Funhouse (The Sopranos) - Plot

Plot

Shortly after Janice's departure, Tony and younger sister Barbara arrive at Livia's home to discuss her permanent living arrangements. When Barbara says her husband won't allow her to live with them, Tony hands Livia two stolen airline tickets to Arizona (one for herself and for her sister Quintina) and warns her to leave for good.

Later, Tony discusses a calling card credit scheme with Silvio Dante and Big Pussy Bonpensiero at Artie Bucco's restaurant, immediately after eating at an Indian restaurant. During the night, Tony dreams that he is walking on the boardwalk in Asbury Park and meets up with Paulie Walnuts, Silvio Dante, Christopher Moltisanti, Philly "Spoons" Parisi, Hesh and an oddly silent, seemingly almost comatose, Big Pussy. Tony has just received word that he has six months to live from a terminal disease and accepts the information as if he had already known this and come to accept it. He further informs his friends that he is going to kill himself instead, to which his friends commend his bravery and appreciate the favor he will be doing them, sparing them multiple visits to the hospital. Tony douses himself with a container of gasoline and Paulie ignites a Zippo lighter. Christopher asks, "What if these doctors are wrong?" Tony only gets a split second to process this information, and the gasoline explodes before Tony can even close the Zippo. Tony then quickly awakens to vicious diarrhea and vomiting.

The following morning, Artie Bucco comes over to have the menu checked with Carmela and Tony for Meadow's graduation party only to learn Tony has food poisoning. He and Tony argue about the quality of his food and Artie quickly learns that Tony ate at an Indian restaurant, which could have also caused sickness. Eventually, Artie calls up Big Pussy to see if he is sick as well. Tony then goes into a delirium after receiving a house call from Dr. Cusamano and eventually falls asleep. Tony then begins to dream about having sex with Dr. Melfi during a therapy session.

Tony also has a minor fever dream about Uncle Junior wandering on a factory site. Furthermore he sees himself through coin-operated tower viewer playing a card game with Paulie, presumably at a train station. When Paulie says something, Tony shoots Paulie to death.

The dreams caused by the fever finally lead Tony to confront an issue which lays heavily on his subconscious, namely his suspicions that Big Pussy is a government informant. In the dream, Tony speaks to Big Pussy, who has taken the form of a fish: this dream-version of Pussy hints "You know I'm working with the government, right Ton?" and makes tongue-in-cheek reference to "sleeping with the fishes". Awoken, Tony gets up and out of bed against Carmela's wishes and he and Silvio soon go to Pussy's house, and invite him to go boating with them. Searching Pussy's room, Tony finds Pussy's wire hidden in a false bottom of a cigar box — proof that Pussy is indeed an FBI informant.

Silvio, Tony and Pussy drive to meet up with Paulie Walnuts at the dock, Tony having his final "fever dream" during the journey, which involves Meadow announcing over dinner she is planning to attend Columbia University and Tony informing his family he has purchased a new boat. After setting out for a sail on a yacht, Tony confronts Pussy, and asks how long it has been since he "flipped." Pussy at first denies the charge of informing, but quickly confesses under pressure. He claims not to have given any major information to the Feds, but Tony does not believe him. Silvio excuses himself, claiming to be seasick.

Pussy asks for tequila, and Paulie pours Jose Cuervo for Tony and Pussy, giving cheers. Silvio returns, as Pussy brags about the girl he used to know and have sex with at the clinic in Puerto Rico. Tony asks if she was even real and Pussy retreats to a corner, resigned to his fate. Then, as he asks to be allowed to sit, he claims his inner ear balance is off. Tony takes the first shot, Paulie and Silvio follow and shoot him to death, honoring his wishes to not be shot in the face. Paulie removes his jewelry, and together they bind his body in chains and weights, then throw him off the back of the boat, and watch his body slowly sink into the ocean.

Hours later, Carmela receives a phone call from Livia, who is being detained in Newark Airport security for possessing stolen airline tickets. Within minutes, FBI agents arrive at the Soprano home with a search warrant and ask to search the residence and cars. An agent reveals he has already searched Tony's car and found the stolen tickets. Tony is placed in handcuffs and is taken to FBI offices for questioning. Tony becomes unbalanced at a point and almost falls, appearing weak in front of the FBI agents. One agent takes the opportunity to point out that mob boss Tony Soprano is "weak in the knees". Instead of his usual bravado to the agents, he angrily tells them he's got food poisoning, and is led into a holding cell for a brief period of time. Tony quickly contacts his lawyer, Neil Mink, and is released on bail in time for Meadow's graduation, which will be held the next day.

Later, at Dr. Melfi's, Tony goes off on a rant about Indian people, because of the food poisoning, and also against his mother, on which Dr. Melfi challenges him and presses him to confess recent sorrow which she suspects he might be harboring underneath his pose. Tony stubbornly refuses to delve into his own mind, and continues with distractions by telling her bluntly of his sexual dream with her, before finally leaving the session singing down the hallway.

The following day at Meadow's graduation ceremony, Tony proudly watches his daughter accept her high school diploma. At the graduation, Tony tells Christopher that he is proposing him to get his "button" and become a made man. Tony then sees David Scatino, who tells Tony he and his wife are getting a divorce and he will be living "out west", and that his Georgetown University bound son, Eric, could only afford to get into a state college after his father blew his entire college fund gambling with Tony. Later, Tony and Carmela throw Meadow a graduation party at the Soprano house, with all their family and friends in attendance. The episode ends with a montage of Tony's two families celebrating Meadow's graduation, interspersed with the images of the various illegal enterprises through which Tony makes his fortune—Barone Sanitation, an adult movie theater, a person selling calling cards on the street, Teittleman's motel, the now-abandoned office where the "Webistics" stock scam took place. Carmela looks for Tony among the guests, finding him standing by himself in a corner of the living room, slowly lighting a cigar and blowing out the smoke, with a far-away look on his face. It then fades into a shot of the ocean at sunset, the waves crashing on the shore.