By Kim
Paulie finds out that, due to construction, a body might get dug up that could be tied to him and Tony, so the guys go to Florida until they're sure the coast is clear. Tony gets annoyed with Paulie's propensity to make friends with everyone they encounter, worried that they will draw too much attention to themselves. Tony and Paulie have dinner with Beansie Gaeta (the guy that Richie Aprile put in a wheelchair) and reminisce, which makes Paulie happy but Tony annoyed. Tony talks to Beansie about Paulie's blabbermouth tendencies and wonders if he should be worried. Tony adds that Paulie has no family or other ties, and his only stream of legitimate income is about to end, which makes him vulnerable to the Feds. Beansie is sure that Paulie loves Tony and will remain loyal. Silvio calls and lets Tony know that Larry Boy Barese told the cops that Jackie Aprile was responsible for the death they uncovered, so Tony is in the clear. Tony invites Paulie to go deep-sea fishing, and Paulie accepts, even though he's remembering what happened to Big Pussy. Over a few very tense conversations, Tony seems to be seriously considering whether or not to whack Paulie, but in the end, Paulie lives to see another day. Oh, and Tony also seems to be running into some gambling debt, which I only mention in case it's important later on.
A fairly lucid-seeming Junior runs a poker game in the loony bin with his new best friend Carter, a rich kid from MIT who seems to have some anger-management issues. Junior also makes a deal with an orderly to get candy and soda in return for autographed pictures for eBay. Junior also has a nemesis in a fellow patient/former Rutgers professor. The professor rats out Junior, so Junior beats the crap out of him in the rec room. The shrinks decide to up Junior's meds, and Carter advises Junior to skip the meds, which Junior does. Unfortunately, this leads to incontinence, and Junior is found out. Plus, his orderly buddy has been fired. Junior sees the writing on the wall and takes his meds, and Carter is disappointed to have lost his partner in crime and father figure. Carter deals with this disappointment by beating the crap out of Junior in the rec room.
And in New York family news, Doc Santoro is whacked in the street, leaving Phil the only one to claim the top spot.
Tony wakes up in his own bed and looks around, like something woke him up but now he's not sure what it was. Or whether it was something he dreamed. Don't you hate that? When you wake up, and for a second, you can't figure out if what you were just dreaming about actually happened or not? Like imagine if you read some stupid article online about guest stars on this season of The Sopranos, and one of them mentioned director John Woo, so you faithfully reported it, and then found out that it was actually an actor named John Wu, and you thought the guy looked a little young, but sometimes there are deadlines, so you went with it. And then you woke up the morning and thought, "Did that really happen? Kind of like how I reported that Ray Curto was in the premiere, even thought Ray Curto is dead and it was actually Patsy Parisi? Damn this show and its cast of eight million, some of whom show up once every other season!" In other words, I'm sorry I'm an idiot, and I do appreciate all of the emails, especially those that suggested that I look into whether or not my parents might be related, as well as the ones that gave me helpful hints on removing my head from my ass. Done and done. Let's all move on.
Tony splashes water on his face and looks out the window to see Paulie strutting up the driveway, newspaper under his arm. Cut to Carm in the kitchen, futzing with the espresso maker, which isn't working. Paulie tells her to skip it as Tony waddles down the stairs in his bathrobe. Carm takes off to meet with a new realtor, and Paulie gives Tony a look like, "We'd better take this outside." Once out there, Tony inspects his tomato plants, which are FREAKING HUGE! Holy crap. Even my Italian mother-in-law doesn't have tomato plants that big. Maybe it's just that in the part of the country I live in, the growing season isn't long enough. Also, this is like the eight hundredth Godfather shout-out this season, which makes me wonder whether Tony is going to keel over from a heart attack while chasing a little kid around his backyard. Anyway, Paulie explains that he got a tip that the Feds are "doing some digging over by Brantford Avenue," and he reminds Tony about "Willie Overall, the bookie, Labor Day, 1982." Tony, who previously seemed preoccupied, starts paying attention.
