Fat Dom's body has been dismembered. Carlo kicks the head down a sewer drain in Connecticut and informs Silvio over the phone. Silvio in turn advises Carlo that the rest of the body parts have been disposed of elsewhere.
Phil is returning to his wire room (for his sports gambling racket) with his Goomah. The wire room blows up in a fiery explosion and knocks Phil and his Goomah onto their backs. Benny and Tony discuss it over the phone with each other with a definite malicious glee.
Carmela sees Liz La Cerva lying unconscious in a hospital room, who tried to commit suicide after receiving mail intended for Adriana. Carmela becomes more curious than ever about Adriana's fate and presses Tony about it again. Tony continues to disavow knowledge of where Adriana might be.
Carmela then expresses interest in hiring a private detective to learn what happened to Adriana. That spurs Tony to have Silvio lean hard on the building inspector to issue the permits needed to revive the spec house project. It works, as Carmela receives notification of the newly issued work permits, and throws away the calling cards of the detectives she had been in contact with.
Little Carmine organizes a sitdown in an attempt to broker a truce and fresh start between the New Jersey and New York families. Unfortunately, just as Tony and Phil are about to shake hands, he manages to ruin it by offhandedly mentioning the death of Phil's brother Billy. Phil angrily lashes out at both Little Carmine and Tony before storming off. Phil later broods on how best to avenge himself and discusses matters with Gerry, Butchie ( his Underboss), and Albert (his Consigliere).
Chris has taken Julianna Skiff as his new goomah, even as he and his wife Kelli are expecting their first child. Tony tries to resume things with Julianna after the sale to Jamba Juice has concluded, but she rebuffs him multiple times. Tony becomes interested in learning more about Chris' goomah, but Chris refuses to say much as he knows Tony has been interested in Julianna. Tony at some point sees them talking to each other with remarkable familiarity, and realizes what's going on. Chris tries to deny having relations with Julianna and maintains that his real goomah is a black woman named "Kaisha".
Chris and Julianna also relapse into drug use again with each other. They try to convince themselves that they can make it work without impairing their professional lives. Tony catches Chris with Julianna near the Bing, confirming that they're having an affair. Chris comes clean, with the intention of hiding his having relapsed into heroin abuse.
Tony pretends not to care about Chris and Julianna's relationship. But he later admits to Dr. Melfi that his only emotion from staying faithful to Carmela is anger at now being denied the pleasure of Julianna. That feeling is made worse by the knowledge that Chris enjoys Julianna, while he cannot.
Heroin abuse now overtakes sexual pleasure for both Chris and Julianna, and they eventually drift apart after getting bored with each other.
A.J. begins seeing a Latina named Blanca, who works at the same construction site. One night a few Latino youths are playing loud music, which wakes Hector, Blanca's young son. She expresses a lingering degree of admiration for her ex (who is hinted to have been abusive) who could drive away the youths by himself and with force. A.J. responds by giving away his new bike to the youth to convince them to leave. He and Blanca have sex afterward.
Phil has a heart attack that hospitalizes him. Tony is initially gleeful upon hearing the news and proposes a celebratory toast with the other mobsters in the Bing. But Tony then visits Phil in the hospital and seems to get through to Phil to enjoy the good things in life. The two mob leaders seem to have mended fences for the moment.
The episode ends with the family, except Meadow who is in California, sharing a Christmas dinner together. A.J. brings his new girlfriend, Blanca and Hector, to the dinner. Tony and Carmela are not sure what to make of A.J. seeing an older Latina woman (with a young child to boot) but tolerate it due to the saving grace that she's Catholic.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Tony shares one of appreciating and living for the good things in life with Phil. And Phil seems to buy into it, even if temporarily...
- Aesop Amnesia: Averted for now. Dr. Melfi reminds Tony of his own self-learned Aesop, "to appreciate each new day as a gift".
- All Girls Want Bad Boys:
- Very clearly the case with Julianna.
- It's hinted at that Blanca had an abusive-ex. But she admits that something she admired about her ex is that he could single-handedly drive off the young punks who came around and played rap music late at night. So what does A.J. do? He offers them his pricey mountain bike to make them go away voluntarily. Kind of a beta-male move in comparison to the alpha-male ex, and that in itself amounts to Foreshadowing as well...
- "Begone" Bribe: When Blanca complains about the local hoodlums making listening to loud music on the street, A.J. goes outside and sizes them up. He then offers them his expensive mountain bike to make them go away quietly, and they accept.
- Being Good Sucks: Tony really lets off on Dr. Melfi about the only thing he got out of staying faithful to Carmela was denying himself the pleasure of Julianna. That Chris got her but he didn't is salt in the wound.
