Big Girls Don't Cry (The Sopranos episode)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
“Big Girls Don't Cry”
The Sopranos episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 18
Guest stars see below
Written by Terence Winter
Directed by Tim Van Patten
Production no. 204 (2-5)
Original airdate February 13, 2000 (HBO)
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"Commendatori" "The Happy Wanderer"
Episode chronology

"Big Girls Don't Cry" is the 18th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It was the 5th episode for the show's second season. The episode was written by Terence Winter and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on Sunday February 13, 2000.

Contents

[edit] Guest starring roles

[edit] Episode recap

With Furio now working as a soldier with the Soprano family, Tony elevates Paulie and Silvio to capo and consigliere respectively. Paulie is at first befuddled by Tony's offer but then becomes very grateful. While dining at Nuovo Vesuvio, Tony asks Artie for a favor: to hire his "cousin" Furio from Italy as a mozzarella maker. Artie tells Tony that the kitchen is already fully occupied and that his wife Charmaine would not be crazy with the idea. Artie agrees to give Furio a trial run until Furio can retain full citizenship after Tony says that he will pay Furio's wages.

Tony then throws a party for Furio where Pussy begins to become very jealous of Tony's sudden interest in Furio. Junior and Bobby show up at the party, only to have Carmela slam the door in their faces and refuse them entry because she suspects Junior was behind the attempt on Tony's life. Tony then gives Furio his first assignment to collect from husband-wife brothel owners who owe Tony money. Furio violently completes the job by beating both and shooting the husband in the kneecap.

Meanwhile, Dr. Melfi calls Tony on his cell phone. She had continued to contemplate taking Tony back as a client with the help of her therapist, Elliot Kupferberg. Melfi vividly describes her dream of Tony to her therapist — he was in a car crash as he desperately searches for his Prozac. Melfi believes that the symbolism in the dream is that Tony's car accident is caused by her abandoning of him as a client. As Tony is waiting for Furio to finish his "first assignment", she tells him that she has an open appointment for him the next day.

Christopher is enrolled in an acting class as a gift from his girlfriend, Adriana, because of his dream to write a screenplay. However, Christopher soon finds that the class is very demanding and rigorous and the schedule overlaps with his mob life. While acting out a scene from the film Rebel Without a Cause, Christopher becomes very emotional and cries. He is forced to leave the room due to being embarrassed despite the applause and approval of his classmates. During the next class, Christopher and another student practice an acting exercise which leads to Christopher severely beating his partner. Christopher tells Adriana how the exercise reminded him of his father's murder and how betrayed he felt. That evening, Christopher rids himself of any traces of his unfinished screenplay, called "You Bark, I Bite", by disposing of the papers and floppy disks in the dumpster.

Tony's anger and resentment come to a head after Janice decides to take out a loan on Livia's house in order to renovate. Tony's anger at Janice manifests by him ripping a telephone out of the wall and throwing it on the floor. Anthony Jr. witnesses this and is then told by Carmela to go upstairs. Tony later goes up to apologize to A.J. for his irresponsible actions and blames it "on being a new product tester for Radio Shack".

When Tony goes to Livia's house he discovers Richie Aprile has spent the night with Janice. He informs Richie that Janice is now his (Ritchie's) problem.

Later on the Stugots (Tony's boat: the name literally translates as "this cock" or "this dick" — it's often used in reference to someone "being an asshole"), Tony and Irina quarrel because she is feeding Cheese Doodles to ducks swimming near the boat. He is angry because he believes this to be unhealthy for the ducks. This causes an intrusion by another (Russian) boat owner. The owner suggests to Irina that if she does not like to fight she should find herself a Russian man. Tony then walks to the man's boat and tells him to mind his own business. To make matters worse, Tony then grabs the man by his testicles, causing serious pain. Tony and Irina make a hasty escape before the Russian's wife alerts the police.

While visiting Hesh Rabkin, Tony regales him with the story and confesses to having episodes where he has passed out. Tony tries unsuccessfully to replicate his relationship with Dr. Melfi by talking to Hesh, but Hesh seems disinterested and rambles on about other subjects. Hesh tells Tony that his father, Johnny Boy, suffered panic attacks as Tony does now. Tony is surprised since no one has ever mentioned his father's mental health. Hesh reassures him that his "condition" only affected Tony's father about twice a year.

Pussy continues to meet his FBI contact, Agent Skip Lipari, and complains about Tony, who has continued to keep Pussy in the dark about his current criminal plans. Later, Paulie and Johnny Sack ask Pussy to leave the table when they are about to discuss business.

[edit] Title reference

  • The episode's title is taken from the name of a song by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.
  • It is also a reference to Dr. Melfi, who breaks down crying during her therapy with Elliot.

[edit] Trivia

  • Although the episode aired fifth, it was the fourth to be produced.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/i/g/Big_Girls_Don%27t_Cry_%28The_Sopranos_episode%29_2fcf.html"