Sopranos Season One, Episode 05 - "College"

Sopranos Season One, Episode 05 - "College"

This week Tony found that no matter where he goes, his business goes with him.

Tony escorted Meadow on a series of visits to colleges in Maine, and the trip went pretty well. Tony and Meadow even talked about Tony's "business." But then Tony spotted an old "friend" at a gas station, and everything changed.

The "friend" was Fabian "Febby" Petrulio, made man turned rat, who entered and then dropped out of the Witness Protection Program. Febby's now known as Fred Peters, travel agent.

So Tony spent the better part of his trip to Maine dropping Meadow off at college interviews and then trying to get the drop on Petrulio. When he finally did catch up to him at the travel agency, Tony sent Febby on a one-way trip by means of a wire around his neck.

Meanwhile, back home, it rained like the Great Flood and Carmela was laid up with the flu. Caring for his mother made Anthony, Jr. climb the walls, so Carmela sent him to a friend's to lose himself in Nintendo for a few hours. Soon there was a knock at the door, and it was none other than Father Phil dropping by to give her a status report on the parish clothing drive...and mangia. Carmela was happy to see him--maybe a little too happy.

While Carmela and Father Phil ate ziti and chewed the fat, the phone rang. It was Dr. Melfi, trying to reach Tony to reschedule his appointment. With Tony's therapist's gender now known to Carmela, all hell broke loose so it's a good thing a priest was in the house. Carmela poured out her heart about her marriage, her fears for her children and her soul while simultaneously pouring the Father several glasses of Chianti. Before long, they wound up in a near kiss, and Father Phil--being a little too Chianti-enhanced to drive home--spent the night on the Soprano couch.

When Tony and Meadow returned, Carmela came clean about Father Phil spending the night. But before Tony could get too worked up about it, she let him know that "Jennifer" Melfi called for him. The cat's out of the bag and Tony's in the doghouse.

Sopranos Season One, Episode 04 - "Meadowlands"

Sopranos Season One, Episode 04 - "Meadowlands"

Tony hadn't been sleeping well.

He had dreams - not nightmares, exactly, but unsettling just the same. He didn't dream about the ducks; they've been replaced...by Dr. Melfi - a not-completely-dressed Dr. Melfi. And what did this self-respecting capo do when he found himself having racy dreams about his therapist? He had her followed, of course.

Tony called in Vin Makazian - a police detective with a gambling habit - to get information on Jennifer Melfi, but didn't tell him why. So Makazian, assuming Melfi was one of Tony's goomahs, did Tony a "favor" by beating up a guy she was on a date with.

Meanwhile, Christopher, leaving the emergency room after his beating, was frantic. He thought Tony had him mock-whacked for giving Meadow speed, but he's not sure. And when he went to Brendan's place for answers, he found him in the bathtub with a brand new hole in his head. But Tony didn't order the hit, Junior did. And when Tony found out, he made a beeline for the Sit-Tite Luncheonette, where he stapled a parking ticket to Mikey Palmice and confronted his uncle. Junior may be old, but he's not the kind of guy who kowtows to his own nephew. He tells Tony that the next time he comes to see him, "come heavy, or not at all."

After the Sit-Tite incident, Tony decided to resolve his issues with Junior. Over lobsters at the Bada Bing, he and the other capos decide that, with Jackie Aprile in a coma and not long for this world, Tony should take over as Boss. But they also agree that Junior should be allowed to think he's running things. After all, it makes the old loffa happy and gives the rest of them a lightning rod to take the hits from the FBI.

While it seems things are finally falling into place in one family, they're falling apart in the other. When Tony tells Carmela he wants to quit therapy, she tells him she'll leave him if he does. Anthony, Jr. is getting into fights at school, and Meadow complicated things by telling him what their dad really does for a living.

Sopranos Season One, Episode 03 - "Denial, Anger, Acceptance"

Sopranos Season One, Episode 03 - "Denial, Anger, Acceptance"

Junior Soprano has not been smiling much lately.

Although Christopher and Brendan returned the stolen goods to Comley Trucking like he demanded, Comley thanked Tony for it, not Junior. Now Mikey Palmice is telling him that if Tony won't do something about those two guys, somebody else should - and Junior's starting to agree with him.

But Tony's got other things on his mind. He's worried about Jackie Aprile, who's in the hospital with inoperable cancer. He feels guilty about Artie and Charmaine Bucco, who are broke and going through a second arson investigation for the Vesuvio fire. And he's uneasy about Carmela using their home to host a big hospital benefit.

If that weren't enough, he's having trouble with a new business partner: a Hasidic man who agreed to give Tony 25 percent of his motel in return for "persuading" his son-in-law to give his daughter a divorce. After Tony, Silvio, and Paulie spent the better part of the night getting the old man what he wanted, he tried to renege.

Meanwhile, Christopher and Brendan's judgment is put to the test again when Meadow and Hunter ask them for some crank to help them study for the SATs. Christopher's rationale is that to protect the girls from strangers, he'll give them some "just this one time."

But here we go again - this is exactly the kind of thinking that got Christopher and Brendan into trouble with Junior.

Speaking of Junior, he visits Livia at Green Grove and tells her about his problem with Christopher and Brendan. While Livia goes to bat for Christopher - Tony loves him like a son, and he once put up her storm windows - she tells him "she doesn't know" Brendan. Those few words from Livia result in a mock execution for Christopher and a real one for Brendan.

And a smile on Junior's face.