"Anthony, can you hear us?"
Tony: I'm 46 years old. I mean, who am I? Where am I going?
Saleswoman: Join the club.
Saleswoman: Join the club.
Tony is in a medically induced coma, most of which he spends in a prolonged series of dreams. The dreams are themselves set in Costa Mesa, California, and his alter ego is a precision optics salesman named Kevin Finnerty from Arizona. He frequently speaks to his wife whom he names as Carmela, although the voice is that of another woman. He still thinks of himself as Tony Soprano but finds himself stranded when his identification is that of his alter ego. He enjoys a free dinner with other salesmen at the same conference he wanted to go to, and he is regarded as a legend in their business. He asks questions like "Who am I?" and "What am I doing?", which suggest that he was undergoing a midlife crisis even before he got shot. A saleswoman in the group tells him, "Join the club". Tony then sees a commercial asking if death, disease, and sin are real, along with an image of a cross.
Tony starts making out with the saleswoman in a parking lot when a helicopter with flood lights closes in on him. The woman tells him the chopper is looking for a "perp", fueling Tony's fears in the physical world of getting arrested and imprisoned. He suddenly half-way wakes from his coma, and deliriously moans "Who am I? Where am I going?" to no one in particular in his confused state. Meanwhile, the hospital staff scrambles to put him back into coma while Carmela and Meadow look on in horror.
Tony, back in his dreamscape, decides to use Kevin Finnerty's credit card to check himself into the hotel. He gets accosted by two Buddhist Monks, who are angry with him on the basis that Mr. Finnerty sold a defective heating system for their monastery, resulting in them having to suffer through a horrible winter. Tony keeps insisting that he is not Finnerty, further angering the monks and matters escalate into violence as Tony gets slapped by one of the monks before the hotel staff breaks it up. Tony tries to leave the next morning, but a toy bear announces with a sign that the elevator is out of order and that he'll have to "bear" it. Tony makes his way down the stairs, but slips and tumbles.
Carmela and Meadow take to speaking to Tony and playing music in his room, and the doctors' urging, with the hope of facilitating recovery. A.J. gradually gets involved as well. He sees the tubes filled with blood and urine connected to Tony, and the sight of it prompts him to swear revenge against Uncle Junior.
The other mobsters (especially Vito) meanwhile continue to jockey for power and position in anticipation of the possibility that Tony may die and leave behind a power vacuum.
Agents Harris and Goddard visit Satriale's frequently. They make a point of reminding Chris and the other mobsters that Matush had been a frequent visitor of Adriana's Crazy Horse club, hoping to plant a seed whereby Chris (or better yet, Tony) will provide them with information on local terrorist connections.
In the dream, Tony is brought to an emergency room after his fall, where he is told by the doctor that aside from having a minor concussion, his CT scan shows some dark spots on his brain, caused by lack of oxygen. The doctor states that this indicates early stages of Alzheimer's disease. When the doctor leaves him, Tony says "I'm lost" to himself. After he returns to his hotel room, he picks up the phone, but hangs up before dialing, and sits on the bed, looking pensive. Tony then notices a beacon of light flashing on the city's horizon.
Tropes:
- The Ace: Tony's dream alter ego, Kevin Finnerty, is regarded within the Dream Land as a legendary salesman who can rake it in and close the biggest of deals.
- Adventures in Comaland: Tony's dreams of himself as "Kevin Finnerty" are set in Costa Mesa, California.
- Armored Closet Gay: Vito relates to Janice a hypothetical reason why Eugene may feel Driven to Suicide, which is actually a spot-on description of the struggles Vito himself faces with both being homosexual and in the homophobic subculture of The Mafia.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Vito to Bobby: "Why was the skipper babysitting Junior?" Bobby's reply: "I had other family obligations". Followed by: "Tony volunteered".
- As You Know: More than one doctor has to explain to Carmela and Meadow why Tony's life and even his condition post-recovery, hang in the balance.
- Bitch Slap: One of the monks gives Tony one.
- Body Horror: Tony's gutshot wound is not for the squeamish to see. Meadow has to turn her eyes in horror while Janice is reduced to a blubbering mess.
- Call-Back: Carmela is filled with regret for having told Tony that he'll go to Hell years ago.
- Catapult Nightmare: Tony sees a helicopter and its floodlights approaching. The woman he's making out with informs him that they're looking for a "perp", feeding his own fears in the physical world of getting arrested and imprisoned. He wakes up thrashing and desperately trying to get out of his bed, forcing the hospital staff to sedate and tube him again while Carmela and Meadow look on in horror.
- Conflicting Loyalty: The meeting with Agents Harris and Goddard causes Christopher to begin questioning whether the mobsters should continue doing business with Middle Eastern associates who may be involved with terrorist cells plotting against America.
- Continuity Nod:
- Carmela tells Tony that she regrets telling him that he would go to Hell when he dies. This occurred in the pilot episode.
- Lee is curious how Tony made the jump from selling patio furniture to precision optics. Tony mentioned selling patio furniture on Route 22 as an alternative life during a conversation with Meadow in "College", and in a therapy session with Dr. Melfi in season 1.
