Who Gave Tony Food Poisoning?
There are many debates among the Sopranos community. What did the ending mean? Did Ralph kill Pie-O-My? Who really ate Tony’s Lo Mein?
But the biggest unanswered question of all, is what gave Tony food poisoning in the episode Funhouse? The chicken vindaloo or the muscles at Vesuvio?
“I can’t have this conversation again.”
- Tony
Alright so it’s not the most important issue I admit. But it is heavily debated in the community. When I did my video on everything I missed in the Sopranologs for example, I mentioned that I thought it was the Italian food that poisoned Tony. And a lot of people left comments disagreeing with me and saying it was the Indian food.
“That is so racist!”
- Meadow
Now at first I just chalked this up to the usual Sopranos memery, and I believed that there was no real answer to the question. But I’ve been thinking about the episode recently and I started to come around to a different point of view. So we’re going to discuss it in this video. And if you don’t think this is a good video topic, well that breaks my heart. But I’m not running a fucking popularity contest here.
At the beginning of the Season 2 finale “Funhouse”, Tony eats with Big Pussy at an Indian restaurant as part of a meeting for their phone card scheme. Later they meet Silvio and Furio at Artie’s restaurant, and also eat some muscles.
This is what is known in the fat guy community as a bang-bang.
“We’re doing a bang bang.”
“What’s a bang bang?”
“It’s where we go have a whole meal at one place, then go right to another place and have another one. Bang bang.”
- Louie
Later, Tony wakes up in the middle of the night thinking he’s having a panic attack. However he realizes that it’s his stomach, and rushes to the bathroom. He has a very bad case of food poisoning, and experiences strange and vivid fever dreams that ultimately lead him to realizing that Pussy has been an informant this whole time.
Though Pussy is one of Tony’s closest friends, he and the others wack Pussy and dump him into the ocean. The killing of a friend is a fundamental moment for Tony, and marks the beginning of a steady moral decline for him in the further seasons.
But we’re not talking about any of that deep character bullshit right now. The thing I want to know is what gave Tony the food poisoning?
At first, Tony blames the Indian food, as it has a reputation in America for causing stomach problems.
“Lois do I have to do anything tomorrow that doesn’t involve being me bent over in excruciating pain three feet from a toilet?
“No.”
“Time for some Tikka Masala!”
- Family Guy
However when the muscles from Vesuvio come up undigested, he instead thinks Artie is to blame. Artie defends himself, insisting that he uses high quality shellfish and that the ghee that Indians cook with could be rancid. They call Pussy, who experienced a little diarrhea but no other symptoms. Pussy ate the same Indian appetizer with Tony, but not the same entre. They both had the muscles though as Vesuvio.
Later, Doc Cusamano comes over to take a look at Tony. He says he doesn’t believe the Indian food is to blame, as the spices they cook with have antibacterial properties. So we have arguments for and against each side, but ultimately we don’t get a definitive answer either way.
Now I’m going to skirt around any discussions about the real life statistics about foodborne illness. Either restaurant is capable of having an outbreak, regardless of the standards of hygiene they have. And again this is a show written by writers, who are setting up both possibilities in order to facilitate the story.
At first, I thought there was no real answer. Like the question of who left the note in Tony’s hospital room in Season 6. It’s not really about who it was specifically, it’s about what effect it has on Tony. In this case, the food poisoning was just a means for Tony to have his dream and realization about Puss. Which food it was specifically just doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Now I personally thought it was more likely that Artie was the one responsible, just because the idea that Tony was poisoned by his own cultural food fit with the theme of Pussy’s betrayal of their family.
However I’ve come around to a new idea. I don’t think Tony had food poisoning at all. I think the whole thing was psychosomatic, and just a manifestation of his anxiety about Pussy.
“This mental stuff can cause physical problems, right?”
- Tony
Here is my evidence. When Tony first wakes up, he thinks he’s having a panic attack.
“It’s all a big nothing.”
“What is?”
“Life.”
- Tony & Carmela
Tony’s panic attacks always followed feelings of despair caused by his mafia life. In this case, it’s because subconsciously he knows he’s going to have to kill his best friend for betraying their family. After all you can see Tony is subtly bothered at how nonchalantly Pussy is describing their illegal scheme to Furio. It’s like Michael Corleone realizing that it was Fredo that betrayed him.
“It was you Fredo.”
- The Sopranos & The Godfather
I think the panic attack causes a psychosomatic response, as Tony was not yet ready to deal with the issue until he went through his dream sequence. The dream allows Tony to work through his denial of the situation, and realize what he needs to do.
“You know I’ve been working with the government, right Tone?”
“Don’t say it.”
“Come on Tone, sooner or later you gotta face facts.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Well you’re going to hear it.”
- Tony & Fish Pussy in the Dream
This is not the first time we’ve heard about this happening on the show. Earlier in the season for example, Junior goes to the doctor who suggests he also has a psychosomatic issue.
“Thing is Doc, I’ve been having these like, little fibrillations.’
“Psychosomatic. You got out of jail on a medical. It’s the mind body connection. You’re body’s just pitching in to help.”
- Junior and Doctor Shrek
In Season 5, Adriana develops IBS due to the stress she feels from being forced to be an informant for the FBI and betray Christopher. She literally couldn’t stomach the issue.
“Plus they might put me on Prozac.”
“For diarrhea?”
“To help me cope and handle stress, which is a lot of what causes it.”
- Adriana & Christopher
And finally most interestingly, in Season One when Tony and Melfi discuss Pussy’s back problem, she attributes it to feelings of stress from keeping secrets. This is one the the things that originally made Tony think Pussy was a rat, before he allowed himself to buy into Pussy’s lie.
“Psychologically, a secret is a heavy load. It leads to feelings of guilt that further burden the mind.”
- Melfi
So we have multiple examples of psychological stress causing physical issues. And this is without a doubt one of the most traumatic things Tony has gone through up until this point. Tony repeatedly states that Pussy is one of his closest friends. They’ve known each other since they were young, and Tony has been there for Puss when no one else was. Betraying Tony causes Pussy much distress as well, and it manifests as his back pain and his Stockholm syndrome with the FBI.
“It’s the worst case of Stockholm syndrome I’ve seen since Patty Hearst.”
- Skip
It only makes sense that Tony would struggle with this issue. He agonizes over the decision for two seasons, and killing Puss takes a remarkable toll on his character moving forward. He continues to be haunted by the memory of his friend. And after this, he would become so cold and heartless that killing his own nephew Christopher barely had an effect on him at all.
“I’ve murdered friends before, even relatives. My cousin Tony. My best friend Puss. But this-”
- Tony
So while the question of what gave Tony food poisoning might seem like an insignificant issue, we can see that it’s actually a critical part of the themes of the series. And it’s another great example of how deep this show really is. I’m always coming away with new interpretations and new connections I never thought about every time I watch an episode. And I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share these thoughts with all of you. As always, be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments, and subscribe for more Sopranos content, coming soon!
