Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...

"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..."
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 1
Directed by	Allen Coulter
Written by	Jason Cahill
Cinematography by	Phil Abraham
Production code	201
Original air date	January 16, 2000
Running time	49 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
see below

"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." is the fourteenth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the first of the show's second season. It was written by Jason Cahill, directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on January 16, 2000.

Starring

• James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
• Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Jennifer Melfi
• Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
• Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
• Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr.
• Vincent Pastore as Big Pussy Bonpensiero
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
• Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano
• Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
• Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano
• and Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano

Guest starring

• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Also guest starring

Episode recap

Several months after Mikey Palmice's execution and Livia Soprano's hospitalization, things appear to be returning to "normal". Tony Soprano begins to self-medicate as he is no longer receiving therapy from Dr. Jennifer Melfi, who begins working out of a motel after being warned that her office is no longer safe. Christopher Moltisanti hires someone to take his stockbroker's licensing exam. Uncle Junior is in prison. Carmela continues to play the role of housewife. Livia begins receiving physical therapy. Ray Curto continues to bring in the money for Tony - as do Paulie Gualtieri and Silvio Dante, who indulge in designer shoes and strippers at the Bada Bing. Tony continues to sleep with his Russian mistress, Irina, which he conceals from his wife. When Tony goes to fetch the paper, he is approached by Big Pussy Bonpensiero and is asked if they can talk.

In Tony's basement, Big Pussy tries to explain that he was in Puerto Rico for medical reasons, and no longer felt safe in New Jersey after previously being suspecting of turning informant. Tony pats down Big Pussy while giving him a hug; when Big Pussy becomes offended, Tony pulls him in for a real one. At the Bada Bing, Pussy is welcomed back and Silvio entertains the crew with impressions from The Godfather. Tony assigns Gigi Cestone, a former soldato in Junior's crew, to kill Philly "Spoons" Parisi for spreading rumors that Tony wanted his mother dead (which was actually true). With help from Paulie, Gigi puts on an elaborate ruse to lure and shoot Philly. Tony calls Melfi on a payphone, informing her "it's over" and that she can come home.

Christopher is made the SEC compliance officer at an investment firm and pressures people to push a worthless stock. When Chris and Adriana La Cerva take a "meeting" down the shore, he places Matt Bevilaqua, a fellow stockbroker, in charge. While Matt is doing his rounds with friend Sean Gismonte, they assault a broker for providing general investment advice instead of pushing the stock. The following day, Silvio informs Tony that Chris is not doing well at his job and that two employees left because of an "incident." Tony tells Chris to wise up and make himself available at the firm instead of being a "no-show."

Carmela informs Tony that his long-gone sister Janice has resurfaced, looking for a place to stay. Perturbed, he invites Janice to stay despite knowing he will be "$5,000 lighter" when she leaves. Tony suggests to Carmela that they have a big family reunion with Tony's younger sister, Barbara Giglione, and all of the children. He makes it clear that Livia is not to be invited. While driving, Tony has a panic attack and runs off the road. He meets with another psychiatrist, who tells Tony that he recognizes him and is not taking new clients.

Tony tells Janice that he never wants Livia spoken of in his house again. Janice understands, but plans to continue to seeing their mother and possibly occupy her house, only to be told that Tony plans to sell it. However, Tony and Carmela are soon called to the house by a realtor after it has been vandalized. At the reunion, Tony is angered when he discovers the For Sale sign from Livia's house inside Janice's car, implying that Janice is trying to prevent it from being sold. Carmela persuades him to have a good time and not think about Livia. Meanwhile, Janice tells Barbara that no one is going to get their fair share from Livia's house, but Barbara believes that Tony is handling the situation well and will give them both their fair share.

At a diner the following morning, Tony tries to apologize to Dr. Melfi, who is extremely upset that she could not help another patient who committed suicide. Tony feels bad but tries to ask her if he can come back or be referred. She refuses and angrily tells him to get out of her life. Carmela, who is surprised that Tony is home early, fixes him leftover spaghetti. As Tony sits and eats, he tells Carmela to sit and eyes her as she looks through the mail.

