Rewatching The Sopranos S2 E2 "Do Not Resuscitate"

Family Events: Tony confronts Janice about the for sale sign, later at the hospital Livia accuses Janice of wanting to take her house. After speaking with Meadow ("what is she into?" "NEGATIVITY!") Janice uses a Pavarotti CD to charm Livia. When Janice offers to take Livia home to live, she says she'd rather go back to Green Grove. Janice tries to convince Tony to sign a "do not resuscitate" order; AJ overhears the conversation and innocently admits everything to Livia during a visit.

Livia calls Carmela from the hospital and babbles about nothing; Carmela hangs up on her when she begins to criticize her children but adds first, "THEY ARE ALL UNHAPPY."

Mafia Events: Tony visits Junior in prison; Junior insists that Livia had no part in the assassination attempt and that Tony make peace with her. Junior's guy Bobby Baccalieri meets the crew at Satriale's where Tony explains which of Junior's businesses he'll be allowed to keep. Junior is released from custody on house arrest due to his health issues but once back home falls in the shower. When he refuses an ambulance, Tony picks him up and carries him to the car. 

A group of Black activists protest at a Masserone Brothers Construction site; the owner arranges with Tony to handle the issue. Tony meets with the leader's father, a reverend, and likes him, but still orders his crew to attack the activists. 

In a flashback, Pussy is driven home after a medical procedure by Skip, revealing that Pussy has been working with federal agents since 1998.  

Significant Ideology: Livia throws out many contradictions, switching gears a few times throughout the episode. In what seems to be a one-off conversation with AJ, Livia says, "daughters take better care of their mothers," explaining how Janice comes every day to play pinocle with her but earlier criticized Janice for being unable to stay in New Jersey and for being unable to stand herself. She also introduced the idea that Johnny Soprano might not have been the "saint" she's been praising all this time and after hearing the disturbing news about the DNR, begins mentioning hidden money she has stashed away to both Janice and Carmela while bizarrely mixing up family names and whispering nonsensical chatter. 

The unnamed reverend Tony meets with unfortunately dies; Junior falls and has potentially broken his hip. The older generation is declining, as the reverend stated, but in all of the cases, the sons in this story are (or in Tony's case, were) the ones caring for their elders. Janice is an opportunist, in town only to capitalize on Livia's disability, and this has been observed and commented upon by Tony, Barbara, and even Livia, who may be confused, but who definitely knows her own daughter's cunning. While Tony has refused to make peace with her (as Junior and Janice have both encouraged), he is somehow roped into caring for Junior, the man who arranged to have him killed. While he hasn't explicitly stated that he forgives either of them, his interactions with Junior, first arranging through Bobby to allow him to continue earning and then physically hauling him to the car after his injury suggest that Tony still loves his uncle. The difference with Junior is of course that he has no one else; for the time being, Livia has Janice (and Meadow, who seems sympathetic). 

The insertion of the Pussy-being-an-informant into a crew heavy episode like this one shows the vigorous nature of Tony's position as boss and how the constant chaos allowed for such a problem. When he's not dealing with Junior, he's dealing with Masserone Brothers, when he's not dealing with staging a riot between his crew and the protesters, he's arranging with the reverend's son and hacking up construction deal spoils. When he gets home, Janice grills him about Livia's house and the DNR after he's explicitly told her not to mention their mother. There was no mention of Christopher (although his two finance bros derped their way into the riot) nor of Tony's mental health. Things were just too busy.

Italian Language: disgratziata (Pussy in regard to Livia when Skip says "this fuck tried to suffocate his own mother"): poor, wretched, unfortunate, unlucky

Rewatching The Sopranos S2 E1 "Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist's Office"

Family Events: Oldest sister Janice Soprano shows up, when she asks about Livia, Tony says, "she's dead to me" and that he's selling her house. Meadow visits Livia in the hospital; Livia gives her two of her own grandmother's rings so that she won't be forgotten. Tony arranges a house party for Janice and their other younger sister, Barbara. When he finds the "for sale" sign for Livia's house hidden in Janice's car, Tony rages to Carmela about Janice's intentions.

Mafia Events: Junior's "Boss" standing in the FBI's photo lineup is downgraded; Tony's picture remains in its place but is relabeled "Street Boss." Pussy returns, surprising Tony as he gets his morning newspaper. He admits to Tony he knew they all suspected he was the rat but that he had been away for his back problems in Puerto Rico. Tony forgives him but pats down his body to check for a wire. 

