Bust-Out

We open with mugshots of Tony. The cops are asking a civilian if he's absolutely sure that he is identifying Tony. We will call this guy uh

Okay, listen. Here's the thing. These horrible terrorist attacks have changed every single thing about my life and I hate it. I hate that it changes the way I look at things, the way I live my life, and the way I do my job. I hate that I can't even make jokes in recaps the same way I used to. I hate that I can't call this guy Citizen DeadMan, because that's what he really, truly is, and if I was writing this recap last month, or last year when it originally aired, I would have called him Citizen DeadMan without batting an eye. And if we're all supposed to get through this by getting back to normal, I'm going to try to make the same jokes (although I'll admit the jokes are light in a show as good as The Sopranos) and the three of you that actually read the recaps of the second season will just have to go along with me, okay? I think it's important, and we'll get a better recap out of it. I mean, this show is about murderers, isn't it? Citizen DeadMan, it is, then. Thanks for letting me rant.

Citizen DeadMan says that he's sure that one of the guys was Tony, but that he didn't get a good look at the other man because of the glare on his windshield. He describes him as "heavy-set," though. He says when he first heard the gunshots he thought he was hearing kids with fireworks, but when he saw the two men drive off, he hid in some ragweed and started to understand what was going on. He says he didn't even finish changing his tire, he just walked over to a phone booth and called the cops. Isn't he beautiful? Also, have my assistant order this guy a cell phone so he can join the rest of us in the '00s. He says he'd hate himself if he didn't come forward and help them put "these people behind bars." He asks who the kid was that got killed. The cops solemnly say that the kid got mixed up with some bad people. "Crack?" Citizen DeadMan asks, all deadpan and perfect, like he's so white-collar and pampered that the worst thing he could think of was crack. It's quite funny, and what's funnier is the solemn agreement the cops give him so he doesn't know he's just fingered a Mob boss as a murderer. Citizen DeadMan hands back the book of photographs and just walks off. It's strange, but it's so he's out of our way as the camera pans down to some incredibly graphic shots of Bevelaqua's body with a jillion bullet holes in it. Yikes. One in the neck. I had a nightmare about getting shot in the neck when I was six, and I still get the creeps whenever I think of puncture wounds there. Moving on.

A carousel inside a mall. Tony watches and drinks a Coke. He hears a child calling out, "Mommy!" in that way that tells you a young boy is lost, or that Carol Anne's in the ceiling again. Cut to Bevelaqua, arms akimbo, shouting through his tears, "Mommy! Mommy!" We watch Tony and Pussy shoot the shit out of him. Cut back to the little boy. Tony smiles and walks over to the kid. He asks if the boy's lost. Before we get treated to a Tony-Loves-The-Kids scene, the boy's mother swipes him up and scolds him for running off. Tony lays on the charm, saying that his own boy often ran off at his age. This woman ain't havin' it, and just flounces off, leaving Tony standing alone. He's already over it.

Richie walks up and tells Tony it's a good thing he could meet him. Tony says it wasn't a problem, that he went over to Brookstone and got a scale. He asks Richie what's wrong. "Fucking Vic Barone," it sounds like he says, and I know Sars will fix it for me if I'm wrong. ["I think that's right." -- Sars] "Well, as long as the two of you are happy," Tony snarks. Richie says that the "Bow-tie-wearing motherfucker" is charging him twice what anyone else is getting charged. Tony says that Richie should just pay the tonnage and charge extra for the pickup to offset the costs; he adds that Richie's like the woman with a ham under her arm, crying over not having any bread. Richie's all, "What the fuck?" and Tony says it doesn't really matter. He says the point is that Jackie never concentrated on sanitation, so he doesn't know what he's going to be able to do. He says he'll try and fix it for Richie. Richie gives some threatening looks and says that Tony should be able to do something, since he's part owner of the company. He walks off, and Tony smirks and shakes his head in time to the end of the carousel music.

