At the start of the series, Tony Soprano, a local mobster, was referred to Melfi, a psychiatrist, after having a panic attack. He tells her he is a waste management consultant but Melfi knows he is a mobster. Throughout season 1, during the power struggle between Tony and Uncle Junior over who will be boss, Junior informs Mikey "Grab Bag" Palmice that Tony is seeing a psychiatrist. This makes Junior, Mikey, and all other members of Junior's crew who were informed extremely angry and paranoid, for they fear Melfi could be potentially used as a witness to testify in court against the activities of the DiMeo Crime Family. In the season 1 penultimate episode "Isabella", two hit men are sent by Junior and Mikey Palmice in an attempt to assassinate Tony for supposedly giving information to Melfi; unfortunately for Junior and Mikey, the hit fails. One assailant is inadvertently killed by the other while trying to shoot Tony in his driver seat from the passenger side after Tony grabs the first assassin's gun. Tony throws the other hit man off onto the road, not killing, but injuring him. Tony laughs ecstatically but has taken his eyes off the road long enough to crash his SUV into a parked car, knocking him unconscious. Tony later informs Melfi that his enemies are aware of their therapy sessions, and she must go into hiding to avoid getting killed until everything blows over. To save his own life and Melfi's, Junior's top lieutenants Mikey Palmice and Chucky Signore are subsequently killed, the latter by Tony himself. Junior is only saved by being arrested by the FBI on racketeering charges. In the season 2 premiere episode "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...", Melfi is shown doing business and living in a small roadside motel in Wayne, New Jersey, telling her patients her office is being remodeled. After the last troublesome member of Junior's crew, Philly "Spoons" Parisi, is murdered, Tony informs Melfi that "it's over" and that she can go back to her normal life.