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Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...

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"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 (2000-01-16)
Running time49 minutes
Episode chronology
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The Sopranos season 2
List of episodes

"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.

Starring

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Guest starring

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Also guest starring

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Synopsis

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Several months after Mikey Palmice's murder, Livia Soprano's hospitalization, and Uncle Junior's arrest, business appears to be returning to normal for the DiMeo crime family. Tony Soprano is no longer receiving therapy from Dr. Melfi and is self-medicating. When his mother is mentioned, Tony insists that she is dead to him. Money is still coming in from Tony's capos. Phillip Parisi is killed for spreading gossip about Tony, his mother and his uncle.

Tony's older sister Janice arrives from Seattle. Tony is apprehensive because he knows she will make financial demands but lets her stay at his home. At a family gathering, Carmela smiles as she watches Tony embracing Janice and his younger sister, Barbara. 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 arrives. While driving, he passes out 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 Melfi in the motel room where she is currently seeing patients, and tells her things are now safe; she is frightened, realizing that Tony knows where she is. Tony confronts Melfi in a diner and tries to apologize. Melfi states that one of her other patients died by suicide because her treatment was disrupted, and angrily tells Tony to "get out of my life."

Christopher Moltisanti hires someone to take his stockbroker's licensing exam and becomes the SEC compliance officer for a boiler room conducting a "pump and dump" scam. He is assisted by two young men eager to make a mark, Matt Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte. While Christopher is out of the office, the pair beat a broker for providing genuine investment advice. Tony rebukes Christopher, telling him to take his responsibilities seriously, but ends the meeting with a smile.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero appears at Tony's home one morning. In his 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 initially furious that Pussy has not been in touch. He pats him down while giving him a hug; when Pussy is offended, he pulls him in for a real hug. He allows Pussy to start earning again but remains suspicious, though his story appears to check out.

First appearances

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Deceased

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Title reference

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  • 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

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References to past episodes

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  • 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 that Tony and his capos held 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

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  • 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 1970s advertising slogan "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen".
  • Silvio makes several imitations of actors in 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

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Filming locations

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Listed in order of first appearance:[2]

References

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  1. ^ Murphy, John (June 7, 2007). "One on One with Terence Winter". HoboTrashCan. HoboTrashCan. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  2. ^ Ugoku. "Filming locations for "Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office"". The Sopranos location guide. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
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