Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...

"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." is the 14th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the first of the show's second season. Written by Jason Cahill and directed by Allen Coulter, it originally aired on January 16, 2000.

"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..."
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 1
Directed byAllen Coulter
Written byJason Cahill
Cinematography byPhil Abraham
Production code201
Original air dateJanuary 16, 2000
Running time49 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

see below

Starring

Guest starring

Also guest starring

Synopsis

Several months after Mikey Palmice's execution, Livia Soprano's hospitalization, and Uncle Junior's arrest, business appears to be returning to normal. Tony Soprano is no longer receiving therapy from Dr. Melfi and is self-medicating. When his mother is mentioned, he says, "She's dead to me." He is still seeing Irina. The money is still coming in from Ray Curto, Paulie Gualtieri, and Silvio Dante.

Tony's older sister Janice arrives from Seattle. Tony is apprehensive because he knows she will make financial demands but he lets her stay at his home. At a family gathering, Carmela smiles as she watches Tony embracing Janice and his younger sister, Barbara. But Janice is interested in Livia's will and her house. Tony is trying to sell the house and suspects that Janice is trying to obstruct the sale.

Tony's mood worsens after Janice comes. While driving, he has a panic attack and runs off the road. He consults a new psychiatrist, who tells Tony that he recognizes him and is not taking new patients. He phones Dr. Melfi in the motel room where she is seeing patients, and tells her things are now safe; she is frightened, realizing that he knows where she is. He confronts her in a diner and tries to apologize. She tells him one of her patients committed suicide because her treatment was disrupted. On his side, he tries to reassure her that "nobody got killed because of you." After a furious pause, she says, "Get out of my life."

Christopher Moltisanti hires someone to take his stockbroker's licensing exam and becomes the SEC compliance officer in an investment firm. It is actually a boiler room selling worthless stock to seniors. He is assisted by two young men eager to make a mark, Matt Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte. When he is out, they beat one of the brokers who was providing genuine investment advice. Tony rebukes Chris, telling him to take his responsibilities seriously, but ends the meeting with a smile.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero appears at the bottom of Tony's driveway one morning. In Tony's basement, Pussy explains that he has been in Puerto Rico having his back treated, and got involved with a woman there. He expresses his resentment at being suspected of turning informant. Tony is at first furious that he has not been in touch. He pats down Pussy while giving him a hug; when Pussy is offended, he pulls him in for a real one. He allows him to start earning again, and his story checks out, but Tony is still a little suspicious.

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

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.
  • 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.
  • 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".
  • Silvio makes several imitations of actors in the The Godfather and The Godfather Part III
  • 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.
  • 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 wife also tells him, "Don't forget the cannoli", before he drives off to see that Paulie is killed.
  • When Tony is seeing his prospective new psychiatrist using an assumed name, and the psychiatrist says that he recognizes Tony from the news, he also mentions the 1999 comedy film Analyze This, a film that stars Robert De Niro as a gangster who is seeing a psychiatrist, played by Billy Crystal.

Music

Filming locations

Listed in order of first appearance:[2]

References
  1. Murphy, John. "One on One with Terence Winter". HoboTrashCan. HoboTrashCan. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  2. Ugoku. "The Sopranos location guide - Filming locations for". www.sopranos-locations.com. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
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