- Berserk Button:
- It's a given that just mentioning long-dead Billy Leotardo, especially in a casual or off-hand way, is going to send Phil off the deep end.
- And it's turning out he really dislikes his own In-Series Nickname, "The Shah of Iran".
- Black Comedy: Phil, "I know Vito's bottom was impacted if that's what you're referring to!"
- Blatant Lies:
- Tony refuses to come clean to Carmela about what happened to Adriana.
- Chris tells Bobby and Tony that his new Goomah is Black, to avoid revealing that it's actually Julianna.
- And when Tony confirms that Chris and Julianna are a thing: "I don't give a fuck. Do what you want with her."
- Blood Knight: Butchie certainly comes across as one, when he counsels Phil to either take out Tony himself or someone in his circle.
- Book Ends: The episode opens and closes with The Rolling Stones song "Moonlight Mile."
- Broken-Window Warning: Tony has Phil's wire room blown to smithereens as a message, while Phil is close by with his Goomah. The message is that Tony will do what he can to protect his capos and made men.
- Chekhov's Gift: The spec house that Tony bought for Carmela has been sitting idle for some time now since the inspector refused to issue the permits needed to continue its development. Tony has Silvio lean hard on the inspector so that the house can provide an ongoing distraction for Carmela and make her forget about Adriana.
- Christmas Episode: The episode builds towards a Christmas dinner at the end of the episode.
- Close to Home: Tony's comment that Adriana moved away because she couldn't stand her own mother hits a little too close to home for Carmela, two weeks after Meadow moved to California.
- Commonality Connection: Tony draws on himself being within an inch of dying to get through to Phil, at least temporarily.
- Creator In-Joke: In what appears to be a joke towards writer Terence Winter, Christopher mentions that the "50 Cent movie" aka Get Rich or Die Tryin' was being given away free at the car wash. Winter wrote the script for that film and co-wrote this episode.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Played with. Tony and Carmela aren't exactly thrilled that A.J. is seeing a Latina woman ten years his senior. But they tolerate it on the saving point that at least she's Catholic.
- Deadpan Snarker:Phil: Well as coincidence would have it, [Fat Dom] was last seen in New Jersey.
Tony: So was the Hindenburg, maybe you wanna look into that too? - Dedication: This episode was dedicated to John Patterson, who directed 13 episodes of the show, including the season finales for the first five seasons.
- Disposing of a Body: We see Carlo kicking Fat Dom's head down a sewer drain in Connecticut to start the episode. He informs Silvio over the phone, who in turn confirms that the "rump roast went down the shore".
- Distracted by the Sexy: A.J.'s foreman tries to snap A.J. out of it when he's thoroughly checking out Blanca.
- Double-Meaning Title:
- The episode's title, "Kaisha," is the name of Christopher's imaginary black girlfriend.
- In "Whitecaps", Credenzo Curtis, Chris' former heroin dealer mentioned his ex, "Kaisha", right before he was assassinated after the hit on Carmine Lupertazzi was called off.
- Driven to Suicide: Carmela comes to a hospital room. She sees an unconscious Liz La Cerva, who has attempted suicide with the strong suspicion that Adriana was murdered by the Jersey mob. The sight of it propels Carmela to potentially become a Spanner in the Works, at least for a while.
- Epic Fail: Little Carmine almost succeeds in bringing an end to the conflict between Tony and Phil. But then he just has to mention Phil's brother, Billy, in a casual off-hand way. It all goes downhill from there.
- Expy Coexistence: Julianna, in a matter of minutes and on a first reading of Chris' script, figures out that the mob boss antagonist in the script is an Expy of Tony.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Bobby visits Uncle Junior in his nursing home. It becomes obvious that they still care for each other.
- It becomes obvious that Phil and Patty do care for each other, even if Phil regularly cheats on her.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Paulie points out to Tony that Phil having a heart attack isn't necessarily something he should be gleeful about.
- Evil Is Petty: Tony, motivated by jealousy and resentment towards Chris and his relationship with Julianna, antagonizes him at the Christmas party over "hogging" the ice.
- Foreshadowing:
- Tony gets a whiff that Chris has a new Goomah, but Chris won't reveal any details.
- He also briefly exchanges pleasantries with Ahmed and Muhammad.
- Chris and Julianna discuss the Cleaver script.
- Phil goes to a doctor about what he thinks is an ailing heart. The doctor gives him a clean bill of health, at least to begin with...
- Bobby gives back the gift of money to Uncle Junior. Junior waits for Bobby to leave and then gives the money to an orderly with the declaration, "One hand washes the other".
- Girlfriend in Canada: When Tony picks up the hints of a new girlfriend and inquires, Christopher makes up "Kaisha", a goomah who, being black, wouldn't sit socially well with the rest of the wise-guys. In reality he's hidding his affair with Julianna from Tony.
