she visited Globe Motors recently and found out that Gloria Trillo committed suicide. Tony is blindsided by this. He visits Globe Motors, looking for more answers to why Gloria killed herself, but only discerns from the manager that she "didn't have much luck with men", as well as the detail that she hanged herself from a chandelier. In therapy with Melfi, Tony is angry that she never told him, and first blames Melfi for Gloria's death, lashing out at her, then reveals that he assumes it was his fault. Melfi argues against both interpretations, feeling hurt at Tony's accusations, but also pointing out that he has no real basis to assume the blame for Gloria's death. Regardless, Tony's mental state worsens and he begins to drink excessively.
Tony visits Artie, offended that he avoided asking him for the Armagnac loan. In light of his guilt over Gloria's death, he wonders if this makes him some kind of toxic person. Tony loans the money to Artie as a friend. Artie is hesitant though, as he doesn't want to directly involve money in Tony and his relationship. Tony, however, insists that he accepts the loan, saying that as his friend, he will offer it to him at a favorable interest rate of only one-and-a-half percent. Convinced, Artie accepts and gives him a bottle of Armagnac as thanks as he leaves. Tony proceeds to immediately chug the drink right outside Artie's house.
That night, Tony has a nightmare in which he arrives at Gloria's home for dinner to find her wearing a scarf around her neck. The chandelier at her home also weighs heavily on the ceiling, causing flakes of plaster to fall into a bottle of Armagnac on the table, and Gloria goes to her oven to stir some unknown substance when it dings. Finally, Gloria offers to remove the scarf and show Tony her neck, but he wakes up just as she does this.
A guilt-riddled Tony begins doing good deeds for all those around him. He finally sits down with Carmela and her cousin Brian the financial advisor to sign the living trust he had been avoiding, and even puts Brian in touch with Patsy Parisi to supply him with nice suits as a favor. He then arranges to take Carmela to a Billy Joel concert, bringing Brian and his wife as well as Furio and Carmela's friend Liz, who she hoped to set up with him, though her matchmaking efforts are eventually unsuccessful. Tony also treats Janice to dinner in a rare show of kindness to her, and congratulates her on the budding relationship with Bobby Baccala, genuinely praising him as a good man despite Janice's expectation that he will again interfere with her love life.
Artie's investment in Armagnac runs into some problems, however, with Jean-Philippe neglecting to call him back while Elodie uses her usual flirty behavior as a distraction. When a concerned Artie brings this up to Tony, he suggests to Artie to handle his business like he usually does it; go to Jean-Philippe personally and collect on his investment. Following Tony's advice, Artie goes to Jean-Philippe's apartment, where he is greeted by a distraught Jean-Philippe, who explains to him that the investment failed and the business partner ended up backing out, the problem being that no one could figure out an effective way to actually promote Armagnac. A frustrated Artie demands his money back, but Jean-Philippe tells him that is impossible as he has spent it, and that is a normal risk in business ventures. Artie moves on to attempt to outright strong-arm Jean-Philippe to give him the money back, but this ends up as a total disaster, as he awkwardly attempts to intimidate him, then starts a fight which he quickly loses as Jean-Philippe rips out his earring and throws him out of the apartment. Fearing Tony's retribution if he doesn't get the money, and full of self-loathing at his humiliating failure, Artie attempts suicide with a bottle of pills, then calls Tony to drunkenly cry and apologize. Tony calls 911, who save Artie by pumping his stomach. Visiting Artie in the hospital, Tony coaches him to blame the incident on a mugging. When Artie brings up the loan he lost, Tony agrees to forgive it and settle the matter by clearing his substantial tab at Vesuvio's. Artie suddenly thinks that Tony planned for this contingency, and accuses him of manipulating the situation from the start. Tony, offended, calls Artie a disgrace for his suicide attempt, and storms out. In his next session with Dr. Melfi, he seems to have put the guilt over Gloria's suicide behind him in light of recent events, but references that he made a donation to the suicide hotline in her name. Later, he sends Furio to collect from Jean-Philippe.
AJ and a friend visit Devin's home and are surprised to find that she is enormously wealthy and lives in a gated mansion complete with security. AJ is embarrassed, asking why Devin didn't mention this when he was going on a tirade about the excessiveness of his own wealth. Later, AJ's friends question why his family isn't especially wealthy despite their mob connections, and AJ can't answer.
Tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Downplayed with Devin, who's quite into being "a gangster's girlfriend". In a rare departure from the Gold Digger this kink is typical of, she's a genuinely Nice Girl who seems to like AJ for his candid nature, and couldn't care less about the things his notorious surname and lavish living might afford her — her family is from far greater wealth.
- Always Someone Better: A.J. thought his house was big. The look on his face when he pulls up to Devin's front door says it all.
- Asshole Victim:
- Jean-Phillipe is a remorseless con artist, so nobody feels bad about whatever Furio does to him.
- Tony himself. Artie nearly commits suicide as a result of his manipulation. Tony is devastated, but there is no denying he brought it upon himself.
- Big Brother Instinct: Tony approves of Janice seeing Nice Guy Bobby and lets her know it to cement a less harmful relationship for her in comparison to some of her previous choices.
- Blame Game: Tony tries to blame Dr. Melfi for Gloria being Driven to Suicide, refusing to accept his part in it, at least initially.
- Broken Pedestal: Through no fault of his own, AJ has been put on a pedestal by his friends as the son of the wealthy Mafia boss, who they compare to Don Corleone. Later, Devin says she thought his house would have a wall, guards and a dog let out at night. (They had a guard dog, AJ offers, but she got sick.) After seeing Devin's mansion, which begins with the security building by the gate looking like a normal-sized home, AJ's friends wonder why he doesn't have that kind of money.
- Bungled Suicide: Artie tries to go quietly on a sleeping pill overdose. He inadvertently prevents it by calling Tony, giving Tony the opportunity to call 911. Artie ends up in a hospital bed with his stomach pumped instead.
- Butt-Monkey: This episode is practically Artie spending A Day in the Limelight as one.
- The Chessmaster: Artie realizes that Tony had the Batman Gambit figured out from start to finish, and lays it out for him. Tony doesn't take it well.
- Close to Home: Dr. Melfi indicates that Tony reacted sensitively to Artie's accusations of being a Manipulative Bastard and The Chessmaster because Artie's suicide attempt occurred soon after Tony learned about Gloria being Driven to Suicide.
- Combat Breakdown: Anyone in the mood for watching a hilarious fight between a couple of guys who are anything but badasses? Look no further than Artie vs. Jean-Phillipe in this episode.
- Combat Pragmatist: Jean-Phillipe is on the back foot when Artie and him start fighting, but ultimately gets the better of Artie by pulling out his earring and tossing him out the door while Artie is still stunned.
- Comically Missing the Point: Tony tells Chris: "You're going to take this family into the 21st century!" Chris' reply: "We're already in the 21st century."
- The Con: Jean-Phillipe tries to pull one off on Artie as the mark. It ends up backfiring on him, given that Artie's Mafia connections turn it into a case of Mugging the Monster, and a personal appointment with Furio.
- Descent into Addiction: Both Adriana and Chris slide harder into heroin abuse together in response to the stresses in their lives.
- Driven to Suicide: Gloria Trillo, albeit off-screen and beforehand.
- Dumbass Teenage Son: A.J. takes his friends to closed after-hours Satriale's by mistake when the Bada Bing was their intended destination.
- Embarrassing Cover Up: Tony coerces Artie into telling everyone else that he got mugged, both to avoid embarrassment for himself for having tried to commit suicide, and to avoid linking events to Tony as a Loan Shark.
- Fat Comic Relief: Vito still provides it unwillingly for Ralph.
- Fish out of Water: A.J. and Devin immediately feel this way upon seeing what part of town Meadow's Law Center is in.
- Foreshadowing:
- A.J. is adamant he's never going to join the armed forces. Talk about Irony.
- Part of the reason why Artie becomes an easy mark for the French vodka scam is that the restaurant hasn't been doing good lately. There's more than one reason why that will play out soon.
- Tony has a couple of expensive wines added to his tab with Artie. The Batman Gambit isn't fully explained or realized until the end of the episode, but Tony ordering the wines on tab shows (in hindsight) that he is fully aware of already having set the Gambit into motion.
