The Ending Of The Sopranos Season 2 Explained

This is also the episode when Tony deals with a nasty case of food poisoning. The ordeal also doubles nicely as a metaphor for what Tony is going through with Pussy.

Coming into the episode, Tony and his crew have already been suspecting that Pussy is working with the feds. Tony's cop informant Vin Mazakian (John Heard) literally tells him as much in an earlier episode. Tony is avoiding the truth, and in the meantime Pussy's treachery is tainting the entire criminal operation.

Tony's food poisoning in the Season 2 finale isn't straightforward. He had two dinners the night before his illness. One was at an Indian restaurant, where he ate chicken vindaloo, and the other was at one of his favorite haunts, Nuovo Vesuvio, where he ate mussels. Throughout the episode, Tony blames the Indian restaurant for his illness, and his childhood friend and Nuovo Vesuvio's owner Artie Bucco (​​John Ventimiglia) insists his food is pure.

Later, Tony is forced to admit that Nuovo Vesuvio's is the culprit, when Pussy admits that he's suffering from diarrhea after also eating mussels–or, shellfish, which also ties back into the overall fish motif.

Just like the situation with Pussy and the FBI, Tony doesn't want to face the truth that his favorite restaurant gave him food poisoning. Tony would rather blame anyone or anything else, but in the end he's forced to face facts.