Wiseguy pimping, part 3
- part 1
- part 2
As before, all clips are in DivX format -- please right-click and save! Photos and spoilers lurk in the dark wilderness beneath the lj-cuts.
The Prodigal Son (Download all clips in one zipfile, 105 MB)
Carlotta, Mama Terranova, is doing her shopping one fine Brooklyn morning when a scruffy young hoodlum snatches her purse and knocks her down, breaking her arm! Carlotta has a weak heart and is immediately rushed to the hospital.
Meanwhile, her no-good mafioso kid Vinnie is hanging out in the casino helping Sonny audition a prospective lounge act. (10 MB) Apparently what this woman is doing is supposed to be sexy, at least judging by how hot and bothered Sonny and Vinnie are getting. (Watch Sonny's *leg* under the table, wtf!) Personally, I... don't get it?
But, whatever, they are clearly having a great if vaguely sleazy time together. There really needs to be a story where the two of them audition twins (because hello, these guys would SO hire twins) and, uh, well, do I have to spell the rest of that scenario out?
Anyway, Pete calls Vinnie to let him know that Mom is -- "Dead?" Vinnie says immediately.
"No, actually," Pete says, "she's fine -- "
"Well, she'll be stone dead in a moment!" Vinnie says.
Sonny notices Vinnie's pain from across the room and abandons Pretzel Girl to rush to Vinnie's side and find out what's happened.
Not only does he not object to Vinnie leaving, he sends Vinnie off to the hospital in his private helicopter. (5 MB) By the time Vinnie lands, less than an hour later, he's met by the administrator and his mom has been moved to a fancy private suite with the top doctors in the place looking after her, all expenses paid by Sonny. (5 MB)
Mama Terranova is happy to see Vinnie for about half a second until she remembers that oh yes, he is a no-good mafioso now, and then she has a hysterical fit that nearly gives her a magic TV-medical crisis heart attack. Vinnie watches guilt-ridden from the hallway while Pete lectures him on how Vinnie's lies nearly killed her.
Unable to actually be with his mom, Vinnie takes refuge in a little rough trade (14 MB, the infamous prison rape scare scene),
and then goes charging around the neighborhood looking for the mugger. Everywhere he goes, people are all respectful and admiring -- silk suits! private helicopter! -- of how Vinnie has hooked himself a rich boyfriend hit the big time mafia. Vinnie finally manages to unearth some illicit street traffic being run by scruffy young hoodlums who may not actually have anything to do with the mugging, but are close enough for government work. Brooklyn is part of Pat the Cat's territory, but these kids don't seem to be under his aegis. The neighborhood people shake their heads over how Patrice doesn't care about his old neighborhood or his people, unlike SOME mob bosses. Vinnie mumbles agreement and visibly tries not to feel like the rattiest rat who ever slinked the earth.
Vinnie calls a meeting with McPike so he can demand some time off to see his mom. (Except this is a total lie, he wants the time so he can go stalk the street kids.)
Vinnie: I have to be with my mom! She might die!
Frank: Okay.
Vinnie: She's hooked up to all these machines! She's nearly an ex-mother!
Frank: Yes, sure, go ahead.
Vinnie: Come on, Frank! What if it was YOUR mom, huh? WELL?
Frank: HEY DUMBASS I SAID YES ALREADY.
Vinnie: Oh. Uh. *confused* ...thanks?
Although it's not clear to me how Vinnie is actually taking time off here. It's not like he can just step out from undercover for a while, so...?
Anyway, having gotten the OCB off his back for the moment, Vinnie goes back to Atlantic City to pack a bag full of different outfits so he can more effectively stalk the street kids. Sonny comes by, and it's another one of those moments that kind of has to be seen to be believed. (11 MB, with Sonny seriously working that early metrosexual look) Vinnie is all, everyone in the neighborhood is gushing over me, and Sonny is smug, then Vinnie gets sincere and thanks him, and Sonny gets all *abashed*. OMG, cute.
(Also, note that Sonny is strolling casually into the apartment even though he does not know Vinnie is here. Hmmmmm.)