Junior's guy, Philly Parisi, is assassinated, apparently for being "a bigmouth fuck," and spreading rumors about Tony's treatment of Livia and seeing a female psychiatrist. Christopher is given a SEC compliance officer role in a brokerage office; two younger guys he brings in use physical threats to force everyone to push "Webistics" stock.

Mental Health Events: Tony crashes into a telephone pole when he has a panic attack; he sees a new male therapist who refuses to treat him for more than a single session. Tony continues to have issues with controlling his anger over Janice's actions and seems to struggle with further panic symptoms during the party at his house. Eventually he surprises Melfi, who is not receptive to seeing him. He attempts to discuss his recent panic attacks with her but she refuses to talk to him about it or anything else. She snaps, "How many more people need to die for your personal growth?" 

That was a different time for us.

Significant Ideology: The passage of time is shown in both the beginning of the episode (the montage of everyone going about their activities to Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year,") as well as the end (acknowledged through a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Time is on My Side"). Changes in Tony's life are part of the importance of the passage of time, including his fallout with Livia, professional breakup with Melfi, concerns over Junior in prison, Christopher launching off on his own as a broker, and Pussy's possible involvement with the feds. The one constant, reliable figure in his life throughout these changes is Carmela. Her montage footage was wholly focused around the delivery of lasagna from oven to table, just as she closes the episode by presenting Tony with a bowl of spaghetti after he comes home confused and upset from being rejected by Melfi. She helps Tony regulate his emotions over Livia's house and Janice's meddling and encourages him to find pleasure in being with his friends. Knowing Melfi had been helpful to him in the past, Carmela insists Tony resume therapy, citing among other reasons that they have not had sex in "God knows how long." 

Though there have been no such scenes between Carmela and Tony, Tony has what is assumed to be frequent relations with his goomar, Irina. Without reading too much into what has been shown thus far, (Tony admits to offering Carmela oral sex only once a year on her birthday, Tony does not do much other than lie there with Irina, Tony has had sexual fantasies about Melfi) it seems as though there might be specific expectations for his relations with Carmela that either don't come easily to him (emotion, genuineness, consideration for her needs) or that he just doesn't make the time for when he can use Irina for his own needs without any further provisions. Carmela wants him, physically, and is doing everything else she can to manage the house, the kids, and feeding everyone, but Tony seems to need her nurturing more than anything else. Carmela's mother in criticizing Livia (and it seems her own daughter's marriage) reminds her that Livia told her on their wedding night that marrying Tony was a mistake, that he'd only get bored with her; whatever he is currently, bored or something else, he needs Carmela more than ever. In some scenes, ("you mope your way through this and I will cut your throat," and he LISTENS TO HER) she actually seems to wield more power than anyone.

WILL YOU STOP, PLEASE?

Tony tells Janice that a doctor told him Livia's "stroke" was actually a conversion reaction; this is a mental health disorder and would typically prompt treatment from a psychologist. Surprise, Livia should be in therapy! 

Chris hits Adriana in the club (as in, full public with onlookers) in front of his two broker associates. For this and various other reasons, Christopher could also benefit from some psychological help.

Italian Language: Batiamo le mani - I kiss the hand; my respects (when the crew explains to Pussy that Tony arranged his pickups while he was away). 

Schifosa (you fucking) unsatisfactory/trashy re: Silvio's performance of Kay Adams asking Michael Corleone "is it true, Michael?"

Streg (re Livia, she's the devil, said to Janice) strega, witch

Rewatching the Sopranos S1 E13 "I Dream of Jeanne Cusamano"

I am waiting (38 minutes so far) on the phone, on hold with SSA and decided to do what I always do when I'm bored, which is to read my old blogs.  I haven't written anything recently because I've been drowning in school stuff, and when I'm not doing that I'm catching up on everyone else's needs that have gone neglected while I was doing school stuff. Summer has been slightly less demanding so I can read and watch tv again. 

I spent 56 minutes on hold waiting to talk to these idiots for someone to tell me I can't make an appointment for what I need and have to WALK IN. 

FML.

Family Events: Livia shows up at Tony's house not oriented in reality and yells at Meadow and a police officer. After she is transferred to the nursing unit at Green Grove for Alzheimer's care, she upsets visitor Artie Bucco by suggesting Tony was the one who set fire to the old Vesuvio. Artie shows up at Satriale's and threatens Tony with a rifle. Tony manages to talk him down; Artie responds by bashing his rifle apart and driving off.

Tony goes to confront Livia at Green Grove where he is informed she has had a stroke. As Livia is wheeled away in a gurney she smiles as Tony threatens her. Tony takes the family to Vesuvio in the middle of a terrible storm and toasts them, telling them to remember the little moments that were good. 

Mafia Events: Junior gives permission for Tony's crew to whack Jimmy; Christopher lures Jimmy to a hotel where Silvio kills him. His body is later recovered outside a dumpster with a rat stuffed in his mouth. Tony later meets with the feds where they play him recordings of Livia and Junior discussing Livia's anger at being forced to live at Green Grove, Tony's depression and psychiatric treatment, and Tony's crew using Green Grove for cover. Tony informs his crew that Junior and Mikey were the ones who arranged to have him killed. Tony kills Junior's assassin; Silvio helps him take care of the body. Paulie and Christopher come upon Mikey during his morning run, chase him through the forest, and kill him. Junior, Larry-Boy Barise, Joe Sasso, and 13 others get arrested for federal racketeering. Under examination with a federal agent, Junior refuses to cut a deal to save himself, scoffing at the idea that Tony is the actual boss of the family. 

Tony comes clean to his crew about seeing a psychiatrist, Silvio and Paulie are supportive, Christopher appears confused and upset about it. Later Paulie admits to Silvio that he can't get past Tony choosing a woman psychiatrist.

Mental Health Events: Melfi challenges Tony's reluctance to consider Livia's responsibility for the attack on his life, referencing the sudden memory loss and his subconscious creation of Isabella. Tony is incredulous."What are you saying, that my own mother tried to have me whacked for putting her in a nursing home?" Melfi explains that usually patients are encouraged to make their own breakthroughs in therapy, but that she is willing to help him through to some conclusions because his life is in danger. As Tony becomes increasingly physically agitated, Melfi goes on to suggest that Livia may have borderline personality disorder, reading diagnostic criteria from the DSM 4. Tony reacts by charging Melfi, flipping the glass top off the coffee table, shattering it, and threatening her. He shows up to his next session, admits Melfi was right about his mother, and tells her she needs to leave town. 

Religious Events:

Father Phil happens upon Carmela and Rosalie Aprile at Vesuvio; Carmela is disturbed to discover that Rosalie has given him Jackie's expensive watch. Later Carmela shows up at church with dinner for Father Phil and sees him eating with Rosalie so she dumps her own pasta into the garbage. Carmela is bothered by Father Phil's familiarity in showing up at her home and using her video store account, eventually confronting him for his hypocrisy when he questions Tony's faith and actions. Carmela suggests that instead of criticizing Tony, he look at his own manipulation. 

Father Phil also seems to be making a play to encourage Artie Bucco to report Tony's possible involvement with the restaurant fire and appears to be disappointed when Artie declines to take his advice. 

Significant Ideology

They took a little bit of a liberty in stretching out the borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnostic criteria, probably to fit the version of Livia they'd already spent so much time laying out, but saying flat out that sufferers of BPD aren't able to form interpersonal relationships at all and that their internal phobias are all that matter to them is very negative and in many cases, off the mark. For Livia, (who Melfi is not treating so she has really no business diagnosing), these descriptions sound accurate, at least at first, but to qualify for BPD one needs at least five out of nine criteria, and Livia has formed and continues to form interpersonal relationships outside her immediate family, and her internal phobias (driving, being abandoned) aren't really phobias but relevant concerns as she recently had a car accident, injuring a friend, and was literally placed in a nursing home! If anything, Livia might qualify for histrionic personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, or maybe even an unspecified one before borderline, but whatever. She might not even be out of the ballpark for antisocial personality disorder, considering how easily she arranged her own son's assassination and her strange smile at Tony after her "stroke," but that's a kind of a reach. 

Whatever diagnosis ends up fitting best, Livia's mental health continues to be an important factor in this story. That said, any practitioner should have been able to clearly read Tony's escalating body language and anxiety cues as these descriptions were applied to Livia, thus avoiding the table flip and physical threat. Tony's inability to consider this information cognitively (your mother arranged to have you killed and is now faking dementia to get out of it) and uncontrolled physical anger suggests that despite several months of therapy, he cannot process unpleasant information through his executive functioning, only by reacting with his body. Coupling this (Tony still has so much work to do) with the scene of him in Melfi's abandoned office after she has left is a very serious situation. He is literally in the dark without her.

