| “ | Well, in the future, I'll ask that you extend to me the same courtesy you would a crack addict.
|
„ |
| ― Jennifer Melfi, to Tony Soprano |
Doctor Jennifer Melfi, M.D., is the deuteragonist and psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano.
Biography[]
Melfi is herself Italian-American; her father's family has roots in Caserta. She is a graduate of both Bard College and Tufts University School of Medicine. Her career allows Melfi to live in an up-scale apartment in Essex Fells while running her practice out of Montclair.[1] Melfi has an ex-husband, Richard LaPenna, whom she is still in contact with. Together they had a son, Jason LaPenna, their only child.
She takes Tony Soprano, then a captain in the DiMeo family as a patient in June 1998 for his recurring panic attacks and through her role as his therapist, Melfi is probably the person closest to truly understanding Tony. Presumably educated in the Freudian school of psychoanalysis, Melfi doesn't rush to judgement when treating Tony and instead chooses to analyze his behavior, despite the fact that he appears to be an untreatable psychopath.
Over the years, Tony Soprano has been able to confide in Melfi many things that he has told no one else, not even his associates or his wife, Carmela. However, Melfi and Soprano have an unusual, on-again-off-again relationship. He inwardly fears Melfi prying into his life during their sessions, but he also fears the results from not dealing with the problem. As a result, she watches him go through frequent mood swings during their time together, sometimes acting playful, other times violent – sometimes acting responsive, other times being cold and distant. There are several occasions where Tony storms out of her office, either cursing at her or walking out in silence.
For her part, Melfi has tried hard to help Soprano as much as possible, half chalking it up to some sort of thrill of helping a gangster but also trying to resist the idea that she has romantic thoughts about the man— she wants to keep their relationship professional. Melfi, in addition, has an ongoing battle with alcoholism. While she resisted Soprano's constant advances, which have simultaneously attracted and appalled her, Soprano no longer wishes for their relationship to remain strictly professional, as he seems to see her as the one thing that he is unable to truly have and, while continuing to pursue her, also resents her for it.
From the beginning, Melfi's therapy sessions proved troublesome for Tony Soprano's private life. Carmela, first presuming Tony was visiting a male doctor, initially suspected her husband was having an affair with Melfi, a perception independently shared by Tony's corrupt police insider Vin Makazian, who once assaulted her date while shadowing Melfi. Meanwhile, her ex-husband and family therapist implore Melfi to drop Tony as a client due to his mafia ties.
Season 1 Episode 5: Jennifer calls Tony to reschedule an appointment due to her illness. Carmela answers the phone and is surprised to learn Tony's therapist is female. She angrily dismisses Melfi and hangs up.
Early on, Tony tries to keep his therapy sessions a secret, but word quickly spread within the mob world, with many in his ranks voicing concerns over possible information about their shady dealings being leaked to the doctor. Soon enough, Uncle Junior, who had been recently elevated to boss status, was convinced by his right-hand man Mikey Palmice as well as Tony's mother Livia that the risk of Dr. Melfi as a potential court witness to the mob's crime was too great and that Tony needed to be taken out. While the following assassination attempt on Tony is bungled, the event leaves him shaken and forces him to admit to seeing a psychiatrist to his underlings, though swearing that he has not given up any sensitive information to her.
From the conversations that Tony has with her about his mother, Melfi eventually suspects that Livia may suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder, and that it was her who tried to have her son killed; at first, Tony belittles her for this idea, but after discovering the truth (thanks to the FBI), soon apologizes and admits to Melfi that she was right about his mother. After this, she is advised to temporarily skip town to escape Junior's wrath by Tony, who tells her "You've been a good doctor to me". Melfi goes into hiding at a motel in New Jersey's countryside for several months as Tony, eliminates several key figures within Junior's crew, whom he feared would set their sights on his therapist. Afterwards, Tony attempts to continue his sessions with Melfi, but she rejects him as she blames her association with Tony for the suicide of another patient during her hiding. After talking with her own therapist about Tony and the danger he brings into her life, Melfi decides to allow Tony to resume his sessions with her.
During Season 3, Dr. Melfi gets rapes by a man in the stairwell of her office building's parking garage. The attack leaves her bruised and scarred, both physically and psychologically. Soon after the attack the police apprehend a suspect matching the description Melfi gave them, who was found in possession of her mobile device. Her ex-husband and son, Jason, are furious about this. Subsequently, a technical error in the arrest of the rapist, Jesus Rossi, led to his release from temporary holding until trial, despite her willingness to idenitify him and testify against him. After this, Melfi goes to a restaurant to have lunch and notices that the photo of the Employee of the Month on the wall is Rossi, prompting her to leave. She is tempted to turn to Tony Soprano to punish the man, as the law failed to do so. She even dreams of the man being mauled by a Rottweiler, which represents Tony, who does not know about the attack. When they resume their sesisons, Tony sees the bruises on her face, but she tells him that she fine, even as he comforts her when she breaks down in tears. Sensing that she wants to tell him something, he asks her this. She considers it for a moment before ultimately deciding that she does not wish to lower herslef to the level of a murderer and throw away the year of work she has done in her profession, and simply says, "No." In so doing, she sacrifices the justice that she deserves in order to maintain her principles. The result of Rossi's trial are remain undiscussed.
After this, Tony and Dr. Melfi continue to meet, and their sessions together are always unique and interesting in different ways. Although Dr. Melfi may be tempted to believe Tony will never change, she is still compelled to help him. However, at the end of the series, Dr. Melfi is given advice by her own psychiatrist, Dr. Eliot Kupferberg, about the work that other psychiatrists had done about sociopaths and their behavior. He advised her that, based on the findings of the psychiatrists, that by counseling Tony, she was actually aiding his criminal behavior and that, if Tony was indeed a true sociopath, there was no possible way therapy could help him other than to further empower him as a criminal and to give him new ideas.
Dr. Melfi is seen following up on this information and it seems that she is convinced of the information that she has been given. At her last session with Tony, she observes him tearing out a page from one of her magazines, and confronts him about it, ending with telling him that she can no longer help him. Tony is clearly surprised, and confused about why she would want to stop after having treated him for 7 years. She never reveals to him the information she learned, and Tony walks out of Dr. Melfi's office. Before leaving, Tony places the torn page back in the magazine and walks out. Melfi looks at Tony one last time before closing the door to her office.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||
| Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
| Season 5 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Season 6 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
- ↑ "Meadowlands"