Cut to Brantford Avenue, where a gaggle of FBI agents is using jackhammers and carrying giant pieces of rock out of an old woman's basement. Tony and Paulie sit nearby in a parked car, which doesn't seem prudent, but what do I know? Nothing. That's been established. Paulie hears that Larry Boy Barese has been talking to the cops (remember when he was taken into custody at Christopher's movie screening after-party?). Tony flashes back to the whacking in question, when he shot a frightened bookie and then he and Paulie buried the guy in a dirt basement. Paulie notes that it was Tony's first shooting, and that he "made [his] bones," even if he was a bit shaky at the time. After twenty-five years, Paulie wonders whether there will be any remains anyway. I have to wonder how Paulie thinks we get dinosaur skeletons to put in museums and such. Tony points out that there will be bones and teeth left, which would be enough to identify the remains, so he and Paulie need to "pack [their] toothbrushes."
In the old days, this might have meant packing a toothbrush, but now it means getting Carmela to fold a lot of giant pairs of boxers. Carmela packs a suitcase for Tony as he goes over some details on handling business while he's gone. Carmela says, irritated, that she knows the drill, and Tony reminds her that he's not exactly going to Paris.
Meanwhile, Paulie is packing his own bag, which is mainly filled with identical pairs of white leather shoes. Oh, Paulie.
Carmela asks Tony if he's got everything, and Tony assures her that this whole thing is no big deal, and that he's just avoiding "a little gambling charge." Carmela asks, "It's just, this is what life is still like? At our age?" That's an ongoing theme this season, isn't it? It's all about Tony realizing that he's getting too old for this shit, and it may be time to step aside, but there's no one he trusts to take over. Instead of articulating that, Tony notes that his tomatoes are just coming in.
Uncle Junior is visited by two old friends, though I don't think we've seen these two guys before. They observe that the medication he's on seems to be helping him, and that he's not repeating himself so much. Junior begs them to get him out of there, and then he claims that he's still waiting for an apology from Tony. An apology? For what, exactly? For not dying? One of the friends suggests that Junior make an appointment with an outside dentist, and then they could sneak him off in their car. Junior doesn't really respond, but it's impossible to tell whether he forgot what they suggested already or is just playing dumb.
At dinner, Junior sits in the cafeteria with a young Asian kid. Junior stands to speak privately with the orderly, then returns and whispers something to the Asian kid, clearly setting something up. A while later, Junior and the Asian kid are setting up a poker game in a rec room at the facility after hours. The orderly comes in with soda and candy for Junior to sell on the black market. They argue over the price of the contraband, and the orderly promises to keep people away until lights out. Junior gets the game started, but he forgets what he was saying in the middle of his speech. The Asian kid helps him out, so he's clearly used to being Junior's partner in crime.
Tony and Paulie drive through the night, heading south. The camera focuses in on a big sign that says "Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Inmates," which is weird, grammatically. It sort of makes it sound like any hitchhikers that you see on that road may be trying to escape from inmates. And I'm not sure why the sign was such a focus in the establishing shot. I've scoured my brain for the metaphorical significance, and have come up with nothing. Maybe a sign is just a sign. Paulie and Tony discuss how this road trip is just like the old days. They reminisce about the night they shot Mr. Overall -- how it was right before Meadow was born, and how Paulie, Big Pussy, and Ralphie took Tony out drinking afterwards. And now, only half of that group is still alive. Tony's smile sort of fades; maybe he was realizing the same thing. Whenever they tell stories about the past, I really wish that this series had more flashback episodes or would do a prequel movie. I would love a film about newlyweds Tony and Carmela.
Some hours later, the road-trip adrenaline has worn off. Tony starts talking about how someone told Johnny Sack the insulting joke Ralph told about Ginny's mole, and Tony wonders aloud who would have told Johnny about it. Paulie claims he doesn't know, although we know that Paulie's the one who told Johnny.
Back in Loony Bin Lockup, the poker game is still going, albeit with occasional interruptions for people to talk to the voices in their heads and whatnot. As they continue to play, Junior tells dirty jokes. Another patient knocks on the door, but Junior (who calls the knocking guy "Professor") won't let him in. Professor insists that he has a chess match scheduled with one of the poker players. Junior announces to the room that the Professor slit his wrists in the faculty lounge at Rutgers (there's only one?) after stabbing the dean. The Professor leaves, disgusted and possibly humiliated. Junior resumes telling dirty jokes to the room. An orderly walks in and asks what's going on. He doesn't seem to care about the gambling as much as the stress it causes some of the patients. Wasn't that other orderly supposed to keep people out of the room? Great job he's doing with that. Junior keeps cracking jokes, clearly not threatened by the presence of authority, and the Asian Kid cracks up. It reminds me of the episode where Tony realized that people only laughed at his jokes because he's the boss, except that Junior hasn't realized that yet, or maybe he doesn't care.