I love that Carmela is still reading Memoirs of a Geisha. Tony walks into the bedroom and announces he wants to spend more time with A.J. Carmela says that he should be spending more time with Meadow, since she'll be leaving for college soon. Tony says he's not worried about Meadow, and that he knows she can take care of herself. He kicks off his clothes and gets into bed. Carmela asks, "Why the sudden burst of fatherhood?" Tony snaps back, "Can you say anything without being sarcastic?" Carmela apologizes. Tony doesn't. Carm says it's a good idea, that A.J. adores Tony and would love to spend more time with him. Tony says that A.J. needs to toughen up. Carm says that he needs to open up. Tony says that someone needs to teach A.J. "not to be a sucker" and not to end up with the wrong people. He says he doesn't want another Christopher on his hands. He says that Christopher is lucky to be alive. He says they found the other "prick" dead. He says it with shifty eyes over towards Carmela. "Kid was twenty-three or something," he says. Carmela sighs and reads her book.

Tony walks into Ramsey Outdoor and tells a stocker to put three cases of Ramlosa bottled water in his car. The stocker cheerfully obliges. Tony walks over to David, who's on the phone ordering picnic coolers. Paulie tells a take-out guy to put his armload of food on the table. They tell him to put the bill on the company's tab. David tries to order both red and blue coolers, and Richie says he can only order the red coolers, because the blue ones won't sell as well. I don't know, people. I'm just telling you what they said. He's all, "Red. Fuck blue. Red sells." Brought to you by the National Red Foundation. David says his guy can only give him blue coolers now and will give him a price on the red later. Richie says "Fuck that" again, because the guy's never getting paid anyway. David gets back on the phone and tells the guy to send him the red coolers. Tony echoes all of our opinions by observing that it's an awful lot of work for some "fucking coolers." Richie gives his words of wisdom: "Coolers are like scissors. Everybody wants one. Nobody has a fucking idea how much they cost. You put a Nigerian out on the street, have them sell these for a couple three bucks a piece, who's not gonna say, 'Fuck it. Give me one.'" Indeed. David rubs his temple. Tony asks if David booked the airline tickets yet. David stands up in a huff and says that people are going to start getting suspicious if a sporting goods store starts buying airline tickets in bulk. Tony says that he should just say the tickets are a promotional device. He says not to worry about it. He should put it on different lines of credit. David says he's all of a sudden buying all kinds of weird shit, like picnic coolers and Ramlosa water, and eventually one of his vendors is going to start noticing things are strange. Tony just rocks back and forth in his chair. Richie tells David that until his money and his credit runs out and the cops are notified, he needs to just keep ordering shit. "Unless you're ready to pay the principal you owe us," he adds. Tony nods in agreement.

Tony and A.J. are rough-housing by the pool. Oh, I hate it when I write like my mother talking to my Aunt Kathy. Tony's more playing, and A.J.'s telling Tony to quit it. Tony tells A.J. to turn the heat up in the pool. A.J. walks over to the control box and recoils in terror. "Oh, fuck! Fuck!" he shouts, as he jumps back seven feet. Tony asks what's wrong. "Spider," A.J. shudders. Tony looks inside the box. "So, kill it," he says. A.J. tells Tony to kill the spider. Tony tells A.J. to get over there and kill the spider. Tony puts his hands inside the box and scoops something into his cupped hands. He walks towards A.J. "Come here," he says. "No way," A.J. says as he backs up. Tony takes another step forward, and A.J. awkwardly scuttles into the pool to avoid having to look at the spider. He's all flailing arms and flailing legs and I hear my roommate Ray mutter, "I hear you, A.J." I can't even tell you how many times I've found Ray standing on a chair, screeching like Smurfette to get me to kill some spider. "It was a freakin' leaf, you idiot!" Tony yells after A.J., laughing at the fear in his kid's eyes. There's another boy that hangs out in my apartment that would also jump into a pool of water to avoid arachnids, but he'd be very upset if I said his name here. Wait a minute. He hasn't read a recap of mine in months. His name begins with an "S" and ends with "tee-rrified of spiders and creepy-crawlies."

