"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office..." is the 14th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the first of the show's second season. Written by Jason Cahill and directed by Allen Coulter, it originally aired on January 16, 2000.
Several months after Mikey Palmice's murder, Livia Soprano's hospitalization, and Uncle Junior's arrest, business appears to be returning to normal for the DiMeo crime family. Tony Soprano is no longer receiving therapy from Dr. Melfi and is self-medicating. When his mother is mentioned, Tony insists that she is dead to him. Money is still coming in from Tony's capos, while Phillip Parisi is killed for spreading gossip about Tony, his mother and his uncle.
Tony's older sister Janice arrives from Seattle. Tony is apprehensive because he knows she will make financial demands but lets her stay at his home. At a family gathering, Carmela smiles as she watches Tony embracing Janice and his younger sister, Barbara. Janice is interested in Livia's will and her house; Tony is trying to sell the house and suspects that Janice is trying to obstruct the sale.
Tony's mood worsens after Janice arrives. While driving, he passes out and runs off the road. He consults a new psychiatrist, who tells Tony that he recognizes him and is not taking new patients. He phones Melfi in the motel room where she is currently seeing patients, and tells her things are now safe; she is frightened, realizing that Tony knows where she is. Tony confronts Melfi in a diner and tries to apologize. Melfi states that one of her other patients died by suicide because her treatment was disrupted, and angrily tells Tony to "get out of my life."
Christopher Moltisanti hires someone to take his stockbroker's licensing exam and becomes the SEC compliance officer for a boiler room conducting a "pump and dump" scam. He is assisted by two young men eager to make a mark, Matt Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte. While Christopher is out of the office, the pair beat a broker for providing genuine investment advice. Tony rebukes Christopher, telling him to take his responsibilities seriously, but ends the meeting with a smile.
Big Pussy Bonpensiero appears at Tony's home one morning. In his basement, Pussy explains that he has been in Puerto Rico having his back treated and got involved with a woman there. He expresses his resentment at being suspected of turning informant. Tony is initially furious that Pussy has not been in touch. He pats him down while giving him a hug; when Pussy is offended, he pulls him in for a real one. He allows Pussy to start earning again but remains suspicious, though his story appears to check out.
Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte: Associates who work as stockbrokers at Christopher's firm who are looking to get themselves recognized by the DiMeo crime family.
Thomas Giglione: Barbara Soprano's husband and Tony and Janice's brother-in-law.
This also marks the first present-day appearances of Janice Soprano (also known as Parvati Wasatch): Tony's older sister, who resurfaces after a 20-year absence while living in Seattle, and Barbara Soprano Giglione: Tony's younger sister, who lives in Brewster, New York. Previously, both of these characters appeared (as children) in flashbacks in "Down Neck".
Philly "Spoons" Parisi: killed by Gigi Cestone for spreading rumors that Tony likes to "fluff his mother's pillows." Dan Grimaldi later returned to the series as Philly's twin brother, Patsy.
Show producer/writer/director Terence Winter appears as minor character Tom Amberson, a Dr. Melfi patient in the first of his three series' appearances. Winter was filling in when no other actor pleased director Allen Coulter.[1]
It is revealed in this episode that Carmela's parents have avoided family functions at the Soprano home that Livia attended for years.
In Season One episode "Nobody Knows Anything" Tony tells Livia that her house, which he put up for sale, has an accepted offer, a move that angered Livia so much that she revealed to Junior that Tony and his capos held secret meetings at Green Grove. However, in this episode, Tony reveals to Janice that he just had the house put on the market.
Edward G. Robinson, playing a mobster, is briefly seen and heard as Key Largo plays on a TV in Christopher's apartment.
When Adriana picks up Christopher in his office, she calls him "E.F." and tells him she "is listening"; a reference to the ads for brokerage of E.F. Hutton and their 1970s advertising slogan "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen".
At Tony's cookout, the crew chats about Shelley Hack (ofCharlie's Angels fame), leading to Paulie Gualtieri singing the jingle for Charlie cologne. Besides co-starring on Charlie's Angels, Shelley Hack was also the model appearing in advertisements for Charlie perfume by Revlon.
Phillip Parisi's death is a reference to The Godfather (1972) when Paulie Gatto is shot and killed in the driver's seat of a car because of his role in the attempted murder of Vito Corleone. Also, as Philly gets in his car to leave home, his wife tells him, "Don't forget the pastries", a reference to the scene where Peter Clemenza's wife also tells him, "Don't forget the cannoli", before he drives off to see that Paulie is killed.
When Tony is seeing his prospective new psychiatrist using an assumed name, and the psychiatrist says that he recognizes Tony from the news, he also mentions the 1999 comedy film Analyze This, a film that stars Robert De Niro as a gangster who is seeing a psychiatrist, played by Billy Crystal.
While Tony is driving in his truck before he passes out and crashes, he is listening to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" (a song also used in the Season Six episode "Join the Club)".
The song played when Christopher is in the bar with Adriana, Matthew and Sean is Alejandro Escovedo's "Guilty" from his 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues.
