Several months have passed since Junior was arrested by the FBI and Tony became the official boss of the Soprano crew.
In a montage, various characters are seen going about their daily business. Livia is in physical therapy after her stroke. Junior is still in prison. The FBI moves Tony's name and photo to the top of their bulletin board, replacing Junior's photo. Chris obtains a stockbroker's license by hiring someone to take his place for the exam. Melfi is running her psychiatry practice out of a hotel. Paulie indulges in sex with strippers at the Bada Bing, while Silvio shops for shoes. Tony teaches Meadow how to drive.
Tony is also still seeing his mistress, Irina, and hides his clothes in a pile of laundry after returning home late one night. When he wakes up the next morning, he goes out to get the paper, only to find an unfamiliar car at the bottom of his driveaway. Believing that someone may be at the house to assassinate him, Tony slowly retreats from the driveway, only for the car door to open... and Big Pussy steps out, asking if they can talk. Tony is bothered by Pussy's sudden appearance but allows him inside.
They go into the basement, and Pussy tells him that he went down to Puerto Rico to get his back repaired after he was accused of being a rat. He tells him that he came back because he still has kids in school, and wants to start earning for the crew again. Tony is hesitant, and hugs him warmly, whilst checking him for a wire bulge, which Pussy take huge offense at. Tony apologizes and the two the genuinely reconcile, with Tony telling Pussy to never run off like that again.
Upstairs, Tony tells him that Junior is under indictment on 12 RICO charges, and another man, "Philly" Parisi, has stepped up to run Junior's crew in the interim.
However, Tony has also learned that Philly has been telling stories about him trying to suffocate his own mother, and organizes a hit on him. Paulie drops a mob associate named Gigi Cestone off at an airport, under the guise of just having returned from a trip to Boston. Soon after, Philly picks Gigi up from the airport.
As they drive to Gigi's house, he coaxes information out from Philly, who tells him about the rumors and Tony seeing a psychiatrist. Having confirmed that he's the loudmouth, Gigi executes him after reaching his house and flees in a nearby car.
Tony is informed of the successful hit and subsequently calls Melfi to let her know that it's safe to go home. Despite this, she's bothered by the fact that he's seemingly keeping tabs on her whereabouts.
Chris obtains a job as a compliance officer for an investment firm, ostensibly to make the employees push a useless stock for a company named Webistics in order to increase mob profits. After Adriana visits him at the office, he decides to leave for the day and assigns a man named Matthew Bevilaqua to take charge while he's gone. After Chris leaves, Matt and another employee, Sean Gismonte, harass and brutally beat an employee who won't push the Webistics stock. Chris is subsequently informed of this incident by Tony, who tells him to put in more appearances at the office and keep his employees in check.
Tony is hosting a meeting with the local councilman (who thanks him for pushing Webistics stock) when he's interrupted by a call from Carmela, who tells him that his sister, Janice, has arrived at their home and made herself comfortable. Tony is annoyed but allows her to stay there for the time being.
Afterward, Tony brings Pussy to the Bada Bing. The rest of the guys welcome him warmly, and he apologizes for leaving so suddenly. Paulie meets with Tony afterward and says that Pussy's story of being in Puerto Rico checks out.
Back at the Soprano home, Janice warmly greets Tony and tells the family about her past endeavors, including how she's on full disability due to an accident she had working a machine at a coffee bar. When she goes outside, Tony follows her and they have a talk about their respective pasts. She offers to look after Livia, and says that she could move into their home. When Tony tells her that he just put it up for sale, Janice steals the "For Sale" sign from the property and throws it in the back of her car, and Tony finds out later that the property was vandalized by an unknown individual.
Stressed out by Janice's machinations, the issues with Livia, and the planning of a family get-together at the Soprano home, Tony suffers a panic attack, loses control of his vehicle and crashes into a utility box while driving home. Afterward, Carmela tells him to seek a new therapist. Due to Melfi telling him to stay away from her, Tony tries to get a consultation with another therapist, but is rebuffed after the latter recognizes Tony's alias from the film Analyze This.
Tony's other sister, Barbara, and her family come to the house for their get-together, along with Carmela's parents and various associates. At the party, Barbara warns Janice to stay out of Tony's way, and he discovers the realtor's sign in the back of Janice's car.
Afterward, Tony tries to ask Melfi if he can be her patient again, but she harshly rebukes him and tells him to get out of her life. He goes back home and eats spaghetti with Carmela, wondering where he'll go from there...
Tropes:
- Asian and Nerdy: A young man of Asian descent stands in for Christopher in the stockbroker's exam.
- Boom Head Shot: Gigi Cestone disposes of Philly Parisi in this manner.
- The Bus Came Back: Big Pussy, after having fled from the city to parts unknown in "Nobody Knows Anything".
- Creator Cameo: Show producer/writer/director Terence Winter appears as the minor character Tom Amberson, a Dr. Melfi patient in the first of his three series' appearances. Winter was filling in when no other actor pleased director Allen Coulter.
- Crocodile Tears: Livia has plenty to shed in front of Meadow.
- Driven to Suicide: One of Melfi's patients does this, prompting her sadness.
- Genre Savvy: Tony attempts to get a new therapist, but the name he gives to the doctor (taken from Analyze This) is called out by the latter, who tells him he saw the film and has figured out that Tony is related to the mob.