Liliana walks out the back door and yells to Tony that the police are there. Tony asks if she let them in. She says she did. "Warrant!" Tony yells at her. He asks how you say that word in Polish. Liliana is unfazed.

Tony walks in to find Agent Harris and another man inside. The other guy introduces himself as Detective Giardana of the Essex County police force. Tony says he's pleased to meet him, but if he doesn't have a warrant, he should get the fuck out of Tony's house because he's busy. Giardana says, "I can see that." Tony says that Giardana is a comedian, and asks if that's how he broke his nose. Giardana is unamused. Agent Harris says that they could have called, but they wanted to be courteous. He tells Tony that he needs to come down to the station and answer some questions about Matthew Bevelaqua. Tony is fazed for a second, but A.J. walks up behind him and calls his name. Tony tells A.J. to do something out at the cabana and that he'll join him in a couple of minutes. A.J. leaves, and Harris says that Tony can come in at his earliest convenience. Tony asks Harris if they can roll the garbage cans down on their way out, since it's pick-up tomorrow. Harris and Giardana leave.

Outside, A.J. notes that those are the same FBI men that were here before. "What did they want?" he asks. Tony tells A.J. not to tell Carmela about this, because of how she "gets." Tony doesn't answer the question, though.

Two black cars are pulling up at a dead end in the middle of nowhere. That must mean the pussy and the lispy are having some conversations. Pussy gets into Lispy Skip's car. Pussy gives Skip a partial listing of the investors at Webistics. Skip's pissed off, because he knows that Tony got fingered on Matthew's shooting. "Did you fuck me? Did you fuck me?" Skip's screaming at Pussy. He asks if Pussy knew about it. Pussy says he didn't. Skip threatens that if Pussy knew about it, was there, and didn't wear a wire, then he's in serious trouble. He says that the witness said there was a "husky accomplice." Pussy says he wasn't there and had nothing to do with it. Skip says he's going to decide to believe Pussy, but he wants to get a tape with Tony clearly saying, "I killed Matthew Bevalaqua." Pussy says that if he had been there with Tony for the murder, it probably would have cleared things up with Tony just a bit, and he wouldn't be as suspicious. Skip tells Pussy to get the tape. They both pout, and Skip warns that Pussy doesn't want to see his darker side. Heh.

Tony's lawyer tells Tony that the cops are just looking to nail him down to a story on Matthew. He tells Tony to keep his cool and lay low for a little while. Tony says this is some "bad shit." The lawyer asks how this all happened. "Mid-life crisis?" he asks.

Carmela's meeting with her girls. Everyone bails quickly to pick up their kids except for Christine, David's wife. She lags behind to talk to Carmela, who wants to talk to her as well. Carm apologizes about Eric's car. Chris says this isn't the first time something like this has happened. She says that it might be a good thing that Eric won't have a car. They hem and haw over their children's choices over college until Chris's brother shows up to pick her up. Enter: Carmela's new crush. His name is Victor Musto, and he's got eyes like Seinfeld's Wiz. Apparently he's "the guy from Riptide." I'm too young to remember Riptide, and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing, but a quick search of the IMDb tells you that this guy is a TV-movie Mastah! Victor, a contractor, can't stop drooling over Carmela, and she eventually asks for his card, saying she needs some wallpapering done. She makes lunch plans with Chris at Vesuvio and tells Victor she's going to call him about the wallpaper. He leaves as Carmela thinks, "And some grouting."

Outside the Soprano Manor, Victor makes a comment about Carmela. Chris tells him to not even think about it since Carmela is married to Tony Soprano. Victor says it doesn't matter who she's married to; he respects the ring. "Especially that ring," Chris chuckles. "It probably came off a dead person's finger." I love this show.

