Thanks a lot, Knocc Out! Much appreciated. Glad you liked the dream episode with Christopher.

Here's episodes eight and nine, let me know what you think. :


Episode 58: “Walls Have Ears”
Running Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

As the opening credits end we cut to a dark, empty, after-hours Bada Bing, in which somebody is picking a lock. Once in, four guys start to plant bugs all over the place. A shot of the exterior of the Bada Bing shows dawn occur and by daylight Agent Harris and his boys are back at FBI headquarters, more than satisfied with their morning’s work.

Vito Spatafore brings a shit load of stolen X-Box games at Satriale’s Pork Store. Tony gets his share and Christopher decides to taste some of the action so that he can sell it for profit. Vito tells Chris he has more, and will call by his apartment tomorrow.

AJ calls by Meadow’s. She notices that he is depressed. He tells her that their mom never speaks now. And wen dad calls by she gives him the cold shoulder. Meadow tells AJ that Tony is stronger than Carmela, even though it may not always seem the case. AJ tells Meadow he is going to a party at the weekend, and asks if she has any speed. She refuses brashly and warns him not to do any of that stuff. He asks if she has anything for him for the party. She refuses, but AJ is adamant and persists. Meadow still doesn’t budge and AJ leaves.

In Newark, three masked men hold up a video games shop. Bearing guns, they help themselves to bags full of video games.

Mickey Gallardo, now captain of Ralphie Cifaretto’s crew, meets with his Chinese contact, Michael Lau, in a Chinatown restaurant and makes a discreet payoff for the hijacked video games.

Carmela is at the gym with Gabriella Dante. Carmela tries to discreetly change the subject to Tony. Gabriella tells her Silvio noticed Tony was getting over his depressed stage and finally settling into his new apartment. Carmela tells Gabriella that she feels guilty for depriving AJ of a happy upbringing. She asks her if she thinks Carmela was wrong to throw Tony out. Gabriella’s words are reassuring, yet at the same time cause Carmela to think. She tells Carm that if she felt unhappy with Tony and didn’t love him, she had every right to, but she’d been living with gumars for years, so why stop now? “Silvio, at the Bing? I know he fucks those broads, but that’s the life we come to love, Carm.” She also reminds Carm of when the latter went to so much trouble to stop Angie Bonpensiero divorcing Pussy.

It’s AJ’s birthday, the first since Carm and Tony’s split. Tony calls by with two X-Box games and a cap and shorts. Tony has a brief conversation with Carmela in the kitchen. It is distant, but it is clear that Carmela would not mind to go further. Tony doesn’t give her the chance to ask too much about his life and leaves with AJ, who is sporting his new shorts and cap for the day out on The Stugots.

AJ confesses to his dad that he wishes him and his mother were still together. Tony is silent, frightened to reveal his feelings.

At his therapy session, Tony reveals to Melfi that he is settling into the new home and finally getting over the split with Carmela. He tells her about AJ’s confession. Melfi advises that Tony spend more time with him.
Christopher isn’t in when Vito calls by with those games. All the better for Vito. He makes small talk with Adriana, and leaves after an awkward silence when Adriana finally stops encouraging the big guy to make conversation.

Over at the Soprano home, AJ dreams of the family sitting at the dinner table, with Uncle Silvio and Paulie there, and Christopher and Adriana, and Janice being a nuisance blowing up the birthday balloons to put up. AJ gets out of bed and emails Meadow.

Tony Soprano has many enemies. But the most dangerous foe right now may be closer to home than he may realise: Johnny Sac meets with Larry Boy Barese. Larry Boy is running to Sac, claiming he is “running out of options” as to how to handle Tony’s power. Johnny Sac reveals that New York doesn’t like the guy, but he goes way back with Tony and Carmine, Sac’s boss, thinks the world of him. Larry Boy calls him a cocksucker. Sac agrees. Sac assures Barese he will see what he can do.

AJ calls by Meadow’s. He is severely depressed. He tells her that the games dad bought him for his birthday don’t even work, and the “cap is as hip as fucking sandals on ice.” Meadow tells her boyfriend that night. He suggests the two take AJ out to the cinema.

Johnny Sac meets with Tony at the Bada Bing. Sac wants Tony to give Larry his captaincy back. Tony refuses, and reminds Sac about the time when he came over to New Jersey to live, and assured Tony that he would not be interfering in Soprano business. “Listen, John. I do you a lot of favours. Likewise, you do anything for me, but do me this favour: back the fuck off what doesn’t concern you.” The FBI listens to every word.

