"All Happy Families..." is the 4th episode of Season 5 of the HBO original series The Sopranos. It is the 56th overall episode of the series. Written by Toni Kalem and directed by Rodrigo García, it originally aired on March 28, 2004.
Episode cast[]
- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
- Lorraine Bracco as Jennifer Melfi
- Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano
- Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti
- Dominic Chianese as Corrado Soprano, Jr. *
- Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
- Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
- Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano Jr.
- Jamie-Lynn DiScala as Meadow Soprano
- Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano Baccalieri *
- John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco
- and Steve Buscemi as Tony Blundetto
* = credit only
Guest starring[]
Also guest starring[]
- Ray Abruzzo as Little Carmine Lupertazzi
- Chris Caldovino as Billy Leotardo
- Patti D'Arbanville as Lorraine Calluzzo
- Frank Fortunato as Jason Evanina
- Robert Loggia as Feech La Manna
- Joe Maruzzo as Joey Peparelli
- John Pleshette as Dr. Ira Fried
- Joe Santos as Angelo Garepe
- David Strathairn as Robert Wegler
- Frankie Valli as Rusty Millio
- Frank Vincent as Phil Leotardo
- Joseph R. Gannascoli as Vito Spatafore
- Carl Capotorto as Paulie Germani
- Max Casella as Benny Fazio
- Peter Bogdanovich as Dr. Elliot Kupferberg
- Will Janowitz as Finn DeTrolio
- Dennis Aloia as Justin Blundetto
- Kevin Aloia as Jason Blundetto
- Anthony Desio as Jimmy La Manna
- Cameron Boyd as Matt Testa
- Michael Pemberton as Supervisor Jimmy Curran
- Stewart J. Zully as Alan Ginsberg
- Terence Winter as Tom Amberson
- John Lanzillotto as Mook
- Leon Wieseltier as Stewart Silverman
- Adam Rose as Todd
- John Marinacci as Dealer
- David Lee Roth as Himself
- Lawrence Taylor as Himself
- Bernie Brillstein as Himself
- Gina Lynn as Stripper
Episode recap[]
In New York, Lorraine and Jason are murdered by Joey Peeps and Billy Leotardo after they refuse to give their collections to Johnny. Little Carmine is shocked and saddened by the news, and is advised by fellow capo and supporter Rusty Millio to take aggressive action and defeat Johnny. However, Angelo, now a supporter of Little Carmine, urges calm and restraint in contrast to Rusty’s aggressive advice. Meanwhile, Tony advises his capos and soldiers not to get involved in the New York feud. Feech comes to the meeting and regales the younger mobsters with stories from his mob career, including one when Tony and Jackie Aprile Sr. made their first major move by robbing his card game. Tony laughs at this, but Feech asks if he can run the game once again. Tony considers the offer, since it is now run by his uncle Junior's crew, and allows Feech to supervise it and get 20% of its profits. When Feech leaves, Silvio warns Tony that Feech is a notorious egomaniac.
A.J. has a difficult time in school and disrepects Carmela. Tony and Carmela visit A.J.'s guidance counselor, Robert Wegler, who advises A.J. to improve his SAT scores and to do better with classwork. Upon learning he was once almost diagnosed with ADD, A.J. suggests that he could use the learning disability angle to get unlimited time on his SATs and enter college. Wegler goes over A.J.'s academic record, which Carmela partly blames on her separation from Tony. After they leave the office, a secretary informs Wegler that two students were involved in a deadly car accident. A.J. overhears the news. Tony decides to buy A.J. a new Nissan Xterra as a "motivational tool" to get better grades, saying that Carmela will keep the keys until his grades improve. Later, in an argument with Tony, Carmela points out that he doesn't have many friends, just "flunkies" who would laugh at his jokes only because he is the boss and they fear him.
Dr. Melfi finds that Tony has left a basket of expensive toiletries and a bathrobe in her office waiting room. Later, she reads the gift card to her own therapist, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg, which contains an apology from Tony for calling her a "cunt". Kupferberg tells her it represents ablution.
At the card game, Feech continues making jokes and anecdotes, generating uproarious laughter from Tony's crew and annoying Tony himself. To test Carmela's suggestion, Tony makes a primitive joke to the card players to see if they laugh, which they do. The following day, A.J. asks his mother if he can attend a Mudvayne concert in New York with a few friends. Carmela refuses because A.J. and his friends are planning on staying overnight at a hotel. Angered, A.J. gives her the silent treatment. Carmela gives in on the condition that he go to Meadow's apartment after the concert and return home the following morning. A.J. agrees.
On the night of the concert, A.J. calls Meadow to tell her that he will not be coming to her apartment afterward. She reluctantly tells him that she will cover for him if his mother calls her. At the hotel, A.J. and his friends get drunk and high. The next morning, A.J. and his friend Matt both wake up when a worried Carmela rings his cell phone. A.J. doesn't answer it; his face is Krazy Glued to the carpet, and his eyebrows have been shaved off and redrawn with a permanent marker. Carmela frantically calls Tony to go look for A.J. just as the boy arrives back home, rudely rebuffing her. After Tony arrives, he and Carmela notice that his eyebrows have been shaved off. In the ensuing argument, A.J. manages to sell a false story about his whereabouts to Tony and make him take sides against Carmela. When Tony sends A.J. outside, Carmela admits that she may be at fault for A.J.'s actions and suggests he should take A.J. to live with him. At Tony's, A.J. bonds with Tony, Tony B and Artie as they watch TV. However, Tony eventually sends him off to do his homework.
When Feech's hired goons carjack the attendees of a wedding for the daughter of Tony's close friend, Dr. Ira Fried, and sell the vehicles to Johnny's men, Tony recalls the joke he told at the card game and realizes the only person not laughing was Feech. Concerned about a repeat of his situation with Richie Aprile, Tony reluctantly decides that Feech—although well liked and respected—has to be dealt with. However, Tony is unwilling to kill him. Christopher and Benny visit Feech at his home and trick him to hiding a truckload of flatscreen TVs. Feech agrees for the cost of $2,000 and one of the TVs. The following day, Feech is surprised when a substitute parole officer visits him for an unscheduled inspection. He asks about the flatscreen in Feech's living room, then asks to see his garage; Feech has no choice but to comply. For violating his parole by keeping stolen merchandise, Feech is immediately returned to prison and looks forlornly at the last glimpses of the outside world.
Over lunch, Carmela discusses A.J.'s troubles as well as her own with Wegler. He recommends that she read Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary, noting parallels between Carmela and the book's protagonist. Carmela has a flashback of the time when A.J. careened down the driveway and out into the street on his Big Wheel. She frantically screams "Anthony!", snapping back to the present. She turns and opens the door and enters. She stands in the foyer, groceries still in arm, alone in the big house with Meadow, Tony, and now A.J. gone.
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