Sidebar: When you've seen as much TV and as many movies as I have, it's pretty hard to get emotional about what you see on the screen. When you've worked behind the camera or in an editing bay, it's even harder, because once you know how the magic trick works, it's never quite the same. The last movie I cried at was E.T., and I was seven. The last time I was surprised was Keyzer Soze, and I was stoned. Scant few tales have since managed to stir an emotive response in this blackened, jaded heart of mine, but there's been two in the past six months that both left me feeling like I'd just been kicked in the gut. One was Requiem For A Dream, which was so far superior to Traffic that it's not even funny. The other was this episode, and I just want to congratulate David Chase, this week's director, and especially Lorraine Bracco for their work here. I didn't see this coming, and it hit like a freight train when it did.

Cut to the hospital, where Melfi and some nurses are doing a rape kit. Richard bursts in and exclaims, "For God's sake, Jen," and I'm already getting a bad vibe off this guy. She shows him the injury to her knee, and…ow, and also the rest of her looks beat up pretty bad too. She's quick to point out that the guy has already been apprehended, and the detective in the room quickly gives a rundown on him, noting especially his name, Jesus Rossi. Richard is shocked to learn that the guy was Italian, and struggles to play it off by saying he was told that the guy was Puerto Rican. Pretty much everyone (including both Melfi and myself) looks at him like he's a total asshole, but before it can get any worse, it gets worse, and their kid Jason appears. After a brief hug for Mom, he and his nasty hair launch straight into a high-decibel rant about how the "world is a fucking sewer" and the animals are winning. Richard shushes him and pushes him out the door, and who wants to bet that's the last time we ever see him? Some people think that little tantrum of his was out of character, but as far as I can tell, the sum total of his characterization on this show has been the bad attitude and the Bard sticker on his backpack, so who can really say how he'd behave? ["Exactly like that, from what we've seen. He's in college and thinks he knows everything. That rant hit just the right note for him, in my opinion." -- Sars] And not to get sidebar city on you, but I've found there's few things on this Earth that will provoke a man's rage more than someone harming a woman he loves. It's protective and patriarchal to be sure, but it's also primal and incredibly powerful. I can't even think about that being my mom.