Later, Junior sits in his room, eating some of the contraband candy and watching the Weather Channel. Asian Kid knocks on the door and brings in Junior's tea. Junior tells Asian Kid that he did a good job and offers him "[his] taste," which is a handful of buttons. This whole scene kind of plays like a parody of real mob life, which I guess is the point. Junior has had to recreate the only way of life he knows, and at least among the crazies, he has some sort of status â a status he would never have regained on the outside, even if he never shot Tony. Junior turns the TV off and starts talking about how he went to work with his father, a stonemason, and ended up carrying groceries inside for the lady of the house they were working on. She offered Junior a quarter, which he refused, and then his father slapped him for turning down much-needed cash. Asian Kid is impressed with the story. Junior concludes that his father made him walk eleven miles home, from Essex Fells back to Newark. Asian Kid is excited, because he's from Essex Fells, and Junior smiles and calls him "a rich kid." One of the inmates enters the room and says that the Professor told him to get his buttons back, since they weren't supposed to be gambling. Junior tells the guy to go fuck himself, and to get the fuck out. Asian Kid shares a story about showing his father a near-perfect mark on a spelling test and being asked why it wasn't perfect. Asian Kid's anger towards his father is a bit oversized, some might say. You can see Junior noting this and filing it away for future use.
Back on the road again, Paulie is dozing off as Tony drives, so Tony decides that they should stop. Tony asks Paulie if he remembers the place they stopped once, and Paulie thinks for a moment and dredges up "The Havenaire" from his memory. They decide to go there for old times' sake, and Tony says that they can get a bucket of ice from the machine and order some steaks and scotch from room service. Paulie cackles in anticipation.
They pull into a modern-looking hotel, and Tony, confused, asks the bellboy if the joint is new. The bellboy has no clue and is no help. Tony and Paulie go inside, and Tony reserves a room under the name "Mr. Spears," one of his known aliases. He asks the desk clerk to have room service send up two bottles of Glenlivet, but the clerk says that they don't serve bottles. Tony then asks for two steaks with baked potatoes, but the clerk says that they only serve salads and wraps at this time of night. He suggests that Tony and Paulie go to the restaurant across the street for some nachos. So, if you missed the message, it's that times have changed and the past is the past.
Tony and Paulie do, in fact, enjoy some nachos across the street. Paulie reminisces about his trips down South with Tony's father, Johnny. Paulie says that he was twenty years old, driving down South, and they got pulled over, and he didn't have a license. Paulie asked Johnny what to do, and Johnny advised him to tell the cop that he had a cousin in the police force and fed Paulie a "southern-sounding name." Paulie then told the trooper that his cousin was Barney Fife. So that didn't go over very well. Tony chuckles and remembers that when he misbehaved, his father used to threaten him with Uncle Paulie. Paulie responds that Johnny really loved Tony, and the only time Paulie ever saw Johnny cry was the night that Tony was born. Tony says, nervously, that he never knew where he stood with his father. Paulie points out that his father trusted him with the Overall whacking when Tony was only 22, which says a lot.
The morning, Paulie is making friends at the breakfast buffet. What is it about people (I was going to say men, but I think women do it too) of a certain age who have to make friends everywhere? I mean, I'm all for being pleasant and civil, but take my dad, for instance. Whenever we travel somewhere, he loves to just go up to strangers and start shooting the shit with them, trying to find something in common. Maybe it's how he makes himself less homesick, I don't know. So Paulie does that too, and when Tony comes to collect him, Paulie's new friend wishes him fun in Miami. Nice job, big mouth. I thought Tony was going to have to choke a bitch. Tony pulls Paulie aside and angrily reminds him that they're supposed to be lying low. Paulie, chastened, heads back to the buffet to grab some food for the road, and he manages to take pretty much the entire muffin basket inside one napkin.