Some of the most emotional moments in this episode come in reactions: 

Agent Harris's reaction to his boss dangling the tape of Livia and Junior in front of Tony---he knows what's on the recordings and he knows what hearing them will do to Tony . . . (suggesting Harris, while still committed to doing his job as a federal agent, has grown to like Tony, or at the least, empathizes with him learning his mother and uncle have conspired against him).

Tony's reaction to hearing what he hears on the tape, hurt, anger, then immediate regrouped control as he nods to the fed that he wants to hear more . . .  He just finished losing control with Melfi and perhaps felt bad about it afterward but manages to keep his cool with the feds. In a way, Melfi's warning prepared Tony. Having that information prompt such a violent response with her proves that it bothered him, likely because he found it plausible, painful as it is. Melfi being a woman might be a factor; her proximity to Carmela and Livia or women in general would have been accepted as trustworthy---who knows an Italian woman better than another Italian woman?---but also perhaps emasculating. Tony can't escape the news Melfi gives him by any sort of strategic business or mafia means so he rages, physically and threatens her; when the feds confirm Melfi's theory, he has no choice but to play it cool and plan his retaliation, faced with the realization that Melfi saw it coming and was taking a risk in telling him the truth. His showing up at her office afterward suggests he might be looking for absolution.

Carmela's response to hearing the news about Livia: "I could kill her . . . with THESE HANDS!" and later, "This wasn't you. It was HER." Yet putting on a completely believable pleasant act when Livia and Junior come for dinner. Tony may be the one in therapy but Carmela seems to be learning a lot about boundaries (Father Phil), emotional regulation, and strategizing. 

When Tony explains to Carmela that cunnilingus and psychiatry brought them to this, he connected the issues with Junior and the mafia at large to what Silvio earlier said to the crew about needing therapy. "It'd be better to admit to ourselves that these are painful, stressful times." He looks around to see no one willing to agree with him and then says, "But it'll never fucking happen." These men are in a business that requires them to commit many unpleasant, upsetting acts but does not allow them to have or express feelings about their actions. Tony's case is unique among the crew: he seems to have made peace with the lifestyle but does not understand why his mother treats him as she does. 

Rewatching the Sopranos S1 E11 "Nobody Knows Anything"

Family Events: Livia refuses to attend Carmela's open house party; Carmela comes to Green Grove and admonishes her for manipulating Tony. Livia refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing and instead complains about being abandoned. When Tony asks Bonnie to inform Livia that her house has been sold Livia retaliates by suggesting to Junior that Tony has meetings at Green Grove to talk about him with his crew, effectively setting in motion the plot to have Tony killed. 

Mafia Events: Pussy suffers an injury to his back and then gets arrested with Jimmie after fleeing an FBI bust at Jimmie's club. Junior criticizes Pussy for having run from the feds and for carrying too much cash. Makazian informs Tony that Pussy is "wired for sound" after being busted dealing heroin; Tony reacts poorly to this news but begins to entertain suspicions. Tony visits Pussy and listens to his concerns but immediately informs Paulie about the wiretap, saying he's "90% sure." Paulie offers to take care of Pussy but Tony insists that he actually see the wire before acting. Paulie surprises Pussy with a trip to the spa but Pussy refuses to get undressed and storms off. Silvio discovers that Makazian owes Pussy upwards of thirty thousand dollars. In the middle of afternoon traffic, Makazian pulls over after presumably being fired from his job as a detective and jumps off a bridge, killing himself. Jimmie gets released from prison and insists on getting Tony to talk about the Columbian money deal; Tony realizes Jimmie is the one who is working with the feds. 

Mental Health Events: Tony admits he's worried about Pussy; Melfi tries to refocus Tony's attention
on his own therapy but eventually suggests too much responsibility and secrets could be factors in someone's chronic back pain. In a passing comment to Bonnie, Tony mentions that Livia has always been "depressed." 

