In an episode that is a bit too busy for its own good, Tony wants to settle up with Uncle Junior and Livia, but Junior ends up in the hands of the law while Livia feigns a stroke and is hospitalized. Tony has Chris take out Jimmy, the rat Tony has been looking for, and later in the episode, Chris and Paulie take out Mikey in a sequence brimming with black humor. The feds let Tony hear the tape of Junior and Livia plotting Tony's demise. Tony then does his best to kill his mother right in front of witnesses, but it is not to be. Watch for her very slight smile (or is it only Tony's imagination?) as Tony is dragged away from her. It may remind you of a certain smile on the lips of another female character from the previous episode. Speaking of females, Tony tells Dr. Melfi about dreaming of taking Jeannie Cusamano from behind in the most graphic terms. Later, on Tony's orders, Dr. Melfi will be sent out of town for her own good, which doesn't do Tony much good when he forgets and stops by her office only to find it empty. Artie goes to visit Livia in the hospital, and in no uncertain terms and quite clearly, she tells him Tony torched Artie's beloved Vesuvio. Next thing you know, Artie has a rifle pointed at Tony's chest. Before the episode is over, Tony and family will end up in Artie's new eatery, and all is apparently forgiven. Paulie and Sil just happen to be there at the same time, much to the chagrin of Artie's wife, who has told Artie she doesn't want the new place becoming a mob hangout. Plus, Carmela becomes jealous of her priest's flirtation with her best friend Ro, and later reads him the riot act. What an episode! May I breathe now? In later years, some episodes would move forward with slender plotting and fewer characters. Not this baby. This is the 800-lb. gorilla of SOPRANOS episodes.
Review of I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano
