"Bust Out" is the 23rd episode of theHBO original seriesThe Sopranos and the 10th of the show's second season. It was written byFrank Renzulli,Robin Green, andMitchell Burgess and directed byJohn Patterson, and originally aired on March 19, 2000.

• James Gandolfini asTony Soprano
• Lorraine Bracco asDr. Jennifer Melfi
• Edie Falco asCarmela Soprano
• Michael Imperioli asChristopher Moltisanti *
• Dominic Chianese asCorrado Soprano, Jr.
• Vincent Pastore asPussy Bonpensiero
• Steven Van Zandt asSilvio Dante *
• Tony Sirico asPaulie Gualtieri
• Robert Iler asAnthony Soprano, Jr.
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler asMeadow Soprano
• Drea de Matteo asAdriana La Cerva *
• David Proval asRichie Aprile
• Aida Turturro asJanice Soprano
• Nancy Marchand asLivia Soprano

* = credit only

• John Ventimiglia asArtie Bucco

Dr. Melfi tellsTony that he seems scared. A witness has identified him as one of two men leaving the scene ofMatt's murder, but after a press report that the murder isMafia-related, the witness retracts his statement.Pussy has another acrimonious meeting with AgentSkip Lipari and denies that he was the second man. Lipari orders him to record Tony admitting to the murder.

Tony andRichie subjectDavey Scatino's store to a "bust out", using the store'sline of credit to buy expensive merchandise with which to pay off hisgambling debt, and doing so until the store goesbankrupt. Tony points out to Davey that theExecutive Game was fair and that Davey could just as easily have won, but Davey is not consoled and is close to suicide.

Richie is dissatisfied with the cut he is getting from Davey's store, and with the deal he has with theDiMeo family's sanitation business. Egged on byJanice, he approachesUncle Junior with the idea of eliminating Tony. Junior admonishes him, but Richie points out that Junior himself planned to kill Tony the previous year. Tony visitsBeansie in the hospital and insists on giving him $50,000.

Davey's wife does not know about his disastrous debt to Tony. She is friends withCarmela and introduces her to her brother, Victor Musto. Carmela and Victor, who is recently widowed, are immediately attracted to each other. He is a housepainter, and she engages him to wallpaper part of her house. They suddenly kiss when they are alone in a small powder room. They agree that he will come alone the next day, without his assistant. That evening, Victor meets Davey, who confesses that he is ruined, in debt to Tony. The next day, only Victor's assistant comes to Carmela's house.

In therapy with Melfi, Tony claims he is fine with going to jail, but only once his kids are grown, so that he is not an absentee father. One night in the kitchen, drunk, he reminds Meadow that he loves her. After some cruel words to A.J., Tony feels bad and tries to get closer to him. At first he resists, but they are happy together, speeding on Tony's boat.

• A "bust out" is a fraud tactic, commonly used in the organized crime world, wherein a business' assets and lines of credit are exploited and exhausted to the point of insolvency.^[1] Richie and Tony profit from busting out Davey Scatino's sporting goods store in this episode.
• "Bust out" is also a poker term thatPoker News defines as: "To lose all your chips and thus be eliminated from a tournament."^[2] It was Davey Scatino's "bust out" in Tony's Executive Poker Game that led to the bust out of his sporting goods store.

• In bed, Carmela is readingMemoirs of a Geisha.
• Livia mentionsRose Kennedy, the wealthy matriarch of theKennedy family.
• When Richie visits Junior at his home, Junior is watching the CBS daytime soap operaThe Bold and the Beautiful.
• Carmela tells Tony about aHarvard study examining the importance of the father-son relationship she read about inTime.
• Tony mentions "The Scorpion and the Frog" to David Scatino.
• At home, the eyewitness is readingAnarchy, State, and Utopia, byRobert Nozick.
• Richie tells Janice that Mafia rules dictate that an underling cannot kill a boss. She responds, "Tell that toPaul Castellano", referring to the assassination of Castellano byJohn Gotti.
• A.J. is shown playing theDreamcast gameFlag to Flag.

• The piano instrumental playing at Nuovo Vesuvio during lunch with Carmela and Christine Scatino is "Cast Your Fate to the Wind".
• The song "Con te partirò" byAndrea Bocelli appears for the third time this season, played as Carmela thinks about and receives a phone call from the handyman. This song was especially prominent in "Commendatori", playing (among other places) when Carmela and her friends discussed hoping to be free of their husbands.
• The music playing during the scene wherein the witness realizes the murder victim was a Mafia associate is the second movement fromAnton Webern'sVariations for Piano, Op. 27.
• When Carmela is preparing the food for her lunch with Vic Musto, "You're Still the One" byShania Twain is playing in the background.
• The song played over the end credits is "Wheel in the Sky" byJourney; this song also played in the scene of painters wallpapering the Sopranos' dining room.

Listed in order of first appearance:^[3]

• Garden State Plaza inParamus, New Jersey
• Ramsey Outdoor in Paramus, New Jersey
• North Caldwell, New Jersey
• Washington Middle School inHarrison, New Jersey
• Long Island City, Queens
• Satin Dolls inLodi, New Jersey
• Great Kills, Staten Island

• "Bust Out"Archived 2016-08-18 at theWayback Machine atHBO
• "Bust Out" atIMDb

• The Sopranos season 2 episodes
• 2000 American television episodes
• Television episodes directed by John Patterson (director)

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