The fifth season of the Sopranos commenced a week after the concluding episode of the fourth in which Tony separates from his wife Carmela. It has been coming for sometime under pressure from Catholic priests to move away from living off the proceeds of crime and in the knowledge that her husband used the women he employed as well as prolonged flings with other women she had snapped when the simmering infatuation with Tony’s hard man factotum, Furio, disappeared back to Italy after deciding that he could not face the implications of making a move on the wife of his boss.
In Two Tonys, two years after the separation, Tony has come to realise realises that he needs the anchor of playing the family man and he also misses the sparring with Dr Melfi. Carmela has established a new life and formed a cinema club using the home cinema Tony created in beach house. There are mixed reactions to a viewing of Citizen Kane which starts with the warning about copying and illegal showing of films. Afterwards they talk about their relationships and Janice discloses that her new husband Bobby Bacala has not yet found her Rosebud. Tony then spoils the party by arranging to remove the projection and sound mechanism when he finds that she is beginning to cope without him.
It also a film, The Prince of Tides which re-ignites Tony’s interest in Dr Melfi. This is the film where the son of a dysfunctional family travels to New York to help his suicide tendency twin sister and establishes a relationship with her psychiatrist played by Barbara Streisand.
Tony sends a giant bouquet of flowers and calls at her office to invite to dinner. Dr Melfi is in a dilemma understanding that this may be Tony’s way of wanting her help again although also aware that his interest is potentially dangerous and tries to let him down without rejection but in the end is forced to do so and he storms out of the office swearing at her.
When son AJ discovers a bear has entered the grounds he is terrified. Carmela calls the authorities who explain their difficulty in taking action with the bear having attacked someone or caused significant damage. When Tony hears about the problem he arranges 24/7 security as and takes a shift as a means of regaining a foothold back in the family setting. Carmela has learned that Tony has been ringing around Italy to locate the whereabouts of Furio having learned about his wife’s infatuation from Meadow. He openly admits to putting out a contract if he can find where his former employee is located. AJ and Meadow do not play significant roles in the first episodes.
His sister Janice has married Widow Bobby Bacala and become the step mother of his two children and is expected to provide Sunday lunch for Tony his son and daughter as well as Uncle Junior and the other sister and her husband who live in New York. On one of these events the news announces that a number of local associates imprisoned in the 1980’s are to be released including a cousin of Tony also called Tony Blundetto who had grown up with him as a brother and then Michele Feech La Manna the former Capo of the defunct La Manna crew.
At his coming out party after 20 years inside Feech explains how he survived by picking on the man who looked toughest when he arrived and beating him up. While he has a bakery to run as his day job he announces that he wants to be back in the rackets and the first he chooses is to provide environmental services through a relative selecting an area which is not already controlled.
The symbolic victim is Sal Vitro who he advises is no longer required in an area where fortunately for him he cuts the lawn and is kind to the aunt of Pauli Walnuts. She intercedes when Sal is beaten up and has his arm broken by Feech. Fortunately Tony’s Cousin prevents more damage as they are both on parole. Pauli now intervenes and visits Feech at the bakery to say that he is not entitled to anything because he has been to prison. Feech points out that what is Pauli’s is Pauli’s but anything else is open. Pauli returns to site and hits relative of Feech on the head with a spade causing the other guy to fall from a height from a tree. He takes cash which they have in hand and the lawn mower until they meet all the hospital bills of Sal and also agree to pay him a percentage for taking over his territory. Pauli and Feech have a sit down with Tony and agree that the Sal and the nephew should have half the disputed area. Sal is effectively no longer free and is part of the mobster’s empire.
There is also Phil Leotardo a captain in the Lupertazzi Family, and Angelo Garepe who was the Consigliere for the family. Tony has a celebratory lunch with Garepe, his boss Carmine and New Jersey resident under boss Johnny Sachs when Carmine has a heart attack and later dies. Tony contacts his son Little Carmine who he visited last season in Miami which brokered the peace deal the and brought to a halt the Carmine execution which Johnny Sacks had encouraged and which Christopher arranged but then had to kill the assassins when the deal was made
At the Funeral there are heated words between Little Carmine and Johnny Sacks over his decision to place an Opus Dei rosary in the hands of his father as the son regards these as representing a fundamentalist cult which his father would have not been involved with.