Paulie and Mickey Gallardo follow Larry Boy out of town with Frankie Moresco. The two disappear in an Italian restaurant. The place is owned by Carmine Lupertazzi, Johnny Sac’s boss.

Meadow’s boyfriend, David, takes AJ to the cinema to cheer the kid up. When they return, AJ is feeling a lot better, and asks David if he could have some speed. David agrees, but makes AJ promise not to tell Meadow.

Tony visits Junior, who is sicker than ever. Tony wants advice as to what to do with Larry Boy. Junior tells him Ally Boy is making good earnings as capo, so why change a winning formula. He tells Tony that Larry Boy is a good kid, and it’s natural to want to be captain of your crew again, but he also reminds him that Larry is pointing his finger at Tony for becoming a guest of the government. Tony hears him. Loud and clear.

Carmela snaps at Anthony for putting more clothes in the wash basket than necessary. “I just washed your clothes the other day. AJ, isn’t about time you grew up for God’s sake!?”

Janice picks Bobby, Jr. up from school and takes him home. She begins to wash Bobby, Sr.’s laundry but smells a gumar’s perfume on one of his shirts. Horrified, she leaves Bobby, Jr. alone in the house and drives to the hospital.

AJ arrives at the party with Sarah. While Sarah goes to dance with her friends, AJ makes a trip to the washroom with his pal. The night’s just getting started.

Janice makes a more than embarrassing scene at the hospital, with an ashamed Junior watching on from his bed. Bobby is patient, but finally flips and tells Janice to go fuck herself. A shocked Janice storms out.

At the party, Sarah has notices that AJ is hyper and can’t stop dancing. Embarrassed, Sarah starts to dance with another guy. AJ does not like this, and when he confronts the kid somebody makes a remark about Tony Soprano being AJ’s dad. Sarah tries to calm him, but to no avail, and she takes her leave, upset, and calls AJ a cocksucking jerk, to which everyone laughs. AJ loves the attention in this speed-caused flourish of energy. Such energy, however, is short-lived, and AJ collapses and has a seizure while Sarah is intimately kissing another guy outside the place. She is shocked when an ambulance pulls up to the house. Going inside, she breaks down into tears at the sight of AJ being carried onto the gurney.

Paulie tells Tony at the Bing that “Bastard Barese and his fucking errand boy disappeared into a fuckin’ Carmine restaurant. In there for fuckin’ ten minutes. They weren’t havin’ a meal. Tony receives a phone call from Carmela, and has to rush off immediately. “It’s AJ,” he tells Silvio on the way out. Meanwhile, the FBI is on full alert as to whether or not Tony is going to clip Larry Boy Barese. Going by the conversation they’ve just listened to, Agent Harris thinks Tony is about to give a green light.

Tony arrives at the hospital to find Carmela in tears. He comforts her and asks what is wrong. He almost breaks down at the news that AJ is in critical condition. Sarah and a friend sit in the hospital too, but Tony is too worried about his kid to give a damn. As Carmela cries her heart out and spills to Tony that it is all her fault, Tony wraps his arms around her and kisses her gently on the head. Meanwhile, in the ER, doctors fight desperately to save AJ’s life.

At Adriana’s club, Vito pops by with Pat Parisi. Their eyes feast on the sight of Adriana’s ass, as well as her girl friend (who they don’t know is FBI). Tony calls Christopher away from the place. It’s urgent.

David arrives home from a night out with a friend to find his roommates are out. Meadow and him begin to make love on the bed as a montage sequence begins, to the accompaniment of Puccini’s Tosca (Vissi d’art). The camera takes us to a tearful Janice at her home, Vito entertaining himself with Adriana’s FBI friend, Chris arriving at the hospital and comforting Tony and Carmela, Bobby putting Junior to sleep and leaving the hospital, and then finally AJ in the ER, the doctors still working frantically to save him. Fade out.

