After three emotionally dense episodes, this is usually when the creative team behind the show take it a bit easier and allow the characters to "relax" a little. No, sir: The Fleshy Part of the Thigh moves forward at a breathless pace, as if Tony's coma had never occurred.
Of course, it did, in fact the New Jersey boss sends most of the episode at the hospital, chatting to fellow patients (most notably Hal Holbrook) about life and all things connected to it. As he prepares to come home, he learns a part of his business isn't going that well and there's nothing to do about it since Johnny Sack is indirectly involved. Also in for bad news is Paulie who, after receiving a literal kick in the balls in the previous show, gets a metaphorical one when he discovers his dying aunt Dottie, a devout noun, is actually his mother and the woman he thought was his mom is his real aunt. Disgusted and enraged by the revelation, he vows never to speak to "Ma" again, taking it out on Tony instead.
Although he has been dealt with on a deeper level in other episodes as well, this is the closest the writers have come to fully rendering the complexity of Paulie's personality: his inner conflict is the final step in setting him apart from the trite "smiling hit-man" cliché and Sirico is excellent, letting every last hint of humanity in his character emerge to great effect.
That said, his misadventure is the only huge event of the episode besides Tony's return home at the end. Maybe The Fleshy Part of the Thigh is a "calmer" show: the real trouble will start in the next couple of episodes.