Anyway -- while Vinnie is busy telling Sonny how grateful his mom is, Carlotta at the hospital being very un-grateful in a public fashion. (6 MB) Oops. Also, I love the balloons, which Sonny, 100% typically, has PERSONALIZED WITH HIS NAME.
Vinnie goes back to hunting down the street kids, in a long, dialogue-and-interest-free stakeout sequence. Remember the days when attention spans were longer than thirty seconds? These were those days. Oddly I am not nostalgic. We do get a minor break in the middle of Mama Terranova in her hospital bed, taking out her Sekrit Hidden Picture of Young!Innocent!Vinnie (with a basketball and either a badly angled baseball cap or an even scarier pompadour than he normally has), showing us that she Still Loves Him Even Though He Has Gone Bad.
The chase ends anticlimactically, as the car stuffed with the street money gets away from Vinnie despite his best efforts. Vinnie goes back to the hotel to flop on the bed in his tight black jeans and sulk miserably, when Sonny calls him. (10 MB) Sonny has been calling the hospital every five minutes and Vinnie has not been there! Vinnie confesses what he's been doing, and gets smacked upside the head by Sonny, who then tells Vinnie to come back to Atlantic City. Not via chopper this time; Sonny has a car waiting for him outside the hotel.
Yes, you guessed it. It's the car full of street money.
When he gets it back to Atlantic City, Sonny gleefully explains that he is nibbling away at Pat the Cat's territory, a little at a time. Vinnie numbly carries the money upstairs, horrified to discover that he has been the bagman for his mother's mugging, or at least for some crumpled ten dollar bills that look vaguely like the one that was in her purse when it was stolen. Full of guilt, he decides that he has to tell his mother the truth.
Frank objects, loudly, and when Vinnie storms off, has the Lifeguard go into action so he can eavesdrop on Vinnie's conversation with his sick mother and find out if Vinnie is going to tell. (I don't actually get *why*, because how is he going to fire Vinnie? It's not like they can just swap somebody else in and hope Sonny doesn't notice. Unless possibly Ray Kowalski is available. Now I kind of want to see Sonny's reaction to that attempt, actually.)
So Vinnie does indeed tell his mother (6 MB), who is overjoyed, and insists that she will totally keep his secret omg. Vinnie is on top of the world! His mom loves him again, he doesn't know that the OCB is about to kick his ass, and he has a hot boyfriend to play handball in suits with. (7 MB)
This happy state of affairs lasts him about five seconds, and then Sonny has a great idea. Let's go visit Vinnie's mom!
Vinnie: '(O_O)' <-- drops of sweat
Vinnie tries desperately to get out of it, but Sonny gets all hurt. What, is he not good enough to take home to Vinnie's mother? He grabs away the handball and off they go to meet the family. (30 MB) Frank eavesdrops on this too, waiting for Carlotta to totally blab to Sonny like an idiot, which big shock, she fails to do, even when Sonny kicks Vinnie and Pete out into the hallway so he can get Carlotta's permission to marry her son find out why Carlotta wouldn't accept his generosity at the hospital.
Carlotta is kind of a smooth liar! Even Frank is impressed. He grimly goes to meet with his own supervisor, Daryl the Creep, to whom he gives a tape of Vinnie ... not telling Carlotta, doctored by the Lifeguard. Yay, Frank!
Meanwhile, Sonny is happy too, because he's been invited to Sunday dinner, so his courtship is going well. Sadly, we do not get to actually see Sunday dinner filmed. :( But we do get to see Father Pete saying a prayer for Sonny's soul. (3 MB)
A Deal's A Deal (Download all clips as one zipfile, 73 MB)
We open in the lounge with Billy Joel Joey Romanowski singing. Joey is about the most unlikely pop star you have ever seen, balding and wearing a horrifying sequined jacket, but he appears to be a big hit with the crowd, and he is singing his little heart out. In the background, Sonny is having a fight with someone, who eventually gets dragged away by security; Sonny turns to look at Joey and we all get to lip-read him ordering Joey to report upstairs right-the-fuck-now.