In Where’s Johnny it is Phil Leotardo who attempts to move on two loan sharks who pay dues to Little Carmine in Florida. They pull a gun on Lorraine Calluzo and shoot her but placing a phone directory over her chest to absorb the bullet. Lorraine takes her concerns to Tony who tries to act as a peacemaker. Lorraine feels she is being pulled three ways as in addition to Leotardo and Little Carmine she believes Johnny Sachs wants her to fund him exclusively. Tony suggests that Johnny and Little Carmine be recognised as territory bosses together with Angelo and divide the business tribute accordingly. Angelo says he is in semi retirement and wants to enjoy his grandchildren. Tony tries to resolve the situation at a meet with Christopher at his side who he has told not to intervene but Christopher cannot keep quiet and afterwards Tony tells him off perhaps signalling a new rift between the two.
The rivalry between Christopher and Pauli heats up when Pauli not only makes Christopher pay for special dinners but makes a point of over ordering and giving away drinks to strangers with the consequence that Christopher finds himself with $1000 dollar bills The situation comes to a head when forced to cover another night out Christopher only gives $16 dollars to round up the bill to $1200 instead of the usual 10%-15%, The waiter comes out after Christopher to protest and calls them fucking arseholes. Christopher throws a brick and wounds the waiter and Pauli shoot him to shut his potential mouth up, They two men realise things have gone too far and split the tab as a means of burying the hatchet.
Christopher’s woman Adriana continues to report overheard talk or disclosures from Christopher to the FBI but she is not alone. One evening the contractor for the recent apartment development calls with a farewell present for Tony, a contemporary painting of the Rat Pack which is the title of episode 54. Unbeknown to Tony he has been “persuaded” by the FBI task force to wear a wire in his baseball cap and quiz Tony about his contact with corrupt officials pretending to be interested in another important job tender coming up which he would like to undertake in another deal with Tony.
Tony is alerted to the possibility that the contractor is another in the line of FBI spies when Patsi Parisi comments that their earlier meeting was under surveillance. Tony arranges a meeting with Prime Suspect Massarone giving him a frisk during a warm embrace unaware that the device is in the cap. He therefore is uncertain and his comments to his associates are ambiguous. The man is found in the trunk of his car although who killed him is not disclosed. Meanwhile Adriana is becoming more concerned about her position and nearly spills the beans to the wives at the next film society met when they are forced to talk because Tony has disabled the system. Mention is made of the husband of Angie Bonespiero who they believe is in witness protection.
Adriana has developed a relationship with FBI agent Sansevrino who explains what happened to her sister who was killed by a bullet from one of the hand guns made by her criminal boyfriend. Adriana is shocked to learn she could be asked to continue her present role for as long as ten years. She uses this relationship to rat on Tina Francesco, previously her best friend, after she had noted the woman makings eyes at Christopher and talking dirty innuendo. She reveals the woman has been fixing the books from her boss at the clothing store providing her with a second income.
Tony has been looking forward to the release of his namesake from prison for a crime which Tony was to have been directly involved, On release Tony (uncle Al) as he was known to identify him from Tony (Uncle Johnny), declares that he is not interested in getting directly involved in crime again and has been training to become a masseurs and that in the meantime he wants to take a regular job, which understandably bugs his cousin. Tony nevertheless gets him a job collecting laundry. The owner of laundry advises Tony that he is not satisfied with the work and proposes to dismiss his cousin and Tony agrees but is angry at being put in the situation.
In fact Tony is becoming angry with everyone, his wife, Dr Melfi, Christopher and the New York interests. He also become angry with Uncle Junior who at a Sunday gathering appears to ignore what Tony tells him. Tony goes off angry. However Junior is showing all the signs of paranoia dementia. He watches TV thinks he is on screen and is being mocked. He slips out one evening, in bathrobe and slippers, takes his car and goes to his old neighbourhood to the house where is brother lived. Finding him not there he visits a building where he once had slot machine to find it is a church with a youth group. He forgets where he has his car.
He sits on a bench and a homeless woman sit with him appearing to know who he was and offers him sex but Junior goes off in search of his car. He is picked up by police officers who disbelieved that he is Corridor Soprano but they get him to his house where Janice shows his driving licence. Janice and Bobby recognise that Junior is developing Alzheimer’s. They visit Tony who is staying at Livia’s old house now that Janice is married and living with Bobby. Tony says Junior is dead to him.
He reminds of her record of trying to help people in the past, her drug habit and life on the road. There is a brawl as Tony gets angrier and Janice goes off in distress with Tony telling Bobby to control his wife!