First appearances

• Hugh De Angelis: Carmela's father.
• Mary De Angelis: Carmela's mother.
• Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte: Associates who work as stockbrokers at Christopher's firm who are looking to get themselves recognized by the DiMeo crime family.
• Gigi Cestone: soldier in the Junior Soprano crew.
• Neil Mink: Tony Soprano's attorney and confidante.
• Thomas Giglione: Barbara Soprano's husband and Tony and Janice's brother-in-law.
• This also marks the first present-day appearances of Janice Soprano (also known as Parvati Wasatch): Tony's sister, who resurfaces after a 20-year absence while living in Seattle, and Barbara Soprano Giglione: Tony's younger sister, who lives in Brewster, New York. Previously, both of these characters appeared (as children) in flashbacks in "Down Neck".

Deceased

• Philly "Spoons" Parisi: killed by Gigi Cestone for spreading rumors that Tony likes to "fluff his mother's pillows." Dan Grimaldi later returned to the series as Philly's twin brother, Patsy.

Title reference

• The episode's title is intended to be the beginning of a joke (for example, "Guy walks into a bar and..."). It refers to Tony's therapy sessions.

Production

• Drea de Matteo (Adriana La Cerva) and Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano) are now billed in the opening credits.
• During the opening sequence with "It Was A Very Good Year" playing, the shot that shows Junior's picture in FBI Headquarters being moved under Tony's clearly shows, next to Tony's picture, Johnny Sack as a capo in the DiMeo Family, which is false.
• Show producer/writer/director Terence Winter appears as 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.^[1]

References to past episodes

• It is revealed in this episode that Carmela's parents have avoided family functions at the Soprano home that Livia attended for years. However, this contradicts Season One's episode "46 Long" in which Carmela mentions that Livia is personally picking up her parents to attend dinner at Tony and Carmela's house.
• In Season One episode "Nobody Knows Anything" Tony tells Livia that her house, which he put up for sale, has an accepted offer, a move that angered Livia so much that she revealed to Junior about Tony and his capos secret meetings at Green Grove. However, in this episode Tony reveals to Janice that he just had the house put on the market.

Cultural references

• Edward G. Robinson, playing a mobster, is briefly seen and heard as Key Largo plays on a TV in Christopher's apartment.
• Phillip Parisi's death is a reference to The Godfather (1972), 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 also wife tells him, "Don't forget the cannoli", before he drives off to see that Paulie is killed.
• When Adriana picks up Christopher in his office, she calls him "E.F." and tells him she "is listening"; a reference to the ads for brokerage of E.F. Hutton and their 1970's advertising slogan "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen".
• At Tony's cookout, the crew chats about Shelley Hack (of Charlie's Angels fame), leading to Paulie Gualtieri singing the jingle for Charlie cologne. Besides co-starring on Charlie's Angels, Shelley Hack was also the model appearing in advertisements for Charlie perfume by Revlon.
• Tony refers to his mother as a "streg" -- abbreviation for "strega," the Italian word for witch.

Music

• After the opening credits, the episode shows the status of all the major characters, overscored by Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year".
• The song played during Sil's The Godfather prank in the Bing! is "Nod Off" by Skeleton Key.
• During the Soprano family barbecue, Andrea Bocelli's "Con te partirò" is playing in the background.
• While Tony is driving in his truck before he passes out and crashes, he is listening to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" (a song also used in the Season Six episode "Join the Club)".
• The song played when Christopher is in the bar with Adriana, Matthew and Sean is Alejandro Escovedo's "Guilty" from his 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues.
• The song played over the end credits is "Time Is on My Side" by Irma Thomas.

References

External links

• "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." at HBO
• "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." on IMDb
• "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." at TV.com