Big Girls Don't Cry (The Sopranos episode)

Infobox Television episode | Title = Big Girls Don't Cry
Series = The Sopranos
Season = 2
Episode = 18
Guests= "see below"
Airdate = February 13, 2000 (HBO)
Production = 204 (2-5)
Writer = Terence Winter
Director = Tim Van Patten
Episode list = Episode chronology


Prev = Commendatori
Next = The Happy Wanderer

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

Guest starring roles

* Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin
* Peter Bogdanovich as Dr. Elliot Kupferberg
* Federico Castelluccio as Furio Giunta
* Vince Curatola as Johnny Sack
* John Fiore as Gigi Cestone
* Oksana Lada as Irina Peltsin
* Louis Lombardi as Agent Skip Lipari
* Kathrine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco
* Steve R. Schirripa as Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri
* John Ventimiglia as Artie Bucco

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 retain 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 with the help 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 attack his partner. Adriana suggests that the exercise reminded him of his father's murder and how betrayed he felt. 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 the dumpster.

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. Furious, he rips a telephone out of the wall and throws it on the floor. A.J. witnesses this and 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 informs Richie that Janice is now his problem.

Later on "The Stugots" (Tony's boat: the name derives from "stu cazzo" or "u' cazzu" - penis). Tony and Irina Peltsin quarrel because she is feeding Cheese Doodles 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 (Russian) boat owner. The owner suggests to Irina that if she does not like to fight she should find herself a Russian man. Tony then walks to the man's boat and tells him to mind his own business. To make matters worse, Tony then grabs the man by his testicles, causing serious pain. Tony and Irina make a hasty escape before the Russian's wife alerts 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.

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 over the end credits is "White Mustang II" by Daniel Lanois.

The song played during Furio's party is Rock the Boat by the Hues Corporation.