Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Big Pussy Bonpensiero returns after months away, but his account of treating a bad back does not settle Tony's suspicions. The FBI has recruited Pussy as an informant, and pressure from his handler increasingly clashes with his place among Tony's oldest friends. Janice also comes back to New Jersey, nominally to help their mother Livia, while Richie Aprile is released from prison and expects the respect his late brother once commanded. Tony brings Furio Giunta from Naples as an enforcer, and uses the newcomer to strengthen his crew without elevating Pussy.
Richie tries to reclaim status by demanding tribute from Peter “Beansie” Gaeta, a former associate who has built a successful pizzeria business. Tony orders him to leave this valuable earner alone, but Richie ignores him: he beats Beansie and later runs him down with a car, paralyzing him. The attack publicly tests Tony's authority. Richie and Janice renew their relationship, but it ends after he strikes her; she shoots him, and Tony's men hide the body before she leaves New Jersey. Tony's crew also takes over gambler David Scatino's store, while Carmela questions the price of Tony's choices.
Tony's doubts about Pussy finally become certainty after food poisoning brings fever dreams in which a talking fish gives voice to what he suspects. Tony searches Pussy's room and finds evidence of the wire. He then takes Pussy, Silvio and Paulie out on a boat, where the three kill him and throw his body into the Atlantic. Tony returns to Meadow's graduation celebration and watches the party from its edge; the montage of his criminal income continues as the final image turns to the water where Pussy was left. The killing closes the season's most intimate betrayal while Tony keeps his public and family life moving.