For All Debts Public and Private

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The Sopranos episode
“For All Debts Public and Private”
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 40
Guest star(s) see below
Writer(s) David Chase
Director Allen Coulter
Production no. 401
Original airdate September 15, 2002 (HBO)
Episode chronology
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"Army of One" "No Show"

Episode chronology

"For All Debts Public and Private" is the 40th episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos. It was the 1st episode for the show's fourth season. The episode was written by David Chase and was directed by Allen Coulter. It originally aired on September 15, 2002.

Contents

[edit] Guest Starring roles

[edit] Episode recap

AJ Soprano has started in a new school and Carmella is trying to further his education by reading excerpts from the New York Times to him. Tony also checks up on him asking how his classes are going and clipping his ear when AJ tells him he has revealed his own ignorance. Carmela's mood visibly brightens when Tony's driver arrives but her smile fades when she sees it is Christopher not Furio.

Tony and Uncle Junior continue to meet in the office of Dr. Schreck - Junior's physician. Chris, Bobby Bacala and Murf Lupo wait for them outside while they have their meeting. Both Junior and Tony flirt with a nurse there although Tony is more subtle. Tony and Junior discuss money - Junior needs more to cover his mounting legal costs. Tony tells him there is little enough to go around and angrily refuses to help. Tony suggests that Junior get his "shy running right" before asking again. Junior later decides to demote ageing capo Murf and replace him with Bobby Baccala. Tony approves of the choice. These meetings are brought to a sudden end when Junior's lawyer contacts Murf and tells them the FBI has placed an agent in Dr Schreck's office as a nurse.

Tony later has Chris take him to the Bada Bing where he vents his frustration by beating up hapless barman Georgie for wasting ice. Silvio had tried to defuse the situation but couldn't stop Georgie from making the ill-advised remarks that always drive Tony deeper into his fit of rage. Chris, Sil and Tony depart the Bing on foot to attend a meeting with the family's Capos - Carlo Gervasi, Albert Barese, Ray Curto and Ralph Cifaretto. Tony uses the meeting to harangue them about the lack of growth in the family's business, telling them Junior desperately needs their support. Christopher is left outside with Vito Spatafore while the senior family members have their discussion.

Chris believes his return to driver status may be punishment for questioning Tony's judgement about the Jackie Jr. situation and when he returns home he discusses this with Adriana. Adriana is still seeing her friend Danielle, Christopher is rude to her and seems to disapprove of the friendship. Christopher seems to have developed a serious drug habit although he insists he is just "chipping". He is injecting IV heroine almost every day and urges Adriana to join him.

Carmela notices widow Angie Bonpensiero working in a supermarket and does not approach her. This prompts Carmela to worry about her financial security as Tony is careful to always separate her from his professional contacts. When she asks Tony to provide money so she can make an investment he tells her there is no longer money kept in the house. We then see him remove cash from under his car seat and take it into the pool house to store it under a floor tile. Later in the episode Tony buys bags of duck feed even though the migratory pattern means he is unlikely to see any. When he gets the bags home he uses them to store cash amongst the feed. Carmela notices that it is an odd time to buy duck feed. While out buying the feed Tony meets with Assemblyman Zellman to discuss the Esplanade project and talk property - Zellman tips him that prices near the new development are likely to see a big jump. Tony recalls that Junior owns a warehouse in the Freylinghausen Avenue area.

Carmela invites Rosalie and Ralph Cifaretto over for dinner despite Tony's instructions not to. Rosalie is withdrawn and quiet over dinner in contrast to Ralphie who tells stories about a motorbike he owned in his youth to AJ and a friend. Hugh and Mary DeAngelis also attend. Hugh remembers a popular bike from his past that he would have liked to have ridden - Mary reminds him that he was once beaten up by "hoods" that rode this bike. Ralphie excuses himself to use the bathroom and Janice soon follows him finding him snorting cocaine. She joins him and they have a sexual encounter in the bathroom. While they are away, Hugh tells Tony a rambling story about his time stationed in Nova Scotia with the navy during World War II and Tony notices their long absence. During the dinner Adriana brings over her friend Danielle, who unbeknownst to her is an FBI agent. In reality, Deborah Ciccerone - the agent posing as Adriana's friend "Danielle" lives with her husband and baby and has a separate phone line set up for Adriana which she answers as "Lilac Personal Shopping". The reason Ade is there is to borrow something from Carm, while they talk Tony flirts with Danielle and Rosalie then shows her around the Soprano house. Meadow is still having a hard time dealing with the death of Jackie Aprile, Jr and does not attend the dinner. She is also using it as a reason for not signing up for new classes as her second year at Columbia approaches. Carmela is concerned about the way her daughter has spent the summer.