Significant Ideology: The strength of men is questioned: Jimmie and Pussy have charges serious enough to scare them into cooperating with FBI as neither of them feel strong enough to do jail or have the financial ability to stop earning. Makazian is not strong enough to handle his suspension after the raid on Debbie's place, or he's overcome by his sizeable gambling debt. Tony is the only one to put in motion what has to be done (re: Pussy) but he's very conflicted about doing it. Livia casually manipulates Junior into killing Tony with absolutely no remorse. Carmela understands both her husband and her mother in law and is the only one strong enough to confront Livia. 

The consequences that threaten the men are immediate and physical, jail or death; the consequences of Livia's decisions change in this episode from chronic emotional manipulation to also immediate and physical. She is willing to have Tony killed for the simple act of selling her home, and not only that, this is her second attempt. Informing Junior about the psychiatry introduced the idea of killing Tony but did not bring about immediate action. Livia may have been content to just revert to her usual emotional manipulation (as she has seemingly come to tolerate living at Green Grove) as evidenced by her refusal to attend Carmela's open house, but the news of her house being sold was enough to push her over the edge. This time she makes it personal to Junior ("maybe it was you that they were talking about!") and she knows exactly what she's doing.

Rewatching The Sopranos S1 E9 "Boca"

Family Events: Livia again brings up Tony's seeing a psychiatrist with Junior, referring to Tony as, "my son, the mental patient." Tony and Carmela attend Meadow's soccer game and are inspired by the team's coach, Don Hauser. After the girls get together in the park, Meadow finds her friend Ally just after she's cut her own wrist. Tony soon finds out the coach has taken a position in New England; Silvio and Artie pay Hauser a visit to implore him to stay. Meadow becomes increasingly hostile toward Hauser and soccer in general; she admits Ally has been having an affair with the coach. 

Mafia Events: Junior hides out from any possible indictments in his lawyer's office but decides to vacation to Boca Raton with his girlfriend, Roberta San Fillipo. In Boca, Bobbi speaks candidly with Junior about his oral abilities but Junior doesn't want anyone to know he does it out of fear of appearing weak. Tony's crew delivers a big screen to the coach and he becomes hostile, stating he refuses to be threatened or bribed. Later one of Carmela's friends hears Bobbi's manicurist speaking with her about the topic Junior wanted to avoid and soon everyone knows. 

Mikey, acting on suspicions that Tony is informing the feds, has Tony followed. During a golf game with Junior, Tony is angered by a comment from Junior and begins ridiculing him armed with the new information about Bobbi; Junior retorts with a comment about psychiatry. In the locker room after the golf game, Junior floats the idea of having Tony "clipped" to Mikey. Artie begs Tony not to harm Hauser; Tony explodes at Artie for his audacity but decides not to act in the end.

Junior angrily confronts Bobbi about her inability to keep his secret, smashes a pie into her face (a nod to Cagney and the grapefruit), and fires her from the job he gave her.

Mental Health Events: Tony discusses Ali's suicide attempt with Melfi and apologizes for his outburst the week before. When Tony shares his frustrations over the situation with Ally and the coach, Melfi demands to know why Tony thinks he needs to deal with it, himself. 

Significant Ideology: The actions of Coach Hauser are serious and require serious attention, both in the fictional world for the characters as they navigate such disturbing abuse and for the viewers, who are equally shocked and upset by these events. The writing of this episode seems to rely on this shock value to take focus off some of the more confusing points ---the coach randomly takes a job in New England and is leaving an entire year in advance, before the season ends? He loves Ally but won't leave his wife? Meadow plays soccer now, not volleyball and hangs out with Heather Dante, Ally, and Deena, the coach's daughter but not Hunter? Melfi kind of blowing Tony's legitimate second-hand trauma over Ally's suicide attempt (which she'd before done in the past, not connected with the Coach affair)? For a serious topic such as suicide, it all seemed kind of thrown together. 

The problem with Junior has more depth. Carmela's light (ambiguous) teasing of Junior arouses only Tony's suspicion and in the end is harmless until she tells Tony what she knows. Tony may have kept his own teasing under the radar on the golf course but because Junior insulted him first, for making too much noise when Mikey was teeing off (and then suggesting Tony failed to make a play as a high school athlete because he was talking then, too), Tony, who becomes angry and can't keep himself from retaliating, goes full throttle into  cunnilingus-inspired mockery of Junior. Tony responds to being hurt by Junior by humiliating Junior in return; Junior responds to the humiliation by escalating what was until then knowledge he was willing to live with (Tony seeing a psychiatrist) to the suggestion of full on war. Junior brings Mikey up to speed in the locker room, knowing that Mikey has no choice but to support him:

Mikey: "Are you thinking of having him clipped?" 

