By Kim
Christopher sets up a deal with his father-in-law, Al, a hardware store owner, selling stolen power tools. Christopher and Kelli have a cookout with her family and his Family. Christopher continues to get shit from both Paulie and Tony about his clean and sober lifestyle. Paulie gets Little Paulie to break into the hardware store, but Al catches them in the act. Christopher finds out and complains to Paulie and then to Tony, neither of whom seem to care much. Christopher realizes that staying sober is hurting his career. Christopher also tells a friend that he resents the situation with Adriana (although he obviously doesn't reveal the full extent of what happened there). Little Paulie boosts some more tools from Al's store; in retaliation, Christopher tosses Little Paulie out a second-story window and breaks his back. Paulie gets his revenge by doing donuts on Christopher's front lawn. Tony blames Christopher for the whole mess, since he hasn't been around. Christopher realizes he has to eat shit, because it's not like he can quit his job to get away from his bad boss, so he starts drinking with the guys. Later, he imagines that everyone is laughing at him, and storms out. Christopher goes to see JT, and he starts ranting about how he could go to the Feds and bring down the whole operation, but Tim Daly wants nothing to do with this particular midnight confession. Heartbroken and abandoned, Christopher turns and shoots Tim Daly in the head, then just goes home.
Tony tells the Feds about his Muslim friends who used to hang out at the Bing. The Feds don't seem to feel like it's valuable information, but it feels like they're setting something up for future episodes.
AJ is taking his breakup hard, crying and begging Blanca to take him back. Tony tries to empathize by advising AJ to go get a blowjob. Carmela and Meadow are worried that AJ is feeling suicidal. Tony tells Melfi that he thinks that he's done with therapy, but he also confesses that he feels like it's his own genes that have made AJ prone to depression. AJ goes to a therapist and confesses that he has been feeling a bit suicidal. Tony forces AJ to go to a party at the Bing where he reconnects with some of his friends, who have been loan-sharking at college. They use AJ as a deterrent for their clients, calling him "Tony Soprano, Jr.," and AJ doesn't seem to mind. He accompanies his friends as they pour sulfuric acid on the foot of someone who owes money, and the violence seems to pull AJ out of his depression for the first time. When he comes home, the family sits down together for a late-night snack, and Tony and Carmela think things must be back to normal, not knowing that what snapped AJ out of it was seemingly following in his father's footsteps.
The episode begins with a shot of Tony waking up from a long night's sleep, like a bear waking up from hibernation. It's light out, and Carmela and AJ are already awake. Tony lumbers down the stairs in his bathrobe, singing "Comfortably Numb." Speaking of numb, AJ is slumped on the couch, watching cartoons. Carmela offers him some breakfast, and he snaps at her that he's not hungry. Carmela explains that there's such a thing as "comfort food," and that it might make him feel better. If that's her antidote to sad feelings, I don't know how everyone in the family doesn't weigh five hundred pounds. AJ is appalled that Carmela might think she understands the depths of his sorrows. Tony calls AJ "a whiny little bitch." AJ pouts that he has to go to his shitty job, but when Tony rips on it, AJ dramabombs that his fiancée left him, and now his job is all he has. Yeah, besides a place to live, food, two loving parents, all the money he could want, a car, various electronic gadgets, friends. He's practically David Copperfield over here. AJ stomps off and Tony wonders when he's going to snap out of this funk and stop taking it out on his parents. Because Tony would never misdirect his anger! I wonder where AJ learned that trick?
A bunch of cops line up outside a hardware store. The guy inside is selling them power tools for huge discounts. Christopher walks in -- turns out the hardware store owner is his father-in-law, Al. They hug, and Al hands over an envelope of cash and says that Paulie should keep the power tools coming, because they are raking in the dough.
At the Bing, Christopher and Paulie discuss how successful this power tool things has been. Christopher slides over Paulie's share of the take and offers up a toast. Paulie is annoyed that Christopher is toasting with water, and Christopher points out that when he was drinking, they held an intervention for him, but now everyone seems to want him to go back to drinking. Paulie asks, "What about being normal? Is that so fucking hard?" Christopher says that it is, for him. Whoa, this conversation went from zero to pissy in about five seconds. Paulie tries to calm things down by saying, "Don't get cunty. I'm busting your balls." He offers up a truce by asking Christopher to get some dinner, but Christopher poutily turns him down.