Turns out Joey has a big hit, his first ever, and his manager was trying to renegotiate his contract so Joey could go out on tour and rake in the cash. Joey begs Sonny to let him go, but Sonny is unyielding, despite Vinnie's best arguments. (14 MB)
(I really love how Sonny totally knows Vinnie is disapproving without a word said, and how Vinnie just hops right into Sonny's personal space here.)
Joey has the bright idea of going to Mack "No-Money" Mahoney and asking him to intercede with Sonny for him. Joey brightly tells Mahoney how he's got this lawyer who tells him he can break the deal. Mahoney pats him on the shoulder and says sure, no promises, but he'll talk to Sonny.
Cue Mahoney in Sonny's office, yelling at the top of his lungs about how Sonny is getting weak and soft and letting people get the idea that they can break deals with him whenever. Sonny is in a strange mood, (13 MB) but he agrees and says he'll have people take care of it -- Joey's playing a joint in Mahoney's territory the next day, and Sonny's got some guys in the area who will teach him a lesson.
Vinnie interrupts the conversation, bringing in a box that's just arrived at the marina -- for the late Dave Steelgrave. Sonny opens it up and finds it's a limited-edition rifle, a gift for him from his brother.
Sonny: *sniffle*
Vinnie: *awww*
Sonny confides in Mahoney -- he is getting weak -- he's lost touch with the people he knew before he became rich and powerful. Fortunately, Mahoney has a suggestion -- Sonny should get in touch with his old friend Joey Bags. Don't ask me why they thought it was a good idea to introduce TWO characters named Joey in the same episode. Joey Romanowski is listed as Johnny in IMDB, but that's a total lie, everyone in the episode says Joey and even the police report says so. Sonny manages not to get confused between the two names, and leaps at the idea.
That night, Sonny's guys, Jack and Tommy, grab Joey R. after his gig and beat the crap out of him in an alleyway, choking and kicking him unconscious. They hop in their car to get away, and five minutes later, when the report comes over their radio from dispatch, they turn right around and go to handle the case -- they're police detectives, gasp.
The next day, Sonny is in a better mood, playing with his new toy trying out his new gun and showing it off to Vinnie. Vinnie clearly thinks Sonny is the cutest thing ever. Sonny glares and tries to reclaim his dignity. He gives Vinnie instructions for how to bring Joey R. back into line now that he's had his lesson, and then the intercom buzzes: Joey Bags has arrived. (19 MB)
Joey Bags turns out to be Don Baglia, a semi-retired mafia don from the Bronx whose power has mostly faded now. But he's still got some fire. Sonny introduces Vinnie to Don Baglia before sending him on to see Joey R. in the hospital. After Vinnie has gone, Tevye Don Baglia frowns and tells Sonny that Vinnie should be formally inducted into La Famiglia by the council, using the old traditional ritual. (6 MB, love Sonny whistling in the background) Sonny rolls his eyes, but whatever, he's not going to argue with his old pal -- not while his beautiful daughter Theresa has just arrived to be flirted with.
Vinnie arrives at the hospital and gives Joey R. a long speech about respecting his deal with Sonny, only to discover that Joey's vocal cords were crushed in the beating. Joey can barely croak, and he is never going to sing again. :( Joey is understandably bitter and resentful, and Vinnie heads straight out to meet McPike and tell him that they've got a potential witness for a slam-dunk conspiracy case. (Frank: "Slam dunks are pretty flashy until you miss, then you look like a jerk.")
Vinnie looks really hot in this scene, so here, have a screencap.
Frank goes to question the cops who picked up Joey R. Jack does everything but hang a flashing neon sign over his head and do an intrepretive dance saying "I AM A DIRTY CROOKED DISHONEST COP," and the interpretive dance is debatable. Frank, not being dumb, figures out that hey, Jack is a dirty crooked dishonest cop and also probably beat up Joey. He meets with Vinnie to tell him about it and give him congratulations: eighteen months in jail, six months undercovers with Sonny, it's all about to pay off. As soon as they tie these cops to Sonny and beating up Joey R., Sonny is going down. Vinnie is wildly enthusiastic.