- Half-Truth: Tony to Chris, on the subject of Julianna, "I had to put her on the shelf".
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: Tony vs. Phil during their meeting. Little Carmine's Epic Fail of mentioning Billy certainly didn't help either.
- Has a Type: Tony admits to Dr. Melfi that he has a thing for smart, dark attractive women with a hint of money in their lives.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment:
- Both Benny and Tony feel a certain glee over Phil getting knocked onto his back, with his own wire room blown to smithereens.
- Tony declares Phil's heart attack as proof that Santa Claus actually exists. He then buys everybody a round to celebrate.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Tony gets a nasty rejection from Julianna, where it's usually the other way around when it comes to women that Tony tires of.
- Also, when was the last time Chris got a woman Tony couldn't? And Adriana doesn't count, because Tony could have but didn't.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Averted. Phil clutches his chest in pain and ends up hospitalized. But he survives.
- Hypocrite: Chris is of the view that Tony does not himself live up to the Blood Oath that comes with being a made man.
- I Lied: Chris eventually does get around to telling Tony about Julianna, but the chief motivation is to avoid Tony prying further and finding out that Chris has fallen Off the Wagon yet again.
- Implausible Deniability: Chris tries to Maintain the Lie that Julianna isn't his Goomah, even though Tony had moments earlier seen them speaking as warm lovers half a block away.
- Last Disrespects: Carlo is rather contemptuous about forcibly kicking Fat Dom's head down the sewer drain, and caps it with "Motherfucker!"
- Love at First Sight: A.J. gets fixated on Blanca the moment he sees her. She seems to return the interest.
- Malicious Misnaming: Tony and Benny take a definite relish in referring to Phil as "The Shah of Iran".
- Manly Tears: Phil tries to hold 'em back, but he can't help but shed a few when Tony speaks to him.
- The Napoleon: Butchie is rather short, and acts like one towards Tony when they're visiting Phil in the hospital.
- Near-Death Experience: Tony relates to Phil that he had one while in a coma.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Little Carmine just might have pulled off a lasting truce between New Jersey and New York had he not mentioned Billy.
- No Sympathy: Phil gets tired of repeated efforts by Patty to bring up concerns about Maria's well-being now that Vito is dead. He declares: "I gotta try and take a shit" and walks off.
- Off the Wagon: Chris and Julianna together relapse into drug use. They also try to delude themselves that they can make it work as Functional Addicts.
- Peace Conference: Tony visits Phil in the hospital, and they manage to mend fences, for now.
- Penny Among Diamonds: Blanca is awestruck when she sees what kind of luxury A.J. lives in.
- Pet the Dog:
- Tony gives the assignment of blowing up Phil's wire room to Benny so the latter can get some payback for the beating Phil gave him the previous season.
- Chris sincerely does his best to comfort and treat Julianna when she's in the middle of a nasty cough.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Phil is still very much the intolerant Heteronormative Crusader.
- Satellite Love Interest: Chris and Julianna's affair starts off as really intense, but they become bored of each other by the end of the episode. And Julianna is thereafter Put on a Bus.
- Shout-Out: Chris, while expressing his worries about his unborn child coming to term, describes how a mother Penguin can sit on an egg for months, only for the chick to die still in the egg. He's referencing the documentary film, March of the Penguins.
- Spanner in the Works: Carmela threatens to become one by hiring a Private Detective to look for Adriana. It's what spurs Tony to finally make use of the spec house as a Chekhov's Gift.
- Stalker with a Crush: Tony slides further and further into this territory the more and more Julianna rejects him.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: "Moonlight Mile" by The Rolling Stones is playing while Carlo is driving late at night on the highway with Fat Dom's head.
- Take Back Your Gift: A downplayed and platonic example. Bobby returns the gift of money to Uncle Junior, because he fears the repercussions should Tony ever find out.
- Take That!: Chris offers to watch a DVD of Get Rich or Die Tryin' with his goomar:Chris: They were giving it away at the car wash.
- Team Switzerland: What Little Carmine tries to be for purposes of ending the New Jersey / New York conflict. But he turns it into an Epic Fail.
- Title Drop: Chris, when he lies through his teeth that his Goomah is a black woman named "Kaisha" and not Julianna.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: Chris and Julianna are seen in an AA meeting together. It provides their Meet Cute.
- Unperson: The exchange between Bobby and Uncle Junior lampshades that Junior has become fully ostracized from both the crime family and the extended family network.
- We Need a Distraction: The spec house as a Chekhov's Gift becomes an ongoing Distraction by making Carmela forget about looking for Adriana.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Tony gives Little Carmine one for screwing up the truce by mentioning Billy to Phil.
