This week, an ugly rumor made its way around Essex County, and it can be summed up in one word: "indictments."

At the wedding of Larry Boy Barese's daughter, all the wiseguys talked about were the indictments coming down and how half of New York has already left for Fort Lauderdale. So the question was, what are Tony and his associates going to do, lam it or stay? The decision was for everyone to stay - but do a little "housecleaning" in case anyone shows up on the doorstep in an "FBI" jacket.

Later, there's a television broadcast naming everybody in the Soprano crew as possible subjects of a grand jury investigation. Everybody but Christopher, that is. So he got upset because he's not named. Very upset. Depressed, even. After all, if he's not significant enough to warrant a warrant, what's the point of his life?

To put it mildly, Christopher started falling apart. He had nightmares about Emil Kolar. He infuriated Tony by shooting a clerk in bakery. When he tries to take his mind off things by writing a screenplay, it only makes things worse. Madonn' - what's going on with him, anyway?

Not to worry. Just as Christopher is about to hit bottom, he's named in the newspaper as a "reputed gangster." Life is good and he's got a new lease on it.

Meanwhile, Junior drops in to visit Livia and gets more family news than he bargained for: she tells him that Tony is seeing a psychiatrist.

Federal indictments could turn out to be the least of Tony's problems.