Here's episodes 4 and 5 of season five:
Episode 56: "Informants"
Running Time: 54 minutes
Before one of his therapy sessions, Tony realises Janice has accidentally shrunk his shirt in the laundry. He goes to his session with a jacket zipped right to the top to hide the food stain on one of his other shirts. Melfi daydreams of screwing Tony at work. Tony sees her in the daze and snaps her out of it. She apologises. He tells Melfi that he would like to take her out for dinner, and assures her that it would be strictly as friends. He complains that he never sees her outside of therapy, claiming that for all he knew he could be spilling his guts out to anybody. Melfi politely reminds him of the doctor-patient confidentiality.
Melfi tells Elliot Kupferberg, her therapist, that she worries that she may have sexual feelings toward her patient. She describes Tony as a harmless and helpless child who is simply too confused to take the right, lawful path in life. Elliot warns her that a relationship with a client would be dangerous. She agrees, but replies that she cannot help having such thoughts about her patient.
Chris shows up at the Bada Bing with a new hairstyle. He has had his head shaven very short. While Pat Parisi goes to great lengths in mocking him, Tony is disappointed with today’s generation lacking in Italian pride. Chris assures him the cut wasn’t to get rid of his Italian hairdo, simply to have a fresh start. Chris lets slip that he may get a wig like Ralphie Cifaretto. The others tell him Ralphie didn’t wear a wig. Silvio jumps in for Christopher and cracks a joke about Ralphie’s hairstyle to cover up Moltisanti’s mistake. Paulie watches on in silent disgust.
Tony picks AJ up from the house. Carmela asks about the bandage on Tony’s head—which he has worn since his panic attack collapsing at the Bada Bing last episode. He reluctantly tells her he had a panic attack. He asks how she has been. Carmela tells him of her art class, and that she has quit. When he asks why, Carm returns by asking him if he is still on medication: “I think it would be a bad idea for you to not take the prozacs, if you’re still having those anxiety attacks.” Tony tells her that, although she “may not know this,” she is no longer a major part in his life. He storms out to wait in the car for AJ. While waiting there, he has a minor panic attack, and imagines Furio walking up the driveway towards the car.
After returning home from a night out with her flatmates, Meadow finds the place has been burgled. Her boyfriend David calls the cops. Meadow’s gold bracelet has been stolen, which was a gift from her father when Tony and Carm split up. She is distressed.
Melfi has another dream, in which Tony is enjoying the fun of a playground as a “harmless child,” as Melfi watches on with happy eyes.
Carmela tells her church therapist that she feels guilty about throwing Tony out, and is sorry that he feels she is no longer a major part in his life. She reveals how she felt when she realised Tony is getting along nicely with his life, without her.
Meanwhile, Tony reveals to Melfi that he misses family life. After his trip out with his son, he has realised that AJ has not adapted to his parents’ splitting up, and Tony tells Melfi that he wants to be there for him now more than ever, but is afraid AJ will give him the cold shoulder. Tony admits he regrets not having an ideal father-son relationship with AJ, and gets angry with himself for not being a good communicator with people, blaming such shortcomings as the main reason for his split with Carm. Melfi notes Tony’s minor depression coming back, and tells him that he is major progress in his life. She is ecstatic that he has finally found the faults in himself, and reminds him that everybody has their own downfalls. Tony is surprised at her suggestion that the dinner out would help Tony to make more progress and perhaps form a bond between the two which would make opening up easier for Tony. He agrees, and she reminds him that it would strictly be on a personal level and no more, making clear that a sexual relationship is already out of the window even at this point.
Over dinner, Adriana assures her FBI acquaintance that Christopher’s change of hairstyle is strictly his own decision, and not some brash idea of Tony’s. She squeezes Adriana for news on who is the Boss these days, with Junior ill with cancer. Adriana tells her that Tony is probably going to take over fully as Boss of the Family.