Unfortunately for Vinnie, the cops are also not dumb (or at least only intermittently dumb), and they have tailed Frank to the meeting. They take several photos, and promptly call Sonny up to tell him that they've got photos of Frank with some mysterious other OCB guy.
Sonny yells at them for having beaten Joey R. up so badly, and for stupidly wanting to come over with the photos. No, you idiots, he says. I'll send someone to pick them up. Sonny hangs up and buzzes the secretary: he's got an errand he wants Vinnie to run.
Vinnie goes out to the meeting. The cops are understandably baffled to be approached by the other OCB guy, and they refuse to hand over the photos or even admit that they have them. Vinnie, who doesn't know who they are, is also baffled. He goes to tell Sonny the guys are nuts and wouldn't give him anything. Afterwards, the cops are in a panic, but then Jack manages to calm Tommy down. He's figured out that the photos are worth a lot, and now he's planning to sell them to Sonny instead.
Fortunately for Vinnie, Tommy is leery by now, and he calls Frank and spills the whole thing.
Well, crap. Frank calls Lifeguard and tells him to pull Vinnie right now. But Vinnie isn't picking up the phone. (Ah, the days when you didn't have to plot around cellphones.) In the meantime, Frank is planning alternatives. He gets an OCB operative to snap photos of Pat the Cat, and doctors the photo to replace Vinnie with Patrice.
He also stops by Joey R.'s hospital room and gets him to positively identify Jack as the guy who beat him up. But Joey R. is not satisfied with testifying -- he wants to know who this guy is. He sneaks out of the hospital and goes to the police to find out. Apparently there is only one precinct in Atlantic City, because Joey stops by and manages to spot Jack right outside.
In the evening, Vinnie finally checks in with the Lifeguard, but he doesn't want to pull out: they're too close now. He's going to be with Sonny all night (yes, okay, we knew that already) at the induction ceremony for La Famiglia. There isn't an immediate risk of having the photos delivered. Frank agrees; he tails Sonny to the ceremony to make sure the cops don't make contact. But the cops have heard on the street about the event -- and they arrive outside just as the ceremony begins. As they wait in the car, Jack takes the photos away from Tommy to look them over, and he realizes they've been photoshopped. He freaks out and strangles Tommy in the car.
Inside, Vinnie is being inducted into La Famiglia. Mahoney and Patrice and Baglia are there, along with many older dons. It is a formal event of high ceremony, full of meaning and symbolism, right out of the Godfather, down to the wood paneling and the long wooden table.
Sonny and Vinnie spend the entire time cracking each other up. Seriously, they are twelve. Also, Vinnie is the least stoic inductee into the Mafia ever.
At the end, the dons all draw lots to see who is going to be Vinnie's "goombah," or godfather. Mahoney, who's also Sonny's goombah, gets the short straw. There is group hugging and kissing and cheering, and Sonny leads everyone outside -- he's taking everyone to celebrate at Le Magazin (incidentally the restaurant where Vinnie first dumped soup on his lap -- aww! it's their special place). Three clips for this one, because it's too good to miss any of it: ceremony1 (8 MB), ceremony2 (6 MB), ceremony3 (8 MB).
They get outside and head for the cars, when Jack leaps out at Sonny with the photos in the envelope. Ohnoes! But wait -- who is the character with the mysterious shaky handheld camera POV! Yes, it is Joey Romanowski, who proceeds to shoot Jack the evil cop right in front of Sonny, just as McPike and federal agents galore are pulling up. Joey is about to make it two for two by shooting Sonny, but at the last instant, McPike takes him down and (regretfully) saves Sonny's life.
So Vinnie is safe, but the case is gone. Oh well! Poor Vinnie will just have to put up with his life as Sonny's kept man -- no, wait, actually, that's pretty much spot-on -- as Sonny's kept man for a while longer...
Next up, the two-part finale.
Again, the whole Steelgrave arc is available now on DVD for $20, as are three more box sets -- please buy if you enjoy! Among other things, it might help us get the last missing arcs on DVD. Also, this just in, apparently Wiseguy is also showing on CourtTV, Sunday mornings at 3am, so you can also grab episodes with Tivo if you get the channel.
ETA: and also showing on HDNet!
