Meadow and
Noah are embracing on her bed in her room at
Columbia when her unhappy roommate
Caitlin comes back in. Meadow and Noah go to his room instead and they make love; it is her first time. They then try to help Caitlin; Meadow admires Noah's sensitivity. They take her out on her birthday, but an encounter with a homeless woman upsets her again. When Meadow is away, Caitlin persuades Noah to let her hang out in his room. She distracts him while he is working and he is furious and ashamed at the grade he gets: "C-fucking-minus and it's all her fault!" Meadow nervously meets Noah's father; in reply to his question, she says her father is in waste management. She is taken aback when Noah says his father has taken out a
restraining order against Caitlin. Then, when they are together studying in the library, Noah looks up and quietly tells Meadow he is breaking up with her, accusing her of being "too negative." At the
Bada Bing,
Tony is approached by one of the pole dancers,
Tracee. She reminds him that he gave her advice about her sick son, and to thank him gives him some
date nut bread she has made. Tony explains that this is out of place; also, she is
Ralphie's girl. Tracee later approaches him again, telling him she is pregnant by Ralphie and asking for advice; Tony says that for the sake of the baby itself and future generations, she should have an abortion. Ralphie's manic jokes offend the other mobsters. He is obsessed with the film
Gladiator, and roughhouses with
Georgie. Things become tense when he finds a length of chain and swings it at Georgie, injuring his eye. Tracee misses work for three days, claiming to be sick, and stays at home with Ralphie.
Silvio goes there, drags her out, and throws her into his car while Ralphie watches through a window, laughing. She later sees Ralphie at the club; he has not been in touch for three days and she insults him in front of the other mobsters. Out in the parking lot, they have an argument that turns violent. After Tracee insults Ralphie's manhood, he knocks her to the ground, brutally beats her and bashes her head twice against a metal guardrail, killing her. Tony is furious and, although Ralphie is a
made man, physically assaults him. He speaks obliquely about the event to
Dr. Melfi. "Sad when they go so young," he says. ==Deceased==