The pilot was shot in 1997, two years before the show aired on HBO. This explains the differences in appearance for many of the main characters (most noticably, Robert Iler as A.J.); the long time span also explains the recasts of Father Phil and Irina.
New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano unexpectedly becomes short of breath and passes out at his son's birthday party. After his doctors were unable to find any physical problem, his collapse was diagnosed as a panic attack, and he was referred to psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. In their first meeting, the two discuss the events that lead up to his collapse.
Anthony Soprano, a capo in the DiMeo Crime Family, begins therapy with Dr. Jennifer Melfi after having anxiety attacks. His mother, Livia, refuses to move to a nursing home. Tony's Uncle Junior wants to use Tony's friend's restaurant as a location for a murder, but Tony prevents this by having the restaurant blown up. Christopher Moltisanti, Tony's nephew, murders the representative of a Czech mob that was trying to move in on the family waste management company.