It's visiting day at the Loony Bin Lockup. Junior, wearing his robe, walks into the visiting room with his sidekick, whose mother is there to visit. The sidekick reintroduces Junior to his mother, who is respectful but seems a little nervous. Junior manages to say twice in a row that he's on new medication that makes him salivate, so clearly he's not completely finished repeating himself like his buddies said he was earlier. After that command performance, Junior wanders off to write some letters. Asian Kid, who we learn is named Carter, sits down alone with his mother for a visit. His mom heard that Carter has become aggressive with other patients, and she worries that he's becoming a bully. Carter goes from zero to pissed off in four seconds. His mother suggests that he's spending too much time with Junior. Carter points at her and yells that she should know better than to believe what other people say, and he refers to newspaper reports about his father. Carter complains that his mother always wanted him to make friends when he was at M.I.T., and now he's making friends and she doesn't like it. He stomps off. So Carter has some anger management issues, and it's possible that Junior isn't the best mentor in that case.
Paulie and Tony arrive in Florida. Tony immediately gets a phone call from Silvio, who reports that the Feds found a body and have tentatively identified it correctly. Tony starts complaining about Paulie, and how he won't shut up. Silvio reports that Carmela's doing fine, so Tony hangs up, only to see Paulie already getting familiar with the valet parking guys and bellhops.
In his room, Junior dictates a letter to Carter and then orders him to read it back. Carter reads: "Dear Vice-President Cheney: As a powerful man all too familiar with accidental gunplay, I am writing in the hope that you will intervene in my case. Like yourself, I was involved in an unfortunate incident when a gun I was handling misfired." That is awesome. Whoever came up with the idea of Junior writing a letter to Cheney asking for clemency deserves a raise. They are interrupted when the crooked orderly knocks and enters, then advises Junior to lay off the card games for a while, because the Professor snitched them out. Crooked Orderly tosses down some photos of Junior in cuffs so that Junior can autograph them, explaining that he sells them on Ebay. Junior balks a bit, but he ultimately signs them. I wonder what would happen if Tony found out about that. Nothing good.
Tony and Paulie have dinner with Beansie Gaeta (the guy Richie Aprile put in a wheelchair). Tony gives him a Cleaver baseball cap, but Beansie wanted a copy of the DVD too. Damn! It's a gift, dude! Beansie tells Tony about a Cuban guy he knows who has a line on stolen merchandise. Tony agrees to call him. Beansie pulls out an envelope, and inside, Tony finds an old photo of Paulie looking like Bowser from Sha Na Na. Tony remembers that he and his friends all bought a leather wristband just like Paulie's, reminding us once again how much Tony used to look up to Paulie, and how much Paulie has fallen in his estimation. Tony unfolds another picture, which is of Johnny and Junior standing in front of Satriale's. Man, would I love a flashback episode. Or even a flashback novel. That just looks so cool! Tony is not quite as jocular while looking at this picture. Beansie promises to send them copies of the photo. When Beansie's phone rings, he wheels away from the table, explaining that he needs to empty his bag. After he leaves, Paulie says that he'd rather be dead than piss in a bag.
Junior is sitting in his room, eating candy and watching infomercials on TV, when he's interrupted by a phone call from one of his old friends, Pat, who wants to know if Junior has put any thought to their plan to sneak him out during a dentist's appointment. Junior wonders where he would go, and Pat suggests a safe house, although given how Tony feels about Junior, I can't think of any safe houses. Junior decides that the time's not right, and he says that he's being watched and Pat should call back later. Pat tries to protest that he's going to Sarasota, but Junior hangs up. Junior's infomercial talks about how you can be your own boss and have freedom, which I think is relevant to his situation. Junior can be his own boss in the lockup, whereas on the outside, he'd always be in danger of payback from Tony. I don't think Junior wants to go anywhere.
Beansie, Tony, and Paulie have dinner with a couple of young ladies of questionable reputation. Beansie falls all over himself praising Paulie, and Paulie points to Beansie and calls him a stand-up guy. Beansie. Who's in a wheelchair. Oops. Paulie realizes his error and apologizes. Paulie and Beansie go on reminiscing about old times, and all the stories seem to end with Paulie either beating or killing someone. Beansie asks Tony if he's okay, because he's being quiet, and Tony bitches that "remember when" is the lowest form of conversation. I don't know whether Tony really thinks that, since he instigated some of the nostalgic talk earlier, or whether he's just worried that Paulie is revealing too much information in front of the ladies. Tony and one of the hoors hit the dance floor.
Doc Santoro and Phil have a meal together. Phil acknowledges that Doc is the boss now and gives him an envelope. Doc reaches over and stabs some food off Phil's plate, not noticing Phil giving him the evil eye over the disrespect.