Yay!
- part 2
As before, all clips are in DivX format -- please right-click and save! Photos and spoilers lurk in the dark wilderness beneath the lj-cuts.
The Prodigal Son (Download all clips in one zipfile, 105 MB)
Carlotta, Mama Terranova, is doing her shopping one fine Brooklyn morning when a scruffy young hoodlum snatches her purse and knocks her down, breaking her arm! Carlotta has a weak heart and is immediately rushed to the hospital.
Meanwhile, her no-good mafioso kid Vinnie is hanging out in the casino helping Sonny audition a prospective lounge act. (10 MB) Apparently what this woman is doing is supposed to be sexy, at least judging by how hot and bothered Sonny and Vinnie are getting. (Watch Sonny's *leg* under the table, wtf!) Personally, I... don't get it?
But, whatever, they are clearly having a great if vaguely sleazy time together. There really needs to be a story where the two of them audition twins (because hello, these guys would SO hire twins) and, uh, well, do I have to spell the rest of that scenario out?
Anyway, Pete calls Vinnie to let him know that Mom is -- "Dead?" Vinnie says immediately.
"No, actually," Pete says, "she's fine -- "
"Well, she'll be stone dead in a moment!" Vinnie says.
Sonny notices Vinnie's pain from across the room and abandons Pretzel Girl to rush to Vinnie's side and find out what's happened.
Not only does he not object to Vinnie leaving, he sends Vinnie off to the hospital in his private helicopter. (5 MB) By the time Vinnie lands, less than an hour later, he's met by the administrator and his mom has been moved to a fancy private suite with the top doctors in the place looking after her, all expenses paid by Sonny. (5 MB)
Mama Terranova is happy to see Vinnie for about half a second until she remembers that oh yes, he is a no-good mafioso now, and then she has a hysterical fit that nearly gives her a magic TV-medical crisis heart attack. Vinnie watches guilt-ridden from the hallway while Pete lectures him on how Vinnie's lies nearly killed her.
Unable to actually be with his mom, Vinnie takes refuge in a little rough trade (14 MB, the infamous prison rape scare scene),
and then goes charging around the neighborhood looking for the mugger. Everywhere he goes, people are all respectful and admiring -- silk suits! private helicopter! -- of how Vinnie has hooked himself a rich boyfriend hit the big time mafia. Vinnie finally manages to unearth some illicit street traffic being run by scruffy young hoodlums who may not actually have anything to do with the mugging, but are close enough for government work. Brooklyn is part of Pat the Cat's territory, but these kids don't seem to be under his aegis. The neighborhood people shake their heads over how Patrice doesn't care about his old neighborhood or his people, unlike SOME mob bosses. Vinnie mumbles agreement and visibly tries not to feel like the rattiest rat who ever slinked the earth.
Vinnie calls a meeting with McPike so he can demand some time off to see his mom. (Except this is a total lie, he wants the time so he can go stalk the street kids.)
Vinnie: I have to be with my mom! She might die!
Frank: Okay.
Vinnie: She's hooked up to all these machines! She's nearly an ex-mother!
Frank: Yes, sure, go ahead.
Vinnie: Come on, Frank! What if it was YOUR mom, huh? WELL?
Frank: HEY DUMBASS I SAID YES ALREADY.
Vinnie: Oh. Uh. *confused* ...thanks?
Although it's not clear to me how Vinnie is actually taking time off here. It's not like he can just step out from undercover for a while, so...?
Anyway, having gotten the OCB off his back for the moment, Vinnie goes back to Atlantic City to pack a bag full of different outfits so he can more effectively stalk the street kids. Sonny comes by, and it's another one of those moments that kind of has to be seen to be believed. (11 MB, with Sonny seriously working that early metrosexual look) Vinnie is all, everyone in the neighborhood is gushing over me, and Sonny is smug, then Vinnie gets sincere and thanks him, and Sonny gets all *abashed*. OMG, cute.
(Also, note that Sonny is strolling casually into the apartment even though he does not know Vinnie is here. Hmmmmm.)
