Chasing IT - Episode Recap

Episode Recap

Tony Soprano hits an unlucky gambling stretch and his continuing losses begin to impact his financial obligations as boss. Vito Spatafore's widow, Marie, turns to Tony for help with her son, Vito Jr., who has become self-destructive following his father's murder. He desecrates a graveyard and constantly misbehaves at school. However, when Marie asks Tony for $100,000 to move her family to Maine, he resists and suggests that Phil Leotardo (Marie's cousin, who murdered her husband) should get involved. While both Phil and Tony each have a man-to-man talk with Vito Jr., neither is willing to help with the move financially. However, Tony changes his tune after Vito Jr. publicly defecates in the school shower after being teased and is expelled from school. Having gambled away the sum necessary to facilitate the move to Maine, Tony instead pays a lesser sum to send Vito to a "wilderness therapy" program.

At the same time, Hesh Rabkin begins to regret lending $200,000 to Tony as a "bridge loan". Tony only grudgingly pays Hesh his points, going as far as to goad Hesh in front of his crew with anti-semitic remarks, which the crew reacts to with discomfort due to their longstanding friendships with Hesh, though making bigoted remarks is not foreign to any of them. Hesh later discusses with his son-in-law, Eli Kaplan, his concerns that Tony will find it easier to kill Hesh than pay him back. In fact, two of Tony's associates, Bobby Baccalieri and Carlo Gervasi, encourage Tony to stiff Hesh. Tony angrily responds that if Carlo earned as well as Vito had, he wouldn't be in the financial situation he's in. After Hesh's girlfriend dies of a stroke, Tony steps up and repays a distraught Hesh, but he is cold to Hesh, and they remain estranged.

A.J. proposes to Blanca and she initially accepts, but later ends the relationship during the Puerto Rican Day Parade. A.J. is visibly crushed.

Carmela and her father Hugo finally sell their spec house to her cousin Brian Cammarata. During the final inspection, Carmela worries about the sub-standard building materials her father used, going as far to call him during the night when a rain storm causes her to question the wood for the studs they used, but Hugo is not worried saying he's used the same material before. When she tells Tony that she's cleared $600K on the house, he tells her about a "sure thing" gambling tip and encourages her to bet some of "his half" on a football game. Carmela and Tony fight about the money — with Tony eventually acknowledging that the money belongs to her, not him. Later, when the tip pays off, Tony angrily berates her for not letting him gamble the profits and challenges her business acumen and character in a heated exchange. The two later reconcile, but Carmela once again expresses her worries about their future.