Tony gets sick from food poisoning and blames Artie's restaurant. Pussy, meanwhile, reaches the end of the line.
Plot
Tony has food poisoning and spends much of the episode in fever dreams. The dreams are vivid and surreal: Big Pussy Bonpensiero appears as a talking fish, making accusations and asking questions Tony cannot answer in their conversations. The fish is articulate and direct in ways the real Pussy has never been with Tony. Tony wakes from each dream disturbed, his mind working through something it refuses to process consciously.
Tony has known, or suspected, for some time that Pussy is an FBI informant. The evidence has been accumulating: Pussy's behavior has changed, his availability has been selective in ways that suggest external management. Tony invites Pussy on a boat trip -- the Stugots -- along with Silvio Dante and Paulie Gualtieri. The trip is framed casually. On shore, Meadow is graduating from high school. The fabric of normal life continues.
On the boat, Tony confronts Pussy directly. Cornered and knowing what is about to happen, Pussy admits he has been cooperating with the FBI. He tries to explain -- that he was in over his head, that they had leverage, that he never wanted to hurt anyone in the family. Tony, Silvio, and Paulie shoot Pussy on the deck. His body goes into the ocean. The season ends with Tony standing on the boat, his oldest friend dead, moving forward into whatever comes next.
Credits
Written by: David Chase and Todd A. Kessler
Directed by: John Patterson