Episode 11: Nobody Knows Anything
Paulie is at the whorehouse talking with Debbie, when Sal is screaming with pain in his back. Tony and Paulie come to check on him, calling a doctor into the room. They help Sal down the steps, Detective Makazian comes out to see this. We jump ahead four days later. Sal and Jimmy are playing cards at the Bing, Sal looks at the door right before it's busted in by FBI agents. Sal looks over at the pool table almost as if to signal the FBI agent to look under it. They lift it up and find a stash of automatic weapons. Sal makes a run for it, he runs into an FBI agent while making his escape. Back inside the other FBI agent finds a gun on Jimmy. Later at the Bing, Junior and his crew meet. Ray says "Fuckin' Jimmy is still in jail." Junior says "Don't mean shit." Tony says "I don't like it this is how it starts." Christopher mentions "Why the fuck would Pussy run? The guy is out of breath lifting his dick up to take a leak." Sal comes up to sit with the guys. He mentions he threw his back out again and his wife bailed him out. He gets up to get a drink. Tony goes down by the water to meet with Detective Makazian. Makazian lets Tony know that Sal is a wired informant. "Bompensiero. He's wired for sound. I got it from a good source, I thought you should know. Alright? I'm sorry, I know you like him." Tony says "Like him? I fucking love him. Now who's your source?" Makazian tells him he's on the taskforce and he'll see what he can do in terms of proof. Tony says "It doesn't make any sense." Makazian tells Tony "Yeah it does Ton', if you take the blinders off. Armed robbery, homicide, and I was told he was moving a lot of heavy "H" to pay for his kid's college. Why would I know something like that? And last spring with that big heroin bust, where was he? He told you he was in Las Vegas, am I right? Alright again, I'm sorry but, yeah that's where he was. He was in Las Vegas in the federal building cutting a deal. and why did he walk so easy from that thing the other day? Known wiseguy, resisted arrest. Who walks away from a thing like that with low ball bail?" Tony asks "Why? Why would he do it?" Makazian says "Why, because he's facing a possible sentence. From now on mandatory. That's why. Come on. I know a lot of guys who can't do that kind of time. Who is this guy pussy, huh? Who is he? He's a man who loves his family above all else. Well guess what? That's their favorite target."Tony looks hurt as he walks away back to his car.
Carmela is at the house walking around with a platter of food, setting it down, talking to Tony's mother, they are hosting an open house, she says she isn't coming. Carmela asks Tony and the guys to move the piano out of the way. Tony asks Pussy to help move it. He says he can't because of his back. Sal mentions he's on "Elephant pills." Tony tells him to take it easy and sit down. Tony gets help from Paulie and Christopher to move the piano. Tony says "Listen, I want you to keep your eye on Pussy, there's something wrong with him. He's not himself." Christopher mentions "You're telling me? You know he hasn't even done his round in a week. He's starting to look like an easy mark." Paulie says I told him. If someone owes you money. Even if you got to crawl, you get it. I even told him to give me his list on who owes what and I'll collect the fucking thing. And he just nodded like a fucking retard." Chris says "It's those fuckin' percs. He's throwing them in his mouth like they're m&m's." Paulie says "And there isn't even anything wrong with his back. Remember when that guy hit me in the head with that pool cue and I fucked my neck up? I went to this doctor. This guy works on the Jets frontline when they get hurt. Yeah, he's fuckin' like the Jonas Salk of backs. Anyway. I sent pussy to this doctor. The guy gives him the works. MRI's, CAT scans, dog scans, you name it. And he says there's not a fucking thing wrong with his back. Then again he says when it comes to back nobody knows anything really." Tony is in therapy. Tony talks about feelings of dread and pending doom. "Let me ask you a question. This mental stuff, can cause physical problems, right?" Melfi asks "Are you having any physical problems?" Tony explains he's fine and he's asking for a dear friend. "It's his back. See he's complaining about his back. But I think the doctor thinks it's all in his head." Melfi says "That's very possible." Tony asks "What kind of mental stuff will cause a back ache?" Melfi asks "For conversation's sake?" Tony says "Absolutely" Melfi says "With some people the pain is caused by more responsibility than they can handle. Secrets. Psychologically, a secret is a heavy load. It leads to feelings of guilt which futher burden the mind." Tony takes this in.