Satriale's. Agent Harris and his friend are eating subs. Agent Harris tells Tony that he doesn't like Phil Leotardo, but Tony stays mum on the subject. Tony wonders if he could give them some terror-related information and "bank the resulting good will." Agent Harris offers to write him "a 5K letter" to document Tony's service and cooperation; if there were any trial or whatever in the future, the letter would be taken into consideration by the judge before sentencing. Tony thinks for a minute, and then tells them about the two Muslim guys who used to hang out at the Bing, but then they disappeared, and then Tony saw them hanging out with some more fundamental-looking guys. Harris asks what they were doing, and Tony admits that they were just walking, but that it seemed fishy. Harris asks for a name, and Tony calls Christopher, who tells him that the guys are named Ahmed and Mohammed; he even has a cell phone number and a last name for Ahmed. Tony writes down the info while Christopher worries that they're "going to blow up the chemical plant or some shit." Tony passes the information on to Harris, but neither agent recognizes the name, nor do they seem all that impressed or excited. I'm not one of those viewers who wants every story line to have closure -- I couldn't care less about the Russian or Melfi's rapist, for example -- but I hope this one is leading somewhere, even if it just ends up that Tony is counting on the Feds to help him when he needs it, and they blow him off.
AJ has coffee with Blanca at the construction site. They seem to be getting along quite well, until Blanca talks to one of the other guys, and AJ gets jealous. Blanca tells him to cut it out or she won't see him again. She adds that, the last time they had coffee, he started crying. So AJ...starts crying and says that he can't sleep at night, and that he loves Blanca. Oh, this is just pathetic. And yet, haven't we all been there? You know you shouldn't talk to the person, but somehow you find yourself dialing the number late at night, and after hanging up three or four times, you actually say hello, but then realize you didn't plan on what to say , so you just blurt something out like, "I still love you!" And it's just awful. Not that I have personal experience with that. I've heard things. Blanca looks uncomfortable and tells him that he's embarrassing her. AJ starts sobbing and walks back to his car.
Tony propositions a stripper at the Bing, so I guess the whole fidelity thing is really and truly over and last week's humping wasn't a one-off. Carmela calls Tony and begs him to come home, because she has to leave the house, and she's worried that AJ's going to hurt himself. Tony sighs, pissed that he has to skip his afternoon delight because of his loser son's potential suicide.
Tony goes into AJ's room and finds AJ lying on his bed in his underwear. Tony tells him, essentially, to snap out of it, but AJ won't. Tony thinks he can yell AJ out of his depression, but AJ just starts crying again. Good Lord. AJ has cried more in this episode than I have in probably the last five years. Tony sits down and actually empathizes for a moment. He tells AJ that everyone gets the blues sometimes, and semi-jokes that the music industry wouldn't exist without it. He counsels, "These fucking women -- they'll drive you nuts with your emotions and whatnot. And I know it feels like you're never gonna love anybody again, but trust me, there's millions of girls out there that are dying to meet a guy like you." AJ sniffs, "Oh, I'm so special." Tony tells AJ that he's handsome, a hard worker, and white, which is "a huge plus nowadays." Oh, Tony. He was actually making sense there for a while, and I would even concede that a certain segment of the population might find AJ handsome, but "hard worker"? And white being a huge plus? Tony's final piece of advice is that AJ should "go out and get a blowjob." AJ yells that he doesn't want a blowjob. What twenty-year-old guy doesn't want a blowjob? And while Tony isn't exactly Mr. Sensitive, sometimes what you need when you're swimming in post-breakup hell is to go out and get drunk and make out with someone else. Now I'm sounding like That Guy: "Go out and find someone that looks just like her, fuck her and then dump her!" Tony tells AJ to keep it down, and AJ wonders who's listening in. Suddenly, the door swings open and Carmela is standing there, to AJ's chagrin. She chastens him for seeing Blanca again, but the appearance of his mother has made AJ revert back to hiding his face in the pillow and crying. Carmela says that it's killing her to see him like this, and AJ wonders what the point is, and asks his parents to leave him alone. Outside, Carmela says that she was glad when AJ and Blanca broke up due to "the culture divide," and Tony opines that "everything turns to shit." I wonder where AJ gets his pessimistic streak from?