- Get Out!: Tony tries to reassure Melfi that "nobody got killed because of you". After a furious pause, she says, "Get out of my life".
- Gilligan Cut: The episode cuts from Matt and Sean brutally beating a broker who won't push Webistics...to Tony meeting with the local Councilman, who thanks him for the tip Tony gave him to buy Webistics.
- Impairment Shot: Happens twice to Tony. When he's swerving into the utility box, his point-of-view slows down. Later, when he's staring at Pussy at the barbecue, the sound mutes out and Pussy's movements are slightly slowed as he looks up at him.
- Loose Lips: Philly Parisi, who is killed on Tony's orders after blabbing about Tony attempting to kill Livia (in retaliation for her trying to get him whacked).
- Manipulative Bitch: Janice verbally shows concern for Livia at several points in the episode. The first indication of her true nature is when Tony notices the "for sale" sign for Livia's house in the back of Janice's car, and realizes that she wants Livia's house for herself without ever having put a penny into it. Tony warns Carmela that this will only be the beginning of Janice getting her hands on anything and everything she can for the sake of her own advantage.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Matthew and Sean give one to a stockbroker.
- Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Chris, who is Book Dumb, has somebody who actually knows stock and market trading take a stockbroker's exam in his place in order to get a license to trade in stocks.
- Orbital Shot:
- Shown at the beginning of the episode, when Tony goes to pick up his mail and sees Pussy's vehicle on the street.
- Also occurs when Gigi is standing at the Arrivals terminal at the New Jersey International Airport.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Gigi Cestone before killing Philly Spoons: "Here YOU go, you big mouth fuck!"
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Matthew and Sean unabashedly indulge in this with Chris, desperate to move up the Mafia hierarchy as rapidly as possible. Adriana even lampshades it during her argument with Chris.
- Promoted to Opening Credits: Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano) and Drea de Matteo (Adriana) are added to the opening credit roll.
- Properly Paranoid: Tony hasn't ruled out the possibility of Big Pussy being The Mole (even surreptitiously patting Pussy down whilst supposedly welcoming him back with a hug), so he has Paulie check out Pussy's story of having taken a timeout in Puerto Rico. Paulie informs Tony that the story checks out, but subsequent episodes reveal that Tony still can't quite shake the suspicions. He turns out to be right.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Matthew represents blue, while Sean represents Red.
- Repetitive Audio Glitch: Tony's CD player malfunctions and starts skipping during "Smoke on the Water". He tries to fix the player by hitting it to no avail, and the music only resumes when Tony crashes his car.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Carmela claims that her parents have always avoided family get-togethers at the Soprano home. However, in "46 Long", Carmela tells the family that Livia is going to pick up the former's parents herself before coming over for dinner.
- In this episode, Tony tells Janice that he's just listed Livia's house on the market. However, in the first-season episode "Nobody Knows Anything", Tony selling Livia's house and receiving an offer (and counteroffer) on it is what makes the latter spill confidential information to Junior and instigate the Enemy Civil War.
- Shout-Out:
- Christopher watches Key Largo on television.
- During one scene, Tony tells the politician that "sometimes the only way to run a family is Bunker-style..."
- Phillip Parisi's death is a reference to The Godfather, when Paulie Gatto is shot and killed in the driver's seat of a car because of his role in the attempted murder of Vito Corleone. Also, as Philly gets in his car to leave home, his wife tells him, "Don't forget the pastries", a reference to the scene where Peter Clemenza's wife also tells him, "Don't forget the cannoli", before he drives off to see that Paulie is killed.
- The Slacker: Chris becomes this due to a combination of his new job and the complacency of things within the mob. He takes drugs, sleeps on the job, often leaves to have "meetings" with Adriana elsewhere, and has no management experience. Silvio eventually calls him out for his behavior.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Both Sean and Matthew believe they're important players in the mob, despite their low-level status. Notably, they ask Chris if Tony ever talks about them, prompting a Reaction Shot from the latter.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Downplayed, but still there. The season premiere opens with a Montage of various characters in their pursuits, while "It Was a Very Good Year" by Frank Sinatra is playing in the background. The song itself emphasizes looking at the past as a source of good memories, especially previous relationships with girls. Anybody who's watched the first season will know that Tony has mixed feelings, to say the least about the previous year, particularly as it concerns his revelations about Livia. Paulie enjoying himself with strippers in the Bing adds to the Dissonance.
- Steel Eardrums: Notably averted. When Gigi kills Philly, he fires a handgun inside a car with the windows rolled up. The resulting boom causes him to grab his ear in pain, and he's seen holding it while running to the escape vehicle.
- Stupid Evil: How the older mobsters, especially Tony, view Matt and Sean's beating of a stockbroker since it tends to attract the worst kind of attention (i.e. law enforcement).
- Time Skip: Several months have passed since the finale of the first season.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Janice notices that Tony and Carmela have a couple of "good-looking kids", although that's definitely more with Meadow in mind than AJ. Tony admits as much without hesitation, "Even with our genes".
- White-Collar Crime: Chris, Matthew, and Sean are trying to push Webistics stocks as a pump and dump scam.
- Would Hit a Girl: Chris slaps Adriana across the face when she brings up his junkie behavior in front of Sean and Matthew.
