A mobster passes out at a family barbecue and seeks therapy to understand why.
Plot
Tony Soprano collapses in his backyard while watching a family of ducks that had nested in his swimming pool take flight. He wakes up in the hospital and begins seeing psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, describing panic attacks he cannot explain. He tells her he is in waste management. She suspects otherwise. Tony talks around his childhood, his mother Livia, and the ducks, while Melfi begins the slow work of establishing what kind of man is sitting across from her.
Tony's uncle Junior Soprano wants to use Satriale's pork store as the location to kill Salvatore Bonpensiero, known as Big Pussy. Tony refuses to let Artie Bucco's restaurant Vesuvio be destroyed by a mob hit and quietly arranges to have it burned down himself the night before Junior acts, giving Artie a clean insurance payout. Christopher Moltisanti murders Czech mobster Emil Kolar in the back of the shop over a territorial dispute. The disposal problem falls to Christopher and Paulie Gualtieri.
Tony's mother Livia flatly refuses to move to Green Grove retirement community. Tony sits across from Melfi in their next session and talks about the ducks -- their arrival, their departure, and the inexplicable grief their leaving caused him. She suggests the panic attack was connected to a fear of losing his family. Tony breaks down without fully understanding why.
Credits
Written by: David Chase
Directed by: David Chase