Everyone arrives at Christopher and Kelli's house for Sunday dinner, including Tony's sister Barbara and her family, who fascinate me. I know there are only four episodes left, so it can't happen, but I would love to have an entire episode about Barb's family and show all the craziness and mayhem of the Sopranos as filtered through their apparently normal suburban existence. Kelli tells Christopher that she's freaking out, trying to host these people. Christopher heads outside with a giant plate of meat for the grill, and spots Tony and Bobby chatting seriously in the backyard. He asks Tony if he's having a good time, and Tony distractedly says that he is, but his conversation with Bobby seems almost like an argument. Eventually, they walk over, and Tony makes fun of Christopher for drinking nonalcoholic beer. Tony jokes that, if not for today, he'd never see Christopher, but then seriously asks Christopher why he's been "a ghost" lately. Christopher explains that it's hard for him to hang out at the Bing and stay sober, and that Satriale's is the same way. Tony thinks that all Christopher needs to do is "show some balls," like how Tony uses willpower to avoid food that will upset his stomach. Yeah, Tony's Mr. Willpower. Wasn't the episode all about Tony's gambling issues as more evidence of his self-destructive behavior? Christopher snaps that he has a disease, but Tony thinks that's bullshit. Christopher brings up his father, Tony's hero, and how he "wasn't much more than a fucking junkie." Did we know this about Dickie before? Is that true? I knew Christopher's mom was a drunk, but I didn't know his father did drugs. Tony doesn't deny it, so I guess there's something to Christopher's accusations.
Al (Kelli's dad) pulls up to his hardware store late at night, where Little Paulie and a friend are helping themselves to some items from his loading dock. Al hops out of his car, gun drawn, ready to shoot first and ask questions later. Little Paulie reminds Al that they know each other because Paulie is his uncle. Little Paulie puts on a big show about how Paulie was supposed to call Al and set this whole thing up. Al puts the gun away and wonders, if what Little Paulie is saying is true, why they broke into the store, since he has a silent alarm that goes right to his house. Al says that he's going to call Christopher just to make sure this is legit, and Little Paulie says that's fine with him, but that Al might be making a bigger deal out of this than he needs to. By the time Little Paulie gets done weaving his web of bullshit, his partner has finished loading the truck and they're ready to take off.
Pizzeria. AJ stares at a couple kissing and giggling nearby, which causes him to start crying. I hope he's drinking Gatorade or something, because he must be dehydrated from all those tears. AJ hands his apron to another employee and says that he quits.
Bing. Patsy hands Tony a thick envelope and explains that his son (named Jason) and Carlo's son (also named Jason) have been bookmaking at college, which has boosted his funds. Patsy brags about his son's other accomplishments. This hits Tony where he lives, making him realize what a loser AJ is, so he excuses himself in time to see Carlo and his son walking in. Carlo promises that he has an envelope for Tony as well. Tony asks the the two young Jasons about their business, and Jason P. says that he's "majoring in cash, minoring in ass." Jason G. asks how AJ is doing, and Tony says that he broke up with Blanca. Jason P. thinks Blanca was hot, but then the boys get distracted by a stripper flashing her wares. Tony says that he heard the Jasons are having a party at the Bing, and suggests that they call AJ. The boys agree, but never take their eyes off the boobies nearby.
Christopher shows up at Paulie's condo, angry, and asks what in the hell is going on with stealing stuff from Al. Chris adds that Al is upset about what's been going on, which means Kelli is upset too. Paulie doesn't see what the big deal is. Christopher says that he knows Paulie sent the guys to steal shit, which means that Paulie was planning on not giving Christopher his cut. Paulie gets all up in Christopher's grill and tells him to get the fuck out. Christopher bites his tongue and stomps out...
...and stomps into Tony's office to bitch about Paulie. Bobby is there as well, and Christopher looks surprised and annoyed that Bobby doesn't leave the room for this conversation. Bobby kind of acts like Tony's second-in-command. This furthers the scene from Christopher's house, where Tony was more interested in talking business with Bobby than he was in talking to Christopher -- you get the feeling that Christopher knows he's being pushed aside as Tony's heir apparent. Christopher fills Tony in on what's been going on with the hardware store. Tony is confused whether the guys actually stole the merchandise, or if Al let them take it. Christopher tries to explain, but Tony doesn't see what the big deal is, and why Christopher had to interrupt his real, important, money-making business. Tony basically tells Christopher to buzz off because men are talking here.