- When Vito Spatafore talks about Eugene Pontecorvo's suicide, he notes that perhaps Eugene killed himself because of closeted homosexuality. This is a reference to Vito's own homosexuality, which was exposed in "Unidentified Black Males".
- Convenient Coma: Tony spends most of the episode in a days-long medically induced coma, during which he spends a lot of time wrapped up in Visions of Another Self. The coma itself spurs the rest of his family and the mobsters into various actions. And Tony himself will eventually wake up, almost (but not quite) ready to take up the mantle again as The Don and the Villain Protagonist.
- Dragon Ascendant: Silvio becomes one, at least for a little while.
- Dream People: Tony interacts with numerous people in his dreams, including a recurrent bartender, several salespeople going to the same conference as him, and Buddhist monks who are suing him. He also frequently speaks to his wife named Carmela over the phone, but the voice is that of another woman.
- Enemy Mine: Agents Harris and Goddard visit Satriale's, and make a point of reminding Chris that Matush used to frequent Adriana's Crazy Horse club. They hope that he can willingly provide them with information on local terrorist connections. When Chris runs into a couple of Middle Eastern men at the Bada Bing, it's obvious he's actually thinking of doing just that.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Chris hugs Carmela while she's crying.
- Janice is reduced to Inelegant Blubbering at the sight of Tony on the hospital bed.
- Chris also sometimes maintains a vigil over Tony's hospital bed.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Paulie is furious at the reporters for intruding on the Sopranos' privacy, and drives them off beyond the curb line.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: A.J. and Meadow have always been counterparts to each other throughout the whole series, but this episode makes a point of highlighting it emphatically. Meadow is at the point where she can have her pick of either a law career or a medical career. A.J. is still the Dumbass Teenage Son, who can't be bothered with the most basic of tasks, and has flunked out of college.
- Foreshadowing:
- Rosalie briefly mentions that "kids are getting blown up in Iraq".
- Carmela thinks A.J. shouldn't see the still open stomach wound on Tony. She turns out to be right.
- Meadow and Finn get into another argument over the phone, where Meadow is convinced that Finn feels inconvenienced by having to come out from California.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Agent Harris likes those Veal Parm sandwiches at Satriale's.
- Hidden Depths: Ro and others believe A.J.'s less-than-supportive behavior is a result of his laziness and apathy. It really isn't, and he's taking the first steps down a dark road to avenge what happened to his dad.
- Hilarity Sues: The Buddhist Monks accost Tony over a lawsuit, on the perception that Kevin Finnerty sold them a defective heating system for their monastery. Tony gets a Bitch Slap and a Combat Breakdown for his efforts to try and reason with them.
- Hypocrite: Paulie calls Vito a "fat fucking kiss ass", even though he's practically made a career out of being a Professional Butt-Kisser. And indeed, no sooner do those words come out than he announces his intentions to play music in Tony's room to facilitate an Orphean Rescue.
- Instant Drama, Just Add Tracheotomy: Tony's Catapult Nightmare, along with the hospital staff's subsequent efforts to put him back under sedation and fix his tubing, all serve to convey the gravity of his medical situation.
- In the Blood: Hesh indicates that suicide ran in Eugene's family tree.
- It's All About Me:
- Vito tries to lay claim to the now-dead Eugene's sports gambling racket at Eugene's own funeral. Silvio calls him on it while the rest of the mobsters complain that Vito is already the one making the most money.
- Other characters frequently mistake A.J.'s apathy as yet more manifestations of being a Spoiled Brat, when he's actually struggling with his own brand of worries.
- Lethal Diagnosis: Each tidbit of information that the doctors provide to Carmela and Meadow feeds into the need for drama. The factors that could result in a horrible end for Tony (e.g. fever, sepsis infection of the blood, brain being deprived of blood) were medically speaking always there the moment Tony was brought into the hospital. The gradual exposition is meant to heighten the suspense and the gravity of Tony's situation for the audience.
- Loose Lips: Carmela shuts down a reporter trying to glean information from a careless A.J.
- Mistaken for Special Guest: Tony, while still thinking of himself as Tony Soprano, becomes willing to use his alter ego's credit card as Kevin Finnerty to secure a hotel room. So it amounts to an in-dream example of fraud.
- My God, What Have I Done?: At Eugene's funeral, his wife sits in mournful silence with an expression that just screams this trope. It's hinted at, but never fully confirmed, that she may be aware that her own actions were a contributing factor to Driving Him To Suicide.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat:
- The girl who won't let Tony into the hotel conference without his proper ID.
- Likewise the hotel clerk, who could be interpreted as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Johnny Sack's brother-in-law.
- Pet the Dog: Chris comforts and hugs Carmela when she's crying.
- Plot Armor: Even with today's medical standards, a gunshot wound that penetrates as many organs as the doctor describes, and with the distinct possibility of blood infection, stands a very good chance of ending anyone's life. But we know it won't be the end for Tony.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Chris, regarding the War on Terror "I heard Fieldcrest reported a truckload of towels missing".
- Precision F-Strike: A.J. gives one to the reporters camped outside the Sopranos' home.
