The Sopranos - Another Rat!
Oct. 2nd, 2021 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerSeason 2 episode 4 of The Sopranos, where Tony and a few of his associates travel to Naples, Italy to forge closer ties with an organized crime gang there, is a really packed episode. Not only is there a lot to say about their trip (previous blog) but it's also revealed there's another rat! Here are Five More Things.
1) The rat is Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. The FBI gathered enough evidence against him for dealing drugs (heroin) to convict him and put him in jail for 30 years to life. He's become an informant in exchange for getting a much lighter sentence.
2) The irony. In season 1 a corrupt police officer warned Tony Soprano that Pussy was an informant. Tony was reluctant to believe it, as Pussy was a close friend for many years and a long-time crime associate whom Tony trusted very deeply. He challenged the corrupt cop to get him a copy of an official document. The cop couldn't, and meanwhile gang members determined that another associate, Jimmy Altieri, had flipped. Tony and his closest associates decided that the dirty cop's tip was flawed, that he was scheming to get them to killl Pussy because he owed him a lot of money, and/or that he confused Pussy for Altieri because they have similar body types. We learn that the cop's tip was right; Pussy really was a rat. But... was Altieri a rat, too? Probably.
3) Some assembly required. The reveal that Pussy is working for the FBI is confusing at first. We have to put together the pieces. We see Pussy meeting a guy in a store who's asking him lots of questions about what's going on in the gang. At first it seems like it could be an old friend he hasn't seen in a while... except the point has been made repeatedly in this series that gangsters don't like to discuss specifics of their businesses. They don't want witnesses. And they're always worried about informants; they assume anyone who asks too many questions is a rat. A low-level crime associate, Jimmy Bones, sees the two of them and strikes up a conversation. Pussy makes up a lie about the agent being an associate from Delaware. Pussy's lie is clumsy, and Bones seems suspicious. Pussy kills him at the end of episode 3. The fact that Pussy kills a gang member to cover up who he's talking to is what locks the pieces together.
4) Pussy slow rolls it. Unlike Jimmy Altieri, who got whacked in season 1 because he made himself too obvious by asking gang associates lots of questions at meetings, Pussy plays it slowly and carefully. Partly this is because he knows he can't arouse suspicion like Altieri did. But also it's because he's genuinely conflicted about hurting Tony. In one mid-season 2 episode Pussy sits down for a "man to man" talk with Tony's son, A.J., about respecting his father. Pussy recounts what a loyal friend Tony has been to him since they were kids. Pussy tears up after that and has to leave the house.
5) Not dead... yet. Rats either pull down the boss or get killed; that's how it always is in crime stories. At least as of season 2 episode 10 (where I am as I write this), though, neither has happened yet. The writers are slow rolling it, too. But that's fair because it's about dramatic tension. Altieri was a bit part, appearing in only a few scenes, so it was okay to finish his character arc quickly. Pussy's a core character in the story, a close friend and associate of Tony's who's involved in almost every episode. The writers are developing the personal conflict Pussy feels about what he's doing as well as the suspicion he arouses even as he's trying to be careful. But we know this story's about Tony and it goes on for, like, 60 more episodes, so we know Pussy's going to get whacked. It's a narrative imperative. The only question is how soon.
1) The rat is Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. The FBI gathered enough evidence against him for dealing drugs (heroin) to convict him and put him in jail for 30 years to life. He's become an informant in exchange for getting a much lighter sentence.
2) The irony. In season 1 a corrupt police officer warned Tony Soprano that Pussy was an informant. Tony was reluctant to believe it, as Pussy was a close friend for many years and a long-time crime associate whom Tony trusted very deeply. He challenged the corrupt cop to get him a copy of an official document. The cop couldn't, and meanwhile gang members determined that another associate, Jimmy Altieri, had flipped. Tony and his closest associates decided that the dirty cop's tip was flawed, that he was scheming to get them to killl Pussy because he owed him a lot of money, and/or that he confused Pussy for Altieri because they have similar body types. We learn that the cop's tip was right; Pussy really was a rat. But... was Altieri a rat, too? Probably.
3) Some assembly required. The reveal that Pussy is working for the FBI is confusing at first. We have to put together the pieces. We see Pussy meeting a guy in a store who's asking him lots of questions about what's going on in the gang. At first it seems like it could be an old friend he hasn't seen in a while... except the point has been made repeatedly in this series that gangsters don't like to discuss specifics of their businesses. They don't want witnesses. And they're always worried about informants; they assume anyone who asks too many questions is a rat. A low-level crime associate, Jimmy Bones, sees the two of them and strikes up a conversation. Pussy makes up a lie about the agent being an associate from Delaware. Pussy's lie is clumsy, and Bones seems suspicious. Pussy kills him at the end of episode 3. The fact that Pussy kills a gang member to cover up who he's talking to is what locks the pieces together.
4) Pussy slow rolls it. Unlike Jimmy Altieri, who got whacked in season 1 because he made himself too obvious by asking gang associates lots of questions at meetings, Pussy plays it slowly and carefully. Partly this is because he knows he can't arouse suspicion like Altieri did. But also it's because he's genuinely conflicted about hurting Tony. In one mid-season 2 episode Pussy sits down for a "man to man" talk with Tony's son, A.J., about respecting his father. Pussy recounts what a loyal friend Tony has been to him since they were kids. Pussy tears up after that and has to leave the house.
5) Not dead... yet. Rats either pull down the boss or get killed; that's how it always is in crime stories. At least as of season 2 episode 10 (where I am as I write this), though, neither has happened yet. The writers are slow rolling it, too. But that's fair because it's about dramatic tension. Altieri was a bit part, appearing in only a few scenes, so it was okay to finish his character arc quickly. Pussy's a core character in the story, a close friend and associate of Tony's who's involved in almost every episode. The writers are developing the personal conflict Pussy feels about what he's doing as well as the suspicion he arouses even as he's trying to be careful. But we know this story's about Tony and it goes on for, like, 60 more episodes, so we know Pussy's going to get whacked. It's a narrative imperative. The only question is how soon.
