History Recap / TheSopranosS3E4EmployeeOfTheMonth

* Pragmatic Villainy:Tony plans to retaliate against the attack on his sister but only for the sake of his image.

* NotActuallyTheUltimateQuestion: Paulie astutely asks how much of a financial burden Johnny Sack has accepted with buying a luxurious house in Jersey. But the wheels spinning in Tony's mind highlight the more crucial question. Why would Johnny Sack buy an expensive house in Jersey despite the fact that it would set him back considerably?

* NotTheUltimateQuestion: Paulie astutely asks how much of a financial burden Johnny Sack has accepted with buying a luxurious house in Jersey. But the wheels spinning in Tony's mind highlight the more crucial question. Why would Johnny Sack buy an expensive house in Jersey despite the fact that it would set him back considerably?

** Janice, after [[{{TheMafiya}} The Mafiya]] put her in the hospital, puts on an [[{{TheAnother}} Atoner]] act as a [[{{HeelFaithTurn}} brand new born again Christian]]. Tony doesn't buy it for a second, and actually [[{{ProperlyParanoid}} worries]] about the inevitable repercussions.

* GilliganCut: Richard expresses frustration that he can't act out his desires to exact private justice on Dr. Melfi's rapist. The camera cuts from Richard's tightly clenched fists to Tony chopping wood with an axe. A very obvious highlighting of the fact that Melfi does have a resource to pursue revenge against her rapist, and she is thinking of using it.

* ItsAllMyFault: Dr. Melfi to a degree blames herself for the rape. Lampshades when Melfi admits to Dr. Kupferberg that the vending machine in her dream symbolizes the self-blaming.

** That Dr. Melfi is deeply traumatized by the rape, disturbingly so, resonates with the years or even decades long struggles that many rape victims suffer.

* AnxietyDream / OpinionChangingDream: Dr. Melfi has a dream that potentially has elements of both. The dream features Jesus Rossi trying to rape her, but Tony (symbolized by a Rottweiler dog) brutally mauls him. It is open to interpretation whether the latter part persuades Melfi against [[{{WhatYouAreInTheDark}} pursuing revenge]].

* RealEstateScam: The Esplanade project promises to be a massive score both crime families on both sides of the river.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: It turns out that the bug planted in the basement lamp is working despite Tony's precaution of having the furnace fans go full blast. In less than a minute, the FBI agents stationed in the van hear everything that they could possibly need to bust at least Chris and Jackie Jr. for the Rutgers campus robbery. But the agents never make the connection, and instead get totally hung up on Chris referring to Jackie Jr. as "Lord [[{{PrecisionFStrike}}Precision F-Strike]]pants" as though it were some kind of code speak.

** Ralph also tries to insinuate himself to Jackie Jr. as an [[{{EvilMentor}} Evil Mentor]] and [[{{FalseFriend}}False Friend]], with his own [[{{ItsAllAboutMe}} interests at heart]].

** Tony tells Janice, "Don't mess with the [[{{TheMafiya}} Russians.]] Turns out he was right.

** The most understandable one. Dr. Melfi tells her patients, Tony included, that she was in a car accident to explain away her injuries and cancelled appointments, and to hide her pain and shame over having been raped.

* TruthInTelevision: Tony ''is'' right about knee injuries: even relatively minor ones can cause life-long problems.

* {{Yandere}}: Irina apparently hasn't gotten over Tony, who isn't pleased.

* SuspiciousSpending: Tony already knew ahead of time about Jackie Jr.'s involvement with the Rutgers campus robbery. But he makes a point of letting Jackie know that the brand new Chevy Cavalier Z24 was bought with the cash from the robbery.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: It turns out that the bug planted in the basement lamp is working despite Tony's precaution of having the furnace fans go full blast. In less than a minute, the FBI agents stationed in the van hear everything that they could possibly need to bust at least Chris and Jackie Jr. for the Rutgers campus robbery. But the agents never make the connection, and instead get totally hung up on Chris referring to Jackie Jr. as "Lord [[{{PrecisionFStrike}}Precision F-Strike]]pants".

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: It turns out that the bug planted in the basement lamp is working despite Tony's precaution of having the furnace fans go full blast. In less than a minute, the FBI agents hear everything that they could possibly need to bust at least Chris and Jackie Jr. for the Rutgers campus robbery. But the agents never make the connection, and instead get totally hung up on Chris referring to Jackie Jr. as "Lord [[{{PrecisionFStrike}}Precision F-Strike]]pants".