Tony confronts Janice about the shrinking of his shirt. Janice explains she was going to tell him. Tony doesn’t buy any of it, and starts to rant and rave. Janice slaps him hard and tells him it is about time that he found a place of his own. He informs her he was going to tell her that today anyway. Janice dismisses it as bullshit, and says that no wonder Carmela was screwing Furio. Tony goes to hit her for a moment but realises his sister isn’t worth the effort and leaves.
Artie’s restaurant is back in business. Tony eats there alone. Glad to have some free time, Artie jumps at the chance to sit at the table to chat with Tony, despite annoying persistence from Charmaine. When Artie innocently asks if Tony has thought about looking for a new place to live, Tony takes it the wrong way and, fuming, ends up slamming his knife into the table. Frightened and shocked, Artie returns to the kitchen, where Charmaine waits for him. She tells him that Tony is scum, and his presence is driving customers away. Artie does not tell her of Tony’s tantrum a minute before, and when he looks out into the restaurant, Tony has already left.
Melfi tells Elliot she has agreed to have dinner with her patient. She admits that in all her professional career she has not had such a mental challenge as this. Elliot asks her why it is so tough for her. She reveals that the patient has recently split up with his wife, and that she senses from the guy’s body language that he longs to move back in.
Larry Boy Barese and Frankie Moresco visit a bed-ridden Junior. Larry introduces Moresco, and Junior says he knew Frankie’s father. Larry complains to old Corrado of Tony passing him over for retaining his captaincy. While Junior advises it was a wise choice by Tony, with FBI still hot on Larry’s trail, Larry Boy is adamant. He tells Junior that he suspects that Tony was the one who ratted them out to the Feds: “Jun, hasn’t it baffled you why certain people were indicted and others weren’t?” Junior dismisses the accusation and claims his nephew would never go the Feds to solve his problems. Larry Boy asks Junior to have words with Tony. Junior replies by saying that he no longer runs things and Tony is the de facto Boss of the Family. Tony’s say is final, and Junior advises Larry to stay off his back. A frustrated Larry Boy leaves, furious.
At dinner Charmaine tells Carmela that Tony is depressed, according to Artie. Carmela listens to every word with guilt written all over her face. Charmaine congratulates Carm on finally ending it all with “that rat.” Carmela defends Tony. Charmaine tells her that she has to stop with this guilt trip and get on with her life.
Tony takes Melfi out to dinner at a restaurant in New York. Their amiable conversation is interrupted when Tony notices Irina enter the place with a male companion. Melfi notices he is distracted, but Tony tells her it is nothing to worry about.
Bobby calls in the Bada Bing and warns Silvio of Larry Boy’s visit to Junior. Silvio returns the favour in the guise of one of the Bing strippers and a trip to the private suite for Bobby.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Tony takes a trip to the men’s room, following—though Melfi is unaware—Irina’s date. Tony starts to make small talk and tells the guy he has a beautiful woman. The guy says thanks and dries his hands. Tony stops him from leaving and tries to make him an offer he can’t refuse about leaving the restaurant immediately. The guy does refuse, and Tony kicks the shit out of him right there in the men’s room. As Tony rejoins Melfi at the dinner table, he resumes his meal in a much happier mood than before. Minutes later he sees Irina being forced to leave the restaurant by her date. Tony gives a giggle, but Melfi doesn’t pursue it.
While Chris and Adriana have a night out at a club, the FBI discusses plans to squeeze in on the Soprano crime Family. They are now treating Tony Soprano as the new Boss of the Family and share ideas as to how to get Adriana to turn into a superior informant. Agent Harris states it would be too dangerous and suggests that they must start to do rely more on their own surveillance efforts.