As the camera fades back in, it is morning outside of the Soprano home. Meadow calls by, to find that the house is empty. She calls AJ’s cell phone. Sarah answers. Back at the hospital, Tony demands that Sarah put whoever it is on the phone. When he hears Meadow’s voice, he breaks into tears. Carmela tells Meadow to come over to the hospital. AJ is apparently stable now, the doctor tells Tony. Carmela goes to extreme lengths to thank the guy, but Tony is past the stage of worrying about anything else save for AJ. Christopher calls Tony from a job that involves collecting stolen video games from Vito Spatafore and Mickey Gallardo. He is relieved that AJ is stable. Tony has recomposed his emotions after talking to his son, and is in no mood to fuck around. He starts to interrogate Sarah, but she gets frightened and starts to cry. Carmela is angry with Tony: “Jesus, Tony. She is as worried as we are. Go get some rest.” Carmela asks Sarah the same questions, though is less full on about her ways. Sarah tells her she knows nothing, but that AJ was all hyper at the party last night. Then Meadow arrives, and the tears start to flow again with Carmela and her. Meadow says she is sorry and blames herself. Carmela reassures her that no one is to blame.


Episode 59: “Anthony Junior”
Running Time: 54 minutes

Boris is the Russian equivalent to Old School: whack a guy and ask questions later. He visits Carl O’Connell at the guy’s flat in New York, asking questions about the death of Irina—caused by an overdose. O’Connell insists he knows nothing, and had broke it off with Irina just before she took an overdose. O’Connell tells Boris of the “big Italian guy” who had beat him up that night in the gents’ room because he claimed to be an ex-boyfriend of Irina or something. Boris doesn’t buy it, and shoots O’Connell in the kneecap and takes his leave.

The FBI wants Adriana to wear a wire for AJ’s return home. She reluctantly agrees. With Frank Cubitoso reminding her of the consequences of not doing so: “Imagine how Chris is going to feel when he finds himself in the can facing life.”

Tony drives a recovered AJ home from the hospital. Carmela waits, with Artie and Charmaine Bucco here, as well as Uncle Paulie and Silvio, and Chris and Adriana, and Janice. AJ is taken aback by the big welcome home he gets. When the “party” is over, Tony talks to AJ, who is feeling very guilty for the whole situation. Tony suggests that his son wait a coupla days before calling Sarah. “She’s a nice girl, AJ. She was real worried the other night.” Tony lightly pushes his son to tell him where he got the speed from, promising that nobody is going to get hurt. AJ refuses to tell, but Tony almost lost his son, and is not going to let it drop this time. Tony tells him that he would trust AJ and Meadow and Carmela with his life, and that the relationship between father and son should be mutual. AJ hesitantly tells Tony that the supplier of the speed was David, Meadow’s boyfriend. Tony keeps his cool with his son, but is clearly raging inside.

He tells Carm, who is just as shocked as he is, but gives herself time to compose her thoughts, while Tony wants to “kill that sick fuckin’ prick!” Tony gets all worked up and Carmela needs to calm him down. She does, with the grave warning that nobody else needs to be killed; it won’t help anybody! Carmela does agree, however, that the kid should answer to the possible fatal consequences his lack of responsibility could have had.

Johnny Sac meets with Silvio. As well as telling Sil to give Tony “my best regards about his son,” Sac says the New York Families want a piece of the action made from the profits of the video games. Sil reminds him that Michael Lau, the Sopranos’ Chinese contact who runs the organisation works for new Jersey only. Sac is persistent. So is Silvio. Sac leaves.

Meadow is disgusted and appalled by the knowledge of where AJ got the speed. At first she doesn’t believe it, but Tony stays unusually calm throughout his speech, insisting no one is going to get hurt. They all await David’s return home. When he walks through the door Tony is noticeably anxious and for a moment we think he is going to have a panic attack. Carmela does most of the lecturing, before Tony adds that he doesn’t want to see David’s ass anywhere Meadow or the family ever again. David tries to remind him that he is Italian and suitable for Meadow, and even tries to imply that AJ stole the speed. Tony snaps out of his seat and overthrows the table and chases the kid out. Meadow starts to cry and shout at her father for the ballistic change of mood. Carmela shouts too, claiming that Tony “never changes” and that he’ll always be the same. Tony decides not to retaliate.

Boris the Russian and an associate meet with Svetlana, Irina’s one-legged cousin. They tell of some Italian guy O’Connell was on about. Svetlana tells them to visit Tony Soprano and find out about his involvement in Irina’s death.

Johnny Sac meets with Carmine and tells of Tony’s refusal of sharing his profits. Carmine is outraged, and worries that even more bad blood between the other Families and New Jersey will result from it.

AJ is convinced that Meadow’s inevitable unhappiness now that Tony has visited David is his entire fault. Tony and Carmela together tell him otherwise. Downstairs, Tony discusses it with Carmela. She admits she was pleased how Tony handled the situation with David. “Like you said, killing the sick fuck doesn’t help nobody.” She makes the slight suggestion that Tony should move back in. He doesn’t reply.

