"The Second Coming" is the 7th episode of Part 2 and 19th episode of Season 6 of The Sopranos, and the 84th, and antepenultimate episode of the series overall. Written by Terence Winter and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on May 20, 2007
Episode cast[]
- James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano
- Lorraine Bracco as Dr. 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 Sigler as Meadow Soprano
- Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano Baccalieri*
- Steven R. Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri
- Frank Vincent as Phil Leotardo
- Ray Abruzzo as Little Carmine Lupertazzi
- Dan Grimaldi as Patsy Parisi
- Arthur Nascarella as Carlo Gervasi
* = credit only ** = photo only
Guest starring[]
- Peter Bogdanovich as Dr. Elliot Kupferberg
- Gregory Antonacci as Butch DeConcini
- Matt Servitto as Agent Dwight Harris
- Cara Buono as Kelli Lombardo Moltisanti
- Armen Garo as Salvatore "Coco" Cogliano
- Michael Countryman as Dr. Richard Vogel
- Daniel Sauli as Patrick Parisi
- Frank John Hughes as Walden Belfiore
- John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia as Albie Cianflone
- John Cenatiempo as Anthony Maffei
- Michael Kelly as Agent Ron Goddard
- Felix Solis as Edgar Ramirez
- Lindsay Campbell as Professor Kline
- Dominic Chianese, Jr. as Dominic
- Joey Perillo as John Stefano
- Edward Furs as Driver
- Taleb Adlah as Ahmed**
- Donnie Keshawarz as Muhammad**
Plot summary[]
Tony is awakened when a sleepless A.J. turns on some rap music. Downstairs, Carmela recalls that Tony said he went to Las Vegas to wrap up some of Christopher's business there and mentions that his widow, Kelli, will need financial support now. When Tony shows up at Satriale's, a framed picture of Chris, taken on the set of Cleaver, has been put up on the wall by his crew. Tony wistfully tells the guys about his sex and peyote experience in Vegas, but, when they do not seem to be that captivated by it, he changes the subject.
Tony is accompanied by Silvio and Bobby as he goes to a sitdown with Phil in New York. Tony tries to reach a compromise with Phil about the asbestos removal project, but Phil refuses to consider anything else than his original position. Tony then tries appealing to his senses by publicly reminding him of the talk they had while Phil was in the hospital. Phil rejects Tony's offer out of hand and emphasizes the compromises he was already forced to make in his life, including his prison term. Tony reacts to Phil's stubbornness by taking his men Coco and Butchie off the payroll from another construction project. Butchie and Coco viciously beat the foreman and steal his wallet when he gives them the bad news.
FBI Agents Harris and Goddard visit Satriale's and ask Tony to look at some photos. Tony identifies Ahmed and Muhammad, who Harris says are possibly financing terrorism. Meanwhile, A.J. expresses his despair to his therapist, who asks him to consider a connection between his breakup with Blanca and the assault he witnessed which triggered the return of his depression. After reading W. B. Yeats' poem The Second Coming, A.J. begins expressing a pessimistic worldview. He attempts suicide in the family pool, but is rescued by Tony when he happens to return home. A.J. is put on Valium and admitted to a psychiatric ward.
When Tony talks to his crew about A.J.'s suicide attempt, Silvio, Patsy, and Carlo attempt to comfort him with stories of their own children's tough times. When Tony tells Carmela he feels depressed, an argument between them erupts. Carmela blames A.J.'s condition on Tony's family's genetic predisposition towards depression. In Dr. Melfi's office, Tony says he is ashamed of his son because of his suicide attempt and dismisses Melfi's suggestion that A.J. subconsciously didn't really want to die. Tony talks about the "Sopranos curse" that Carmela mentioned but refuses to shoulder all the blame. Melfi tells him Tony should understand his son, since he has dealt with depression himself.
While Meadow has another "mystery date" in New York, a drunken Coco comes over to her table and makes several lewd comments before Albie escorts him out. After Meadow tells Carmela what happened, she reluctantly tells Tony. Meadow tells her parents that her boyfriend is Patrick Parisi, Patsy's eldest son. After Tony leaves angrily, Meadow tells Carmela that she has decided to enter law school, inspired by Patrick's passion about the justice system. When Melfi sees Dr. Kupferberg, he shares with her the results of a recent study which has shown that sociopaths are not helped by talk therapy but rather only further enabled by it, perhaps even "sharpening their skills as con men" in the process. Melfi stays silent.
Tony pistol-whips and curb stomps Coco, while threatening an onlooking Butchie with his gun. At a group session with A.J.'s psychiatrist, with Tony and Carmela attending, A.J. recalls times when he felt humiliated by his mother and depressed by his visits to his grandmother Livia. As Tony listens, he notices one of Coco's bloody teeth in the cuff of his pant leg. At the office, Patsy talks warmly with Tony about the budding romance between Patrick and Meadow. Little Carmine arrives to tell Tony that he will once again broker a truce meeting with Phil regarding Coco's beating; Phil has shut down one of their joint construction projects. Tony is angry he will have to make concessions to Phil, but agrees he overreacted.
Tony's beating of Coco opens a deep rift between the Soprano and Lupertazzi families. Phil refuses to even meet with Tony and Little Carmine when they show up at his home in Brooklyn offering concessions, and Butchie mocks their peace offering of Makita drills. After Butchie closes the door on Tony and Carmine, Phil yells from behind a second-floor window that there is "nothing left to discuss" between the families and spews profanities at them as they walk away. Tony visits A.J. at the hospital with a large pizza. The pizza is confiscated, and with the glass doors to the mental-health ward sliding shut behind him, Tony walks down the hall to his son. He places his hand on his shoulder as they begin to talk.
Gallery[]
Title Reference[]
- This episode is named after the 1919 poem by William Butler Yeats about apocalypse.