Meadow comes into Tony and Carmela's bedroom and actually utters the words, "It's not about me." Is that the real Meadow or some sort of clone? Meadow explains that she's worried about AJ and the things he saying about how pointless life is. She thinks AJ might be suicidal. Tony and Carmela are glad she shared her concerns. I still can't believe that Meadow had concerns about someone other than herself.
Tony waddles downstairs in his robe and finds AJ lying on the couch watching TV in the dark. Tony settles into his recliner and wordlessly watches over his son.
The day, Tony goes to Melfi and tells her that he's thought about what she told him, and that he's done with therapy, because "it's a jerk-off." Melfi wonders what he means by that. Instead of explaining, Tony admits that AJ is suicidal because his fiancée dumped him. Melfi offers to recommend someone for him to talk to, and Tony says that Carmela is getting a referral from AJ's pediatrician. Do you ever think that part of AJ's problems might be that his parents still basically change his diapers? He lives at home, he works low-paying jobs ["at companies owned by his parents' friends, we learned in this episode" -- Wing Chun], he doesn't seem to contribute financially to his own upkeep, and he still goes to a pediatrician. I'm not discounting the reality of depression as a disease that you can't just talk yourself out of; I'm wondering, if AJ were busier taking care of himself and supporting himself, whether the breakup with Blanca wouldn't have taken on such a central role in his emotional life. Tony references the wacko shrink Melfi recommended for Meadow. Tony pretends he doesn't want to talk about his own feelings about AJ, but then admits that other kids AJ's age seem to take life as it comes, but AJ is "curled up in the fetus position when he should be out banging co-eds." Tony gets to the heart of the matter: "Obviously, I'm prone to depression -- a certain bleak attitude about the world -- but I know I can handle it." He compares watching AJ go through this to watching him get sick when he was younger, and wishing he could suffer in AJ's place. Tony worries that he's the cause of the problem because, "it's in [his] blood, this miserable fucking existence." He continues, "My rotten, fucking putrid genes have infected my kid's soul. That's my gift to my son." Melfi says nothing for a moment, and then says she's glad that they're having this discussion. Tony blurts, "I hate this fucking shit," referring to therapy. He wonders, "After all the complaining and the crying and all the fucking bullshit, is this all there is?" He gestures to the room, as if to say that nothing ever gets resolved, and he just keeps talking and talking.
Christopher attends an AA meeting. He gets up to share, and talks about how not being able to socialize is affecting his income. He thinks his boss resents his sobriety. Another guy, who works in sales, says that his work was the same; everyone was on board for his intervention, but now he skips a golf outing and he's ostracized. Christopher thinks his boss is an enabler, but would also judge him if he did take a drink. Christopher has a lot of anger bottled up; I don't know what will happen when it all comes out.
AJ sits at home in the dark, watching TV some more. Tony walks in and sits down. He gets AJ to stop flipping channels so that they can watch a John Wayne movie -- an interesting commentary on the fact that Tony has been trying to get AJ to man up for a while now, and John Wayne is probably Tony's ideal man. Tony oh-so-casually asks if the Jasons called and invited AJ to a party. AJ admits that they called, but says he didn't call back because he doesn't want to go. Tony jokes that AJ hates beer, strippers, and fucking around with guys his own age. Tony gets serious and says that he knows AJ doesn't want to do anything, like eat or talk, but that AJ is going to the party. AJ realizes that his father is serious, and unhappily agrees to go.
Christopher and the sales guy from the meeting sit in a stairwell, smoking and talking about their similar situations. Christopher says, "I have a happy marriage, but there was a woman. She worked with us in a club we had. Anyway, she became a problem to deal with, and I sided with [my boss]. She was out of my life. Okay, fine, but he never appreciated it." There was some question about whether Christopher was talking about Ade or Julianna; I think it was Ade, given the reference to the club, and that he had to make a choice and ended up siding with Tony. As far as we know, Christopher didn't side with Tony against Julianna; he chose sobriety over their relationship. Christopher thinks that the incident poisoned his relationship with Tony. Interesting, because that's probably when Christopher really lost faith in Tony, but I think Tony didn't really lose faith in Christopher until he saw Cleaver. He had doubts before, but I feel like that's where the poison came from on Tony's side.
