<html> <head> <title>Sopranos: Fortunate Son</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000ff" alink="#ffff00" vlink="#0000ff"><basefont size="3"> <h1 align="center">Episode 329: Fortunate Son</h1> <center><img src="http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/tvshowguides/sopranos/pix/ep29pic.JPG"></center> <p> <font size="5">Guest starring:</font> <li>John Fiore as Gigi Cestone <li>Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi <li>Federico Casteluccio as Furio Giunta <li>Steven R. Schirrippa as Bobby Bacala <li>Max Casella as Benny Fazio <li>Brian Anthony Wilson as Warren DuPree <li>Joseph Siravo as Johnn Boy Soprano <li>Rocco Sisto as Young Junior Soprano <li>Tom Aldredge as Hugh DeAngelis <li>Alla Kliouka as Svetlana Kirilenko <li>Vincent Curatola as Johnny Sack <li>George Loros as Raymond Curto <li>Jason Cerbone as Jackie Aprile Jr. <li>Richard Maldone as Albert Barese <li>Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile <li>Oksana Babiy as Irina Peltsin <li>Laila Robins as Young Livia Soprano <li>Patrick Tully as Noah Tannenbaum <li>Mark Damiano II as Young Tony Soprano <li>Tony Lip as Carmine Lupertazzi<br> <p> <b>Written by:</b> Todd A. Kessler<br> <p> <b>Directed by:</b> Henry J. Bronchtein<br> <p> <b>First Aired:</b> March 11, 2001<br> <p> Tony's not pleased with the pace of his therapy. Not to mention the notoriety: it seems like every made guy on the east coast is aware of Tony's "spells." And while they may tell Tony that "there's no stigmata" attached to his seeing a psychiatrist, he knows they don't mean it. Melfi, in turn, tells Tony that she can help him, but only if he's truly willing to "focus and delve." So Tony starts to delve. And it quickly becomes apparent that it wasn't the box of rice that precipitated his recent swan dive onto the kitchen floor, it was the cappicola he took out of the fridge. And that's not all: the attack that brought Tony to Melfi two years ago happened while Tony was grilling sausages and steaks. Could meat be the trigger for Tony's attacks? <p> But the meat/mind connection isn't the only thing Tony has to think about. While Christopher has finally been granted admission to the ranks of made men, his decision-making skills are still at the cugine level. Now in charge of Paulie's football action, Christopher takes reckless bets and mismanages the point spread. As a result, a single unanticipated field goal puts Christopher two G's short of what he owes Paulie for the week. In order to make up the difference - plus the extra two thousand Paulie tacks on as a late fee - Christopher robs the box office during a Jewel concert at Rutgers, using Jackie Aprile Jr. as his driver. <p> So Christopher is out of hot water financially, but Tony is steamed about how he accomplished it. Tony is determined to honor Jackie Senior's dying wish that his son stay out of "this thing of ours." To that end, Tony had a serious sitdown with the younger Aprile, telling him his Uncle Richie is in Witness Protection and that he should stay in school. At the end of their talk it seemed Jackie Jr. was coming around to Tony's point of view. So Christopher's use of the kid to stick up his own college is not going to stand him in good stead with the Boss. <p> If that weren't enough, Tony also has female troubles. Meadow won't talk to him and the tensions between Janice and Svetlana have escalated. Janice makes another request that Svetalana return Livia's valuable record collection, but Svetlana only shrugs and tells her, "Possession is nine tenths of law." Janice retaliates by taking possession of five tenths of Svetlana's legs - she steals Svetlana's prosthesis while she's sleeping. When Janice later proposes a leg-for-records swap, Svetlana refuses. <p> In spite of all this, Tony starts making genuine progress in therapy. He remembers that his first attack was when he was eleven years old, shortly after witnessing his father and Junior cut off Mr. Satriale's finger in the back of his butcher shop. Later, as he watches his mother gleefully carving a Satriale's roast, Tony hits the floor. At last, Melfi points out, Tony's getting at something: the trauma of witnessing the brutality of his father's world and his fear that he would one day be a part of it. <p> Throughout all this, the one bright spot in Tony's life lately is Anthony, Junior. A.J.'s become the surprise star of his football team and Tony couldn't be prouder. Yet when the coach rewards A.J. by making him defensive captain, his response is to pass out and hit the ground like he'd been tackled. </body> </html>