David is on his back on a pool table, pushing a gun to his face. He holds the trigger and moves the gun around to different places on his head. Chris finally calls him from upstairs, and David jumps up on the pool table and puts the gun inside the ceiling tiles. Chris walks over and asks him what he's doing. David screeches that he's "fixing the fucking light bulb," and she tells him that he's the one that's always going on about how the felt on the table is going to get fucked up. She walks off, and David starts crying again.

Janice is getting fucked by Richie. She's got lousy dirty talk. Richie's got an ass I wish I never saw. He fucks her and holds a gun to her head as she shouts, "Oh, baby, you're the best! Oh, baby, you're the best! You're the boss! You're the boss! It should be you!" On that last line, Richie pulls out and lies back on the couch. He asks her what she meant by, "It should be you." Janice says she was just making love to him, but Richie's not buying it. She says she was in the heat of passion. "Boss this, boss that," he moans, wringing his hands. He asks how she can think of shit like that during sex. She lights a joint and says that powerful men turn her on. Richie asks if that's another dig at him. Janice laughs, and Richie leans in to kiss her. He says he's got to be loyal. "Without that, we crumble," he says. "Tell that to Paul Castellano," Janice says. Richie says he's old-school. Janice says her brother needs help. Uncle Junior still has friends and thinks the world of Richie. She hands him the joint. He smokes and moans over that damn jacket again. What a horrid tattoo that man has. There's a whirring noise, and Janice jumps up quickly. It's Ma, and she's riding the staircase chair down to the first floor. Janice says that if Ma needs something, she should just call. Livia asks if they're smoking marijuana down there, and says that she'd like to watch television. Janice says they should get another television for her room. Livia calls Janice "Rose Kennedy," with all of her money to throw around. Richie has the decency to put his pants back on.

Carmela has a wet dream and wakes up alone.

Tony and Pussy are having a meeting at Ramsey Outdoor. Tony wonders why the cops haven't called Pussy in yet. Pussy says they will. They joke that they could get twenty to life for murder and racketeering. Paulie and Furio enter. Paulie says it's not good. Tony rushes Paulie, grabs him by the neck, and says he will cut him. "Just tell me." Paulie tells Tony to calm down. Where's Silvio, by the way? He says it's not a rat. "Thank God," Pussy interrupts. Paulie says there's an eyeball witness. Tony freaks out. He asks Pussy if he saw anybody. Paulie says it'll be just a bump in the road. He says his person at the station knows that this guy is just a civilian. "A flag-saluting motherfucker." Furio tells Tony that he should probably "lamb-chop it for a while." Pussy says that he keeps a suitcase in his trunk all the time. Paulie says they all know Pussy's tendency to just disappear. Pussy says that everyone can fuck themselves. "Fucking bygones are never bygones," he says. Tony says he's going to have to lam it, but he'll do it with lots of money so he doesn't end up slumming it. He says he's not going to be like some guy named Mickey that had five minutes to hightail it down to some rat-infested hole in "Elvis country." Furio asks Paulie where he could find Elvis Country. Paulie explains that it's anyplace without Jews or Italians. Furio says he still doesn't understand. "It's fucking starting!" David shouts, storming into the room. They yell for David to get back into his office. David says he opened his mail and it's a lawsuit. He's pissed off, but not as pissed at Tony, who charges David and tells him to get back into his hole. A scared David retreats, knocking over sporting supplies, and Tony calls after him a bit more gently, telling him that he's doing a good job. Tony walks back to the boys. Paulie walks over and tells Tony not to worry about the witness. Furio says in Italian, "That's true. We'll find him." "Exactly," Pussy says. Paulie says that Pussy doesn't know what Furio just said. Pussy says that he does. Paulie quizzes him, asking what Furio said in Italian. Pussy holds up a very large, quite sharp-looking tool and answers, "Sit on this, cocksucker." Everyone laughs, because that's how you settle arguments in their family. Tony says he's five minutes away from the can for the rest of his life and he's laughing. Paulie says he has to laugh.