Nights after, at the Bing, Tony is feeling better with himself since his beating of Irina’s date, evident in the fact that he is screwing a broad in one of the private lounges. As the episode draws to a close, Melfi tells Elliot that her dinner with the patient went well and she hopes it will help him progress further in therapy. Kupferberg congratulates her on her resistance to the sexual temptation of the situation. Janice calls Bobby and apologises for her behaviour toward him, and asks if she can come over for the night. We then cut to Irina lying in bed, with an empty drug bottle and four emptied bottles of vodka at her side. Carmela lies in bed in the darkness with her eyes open. Artie sleeps on the sofa while a distanced Charmaine sleeps in her own bed. Finally, in the final minutes of the episode, we see Tony climbing into the back of his jeep and trying to get some sleep.
Episode 57: "More Sad Clowns to Join the Circus"
Running Time: 51 minutes
Christopher picks up the Soprano crew’s new arrival at Newark airport: Mickey “Fists” Gallardo (played by Frank Vincent). Tony is bringing him in as extra support against the Feds, and also to keep an eye on Frankie Moresco (Steve Buscemi). Gallardo is from the Aprile crew and was running things with Beansie Geata out in Miami.
Furio returns, and is back with a vengeance. He calls round the Sopranos home and lets himself in with a key. Tony’s nightmare ends, only for the capo di tutti to wake up to another one: a neighbour has called the police to shift the jeep outside their house. When the cop sees the guy sleeping inside the jeep is Tony Soprano, he fines Tony for the illegal parking in the neighbourhood, saying it counts as trespassing of the residences. Tony wants to see his badge, and is enraged at the fact that the guy’s second name ends in a vowel. He sarcastically calls him paisan.
Tony meets with Carmela’s cousin Brian to discuss which houses are on the market right now, and which would be suitable for Tony.
Christopher proposes to Adriana for the second time. Adriana tells the Feds. They are pleased her for, and Agent Harris believes this could lead to her getting closer to the inside of the family.
Carmela is doing her weekly shopping when she bumps into her cousin’s wife. She tells Carmela that Brian was meeting with Tony this morning to discuss houses and finance.
Carmela rings Janice and demands an explanation as to why Tony has been kicked out. Janice tells her to leave it, and tells Carmela to stop worrying about matters that clearly no longer concern her. Carmela takes the hint and hangs up.
Tony visits Junior in hospital. The old man looks sick, and is now totally bald. Junior asks if Bobby got the message to him. Tony tells him that Larry Boy is nothing to worry about. “He’s accusing you of being responsible for those fucking indictments that put him and me in the pan.” Tony assures him he has nothing to worry about; he has brought Mickey “Fists” over from Miami. Junior asks if it’s Mikey Gallardo’s boy, and Tony confirms. With this knowledge, Junior agrees that Tony has nothing to worry about then. On his way out Bobby tells Tony that Carmela rang Janice, but he doesn’t know what it was about, only that Janice got really pissed. Tony asks why the fuck Bobby went out of his way to tell him, and leaves before Bacala can answer.
AJ and his girlfriend Sarah walk home from a friend’s house when two black kids assault AJ for his wallet.
Melfi is concerned about Tony’s anxiety when he starts to rant and rave over his sister, Carmela and the “fucking jerk-offs who only wanna inform other people of bad fuckin’ news.” Melfi calms him and insists he must stop worrying about the people in life who are not key characters.
The Feds have found a decayed head. They positively identify it as Ralphie Cifaretto’s. They get fingerprint scans and DNA matches and Tony Soprano is named as the murderer. Christopher wakes up from the nightmare and is sweating profusely. Adriana calms him down, but he can’t rest and insists on getting dressed.
Tony has been sleeping at the Bing, and is incensed when Christopher calls him. Chris is adamant on digging Ralphie up. Tony is enraged at Chris talking like this on the phone, and decides to go over to his. When Tony gets there Christopher tells him of the dream and the sudden change of mood when he’d woke up: “T, I felt like I was gonna fuckin’ collapse.” Tony tells him he dreams of stuff like that all the time, and it’s nothing to worry about.