- Referenced by...: William Shakespeare: When Christopher meets the FBI agents at the store, he says, "Oh, Sheriff of Nottingham, my kingdom for a mortadell". This is a reference, first to Robin Hood, then to Richard III, when, after Richard is unhorsed in the midst of battle, he desperately cries out, "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!"
- Rescued from the Underworld: Both Carmela and Meadow try to rescue Tony at the doctors' urging.
- Carmela frequently plays rock music in Tony's room and speaks to him.
- Meadow likewise speaks to him, and reads to him Jacques Prevert's "Pater Noster" poem, hoping that Tony will get a message based on Miles to Go Before I Sleep.
- A.J. takes a turn at it as well, talking Cool Cars to Tony.
- Revenge Before Reason: A.J. swears to murder Uncle Junior in Revenge for Tony. But it's obvious he hasn't invested a shred of thought into how he's going to pull it off or the long-term ramifications for himself.
- Rule of Symbolism: Plenty of examples, some visual and some verbal.
- The alter ego, "Kevin Finnerty" is thought to be a representation of what Tony could have been had he made different choices and avoided the mob life.
- The briefcase symbolizes his attachment to his earthly life, "My whole life is in that briefcase". It also doubles as Foreshadowing for the next episode, when Tony has to make a crucial choice about that briefcase and by extension his next destination.
- A rotating light in the distance signifies the distance Tony must cross, and the willpower he must summon, to regain consciousness in the waking world.
- Tony asking the rest of the dining group questions like "Where am I?" and "Where am I going?" suggest a midlife crisis.
- Tony sees a commercial asking if sin, death, and disease are real, along with the image of a cross. Can be suggestive of Tony having a Near-Death Experience or being in an Afterlife Antechamber.
- The helicopter with flood lights symbolizes his fear of arrest and imprisonment.
- Tony telling his wife over the phone that he "just wants to come home" and that he didn't want to go to the conference.
- His wife also tells him that it's "partly your fault" because he's "too distracted by the job".
- The Buddhist monks represent that even if Tony took a different path in life as "Kevin Finnerty", his life would still amount to taking advantage of people in ways that fuel his Greed and Pride. It would just be in ways that receive greater tolerance under the legal system in comparison to being in The Mafia. Note how one of the Monks also accused him of being arrogant.
- And indeed, his making out with the saleswoman also suggests that in The Mafia or not, he would still be a serial adulterer no matter what path in life he took.
- The toy bear that says: "Out of order. Please "bear" with us". Also doubles as a Continuity Nod to when the Sopranos had a live bear in their backyard.
- Tony taking a tumble down the stairs when the elevator isn't working. Could symbolize that he's nowhere close to recovery just yet, or that even if he survives this ordeal, he's doomed to fall from power sooner or later.
- He's then seeing a doctor, who tells him that he's developing Alzheimer's Disease. That the brain being deprived of oxygen has already been identified as a distinct possibility during the Lethal Diagnosis provided to Carmela and Meadow. It also hits Tony Close to Home as it fuels his own fears about how he'll fare in his old age, and with Uncle Junior the Scatterbrained Senior as a precedent.
- The ending scene functions as a Cliffhanger, where Tony picks up the phone to call his wife but wavers and puts it back down, and stares at the rotating light in the distance. It's still meant to be an open question whether he can claw his way back to the waking world.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Uncle Junior, as much as ever.
- Social Climber:
- Paulie and Vito jockey for the privilege of driving A.J. home from the hospital. Their transparent reasons amount to trying to secure the best possible place of power for themselves within a new Standard Evil Empire Hierarchy, or even a Succession Crisis, should Tony die.
- Vito is a lot more explicit in his verbal distress over Tony getting shot, giving it shades of Professional Butt-Kisser.
- He also explicitly announces his intentions to visit Tony in the hospital, to grease the wheels for his own ambitions.
- Spoiled Brat: A.J. as always. Rosalie pretty much spells it out to Carmela, and even admits she cultivated Jackie Jr. as one when Carmela tries to call her on it.
- Title Drop: By the saleswoman in Tony's dreams, meant to lampshade that everyone is bound to hit a midlife crisis sooner or later.
- Unbroken Vigil: Carmela maintains one over Tony.
- Undignified Death: A.J. thinks it would be embarrassing if someone with Tony's reputation ended up dying at the hands of someone as old and far gone as Uncle Junior.
- Ungrateful Bastard: A.J. feels that Uncle Junior has become one towards Tony.
- Villainous Friendship: Vito and Eugene were always depicted as close friends and adjacent supporting characters, what with belonging to the same crew, but their bond is given an explicit nod in this episode when Vito claims to have known Eugene "better than anybody". Neither ever confided their Dark Secret in the other, but in the previous episode, Vito did subtly imply that he would acquiesce to Eugene's retirement in the event of his own ascension to boss.
- Visions of Another Self: Tony's dreams consist of himself being an optics salesman named Kevin Finnerty.
- The Watson: Both Carmela and Meadow take on this role to elicit the relevant medical information from the doctors.
- Wham Line: The bartender to Tony: "Around here? It's dead".
