Some of the old guards are released from prison and want to get back in the action. Chris and Paulie are at each other's throats over...
Plot
Tony and Carmela are separated. Tony is living alone in the Soprano house while Carmela has the children and is staying elsewhere. The separation was triggered by his infidelities, which Carmela has finally run out of energy to absorb. Tony's isolation in the empty house is rendered with specificity: he eats takeout alone, watches television, and receives crew visits in ways that feel different without the domestic scaffolding of family life around him.
A bear has been appearing in the backyard of the house. The bear becomes Carmela's leverage for reopening communication with Tony -- she needs him to deal with the animal situation. Their negotiations about the bear are also negotiations about their marriage. Tony installs a security gate. Carmela notes the irony of him now protecting the house he no longer lives in.
Phil Leotardo is introduced as a New York capo with a long prison sentence behind him and a long memory for grievances. Tony Blundetto, Tony Soprano's cousin who has just finished a long prison sentence, is released and reconnects with Tony. Blundetto wants to go straight and has enrolled in a massage therapy program. Tony is glad to have him back but watching him carefully. The season's conflicts are assembling: the New York-New Jersey relationship and the complications of Blundetto's return.
Credits
Written by: David Chase and Terence Winter
Directed by: Tim Van Patten