Junior and Carter play checkers in the rec room. Professor shows up and asks Junior to move so that he can get the chess set, and Junior refuses. The room monitor or whatever chastens Junior and lets the guy through. The Professor starts taunting Junior for being a wimp, so Junior throws his drink in the guy's face and then hits him in the nuts. Carter urges Junior on. Junior kicks the Professor a few times as Carter grins, until finally, some orderlies show up and drag Junior off.
Crooked Orderly and Rec Room Attendant meet with the head of the facility. Crooked Orderly defends Junior, and Rec Room Attendant makes a pointed comment about Crooked Orderly's expensive watch (which he got from Junior). Crooked Orderly accuses the facility of being racist, since they're only interrogating him and he's black. Crooked Orderly is excused, and the director says that he's going to change Junior's meds.
Tony calls Hesh to get a bridge loan, because he's in the hole over some gambling debts. Tony gambles enough to get into debt and require a bridge loan? This just popped up out of nowhere. Hesh gives the loan with no argument. Tony answers a knock at his hotel room door and finds the hoor from dinner, whom he promptly takes to bed and disturbingly screws. I think that's the first time Tony's cheated in a long while, right? Since he got shot, maybe? After Tony rolls off, the hoor lights up a cigarette and Tony lights a cigar. The hoor starts talking about dinner, asking questions about how Tony knows Beansie and who Paulie is, and if Paulie is Tony's best friend. Tony admits that there was a time when he wished Paulie was his dad. The hoor admits that Paulie told her that he used to work for Tony's dad, and Tony looks at her sideways, wondering what else Paulie told her. I really thought that girl was dead right there.
Junior naps in a chair, holding in his lap a letter from the Vice President's office that explains why the VP can't respond to every letter individually. A woman wakes him up, and Junior stares at her for a minute before complaining about his new medication and how it zonks him out. Carter sidles up and explains that "they" are trying to turn Junior into a zombie because of his violent behavior. Thanks for the tip, McMurphy. I think the writers of this show hate people in their 20s, because they're all kind of assholes. AJ, Meadow, Jackie Jr... the list goes on.
Paulie and Tony sit in their rented minivan and wait for the Cuban to show up so they can negotiate a deal. The Cuban does show up, along with like ten of his friends. Tony wonders what's going on, and Paulie the Hothead scrambles out of the van and demands to know which one of them is Ramon. There are a few tense moments until Tony calms things down, and Ramon offers them a trailer full of power tools. Tony negotiates a deal, which the Cubans accept. Paulie pats one of the guys on the cheek before they leave, which makes Tony chuckle.
The nurse and Crooked Orderly come into Junior's room to give him his meds. Carter creates a distraction outside, which allows Junior to toss the pills behind him and fake swallowing them.
Tony sits outside by the pool at Beansie's house. Tony was impressed by Paulie's balls in dealing with the Cubans, but also complains about Paulie's constant yapping. Beansie thinks Paulie was always that way, but Tony insists that Paulie was "Gary fucking Cooper." Tony admits that lately, he's concerned about Paulie's big mouth. Beansie thinks Tony should pity Paulie, not get angry with him. Beansie's wife comes out to say goodbye to Tony. When she leaves, Tony compliments her for sticking by Beansie even after he was paralyzed. Beansie points out that Paulie doesn't have a wife and kids. Tony adds that Paulie doesn't have a steady legitimate income, either, now that Barone Sanitation is going away. That makes him vulnerable to the Feds. So Beansie is trying to point out that Paulie is a weirdo because he doesn't have close family, but what he's really doing is helping Tony make the case that Paulie is vulnerable to flipping. Tony explains that things are going well, and that Paulie might just be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Beansie insists that Paulie is "a stand-up guy," but Tony wonders: "Has he ever really been put to the test?" Tony remembers the painting that Paulie had of him as a general, which Tony thought was a joke. Tony now realizes that's really how Paulie thinks of him. Beansie reminds Tony: "You're all he's got. You, the guys, and his fucking image." Tony smiles sadly and says, "I love him too." Beansie says that Tony always did. So I thought at that point that Tony had reconciled himself to living with Paulie's annoying habits.
