Ep 4. Employee of the Month

Tony Soprano, the head of the New Jersey-based Italian-American crime family, is struggling to cope with the various pressures of his life in the third season of "The Sopranos." In episode four, titled "Employee of the Month," we see Tony take on one of his biggest challenges yet - managing his nephew Christopher's budding mob career.

While Tony has always been tough on Christopher, he's also been protective of him. But now that Christopher is more involved in the "family business," Tony feels it's time for him to start earning his keep. He assigns Christopher to help out with a new construction project, hoping to teach him the ropes of extortion and union corruption.

Meanwhile, Tony's wife, Carmela, is having her own struggles. She's bored with her life as a stay-at-home mom and wants to find meaning outside of her marriage and her role as a mob wife. She begins volunteering at a church, where she meets and befriends a fellow volunteer, Father Phil.

As Tony and Carmela deal with their own issues, a power struggle is brewing within the DiMeo crime family. Junior Soprano, Tony's uncle and predecessor as boss, is feeling threatened by Tony's growing influence. He begins plotting against Tony and futilely trying to assert his own authority.

All of these threads come to a head in "Employee of the Month." As Christopher struggles to maintain his tough-guy demeanor on the construction site, he also finds himself caught in the middle of a mob dispute. Meanwhile, Carmela's relationship with Father Phil raises eyebrows among her fellow mob wives, and Tony's power within the family is tested yet again.

Overall, "Employee of the Month" is a powerful episode that explores many of the themes that have made "The Sopranos" so iconic. From the struggle of balancing family and business to the search for meaning and purpose, this episode is full of deep, meaningful moments - all set against the backdrop of a violent, unpredictable world.