Vesuvio. Chris and Carmela are complaining about the lack of romance in their relationships. Chris says that David's hardly home these days. Carm says that David's been working. Chris says that David has a disease. She says he's got a gambling problem. Carmela apologizes. Chris says she's glad the store's in her name, so he can't gamble it away. Artie walks up and takes the menus away from the women. He says he's going to make them a special tasting menu. Carmela is pleased. Artie says he knows that Carm usually orders Pellegrino, but he got a special deal on Ramlosa, and he'd like her to try it. He places the bottle of water on her table and walks away. Carm tells Chris it was nice to meet her brother the other day. Carm says that Vic is a doll, and that when his wife was dying, he waited on her hand and foot. His wife died of breast cancer. "I thought there was a sadness about him," Carmela says. She asks if they had any children. Chris says that Vic's wife had a "hostile womb." Carmela shakes her head and says she had a dream about Vic the other night. Chris begins to tease Carm, but Carm insists he was just wallpapering her dining room in the dream. Chris says that Vic was asking about Carmela as well, and that the dream obviously means that her subconscious wants him to wallpaper her dining room. Carmela folds and unfolds her hands, thinking all kinds of naughty things.

A.J. is walking through the living room towards the front door as Tony stops him. Tony is carrying a fishing rod. He says that it's a gift for A.J. A.J. doesn't seem impressed, so Tony reminds him that it's the rod he wanted for Christmas last year but he had to back-order it. He says that they should go fishing. A.J.'s all, "Okay." Tony asks what A.J. is doing now. A.J. asks if they have to go fishing at that moment, and Tony says he was thinking about the two of them going to a movie or something. A.J. says he can't; he's on his way to the mall. Tony laughs because a movie is more important than the mall, and then A.J. has to go into the complicated explanation of how young teens congregate at the mall. He says that he's not the only one going to the mall. "Brad, Alan, Heidi, her sister maybe." Tony asks if it's like a double date and A.J. gets all upset, saying that they just go to the mall, eat at the food court, eat some more, and hang out. It made perfect sense when we were fifteen, didn't it? A.J. leaves for the mall. Tony rubs his head and looks rejected.

Therapy. Tony tells Melfi that Meadow did the same thing at A.J.'s age. He laughs about how boys and girls always travel in groups. He says that in his day, a boy and a girl went on a date. Melfi says that this isn't about A.J. going to the mall in a group, but rather that he went to the mall instead of the movies with Tony. Tony says that A.J.'s at an age where he's going to have a life of his own. He says now it's always, "We're gonna do this. We're gonna do that." Melfi says that she's heard Tony talk many times of doing things with A.J. Tony says that's over now. Melfi says that this period is bittersweet, because Tony's glad he's growing up, but he's sad to lose him. Tony looks down and is quiet for a while. He says that he might be going away for a long time for something he didn't do. Melfi is quiet, and Tony asks why she isn't being sympathetic. Melfi says that they're not supposed to go into specifics on these kinds of things. Tony says that he'll specifically say that he didn't do anything wrong. He might be put away for the rest of his life, and he can't discuss it with his shrink. "What the fuck are you for, anyway?" he asks. Melfi asks how it made him feel to know that he might be sent away to prison. Tony laughs at the stereotypical question and then answers that he's got to stay around a little while longer for the kids. "Especially my boy." He says that once his kids are out of the house, the government can do whatever the fuck they want to do. They can kill him, incarcerate him, whatever. Melfi: "I've never seen you like this." Tony: "Like what?" Melfi: "Scared." Tony smiles and says he wouldn't use that word. "But sometimes I feelI don't know. You motherfuckers. You motherfuckers." Melfi tenses, and looks scared herself. "I don't fucking deserve this," Tony says, holding back tears. Melfi looks down and asks how his medication is working. There's a silence, and the Melfi says they should probably stop.