Tony returns to the hotel alone and sits in his room, downing tiny bottles of liquor. Silvio calls and says that Larry Boy Barese told the Feds that Jackie Aprile was responsible for the skeleton they found. Tony smiles, hangs up, and gives a big sigh of relief. He walks out onto his balcony and looks out at the water, peaceful. His moment of reflection is interrupted by loud cackling coming from door. He looks into Paulie's room, where he sees Paulie cracking up at a Three's Company rerun. And don't get me wrong -- I enjoy stupid old sitcoms as much as anyone. Just the other day, I was watching an episode of Good Times where Michael got a CB radio. I do love that Willona. But I wasn't LOLing all over the place. Tony sneers and takes another pull from his tiny bottle, seemingly realizing that all of his peaceful moments are ruined by Paulie somehow.
The morning, Tony tells Paulie that they're off the hook with the Feds and suggests that they go sport fishing before they leave. Paulie looks a little worried, but agrees to the plan. Like most viewers, at this point, I was thinking of Big Pussy and his watery demise. Some of you may have thought of it earlier, but I think the mention of the boat is where I picked up on it.
Junior holds court in the rec room, telling his dirty jokes. He pulls a George Costanza and tries to leave on a high note so that he can take a whiz, but the inmates beg for one more. Junior agrees to tell one more, but he blanks out on the punch line. Carter fills it in for him, but then Junior wets his pants. One of the inmates points and yells, "Accident! Accident!" An orderly runs over and asks what happened, and Junior looks angry and humiliated. Carter stares at his idol, disillusioned.
Junior meets with a doctor, who explains that Junior is supposed to be on medication that will specifically prevent incontinence. It's like instead of the Telltale Heart (or the Telltale Moozadell), it's the Telltale Pee Stain. Junior insists that he's taking his medication, and says that Crooked Orderly will back him up. The doctor says that Crooked Orderly has been let go, and I have to believe that the grapevine in that place is off the chain, and Junior would already have that information, unless it happened minutes before this conversation. The doctor gives Junior a choice: wear Depends and transfer to another facility, or start taking his meds. Junior gives a pained look.
Later, Junior is sitting in his room when the nurse and orderly arrive with his medicine. Carter creates his usual distraction outside, which you'd think the staff would notice after a day or two. Junior takes his pills anyway, then goes back to watching The $10,000 Pyramid. After the staff leaves, Carter bursts in and asks Junior why he took the pills. Junior says that the administration is muscling him. Carter suggests getting a card game together, but Junior just gives excuses as to why it's not a good idea. Carter realizes Junior is just an old man, and he leaves.
Paulie and Tony head out to their rented fishing boat. Paulie walks slowly, like he's headed for the gallows, which he very well could be. Tony is jovial, but Paulie's not in a joking mood as he steps onto the boat. Tony starts up the boat while Paulie flashes back to Pussy's whacking, which I thought was a bit on the nose for this show. It's not like Pussy's death was a one-off subplot that most viewers don't remember, and it's not like it hasn't been referred to in many other episodes. Remember the talking fish? If they wanted to give a more subtle reference, they could have done something like when Pussy appeared in the mirror after Livia's funeral. I know a lot of people didn't like this episode, and I point to this scene as the biggest reason why â too on the nose. They've been ratcheting up the tension with the last few episodes, and I just felt like this was over the top, at least for this show, which usually trusts its viewers to be a little smarter than that.
Carter lies in bed in his darkened room, staring at the ceiling. Junior knocks and enters his room, then gives him some Hootie and the Blowfish CDs to cheer him up. Geez, that would make most people suicidal. Junior keeps trying to cheer Carter up, to get the old magic back. Carter starts talking about his father, whom he doesn't respect, and his grandfather, who was "a lion." Junior calls Carter "Anthony" before leaving the room. Carter keeps staring at the ceiling.
