Upstairs, Tony, Silvio, and Joey are toasting their success. "Here's something I never thought I'd say," says Tony. "Here's to the federal government." "Depends on which department," adds Silvio, which causes Joey to break into peals of hysterical laughter.

And then the Ironic Segue Fairy cuts us from Joey's cackling to an entire coven of mob wives cackling as well. By the way, see what I did there with the coven reference on Halloween? It's not much, I know, but it also hasn't been Halloween for three days now, so it's the best I can do. We're at Chez Soprano, watching Adriana open gifts at her bridal shower. Well, that's what most of you were probably watching. My mind is still dirty from the strip club scene, so I'm watching the incredibly short skirt Meadow is wearing. The kid may be a total brat, but she can really work that Jersey-girl look. Adriana opens a series of progressively more and more domestic gifts (including a cappuccino machine and same type of Cuisinart that Mrs. Little Stevie uses to make cheese-melts for Silvio), and everyone "oohs" and "ahhs" appropriately. Everyone except Adriana, that is, who looks quite forlorn now that her only ostensible reason for getting married has disappeared. She's even more depressed when the next gift turns out to be a hideously ugly giant leaf-shaped plate. Personally, I think she should just be thankful it's not a plastic singing fish.

If last week's episode was all about the Billy Joel, then this week's is clearly about Tony's Suburban. He's back behind the wheel yet again, and this time he's rocking out to Bachman Turner Overdrive. Which I suppose is better than Maximum Overdrive, because that would mean that the car was evil and trying to kill people. And since it would also mean that Emilio Estevez could show up at any minute, I vote we just stick with BTO. Tony disagrees, however, and fiddles with the dial until the Chi-Lites song we heard earlier comes on. Proving that certain songs have a very powerful capacity for sparking emotional memories, he quickly begins to cry as the music plays. I'm not going to quote the lyrics here, but you can just assume that they capture the theme perfectly.