Gene Pontecorvo makes a final break from the mob life, while Junior's paranoid delusions could be the end of Tony.
Plot
Eugene Pontecorvo has inherited two million dollars from a deceased aunt. He wants to use the money to move his family to Florida and leave the mob behind. Tony refuses to let him retire. Eugene is a made man with knowledge and obligations that cannot be dissolved by an inheritance. Eugene's wife Deanne wants the Florida move desperately. His son is deep in addiction. His life is collapsing in every dimension except the financial one.
Eugene has also been cooperating with the FBI, which means he is simultaneously being managed by federal handlers who have their own interest in his continued availability. When the FBI declines to help him exit the family, Eugene has nowhere to turn. He hangs himself in his basement. His death is shown without ceremony.
Junior Soprano, whose dementia has been advancing across multiple seasons, shoots Tony in the kitchen of Junior's house while in a confused state -- apparently believing Tony is someone from his past who had threatened him. Tony is hit twice and collapses on the floor. The season's central catastrophe arrives before the second episode. The shooting is not dramatic. It is confusing and ordinary and all the more terrifying for it. Junior does not fully understand what he has done.
Credits
Written by: Terence Winter
Directed by: Tim Van Patten