Big Girls Don't Cry (The Sopranos)

"Big Girls Don't Cry"
The Sopranos episode
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Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 5
Directed by	Tim Van Patten
Written by	Terence Winter
Cinematography by	Phil Abraham
Production code	204
Original air date	February 13, 2000
Running time	48 minutes
Guest actors
see below

"Big Girls Don't Cry" is the eighteenth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and is the fifth of the show's second season. It was written by Terence Winter, directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on February 13, 2000.

Starring

• 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.
• Vincent Pastore as Pussy Bonpensiero
• Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante
• Tony Sirico as Paulie Gualtieri
• Robert Iler as Anthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow Soprano *
• Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
• David Proval as Richie Aprile
• Aida Turturro as Janice Soprano
• and Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano *

* = credit only

Guest starring

• Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
• Katherine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco
• John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco

Also guest starring

2

Episode recap

With Furio Giunta now working as a soldier with the Soprano family, Tony Soprano elevates Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante to capo and consigliere respectively. Paulie is at first befuddled by Tony's offer but then becomes very grateful. While dining at Nuovo Vesuvio, Tony asks Artie Bucco for a favor: to hire his "cousin" Furio from Italy as a mozzarella-maker. Artie tells Tony that the kitchen is already fully occupied and that his wife, Charmaine, would not be fond of the idea. Artie agrees to give Furio a trial run until he can attain full citizenship after Tony says that he will pay Furio's wages.

Tony then throws a party for Furio, where Pussy begins to become very jealous of Tony's sudden interest in his new soldier. Uncle Junior and Bobby Baccalieri show up, only to have Carmela slam the door in their faces, suspecting Junior's involvement in the attempt on Tony's life. Tony then gives Furio his first assignment: to collect from husband-wife brothel owners who owe Tony money. Furio viciously completes the job by beating both and shooting the husband in the kneecap.

Meanwhile, Dr. Melfi calls Tony on his cell phone. She continues to contemplate taking Tony back as a client over the objections of her therapist, Elliot Kupferberg. Melfi vividly describes her dream of Tony to her therapist — he was in a car crash as he desperately searches for his Prozac. Melfi believes that the symbolism in the dream is that Tony's car accident is caused by her abandoning of him as a client. As Tony is waiting for Furio to finish his "first assignment," she tells him that she has an open appointment for him the next day. Tony first declines the offer, since things have been going well without it, but he does attend the appointment later on.

Christopher Moltisanti is enrolled in an acting class as a gift from his girlfriend, Adriana La Cerva, because of his dream to be an actor/screenwriter. However, Christopher soon finds that the class is very demanding and rigorous and the schedule overlaps with his mob duties. While acting out a scene from the film Rebel Without a Cause, Christopher becomes very emotional and cries. Embarrassed and troubled, he leaves the room, despite the applause and approval of his classmates. During the next class, Christopher and another student practice an acting exercise which leads to Christopher violently attacking his partner. Adriana suggests that the exercise reminded him of his father's murder and how upset he felt not having a father growing up. That evening, Christopher rids himself of any traces of his unfinished screenplay, called "You Bark, I Bite", by disposing of the papers and floppy disks in a dumpster behind his apartment.

Tony's anger and resentment come to a head after Janice decides to take out a loan on Livia's house in order to renovate it. Furious, he rips a telephone out of the wall and throws it on the floor. A.J. witnesses his father's angry tirade and is yelled at by his father. He is then told by Carmela to go upstairs. Tony later goes up to apologize to A.J. for his irresponsible actions and jokingly blames it on being "a new product tester for Radio Shack".

At Livia's house, Tony discovers that Richie Aprile has spent the night with Janice. He is shocked and angered, but relents and tells Richie that Janice is now his problem.

Later on Tony's yacht, The Stugots (the name derives from the Southern Italian phrase stu cazzo which, in this case, means "these balls" but literally means "this cock"), Tony and Irina Peltsin quarrel because she is feeding cheese puffs to ducks swimming near the boat. He is angry because he believes this to be unhealthy for the ducks. This causes an intrusion by another boat owner, who happens to be Russian and suggests to Irina that if she does not like to fight she should find herself a Russian man. Tony hears them talking and walks to the man's boat and tells him to mind his own business. Tony then grabs the man by his testicles and squeezes them causing the man great pain. Tony and Irina then make a hasty escape before the Russian's wife calls the police.

While visiting Hesh Rabkin, Tony regales him with the story and confesses to having episodes where he has passed out. Tony tries unsuccessfully to replicate his relationship with Dr. Melfi by talking to Hesh, but Hesh seems uninterested and rambles on about other subjects. Hesh tells Tony that his father, Johnny, sometimes suffered panic attacks as Tony does now. Tony is surprised, since no one has ever mentioned his father's mental health. Hesh reassures him that his "condition" only affected Tony's father about twice a year.

Pussy continues to meet his FBI contact, Agent Skip Lipari, and complains about Tony, who has continued to keep Pussy in the dark about his current criminal plans and who has promoted Silvio and Paulie, but shafted him, despite knowing each other nearly their entire lives. Later, Paulie and Johnny Sack ask Pussy to leave the table when they are about to discuss business, even though Furio is allowed to stay.

Title reference

• The episode's title is taken from the name of a song by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, which can be heard in the background during the restaurant scene during the episode. Valli would later have a role on the series as Rusty Millio.
• It is also a reference to Dr. Melfi, who breaks down crying during her therapy with Elliot.
• Further, Christopher's crying during this episode is a significant part of his story.

Production

• Although the episode was the fifth of Season Two, it was the fourth to be produced.
• In the very first scene (after the opening credits), when Christopher opens his car door, the reflections of the camera, crew, and onlookers can be seen.

Music

• The song played in the background of Artie's restaurant is the title of the episode, "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
• The song playing when Christopher enters the massage parlor is "Touch It" by Monifah.
• The song from Dr. Melfi's dream about Tony Soprano is "Optimistic Voices", a selection from the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz.
• The song played during Furio's party is "Rock the Boat" by The Hues Corporation.
• The song played over the end credits is "White Mustang II" by Daniel Lanois.

External links

• "Big Girls Don't Cry" at HBO
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" at IMDb
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" at TV.com