Another brilliant episode. While I enjoyed it as an interesting character study and helped to expand on Tony’s mind set a little more, I didn’t feel like this really progressed the story at all.

25 years ago Tony made his bones by killing a bookie named Willy Overalls. Paulie stops by and tells Tony that the Feds are digging up the body. Paulie and Tony take a road trip to Miami to avoid the law. This is essentially a long, nostalgic trip down memory lane, examining the relationship between Tony and Paulie.

The other half of the episode is spent with Junior in the mental home. He is running an illegal poker game in the crafts room. He has a new protege in the home, an oriental kid named Cho. When the staff leans on junior he folds. Cho doesn’t take this well. During a sing along in the rumpus room, he goes berserk attacking other patients, until he finally gets to junior and kicks the snot out of him. While I’m sure this was filmed long ago, the oriental kid going nuts and attacking a group of people in a classroom like setting was a little too close to Virginia Tech for me. I know, we’re all just a little over sensitive at the moment.

Jackie Apria takes the blame for killing the bookie so, Tony was in the clear. To celebrate Tony and Paulie rent a boat to go sport fishing. Paulie is seriously worried. He’s having flashbacks to when Pussy got capped and dumped in the ocean. Tony keeps trying to get Paulie to admit that he was the one who told Johnny Sack the joke about his wife. I think Tony was seriously considering doing Paulie in that soured relations between Tony and Johnny. In the end, Paulie passes Tony’s test and life goes on.

The only major story element this week occurred at the very end of the episode. Phil had Doc, his only other rival for control of the New York family, gunned down.

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