He's now visiting with Debbie and Makazian at the whore house. Makazian is talking to Tony "I told you I would do what I could but this is DEA, Feds, taskforce. This is not as easy as you think." Tony says "I need proof, I'm not going to hurt a man I love because of some cop gossip from a degenerate fuckin' gambler with a badge. You understand me?" Makazian says "You know you have an amazing ability to sum up a man's whole life in a single sentence." They argue some more. Makazian discusses being a little kid and hiding under his bed when his parents fought. How things would get back to normal the next day, how that doesn't really exist when you're an adult. He mentions it's his getaway from the stress and life as a detective. Livia gets a visit from Carmela. She brought a Ricotta pie, Livia tries to say she can't eat it because of the choloestreol and Carmela says she made it with low fat cheese. She still denies it, and Carmela mentions maybe she can have it when Junior is over. Carmela says to Livia "You know ma, your son loves you very much. He worries all the time. And he felt bd that you didn't come to the open house. I don't care if you think it's disrespectful. But I want you to cut the drama. It's killing Tony. I'm talking about this. This poor mother, nobody loves me, victim crap. It is textbook manipulation. And I hate seeing Tony so upset over it." Livia says "I know how to talk to people." Carmela says "I am a mother too, don't forget. You know the power you have. And you use it like a pro. You're bigger than life. You are his mother. I don't think for one second that you don't know what you're doing to him." Livia starts crying and playing the victim that she's been abandoned. Carmela says "Abandoned? Please!" Livia still crying says "When Johnny was alive nobody treated me like this. Johnny was a saint." Carmela says "Yes we have heard, funny though I don't remember you telling him that when he was alive." Carmela leaves after saying goodbye. Tony shows up at Sal's house. He's laying down. Tony brought cannoli's. Sal talks about his back and how he's falling behind. Tony reminds him that he has options and friends that would die for him. Sal says he knows. Tony asks "You got anything you want to say to me?" Sal says no. Tony asks for Coffee. Has Sal get up, they go to the kitchen. We can see how concerned Tony is. Paulie shows up to the Bing. Sits down next to Tony. Tony says "He's wearing a wire." Paulie asks "Who?" Tony says "Pussy." Paulie says "Get the fuck out of here. Pussy?" Tony says "Don't know how long." Paulie asks "Are you sure about this Tony?" Tony says "90% not enough to do what needs to be done." Paulie says "I'm fucking dreaming." Tony says "Get used to it. I've been walking into walls all week." Paulie says "I'll do it." Tony says "My responsibility." Paulie says "Tony, you waited a long time for the stripes, this is one of the perks. I'll do it." Paulie says "We need to be 110% sure. I want you to see it. I want you to see that fuckin' wire strapped on his body. I want you to see it. You hear me? I want you to see it. Otherwise all bets are off. You understand? This is our friend we're talkin about here. You say it. You understand?" Paulie says that he does.
Tony visits the director of Green Grove to drop off some Mario Lanza CD's. He mentions that her house sold. He's told she's in aqua therapy. He hears that she looks forward to the visits with Uncle Jun'. He told the director to let her know her house sold. At Satriale's Paulie follows Sal to his car and tells him to follow, wants to take him someplace. Paulie takes him to a Russian sauna. Paulie says to Sal "Why do you think those Russian leaders live so long, they take a schvitz everyday." Sal seems ambivalent "I can't. Doctor said heat's no good for me. I got to avoid it. That's why I sit in the shade." Paulie says "What the fuck you talking about? Heat's good for your back. Take your clothes off." Sal says "Look Paulie, I appreciate it. But maybe another time." Paulie in a more serious tone says "Take your clothes off." Sal says "You're fucking cray, I'm going home." Paulie gets in his way and asks "Why don't you want to take your clothes off?" Sal says defensively "I got high blood pressure you fucking idiot. I go in there I can check the fuck out. My doctor mentioned steam and auna specifically as no-no's. He said stay the fuck away from heat. Thanks for the though. But get out of my fucking face." Sal leaves holding his back. Silvio meets Tony outside. Tony says to Silvio "What did you find out?" Silvio says "It's good. It's fucking very good. He's into pussy, big. And I mean with a capital B. This fucking Makasian, he's a lying motherfucker. He's into Pussy for like 30 large. 20 grand just on football. The rest is shy, Pussy must be burrying this prick in vig alone." Tony says to Silvio "Doensn't mean he's a liar, it just means he's got a reason to see Pussy dead. It buys him time. Could this prick have the balls to try something like this?" Silvio says "Hey, we're talking about 30 grand here. I don't want to think about what me and you would do to remove that debt." Tony says "Wouldn't bet football. I got to think about this." Silvio says "Look, T, if my vote counts for anything. I cannot believe that Pussy would fear the can enough to hurt his friends." Tony says "That's what they said about Gravano." Silvio leaves Tony to think. Makazian is apart of a roundup at the whorehouse by Vice cops. Ray, is apart of the roundup as well. It's all over the news the next morning. They mention the officer in question will be placed on administrative leave. Tony saying asshole under his breath. Meadow and her parents discuss how behind the U.S. is when it comes to sex work. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky are referenced. Cultural touchstone.