Anyway -- while Vinnie is busy telling Sonny how grateful his mom is, Carlotta at the hospital being very un-grateful in a public fashion. (6 MB) Oops. Also, I love the balloons, which Sonny, 100% typically, has PERSONALIZED WITH HIS NAME.
Vinnie goes back to hunting down the street kids, in a long, dialogue-and-interest-free stakeout sequence. Remember the days when attention spans were longer than thirty seconds? These were those days. Oddly I am not nostalgic. We do get a minor break in the middle of Mama Terranova in her hospital bed, taking out her Sekrit Hidden Picture of Young!Innocent!Vinnie (with a basketball and either a badly angled baseball cap or an even scarier pompadour than he normally has), showing us that she Still Loves Him Even Though He Has Gone Bad.
The chase ends anticlimactically, as the car stuffed with the street money gets away from Vinnie despite his best efforts. Vinnie goes back to the hotel to flop on the bed in his tight black jeans and sulk miserably, when Sonny calls him. (10 MB) Sonny has been calling the hospital every five minutes and Vinnie has not been there! Vinnie confesses what he's been doing, and gets smacked upside the head by Sonny, who then tells Vinnie to come back to Atlantic City. Not via chopper this time; Sonny has a car waiting for him outside the hotel.
Yes, you guessed it. It's the car full of street money.
When he gets it back to Atlantic City, Sonny gleefully explains that he is nibbling away at Pat the Cat's territory, a little at a time. Vinnie numbly carries the money upstairs, horrified to discover that he has been the bagman for his mother's mugging, or at least for some crumpled ten dollar bills that look vaguely like the one that was in her purse when it was stolen. Full of guilt, he decides that he has to tell his mother the truth.
Frank objects, loudly, and when Vinnie storms off, has the Lifeguard go into action so he can eavesdrop on Vinnie's conversation with his sick mother and find out if Vinnie is going to tell. (I don't actually get *why*, because how is he going to fire Vinnie? It's not like they can just swap somebody else in and hope Sonny doesn't notice. Unless possibly Ray Kowalski is available. Now I kind of want to see Sonny's reaction to that attempt, actually.)
So Vinnie does indeed tell his mother (6 MB), who is overjoyed, and insists that she will totally keep his secret omg. Vinnie is on top of the world! His mom loves him again, he doesn't know that the OCB is about to kick his ass, and he has a hot boyfriend to play handball in suits with. (7 MB)
This happy state of affairs lasts him about five seconds, and then Sonny has a great idea. Let's go visit Vinnie's mom!
Vinnie: '(O_O)' <-- drops of sweat
Vinnie tries desperately to get out of it, but Sonny gets all hurt. What, is he not good enough to take home to Vinnie's mother? He grabs away the handball and off they go to meet the family. (30 MB) Frank eavesdrops on this too, waiting for Carlotta to totally blab to Sonny like an idiot, which big shock, she fails to do, even when Sonny kicks Vinnie and Pete out into the hallway so he can get Carlotta's permission to marry her son find out why Carlotta wouldn't accept his generosity at the hospital.
Carlotta is kind of a smooth liar! Even Frank is impressed. He grimly goes to meet with his own supervisor, Daryl the Creep, to whom he gives a tape of Vinnie ... not telling Carlotta, doctored by the Lifeguard. Yay, Frank!
Meanwhile, Sonny is happy too, because he's been invited to Sunday dinner, so his courtship is going well. Sadly, we do not get to actually see Sunday dinner filmed. :( But we do get to see Father Pete saying a prayer for Sonny's soul. (3 MB)
A Deal's A Deal (Download all clips as one zipfile, 73 MB)
We open in the lounge with Billy Joel Joey Romanowski singing. Joey is about the most unlikely pop star you have ever seen, balding and wearing a horrifying sequined jacket, but he appears to be a big hit with the crowd, and he is singing his little heart out. In the background, Sonny is having a fight with someone, who eventually gets dragged away by security; Sonny turns to look at Joey and we all get to lip-read him ordering Joey to report upstairs right-the-fuck-now.