- French Jerk: Jean-Phillipe ultimately proves himself to be this once the Armagnac scam is revealed. Elodie doesn't come across this way (by design) but counts as well by virtue of her involvement in the scam.
- Gilligan Cut: Chris prying himself away from his drugs cuts to A.J. drinking and smoking with his friends.
- Grave-Marking Scene: Tony's visit to the Mercedes dealership amounts to an unusual example of the trope.
- Guilt Complex:
- Tony struggles with one on account of Gloria being Driven to Suicide. His manifestations of the complex include several Pet the Dog moments to convince himself he isn't truly a bad person, as well as plying Janice for information about her friend's suicide and how she reacted to it.
- It gets even worse when he realizes that his own Batman Gambit led to Artie's Bungled Suicide attempt.
- Gut Feeling: Charmaine can smell Jean-Phillipe's scam and Elodie's Honey Trap from a mile away.
- Honey Trap: Elodie plays this role willingly to sucker Artie into Jean-Phillipe's scam.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: Artie spends some time in the mirror practicing how he's going to shake down Jean-Phillipe. It's every bit as funny as you'd expect.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: How Tony responds to his guilt over his part in Gloria being Driven to Suicide.
- I Owe You My Life: Chris pledges Undying Loyalty to Tony, partly for Tony's role in helping Chris avenge his father.
- Ironic Echo: Now even A.J. tells others that his father is in "waste management", just like Meadow in seasons earlier. Except his audience knows Tony is in the mob but has the mistaken notion that "waste management" is a recent move into going legit, instead of a long-established front.
- Interrupted Intimacy: A.J. and Devin cut short their making out when they can hear Carmela walking in.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Tony manipulates Artie to be scammed. To his horror, this nearly leads to Artie committing suicide.
- Loan Shark: Tony effectively makes himself one with respect to Artie of all people, although he spares Artie the more troubling repercussions of paying back what is owing. Jean-Phillipe on the other hand ...
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Meadow is appalled at the thought that A.J. wants to borrow her dorm room for the sole purpose of getting laid with Devin.
- Manipulative Bastard: Artie accuses Tony of planning for him to be scammed so he could clear his tab at Vesuvio.
- The Matchmaker: Carmela brings up the idea of setting up Furio with her hygenist, as a possible way of dealing with the Unresolved Sexual Tension noted below. Tony shuts it down.
- Mistaken for Junkie: Completely subverted. Both Tony and Furio pick up that something's off about Chris when he shows up high for a meeting. It's telling when even Carmela, who's completely uneducated about drug abuse, notices that Chris' skin is looking unhealthy (a known telltale sign of drug abuse).
- Mouth of Sauron: Tony revives his plan to make Chris his Mouth, and justifies it on the need to minimize his exposure to Surveillance as the Plot Demands.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Tony is genuinely regretful for mistreating Gloria when he learns she killed herself. However, this is something of a deconstruction, as his attempts to Pet the Dog following her death are largely revealed to be an attempt on his part to talk himself out of the idea that he's a bad person.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Chris pledges his Undying Loyalty to Tony, and on this basis.
- Nepotism: Tony tells Chris he will only give orders through him in the future, as he only trusts his blood.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: A.J. realizes that as financially successful a mobster as Tony is, their family is really upper-middle-class and nowhere near as wealthy as the families whose kids attend his new school.
- Number Two: Tony anoints Chris as his second-in-command and heir apparent.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on Jean-Phillipe's face registers this when he opens the door, and finds Furio ready to shake him down.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Ralph refuses to lend Artie money because he knows Artie's friendship with Tony will keep him safe from any repercussions if he fails to honor his debt.
- Rule of Symbolism: When Artie sits down with Ralph, a Jersey Devil's banner is visible behind Ralph. I.e. Artie's about to make a Deal with the Devil.
- Shout-Out: A.J.'s friends love to bombard him with references to The Godfather and Scarface (1983).
- Titled After the Song: The title comes from the song by R.E.M..
- Unperson: Tony's motives for forcing Artie into the mugging cover story have shades of this. He asks who else knows, like Father Intintola or Charmaine or anyone else in their circles. He is concerned that he lost so much money through such a foolish deal.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Carmela and Furio still have it going.
- With Friends Like These...: After his best friend tries to kill himself, Tony berates him and feels sorry for himself.