At therapy Tony tells Melfi that AJ is okay, and she is pleased too how he handled the situation with Meadow’s boyfriend. Tony also tells her that Carmela implied that he should move back in.

Carmela visits her priest on guidance and advice as to whether or not she should take Tony back. The priest says that as long as she loves him and still has feelings for him, then it would do now harm to AJ’s recovery should Tony move back in.

Melfi tells Elliot Kupferberg that she feels her patient is leaving her, in the sense that he may move back in with his wife. Elliot suggests that Melfi has grown very fond of her patient and has strong feelings for him, but only because she has the knowledge that he is single and free, and would be a fresh of breath air to her.

Paulie Walnuts smells something nightmarishly wrong when a Russian named Boris calls in at the Bing. “What the fuck you want around here?” Paulie asks, obviously alarmed that his nightmare in Pine Barrens may be revisiting him. “Vee vant to zee Meezter Zaprano.” Paulie calls Tony right away and insists it is urgent. Tony arrives at the Bing to find two Russians being served on the house by a scared-shitless Paulie. Boris and his friend interrogate Tony about Irina. Tony looks into their eyes and flat out denies all knowledge of beating a guy up in a washroom a month ago. When Boris decides to step his pace of questions up, Paulie (who is by now relieved that the Russians are not who they first seemed) interrupts abruptly. Boris tries to get his words in, but Paulie’s had enough, and tells the “cocksucker” to go fuck his mother. Boris laughs at Paulie, gives Tony a look to kill and walks out with his partner.

Tony doesn’t hang about, and immediately visits Svetlana. She tells him she is trying to find out who is responsible for Irina’s death. Tony hadn’t known about Irina. He is shocked, but far from sorry, and still denies everything. He tells Svetlana to tell her Russian friends to stay the fuck away from him, and that she hasn’t got the slightest clue what she is getting herself into.

Meanwhile, Paulie tells Christopher and Silvio at the Bing of his morning adventure with the Russian. Chris and Silvio share a laugh at the story.

Meadow calls in to see AJ. AJ is guilty that it was his fault about David. She reassures her brother that he did the right thing in telling mom and dad. AJ tells her he overheard Carmela and Tony talking about moving back in. Meadow is pleased, but AJ tells her that Tony didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

Tony calls by to find Meadow there too. He has a talk with her about David. She says she understands, and that she wouldn’t want to see an asshole like that anyway. Carmela is cooking ziti for AJ and Meadow. She asks if Tony wants some. Hesitating, Tony agrees. AJ smiles and exchanges looks with his sister. Tony proposes a toast to life and fresh starts. Carmela sits on the sofa with Tony afterwards. They reminisce about old times. Carmela ends up confessing that she has cursed herself every night since Tony moved out and that she feels it would help AJ achieve well in school if Tony was to move back in—only temporarily and taking things slowly. Tony strokes her face and smiles. He tells her she was wrong to curse herself, and admits that he has done a lot of bad things in his life. “I can’t change, Carm. This is my life. But I swear to you that I haven’t touched a girl for a long time—” Carmela cuts him off with a kiss on the cheek and she thanks him for the support with AJ.

Tony tells Melfi that he can’t thank her enough for the help she has given him with regard to his marriage. He tells her he will be moving back in with Carmela and the look on Melfi’s face is priceless: panic, surprise, satisfaction and acceptance all rolled into one.

But not everything is going well for Tony. Johnny Sac meets with Frankie Moresco, who is speaking on behalf of Larry Boy, who apparently has the flu. Sac tells Frankie that New York is really pissed at Tony’s decision regarding the video games hijacking. Sac implies that the bad blood between New York and New Jersey would end if Tony were to be popped. Frankie jumps at the chance to have his say. Larry Boy Barese went to the can because Tony fuckin’ Soprano ratted his own capo and uncle out to the Feds. Larry Boy doesn’t like it and the situation with his cousin Albert running the crew is busting his balls to say the least. Moresco tells Sac that Uncle Junior stands in Tony’s corner. “Junior?” Sac replies. “Frankie, come on; you’re worrying about Corrado Soprano’s backlash? The guy’s dying, Frankie, no doubt about it. Hell, if it makes you feel any better we’ll clip him to, just to be on the safe side.” Moresco thinks the idea is a good one, and tells Sac to get things in motion. Tony Soprano has problems heading his way.

Mick