Turns out Joey has a big hit, his first ever, and his manager was trying to renegotiate his contract so Joey could go out on tour and rake in the cash. Joey begs Sonny to let him go, but Sonny is unyielding, despite Vinnie's best arguments. (14 MB)
(I really love how Sonny totally knows Vinnie is disapproving without a word said, and how Vinnie just hops right into Sonny's personal space here.)
Joey has the bright idea of going to Mack "No-Money" Mahoney and asking him to intercede with Sonny for him. Joey brightly tells Mahoney how he's got this lawyer who tells him he can break the deal. Mahoney pats him on the shoulder and says sure, no promises, but he'll talk to Sonny.
Cue Mahoney in Sonny's office, yelling at the top of his lungs about how Sonny is getting weak and soft and letting people get the idea that they can break deals with him whenever. Sonny is in a strange mood, (13 MB) but he agrees and says he'll have people take care of it -- Joey's playing a joint in Mahoney's territory the next day, and Sonny's got some guys in the area who will teach him a lesson.
Vinnie interrupts the conversation, bringing in a box that's just arrived at the marina -- for the late Dave Steelgrave. Sonny opens it up and finds it's a limited-edition rifle, a gift for him from his brother.
Sonny: *sniffle*
Vinnie: *awww*
Sonny confides in Mahoney -- he is getting weak -- he's lost touch with the people he knew before he became rich and powerful. Fortunately, Mahoney has a suggestion -- Sonny should get in touch with his old friend Joey Bags. Don't ask me why they thought it was a good idea to introduce TWO characters named Joey in the same episode. Joey Romanowski is listed as Johnny in IMDB, but that's a total lie, everyone in the episode says Joey and even the police report says so. Sonny manages not to get confused between the two names, and leaps at the idea.
That night, Sonny's guys, Jack and Tommy, grab Joey R. after his gig and beat the crap out of him in an alleyway, choking and kicking him unconscious. They hop in their car to get away, and five minutes later, when the report comes over their radio from dispatch, they turn right around and go to handle the case -- they're police detectives, gasp.
The next day, Sonny is in a better mood, playing with his new toy trying out his new gun and showing it off to Vinnie. Vinnie clearly thinks Sonny is the cutest thing ever. Sonny glares and tries to reclaim his dignity. He gives Vinnie instructions for how to bring Joey R. back into line now that he's had his lesson, and then the intercom buzzes: Joey Bags has arrived. (19 MB)
Joey Bags turns out to be Don Baglia, a semi-retired mafia don from the Bronx whose power has mostly faded now. But he's still got some fire. Sonny introduces Vinnie to Don Baglia before sending him on to see Joey R. in the hospital. After Vinnie has gone, Tevye Don Baglia frowns and tells Sonny that Vinnie should be formally inducted into La Famiglia by the council, using the old traditional ritual. (6 MB, love Sonny whistling in the background) Sonny rolls his eyes, but whatever, he's not going to argue with his old pal -- not while his beautiful daughter Theresa has just arrived to be flirted with.
Vinnie arrives at the hospital and gives Joey R. a long speech about respecting his deal with Sonny, only to discover that Joey's vocal cords were crushed in the beating. Joey can barely croak, and he is never going to sing again. :( Joey is understandably bitter and resentful, and Vinnie heads straight out to meet McPike and tell him that they've got a potential witness for a slam-dunk conspiracy case. (Frank: "Slam dunks are pretty flashy until you miss, then you look like a jerk.")
Vinnie looks really hot in this scene, so here, have a screencap.
Frank goes to question the cops who picked up Joey R. Jack does everything but hang a flashing neon sign over his head and do an intrepretive dance saying "I AM A DIRTY CROOKED DISHONEST COP," and the interpretive dance is debatable. Frank, not being dumb, figures out that hey, Jack is a dirty crooked dishonest cop and also probably beat up Joey. He meets with Vinnie to tell him about it and give him congratulations: eighteen months in jail, six months undercovers with Sonny, it's all about to pay off. As soon as they tie these cops to Sonny and beating up Joey R., Sonny is going down. Vinnie is wildly enthusiastic.