Makazian is stuck in traffic on a bridge. He honks repeatedly, obviously frustrated with the current state of things. He flashes his badge to a traffic cop who helps clear the way for him. He finally clears the traffic and pulls to the side of the bridge. Makazian gets out of his car and take a header off the bridge which kills him instantly. Tony gets a phone call at the Bing. He's informed that Makazian is dead after jumping off the bridge. Tony is visiting with Deb, the madame of the whorehouse. "What the fuck was he thinkin' he could have kept his job. He might have just been suspended, that's all. It wasn't like he was dealing." Deb says "That's not why he did it. Don't get me wrong. It was the final straw. But he as not happy. With himself. How he turned out." Tony asks "What did he come her for therapy? Instead of a couch you use a bed? Not a bad deal." Deb says "Hey who wouldn't want to sleep with their shrink?" Tony asks "What does that mean?" Deb says "You would be amazed how much easier it is to open up when you're naked, in the arms of someone who cares for you." Tony and Deb talk about how Makazian considered Tony someone who you always knew where you stood. This seems to confirm that the information is good. Junior visits Livia. "Well he sold the house, Anthony, he sold my house. The home that my husband and I made." Junior says "What else were they going to do with it?" Livia says "I suppose he would have found it harder to have his meetings at my house. Then in this nursing home." Junior asks "What are you talking about, meetings?" Livia says "Don't think I'll ever see any of that money either." Junior again asks "What meetings?" Livia answers Raymond, Larry. That sneak from Manhattan." Junior says "Johnny Sack. Johnny Sack was here?" Livia says "With his mohair suits and his shoe lifts." Junior asks "Suits? Plural? More than once he was here? Why didn't I know about this?" Livia says "Well maybe it was you they were talking about. Who knows." Livia says "I just don't like being put in the middle of things. I should have known something was strange when suddenly Larry Boy's mother moved in here. Then Jimmy Altieri's mother." Junior asks "Three of my Capo's have their mothers in this place?" Livia says "Instead of living in normal homes with their sons, like human beings." Junior says "This must be some kind of fuckin' end move. What do they think I'm stupid? We'll see." Livia says "Now wait a minute. I don't like that kind of talk. Now just stop it, it upsets me. Or I won't tell you anything anymore." Junior says upset "If this is true Livia, you know what I...I mean. I'm the boss for christ sake. If I don't act, blood or no...I have to." Livia says "Oh god...what did I say now? I suppose I should have just kept my mouth shut, like a mute then everybody would have been happy." At the Soprano house they're eating dinner, someone is at the door. AJ goes to answer it. AJ says it's Jimmy, Tony tells him to let him in. He asks Tony to talk somewhere private. Tony asks "What's going on?" Jimmy says "You got a problem." Tony tells him "Yeah I know. I'm working on it." Jimmy says "They were asking me a lot of questions in there, if I knew anything about the dead columbian in the apartment and all that." Tony seems to know something is up and says "You look good." Jimmy mentions "Yeah I wasn't gone very long." Tony says "Yeah, yeah I know." Jimmy says "My lawyer told him, he doesn't own the building, he's not responsible for what's in the building. I told them the pool table was there when I first rented the joint." Tony says "Good thinking. Missed your calling should have been a lawyer." Jimmy says "Please, enough people hate me. So, what are you gonna do about the colombian money?" Tony just shrugs. "They were putting the screws to me like I was a school kid. Telling me that the money was marked. They even said, that there's a new fingerprint technique that lifts it right off the bills." Tony says "You're a lucky man, Jimmy." Jimmy says "What do you mean? Tony says "Well you're out on bail on that conspiracy thing, right?" Jimmy says "Yeah, so?" Tony says "So, only a lucky prick like you would get pinched with a gun while he's out on bail for something else and still be out in time for dinner. You're a lucky guy." He tells him to come upstairs. Jimmy tells him he needs to make more collections. Tony heads to Satriale's. He's convinced now that it's Jimmy that's the wire. With all the questions he had for him. Tony thinks that Makazian's contact got it mixed up "Two fat fucks with black hair." Paulie is running late, wondering where he is. Tony is worried he might have jumped the gun and taken out Pussy. Paulie shows up and is asked where Pussy is, Tony wants to make sure he's not lying to him. He proceeds to ask him 4 or 5 times. Silvio has to separate them. Tony apologizes. Paulie tells him that he hasn't seen him since the schvitz, and told him he didn't take it and refused to take his clothes off. Tony still thinks the rat is only Jimmy. Mikey Palmice and his associate bring a new Microwave into his house. Says hello to his wife. Mikey intimates that Tony Soprano won't be around too much longer and that Junior has set something in motion. Tony looks out over the water contemplating his tough choices ahead.
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