The Sopranos 3.03

Fortunate Son

Christopher gets made. It seems to create more problems for him than it solves. Paulie hands over his bookie business to Chris but that just adds to the stress when the business has a bad week. He owes Paulie a cut of the money he makes. Paulie isn't very understanding.

Jackie Aprile, Jr. is chafing under the collar. He blames Tony for what happened to his Uncle Richie. Tony seems to calm him down when he lies to Jackie and tells him that Richie is in the witness protection program. Tony wants Jackie to stay in school and stay out of trouble. He specifically tells Christopher to keep Jackie away from any family business.

Tony spends some time with AJ. He goes to one of his football games. AJ barely gets any playing time but he recovers a fumbled football which really pleases Tony.

Tony goes to see Dr. Melfi. He tells her about a memory he had of seeing his father cut off a man's pinky. Tony was just 11 at the time. He fainted later while watching his mother slice a roast. That was his first panic attack.

Janice steals Svetlana's artificial leg. Janice wants the albums back that her mother gave to Svetlana. She doesn't spell it out but it is clear that Janice thinks she is in the right.

Meadow has yet to forgive her father. Tony still thinks he did the right thing and that's he's protecting her from making a big mistake. Carmela goes to see Meadow at Columbia. Meadow tries telling her mother but her mother feels caught in the middle and doesn't side with Meadow.

Christopher gets some help from Jackie in holding up the box office of a benefit concert. He gets the money he needs to pay Paulie but he also angers Tony in the process.

The episode ends with AJ having a panic attack, maybe his first, when he is named defensive captain of the football team.

Thoughts

This episode made my stomach churn. The title seems to be sarcastic. The characters in this episode seem to be trapped. They don't seem fortunate except for that they have what they need, for the most part. This is a disturbing episode.