Back on the boat, Paulie cooks up some rigatoni and gravy and brings Tony a plate. Tony digs right in, but Paulie keeps rubbing his stomach. Tony glances over at a hatchet lashed to the side of the boat, like, WE GET IT, he's thinking about whacking Paulie. Tony makes a joke about a whale and Ginny Sack, and he tries again to get Paulie to admit that he's the one who told Johnny Sack about Ralphie's joke. Paulie just keeps rubbing his stomach and looking uncomfortable. Tony finally comes right out and asks if Paulie was the leak, and Paulie doesn't really answer. The thing that bugs me most about this scene (and maybe this was a directorial choice) is that whenever the camera's on Paulie, the boat is bucking like they're in the middle of a hurricane, and whenever the camera's on Tony, the sea looks placid. I mean, maybe it's meant to show the emotions each man is feeling, but it's distracting when Paulie is flying up and down and then Tony is barely moving. Tony complains that Johnny Sack thought he was better than everyone else because he didn't fuck around on his wife, and Paulie agrees that Johnny was "Mr. Broomstick Up His Ass." As with most of his other sentences, Paulie punctuates this one with a staccato "heh heh." Tony looks annoyed and asks Paulie if he's ever been tested for Tourette's, because it's like he has a tic when he goes "heh heh." Paulie looks worried and says that he does it when he's nervous.
Tony asks again if Paulie told Johnny about the joke. Paulie just looks at Tony and then says sort of angrily that it wasn't him, almost challenging Tony to ask him again. Tony finally puts down his plate of food, and a few tense moments pass. Tony asks if Paulie wants a drink as Paulie continues to rub his stomach. Tony stands and looks out at the water. Paulie moves to the back of the boat. Tony struggles with his decision and glances down at a knife they were using to cut up bait. He reaches down and...tosses a drink to Paulie, who barely catches it and complains that it hurt. So I guess that's over. That was kind of a weak ending to the scene, but I guess the point is that, once again, Tony has a hard time deciding between being a boss and being a human being.
At Loony Bin Lockup, the inmates are having a singalong to John Denver's "Country Roads." Carter watches, a look of devilment on his face, and he crumples up a piece of paper, which he tosses at the piano player. Junior gives him a look. Carter watches for another moment to see if Junior will do anything, then finally bumrushes Junior and starts beating him. He slams Junior's head against the wall until the orderlies arrive to break it up. The camera focuses on Junior's broken glasses on the floor. So it looks like Carter chose the violence while Tony chose nonviolence. I don't think it's a coincidence that those two scenes were juxtaposed.
Paulie arrives back at his apartment and yells out, "What does it take to get something to eat?" Who is he talking to? He hears rustling noises in the kitchen and walks in to find Pussy cooking something. Paulie asks, "When my time comes, tell me, will I stand up?" Cut to Paulie waking up alone in his apartment. He sits up, disturbed by his dream. Cut to Paulie pumping iron with a crazed look on his face. I don't even know what that meant, except maybe that Paulie is trying to be ready for when his time comes.
Tony walks downstairs in his robe to find Carmela inspecting a new espresso machine that Paulie sent over. Carmela explains that it cost about $2,000. She wonders what's wrong with Paulie, sending them such an expensive gift. Tony explains that guys like Paulie allow him and Carmela to live the way they do. As Carmela walks out, Tony looks chagrined, perhaps realizing the truth of his words.
Doc Santoro walks into the street and gets into a car, ordering his driver to take him somewhere. Suddenly, his driver runs off, and three guys shoot Doc and one of his companions. I think Butchie was driving one of the getaway cars, but I might be mistaken. The camera focuses in on dead Doc Santoro, who was shot through the eye like Moe Greene or Brendan Filone. I guess Phil's the boss now, huh?
Paulie, Christopher, and Silvio watch the news reporting Doc's death. Paulie is babbling about Feech Lamanna and some other bullshit when Tony walks in. Silvio comments, "Look's like Phil's the main Guinea over there now, huh?" Hey, I just said that! Paulie is still babbling about Joe Namath and gambling on the Jets. Tony pours himself some coffee and seems to be working hard to keep his annoyance at Paulie under control, probably wondering if annoyance is a good enough reason to whack someone.
Loony Bin Lockup. The residents are getting some pet therapy. Junior sits in a wheelchair, wearing his broken glasses and petting a cat with one hand. He looks pissed off, just like Tony did in the scene. So are we to draw the connection that Tony is castrated just like Junior has been by his medication? And that Tony chose it like Junior did? I realize the whole episode featured parallel storylines, and Junior is to Carter as Paulie is to Tony. Carter thought Junior was the man, but ultimately realized Junior wasn't as tough as he seemed, and was really just a powerless old man making excuses. Tony used to idolize Paulie until he realized Paulie was a sad old man as well. But, as Buffy famously asked, where do we go from here? I guess we'll find out soon.