Ramsey Outdoor at night. Paulie pulls out some tennis shoes as Tony walks up. Paulie tells him that they don't have the witness yet. He says it's the FBI, and they can keep their information pretty tight. Tony tells Paulie to go home and get some rest. Paulie asks if Tony wants to stop by the Bing and get something to eat. Tony tells him to go home. Paulie asks what he should do. Tony says he needs to think. They hug, and Paulie leaves. Tony spots a tent set up inside the store. He unzips the tent and finds David asleep to a pizza box. David says some of the airline tickets came in. He asks if he should split them with him and Richie. Tony says that the tickets are his and that it was his idea. Then he asks David if that's where he sleeps. David says it's easier than going home sometimes. Tony says he knows what he means. Tony says he remembers when David transferred into the tenth grade. "Fucking army brat," he says. David starts playing Remember When as well, but Tony cuts him off. "You told me not to get in the game," David says. "Why'd you let me do it?" Tony says he knew David had this business, and it's his nature to do this. David asks what the end is. "Planned bankruptcy," Tony says. David bursts into tears. Tony says David's not the first guy to get busted out, and this is how Tony makes his living. He says that when this is over, David can go wherever he wants and do anything he wants to do. David keeps crying, clutching himself until Tony gets disgusted and walks away.

Close-up on a starter pistol. A.J.'s swim meet. Carmela cheers A.J. on, but it sounds like she's just calling him in for dinner. No Tony or Meadow to be seen, by the way. The extra standing behind Carmela is really digging his role, by the way. He's just swaying back and forth, clapping, staring at the wrong part of the pool. I love it.

A.J. walks up in his towel and swim shoes after the meet. Carm hugs him and says it was so exciting. He says he almost came in second. He sees that Tony isn't there and is disappointed. Carm says that Tony got called away and that he'll make the meet. A.J. points out that the season is over, and Carm corrects herself, saying that Tony will be at the meet year. "Okay," A.J. says, and walks away. Carmela is unhappy.

Tony walks into his lawyer's office, carrying a duffel bag. He asks if the lawyer has a safe. He does. He opens the duffel bag. It is filled with cash. Four hundred thousand dollars, actually. He says that "if this goes down" he's getting out of the "area code." He says that Carmela might come in every week, asking for an allowance, and the lawyer is to always give her the money. If for some reason she needs all of it, he's to give it to her. Tony says Carm's smart enough that she probably won't do that, but just in case, he should give it all to her if she needs it. The lawyer asks what he should do if Tony's gone longer than the money lasts. Tony says he won't have to go into his own "kick." Tony says the witness can't remain nameless forever, and the lawyer says he didn't hear that.

Carmela sits in an empty room, staring at her wallpaper. Her phone rings. It's Vic. Andrea Bocelli plays in the background, reminding us what the spring of 2000 sounded like. Vic's in his car, apologizing about earlier. Carm says it was a "crazy thing" and that there's no need to apologize. Vic says he can send Ramon to finish up and he can take a different job farther away and there'd be no charge. Carmela says she wouldn't think of it, and she'd rather he sent Ramon to the other job so the two of them could talk during his lunch break. "Talk." And she could make some food. She starts listing off food in some strange phone sex until Meadow catches Carmela. Carm gets off the phone, and Meadow asks who she was talking to. "It's nothing. It's the wallpaper man."

A song starts playing that must be called "Fucking Cat! Get Off The Piano!" We pan across a living room where Mr. and Mrs. Citizen DeadMan read their respective materials. Mr. DeadMan reads a book (Anarchy: State and Utopia), and Mrs. DeadMan reads the paper. She starts calling out the Lord's name once she reads that the victim in the case has been identified and that he has ties to the Soprano family, and that the murderer may have been a high-up in the Mafia. Mr. DeadMan is already on his feet, cursing the cops for not telling him who he was fingering. He's in the other room, off-camera, as he asks where the phone number is. Mrs. DeadMan screeches, "On the fridge! On the fridge!" You can see the terror in her face. She races off-camera to help him find the number, scolding him for trying to be a hero, and we never see these two actors again. It's an incredibly effective scene, and another reason to love this show.