Tony has a party in a hotel room. Christopher, Ralphie, Silvio and a number of Icelandic air stewardesses also attend. The party was preceded by a quick meeting with Carmine Lupertazzi. Carmine discusses the success of the esplanade, asks after Junior and chastises Tony about wearing shorts at a BBQ after hearing about this from Johnny Sack. Chris smokes heroin in the bathroom with one of the girls. He seems paranoid when Tony knocks on the door and has him leave the party but Tony actually has big plans for him. He has him drive out to a diner where Bobby Bacala pulls up behind them. Tony has been talking about Dickie Moltisanti, Chris's father, all day. At the diner he tells Christopher he knows who killed his father - Det. Lt. Barry Haydu - and that he is in the diner having his retirement party. He tells him that Haydu received the contract because Dickie had an argument with Jilly Ruffalo, a man Dickie once served time with. Chris recalls that he had been told it was a police officer that killed his father but he believed that the man was already dead. Tony gives Chris the Haydu's address and wishes him luck. Tony gets into Bobby's car leaving Chris to pursue his new prey.

Chris reaches Haydu's home before he leaves the party and breaks into his house. When Haydu arrives home from Chris surprises him and knocks him unconscious. Chris takes his gun and badge and handcuffs him to his staircase. When Haydu comes around Chris questions him about his involvement with his father's death and Haydu denies all knowledge. Chris tells him it doesn't matter what he says because Tony wants him killed. Chris turns up Magnum PI on the television and Haydu tries to escape, but Chris shoots him with his own weapon as he reaches his front door. He also shoots up the place and kicks Haydu's corpse. Before he leaves he takes a twenty dollar bill from Haydu's wallet, wipes off the gun and places it in Haydu's hand. Chris later goes to visit his mother, Joanne, and looks through his father's old things including an old picture of him in the navy. Chris seems at peace for the first time in the episode and he pins the twenty dollars he took from Haydu to his mother's fridge - though poignantly his mother has folded the picture of her father down on the table.

While Chris is pursuing Haydu, Bobby and Tony eat dinner and discuss Bobby's promotion and how he has coped with his own father's death. Bobby and Tony visit Junior's house early the next morning and Murf tells them about the problem with Dr Schreck's office. Karen Baccalieri, Bobby's wife, has come over with their children to take care of Junior as the news has upset him. Tony and Junior discuss what the FBI may have learned from the ploy and Tony offers Junior a hundred thousand for his warehouse on Freylinghausen Avenue, telling him it is to help with his financial difficulties. Junior accepts the offer but is despondent about his life, telling Tony he is an old man who is going to trial.

Meanwhile Paulie has been arrested in Youngstown, Ohio. He calls Johnny Sack and John tells him that no-one has mentioned to him why Paulie was imprisoned. Paulie is annoyed by this and relates the story - he was visiting a friend, Lenny Scortese, and they got caught with a gun from an unsolved homicide in their car. John seems keen to cultivate his friendship with Paulie that began in earnest after Paulie started to feel neglected by Tony in favour of Ralph and the esplanade project. Johnny reached out to Paulie through his nephew to request the phone call.

In therapy Tony discusses Carmela pressuring him over the family's future and Uncle Junior's life. When Tony discusses his future in terms of two endings, death or prison, Dr. Melfi urges him to give up the business. Tony tells her that he has a plan to avoid both - using Christopher as an intermediary to distance himself from any repercussions. Dr. Melfi questions Tony's frankness and he tells her that he trusts her...sort of.

[edit] First appearances

[edit] Deceased

[edit] Title reference

  • The episode's title is the statement seen printed on American currency. The episode ends with a close up of a twenty dollar bill that Chris takes from Det. Lt. Barry Haydu after he kills him. Money is a worry for Tony, Carmela and Junior in the episode. As well, Christopher is now indebted to Tony for the information he provided to him about his father -- a debt that continues to resurface.

[edit] Miscellanea

  • The song in the closing credits is "World Destruction" by Time Zone.
  • Vince Curatola (Johnny Sack) is now billed in the opening credits.
  • Paulie's prison stay was written in order to allow more time off for actor Tony Sirico who was recovering from major back surgery.
  • The wrestler Johnny Valiant appears in this episode as Carmine Lupertazzi's bodyguard. Source: http://www.sopranosuessightings.com/valiant.htm.
  • Junior is shown watching the movie Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum
  • At Lt. Haydu's house Chris is shown watching Magnum PI.
  • This episode was the first one to be aired after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. From this episode on, the shot of the World Trade Center Towers in the opening credits is absent.
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