Al leaves his hardware store. Once he's gone, Little Paulie and his friend (who's also named Jason, which must be the name of the week) walk in and tell an employee named Mike that they're there for the drills. Mike is aware of the backroom deals going on, but hadn't heard about this particular one, probably since there is no deal. Little Paulie fake-calls Al and leaves a fake message about taking the drills. Mike shrugs and lets the two men in back to help themselves.
AJ goes to visit a male shrink and talk about Blanca. He admits that he doesn't know what went wrong with his relationship, but even Blanca says that there wasn't a reason. I think that usually means that there wasn't just one reason; she's just not that into you. AJ's theory is that his family has more money, and that might have scared her. I don't think Blanca was the type to fear money, but I'm still pretty mystified about what precipitated the breakup, and maybe that's the point. The shrink asks whether AJ has had suicidal feelings, and AJ admits that he has, and that he's had a lot of trouble sleeping. The shrink asks if anything in life gives him pleasure, and AJ says there isn't. The shrink decides to prescribe Lexapro.
AJ goes to the party at the Bing where Jason P. urges him to get into bookmaking with them. AJ contends that he's terrible at math, but Jason P. thinks he could teach AJ everything he needs to know. AJ and the two Jasons get lapdances; AJ seems totally uninterested in the woman gyrating on his lap.
Little Paulie and some other guys have a poker game at Benny's apartment. Christopher bursts through the door and starts beating the crap out of Little Paulie. No one makes a move to stop him, and Christopher picks Little Paulie up and tosses him out a window to the sidewalk a few floors below. There's the danger of bottling up your anger; you end up tossing dudes out of windows. I hate it when that happens.
Tony's sleeping when Carmela bursts into the bedroom and starts bitching at him for letting AJ go to a party at a strip club. Tony doesn't think it's a big deal, since AJ is nearly twenty-one already, and at least he got out of the house and hung out with people his own age. He assures Carm, "This is the way back, trusts me, and the way back to college." Carmela looks sad and disbelieving.
Christopher sits down with Tony and admits that throwing Little Paulie out the window was stupid. Tony reveals that Little Paulie has six broken vertebrae. While they talk, we see Paulie angrily driving his car onto Christopher's front lawn and doing donuts until the entire lawn and garden are a muddy mess, as Kelli watches fearfully out the window. Christopher insists to Tony that Paulie keeps crossing him, but Tony thinks Christopher could have handled it with a conversation. Christopher reminds Tony that he tried, but that Tony had no time for him. Tony thinks that if Christopher were around more, this would have never happened because, to avoid leaving evidence for future court cases, theirs is a face-to-face business. Tony angrily says that he will talk to Paulie, but that Christopher will be paying Little Paulie's hospital bills. Christopher just nods sadly.
Tony's riding in his car when he gets a phone call from Christopher, informing him that Paulie destroyed his lawn and terrorized his wife and daughter. Tony tells him to relax, and Christopher promises, "I am fucking relaxed. I'm not gonna do nothing, because I love you, because I'm committed to my work, I ain't gonna do shit. I'm gonna sit tight and hold my tongue and not cause no problems for you." The camera swirls around Christopher showing the destruction of his lawn, perhaps representing the nice life he's trying to build for himself that keeps getting fucked up by his Family. I really thought this was going to send Christopher off the deep end.
AJ goes with the two Jasons to a frat party. The Jasons greet a kid named Victor, who owes them money. Jason G. introduces Victor to AJ, calling him "Tony Soprano Jr." Victor recognizes the name and looks scared. AJ doesn't protest the use of his family name to intimidate.
The morning, Tony asks Carm if AJ is still asleep, and Carmela says that he stayed over at his friends' house last night, and sounded good when he called. Tony says that AJ's been on his medication for a week, so it might be kicking in. Carm thinks it's a pleasure to not have him lying around the house. Nice. Way to show concern for your only son. ["Eh. It is AJ." -- Wing Chun]
The guys hang out at the Bing. Christopher walks in and hands Tony an envelope, adding that he called Sal Vitro to come and resod his lawn. Poor Sal Vitro. Whenever one of these guys fucks up, it seems like Sal has to pay for it; I'm sure no one is paying him for his labor. Tony says that he and Paulie worked out a payment schedule, and points him out over by the bar. Christopher takes a breath and says that he's going to say hello. I really thought there would be gunfire at this point. The two men are civil to one another, and Paulie says, "Shit happens. What're you gonna do? No point in ruminatin'." Christopher apologizes, and Paulie apologies back and orders Christopher a club soda. Christopher thinks things over, realizes that he might as well just give in, and then says, "Fuck it. Whatever he's having." The bartender pours him what looks like either vodka or gin, and they toast.
Speaking of drinking liquor, AJ and his newfound fraternity brothers are doing shots when one of the Jasons gets a call telling him that Victor is at a party nearby. Apparently, Victor has yet to pay his debts. AJ actually smiles for the first time this episode, and agrees to go with the guys to find Victor. At the party, Victor is trying to impress some chicks by saying that he's going to transfer to Syracuse. Shout-out? That's where I live! And went to graduate school! Anyway, the Jasons arrive and wrestle Victor out to AJ's SUV. They drive Victor out to the woods and start beating the crap out of him. Jason Gervasi busts out some sulfuric acid (who just carries that around?) and dumps it on Victor's foot. As AJ helps to hold down a screaming Victor, he gets a look on his face that seems a mixture of disgust and arousal. It's a really creepy look. I guess he didn't just get his depressive nature from his father; he also got his penchant for violence.
Christopher -- clearly a little drunk now -- is waxing poetic to the guys about how great it is to have a kid. Paulie jokes that Christopher's kid probably wants to be put up for adoption. Drunken Christopher doesn't get the joke, but then talks about how it'll be 2027 before his daughter gets out of college. Paulie cracks that if she takes after her father, she'll probably still be in fourth grade then, and be working at the Bing. The other guys all laugh, and at least to Christopher's hazy mind, they seem to be laughing really, really hard, even Tony. Everything goes into slow motion as Christopher looks around and sees everyone laughing at him, at his daughter, and his family. Christopher stumbles briefly and then stomps out. Paulie and Tony try to convince him that they're just kidding, but he leaves anyway.
Christopher shows up at JT's apartment. JT seems reluctant to let him in, since it's late and JT is trying to finish a script. JT suggests that they call Christopher's sponsor, but he's out of town. Christopher starts rambling that none of those guys are his friends. JT just wants Christopher to drink some coffee and sober up. Christopher starts talking about the shit he's seen and the shit he's done, but JT still just wants him to sober up. Christopher accuses JT of being a robot, adding that his friends have abandoned him and he's been "ostrafied." Christopher concludes, "My heart's fucking breaking, and you're blowing me off." Christopher changes tactics and starts talking about how he could take the Family down with one phone call, with all he knows. JT really doesn't want to hear about it, since it would probably make him an accessory after the fact, or at least require him to testify or put his life in danger because he knows too much. Christopher starts talking about Adriana and Ralphie, and then about Gravano living in Arizona, and how it would be closer to Hollywood. Yeah, that decision worked out really well for Sammy the Bull, who is currently back in prison because he couldn't leave behind his life of crime. Christopher says that he let JT be part of his movie, which kind of pisses JT off, so he finally blurts, "Chris! You're IN the MAFIA!" Hearing that word seems to snap Christopher out of his sulk, or at least sober him up slightly, or maybe realize that JT knows too much. Christopher starts to walk away, but then suddenly turns and shoots JT right through the forehead. JT falls to the floor, dead. Damn, that was a good shot. Christopher uses his sleeve to let himself out the door and avoid leaving prints. I guess if you're a recurring guest star on this show like Tim Daly, that's not a bad way to go out. At least it was memorable.
Tony arrives home late at night, listening to "Tom Sawyer" by Rush on the radio. He hears tires screeching at the end of his driveway, so he reaches into his truck and pulls out a gun. He quickly realizes that it's AJ pulling in, and puts the gun away. Foreshadowing? AJ and Tony head inside, where they find Carmela and Meadow sitting at the kitchen table, snacking. Carmela explains that Rachael Ray was on Leno and they got hungry. Tony sits down and grabs some food. Carmela says that Meadow had "a mystery date" that she won't discuss. Meadow smiles enigmatically. AJ sits down with them and teases Meadow that the mystery is probably that she had a date to begin with. Tony and Carmela exchange a look, pleased that their family seems to be back to normal, not knowing what AJ was up to, or why he's so wired.
Christopher arrives back at his own house, and finds that a small tree to his front door has fallen over. He bends and straightens the tree up, as if that will make his life come back together, and heads inside.