Vic finds David drunk at a bar. David thanks Vic for coming. Vic says that Chris has been worried about him. David apologizes for everything. He says he's broke and not gambling anymore. He's crying again, saying he screwed up. Vic says they'll get him back on his feet. David asks Vic where he and Christine were when he needed help in the first place. Vic tells David not to ever talk about Christine like that. "Oh, fuck her. Fuck you!" David whines. Vic asks how much David lost. David says that he lost everything. The car, the business, everything. Vic informs David that Eric got into Georgetown today, and tells David that as soon as Eric's out of the house, David's got to go as well. David snuffles, and Vic quickly realizes that David must have gambled away Eric's college money as well. He curses out David and says he'll pay for Eric's college. David puts his arm around Vic and calls him a good man. He thanks him. Vic realizes that David shouldn't have been able to gamble away the business, since it's in Christina's name. David says he got mixed up with some bad people. He says that he owes Tony Soprano lots of money, so Tony and his guys came in and ate the business from the inside like termites. "It's a bust-out." Vic asks about the cops, and David scoffs. "They're animals, Vic."

Tony watches some war propaganda films as A.J. does homework on the floor in front of him. Tony's phone rings. It's Paulie. He says the other party that said he saw something that they know didn't happen now knows that he didn't see what they know didn't happen. "Sleep well, my friend," Paulie says to Tony. Tony holds back tears as he looks over at A.J.

Tony walks into the powder room and sits down. He is in shock. He is upset. He is happy. He sniffs and blinks and sighs. He laughs and cries.

"You seem relieved," Melfi says to Tony. Tony says he is. Melfi asks if the witness just changed his or her mind. Tony says he doesn't know what happened. Melfi looks skeptical. Tony tells Melfi that he met a woman in Italy that reminded him of her. She was smart. The woman told him that he's his worst enemy. Melfi scoffs that it's a bit clichd to say something like that. Tony says that you had to be there, that this woman was one of those "witchy broads." Melfi says she didn't mean to sound "disparaging." He says it's a different culture over there. "Like sybils." Melfi: "Sybils?" Tony says you had to be there. "Okay, so I wanted to fuck her." Melfi blushes as Tony says he brings all of this on himself, and that's what she keeps telling him. Melfi says that's what's at root, but the question is, how does he stop. Tony smiles, nods, and says he dodged a "very big bullet" today and he's feeling good, so he doesn't want any more psychiatry today. He gets up and leaves the room.

Beansie sits in a wheelchair with both legs in casts. Tony sits down to him and gives him an envelope with fifty grand inside. Beansie doesn't want the money. Tony says he can donate it to the spinal-cord injury foundation. Beansie says he's going to walk again. Tony says that in the meantime he can donate, get his picture up, inspire people a little. Beansie says he's not going to be anybody's fucking poster boy. They argue over the money, and Tony tells Beansie he has to take the money. Eventually Beansie does, and Tony leaves, beaming with happiness.

Carmela minces onions, wearing her nice clothes and her good make-up. Shania Twain plays as the doorbell rings. Carmela yells for Liliana to answer the door as she fixes her hair and removes her apron. She walks over to the front door. It's not Vic, though. It's Ramon. Carmela is disappointed. Ramon tells her that Vic had to go to the other job. Carmela is sad.

Ramsey Outdoor. Liquidation sale. They're taking everything out of the building. Two men lock the front doors and put up a leasing sign.

Soprano boat. Tony lets A.J. steer. Tony cranks up the throttle all the way as he explains to A.J. how to steer one of these things. The boat's called "The Stugots," for you trivia buffs. They let the boat go as fast as it can, and they are unaware that they completely dump over a rowboat of people. The people shout and try to warn Tony and A.J., but they don't hear a thing. They continue steering the boat at high speeds, unaware of the people in the water below them. "The wheel in the sky keeps on turning," Steve Perry sings to us. "I don't know where I'll be tomorrow." You know, just in case you didn't understand this episode's theme.