Junior: "No one would slap my wrist if I did . . . " 

Things are about to get violent, all because these men cannot be seen to lose macho in the eyes of their peers (I give my lady oral) OR to be honest about their true feelings (what you just said was really hurtful). 

Italian Language: 

lecca fica = what Junior doesn't want to admit he does for Bobbi

Tony and Junior: the fighting words begin

Rewatching The Sopranos S1 E6 "Pax Soprana"

Family Events: Livia seems happier at Green Grove, but when Junior comes for a visit she implies that Junior should receive monetary benefits from Tony's relationship with Hesh. Carmela tries to voice her frustration with Tony's not being sexually interested in her any longer, later she buys furniture to soothe herself. Carmela discusses her jealousy of Melfi with Father Phil, who tells her she's not blameless. Tony apologizes to Carmela and she admits she wants to be the woman who helps him.

Mafia Events: Junior makes changes down the ranks: strong-arming a card game, taxing Hesh, and seeking a drug dealer who sold deadly stuff to a colleague's grandson. Tony meets with New York's Johnny Sack about how to handle Junior and the two cook up a scheme to get him to come down on the tax amount. Mikey murders Rusty Irish, the drug dealer in question, by throwing him off a bridge, and the captains discuss how to handle Junior's recklessness. Tony persuades Junior to distribute Hesh's tax among the top five captains; Tony returns his share to Hesh.

Mental Health Events: Tony continues to have Makazian spy on Dr. Melfi. In
session, Melfi suggests Tony's choice of her (female, Italian) as a doctor might indicate his desire, through "coming clean" with her, to dialog with Livia, Carmela, and Meadow. Tony informs Melfi he has been experiencing a decreased libido from the prozac but keeps having sexual dreams about her. In the next session, Tony lies about events that happened with Irina and after complimenting Melfi, tries to kiss her. Melfi suggests they need to talk further about this event but Tony refuses. Later Melfi discovers someone has had ailing starter on her car replaced. Tony admits to fixing the car, and then tells Melfi he loves her. Melfi tries to explain that he's feeling this way because the therapy has progressed well.

Significant Ideology: Tony seeks a relative peace (Pax Soprana) within his both of his families---with Carmela over his lies and therapeutic relationship with Melfi and with Junior, over his need to make a splash as he takes the reins as new boss. In both cases, Tony is dishonest and manipulative, to Carmela, whom he professes to love but devotes all his energies to pursuing Melfi, and to Junior, behind whose back Tony schemes with Johnny Sack, Hesh, and the captains of his own crew in order to establish control. Funny how despite this need for control, Tony accepts Melfi's rebuff and continues therapy. While being told "no" might not be something Tony is used to, he takes it from her and then later paraphrases her words to Carmela ("what you think you're feeling, you're not feeling, and what you're not feeling is your real agenda,"). Tony seems to respect her enough to realize on some level that Melfi is right. This power differential is both unlike and exactly like one he's already experienced, he just isn't able to see it yet.

Melfi has been right about a lot of things so far, but her being an Italian woman does create an interesting dynamic in how Tony views the therapy and himself, given how much he personally needs a strong, compassionate person in his life. This powerful transference of Tony's needs onto Melfi could make for an explosively dangerous situation down the line if not addressed, but Melfi addresses it almost immediately. Tony has likely encountered men who have had more power and control in his life, but Melfi is teaching him how his mother (and her own mental illness) has colored his perceptions in his family and business life,  and why this matters at all: 

1. What do your mother, your wife, and your daughter all have in common?

2. It's not appropriate to bring me gifts.

3. You've made me all of the things that are missing in your wife and in your mother.

The panic attacks were just the beginning.

Italian Language: 

Morte = dead 

Putan' = prostitute (Livia to Junior,  "What are you wearing? You smell like a French putan'")

che brutta = how ugly (Livia, "I'm going to the dining room to get away from the che brutta activities lady,")

Capisce = he understands

mezzo morte = half dead (Junior to Tony, "You been walking around mezzo morte all week!")

Livia accepts biscotti ONLY IF THEY ARE ALMOND: 

Junior gets a new card