Unfortunately for Vinnie, the cops are also not dumb (or at least only intermittently dumb), and they have tailed Frank to the meeting. They take several photos, and promptly call Sonny up to tell him that they've got photos of Frank with some mysterious other OCB guy.
Sonny yells at them for having beaten Joey R. up so badly, and for stupidly wanting to come over with the photos. No, you idiots, he says. I'll send someone to pick them up. Sonny hangs up and buzzes the secretary: he's got an errand he wants Vinnie to run.
Vinnie goes out to the meeting. The cops are understandably baffled to be approached by the other OCB guy, and they refuse to hand over the photos or even admit that they have them. Vinnie, who doesn't know who they are, is also baffled. He goes to tell Sonny the guys are nuts and wouldn't give him anything. Afterwards, the cops are in a panic, but then Jack manages to calm Tommy down. He's figured out that the photos are worth a lot, and now he's planning to sell them to Sonny instead.
Fortunately for Vinnie, Tommy is leery by now, and he calls Frank and spills the whole thing.
Well, crap. Frank calls Lifeguard and tells him to pull Vinnie right now. But Vinnie isn't picking up the phone. (Ah, the days when you didn't have to plot around cellphones.) In the meantime, Frank is planning alternatives. He gets an OCB operative to snap photos of Pat the Cat, and doctors the photo to replace Vinnie with Patrice.
He also stops by Joey R.'s hospital room and gets him to positively identify Jack as the guy who beat him up. But Joey R. is not satisfied with testifying -- he wants to know who this guy is. He sneaks out of the hospital and goes to the police to find out. Apparently there is only one precinct in Atlantic City, because Joey stops by and manages to spot Jack right outside.
In the evening, Vinnie finally checks in with the Lifeguard, but he doesn't want to pull out: they're too close now. He's going to be with Sonny all night (yes, okay, we knew that already) at the induction ceremony for La Famiglia. There isn't an immediate risk of having the photos delivered. Frank agrees; he tails Sonny to the ceremony to make sure the cops don't make contact. But the cops have heard on the street about the event -- and they arrive outside just as the ceremony begins. As they wait in the car, Jack takes the photos away from Tommy to look them over, and he realizes they've been photoshopped. He freaks out and strangles Tommy in the car.
Inside, Vinnie is being inducted into La Famiglia. Mahoney and Patrice and Baglia are there, along with many older dons. It is a formal event of high ceremony, full of meaning and symbolism, right out of the Godfather, down to the wood paneling and the long wooden table.
Sonny and Vinnie spend the entire time cracking each other up. Seriously, they are twelve. Also, Vinnie is the least stoic inductee into the Mafia ever.
At the end, the dons all draw lots to see who is going to be Vinnie's "goombah," or godfather. Mahoney, who's also Sonny's goombah, gets the short straw. There is group hugging and kissing and cheering, and Sonny leads everyone outside -- he's taking everyone to celebrate at Le Magazin (incidentally the restaurant where Vinnie first dumped soup on his lap -- aww! it's their special place). Three clips for this one, because it's too good to miss any of it: ceremony1 (8 MB), ceremony2 (6 MB), ceremony3 (8 MB).
They get outside and head for the cars, when Jack leaps out at Sonny with the photos in the envelope. Ohnoes! But wait -- who is the character with the mysterious shaky handheld camera POV! Yes, it is Joey Romanowski, who proceeds to shoot Jack the evil cop right in front of Sonny, just as McPike and federal agents galore are pulling up. Joey is about to make it two for two by shooting Sonny, but at the last instant, McPike takes him down and (regretfully) saves Sonny's life.
So Vinnie is safe, but the case is gone. Oh well! Poor Vinnie will just have to put up with his life as Sonny's kept man -- no, wait, actually, that's pretty much spot-on -- as Sonny's kept man for a while longer...
Next up, the two-part finale.
Again, the whole Steelgrave arc is available now on DVD for $20, as are three more box sets -- please buy if you enjoy! Among other things, it might help us get the last missing arcs on DVD. Also, this just in, apparently Wiseguy is also showing on CourtTV, Sunday mornings at 3am, so you can also grab episodes with Tivo if you get the channel.
ETA: and also showing on HDNet!
Yay!