The next day Tony tells Melfi he thinks his nephew had a panic attack, and is convinced that these things are inevitable in the life Tony leads. Melfi asks if Christopher has any reason to be anxious. Tony has a vision of his murder of Ralphie, but does not tell Melfi anything, only saying Christopher has a lot on his mind and that he is getting married soon. Melfi confirms that a new change in life such as marriage can force a change in mental health, but it is normal and nothing to worry about.
Tony checks out a house in Newark, accompanied by Christopher. “What do you think?” Tony asks his nephew, to which Chris replies with a quick look around and: “Whatever you want, T.” Enthusiasm has never been Chris’ strong point.
Adriana receives a phone call from Vito Spatafore to see if Chris is around. When she says no, it becomes clear that Vito already knew that and only wants to talk to Adriana. She evades talking to him for too long and uses an excuse to hang up.
Tony visits Meadow and notices she isn’t wearing her gold chain. He is distressed at the fact his daughter did not tell him. He feels distanced from her and makes this clear at a session with Melfi. She tells him that he must make an attempt to communicate with Meadow and AJ if he is to reclaim his father-child bond with them. Tony confesses, with rueful melancholy, that he didn’t have that friendship with his children in the first place, so “the fuck can I reclaim it?”
Carmela catches AJ stealing money from her purse. Horrified, she interrogates him, and is appalled when he reveals about his assault. She tells her church therapist that she is losing her children’s trust and confidence and it is destroying her life. She tells the therapist that she has been dreaming of old times, with the family sitting at the table together for meals.
The boys throw a party at a New York casino for the arrival of Mickey Gallardo. Even Johnny Sac shows up to pry about the place. He and Larry Boy exchange a brief glance, but both know that now is neither the time nor the place for a meeting. Mickey Gallardo is treat to a strip show to die for. Christopher and Paulie stand in distinctive separated territories. One of the waiters circulating the scene speaks into a hidden radio. He is FBI. We then cut to the interior of a van, where two FBI surveillance agents look at several monitors showing the entire party.
Meanwhile, Junior watches TV in the hospital ward. He rallies into a fury when a fellow patient switches the channels. “Do you know who I am!?” Junior rages. The old patient replies by saying he recognised Junior as the old guy from the news who used to be a gangster.
Carmela rings Cousin Brian to see how things went for Tony. Brian tells her Tony has settled on a decision on an apartment in Newark. Carmela tries to hide the obvious anguish going on inside her head. She is now up against the reality of accepting divorce, and the consequence is unbearable for her. AJ arrives home. He hesitates in apologising for stealing the money, but the words eventually do come out. The compassion in Carmela’s expression is vast. She apologises for the way things have turned out and that she will fully understand if AJ holds her responsible for Tony leaving. AJ shakes his head to the contrary and goes to his room.
When Bacala visits Junior, the latter reveals his distress at the fact that he is no longer regarded as a Mafioso, and that he has to accept that his time is coming to an end. Bobby understands, but stays mute throughout.
Tony and Brian meet again, this time to finalise details on the apartment. Brian tells Tony that Carmela rang and seemed upset that Tony was finally showing signs of getting over the split. Tony sighs and starts to breathe the legendary heavy pant. He starts to say something, but has second thoughts.
Over at the Moltisanti residence, Chris has another dream of Ralphie. But this time Chris kills Ralphie and Tony helps bury the body, as opposed to the other way round. The nightmare also includes Pussy Bonpensiero running out of breath down a mirror staircase. The mirrors reflect images of Emil Kolar and the interior decorator from Pine Barrens. The Russian whispers into Adriana’s ear and she starts to laugh. Emil Kolar tells Christopher that “she tells them everything.” As he wakes up, he goes to the bathroom, and almost loses his balance. The credits start to roll as Chris looks into the mirror of his bathroom at himself with a face expressing perplexity, anger, and horror.
Let me know what you think!
Mick