On the golf course the neurologist treating Junior explains what is happening may be due the mini strokes and that it is important Junior takes his medication. Tony visits Junior to make peace and Junior advises that Feech is angry that Tony ruled against him in relation to Sal Vitro. Tony is upset that Feech went to Junior but Junior reminds that he is officially head of the family. Tony wants to know why Junior is always saying bad things about him and they both sit quietly getting upset.
The week also saw the commencement of a new and well advertised series which appears to concentrate on the criminal aspect of horse racing titled Luck. The series also has a major Hollywood A lister in the main role Dustin Hoffman as Ace Chester Bernstein. Immediately after the pilot showing in the USA in December a second series was announced with ten episodes from 2013. In addition to the pilot another 8 programmes are included in series 1 of which the second was broadcast back to back here in the UK.
Hoffman is released from prison after serving three years of a sentence for some drug violation where he has taken the fall to protect his son who was resident in his New York apartment when found in possession although the quantity of drugs belonged to his former business partner Mike, played by another former A lister the British actor Michael Gabon. And who had secreted them their without permission. Mike is therefore indebted to Ace who it quickly becomes apparent is out to break him.
Ace also makes it plain he trusts no one which given the goings on in the Sopranos is a wise philosophy for any one involved with crime families. He has someone who has looked out for him while away and who now is to become his front man as well as personal driver, This is Gus played a familiar face Dennis Farina. His first job is to act as the owner of a horse called Pint of Plain which is being trained by the Latin Turo Escalante a respected straight trainer who nevertheless has kept the potential of the horse under wraps until his outing to mark the release of Ace. This is one of the horses which a group of trackside gambling bums have in their syndicate betting to win the six race accumulator in which the winnings from one race become the bet on the second and so on.
Meanwhile we learn that the main plan of Ace is to gain control of the race track at Santa Anita Park which has the space and the potential to gain a licence for a Casino, which is his main goal as a means of breaking those who betrayed him but where honour prevented him from getting out of the prison rap. The Santa Anita track in California is regarded as the most prestigious in the USA because of its beautiful mountain background setting and quality of the racing during the Winter and Spring
Ace owns a legitimate investment company and he holds a board meeting in which he commences his plan by ordering a purchase of shares in the track and takes an interest in a young pushy securities trader who he decides to spearhead his revenge. He meets up with his suspicious former business associate who Hoffman does his best to reassure he carries no grudge but seeks his help in gaining control of the racetrack with a view to the Casino development.
He also takes an interest in a young woman who is seeking financial support for former racehorses rather than have them immediately put down when they break a limb as we witness with one horse on the race day. Ace is genuinely interested in giving support but also interested in the young woman in what appears to be primarily a male fronted series.
The series also follows the fortunes of the trackside “bums” a disparate collection of characters. The brain of the group is Jerry who has devised the system of accumulative betting. The plan usually involves betting on three horses in each race with any winnings placed in the races successively and then betting on every hose in the last to guarantee the big pay out. They appear to make sufficient money to finance their other interests or have other means to fund their 24/7 involvement with the track, the local trainers and the inside knowledge wherever it comes available.
Jerry has picked up the info that Escalante has been hiding the potential of a horse called Mon Gateau and persuades the group to place all their accumulated money from the first four races on the fifth in which Mon Gateau is running. Escalante is angry when he hears about the winning bet because this indicates that the jockey has been talking.
After the win of $2.6million the group book into a suite of rooms with interconnecting doors so they can keep an eye on each other until claiming and distributing the prize money because of concerns. The track is wanting to publicise the win, its biggest of the kind to attract future business whereas the syndicate do not want media interest of to be identified less inquiries about their information are made and exiting enjoyable life style is changed. One of the group wheel chair bound has is life revolving at the track and his regular spot available for wheel chair users. However two of the group are behaving in such a way to threaten his approach.
Jerry has started to play cards for bigger pots and loses although in the second episode he comes good with a major win against the man he has previously lost to. Another of the syndicate the older Marcus is flattered to find he has become the sexual interest of two women insurance agents. then finds himself the potential victim of the women who have taken out insurance on his life and set about killing him after a sex session. He is rescued. He has a kindly heart and has a plan to buy Mon Gateau in what we call a Selling Plate (in the USA a claimers stake), where the winning horse is sold. In the USA version there are sealed bids with the best bid taking the horse unless the bids are equal in which instance there is a lottery. Marcus uses a contact to front his bid until the gains a trainers licence. He hopes the purchase of he horse will help to keep Jerry from losing all his winnings in Poker as well as upgrade the role of his friends from gamblers into owners as he proposes to give a piece of horse to each of them. Unfortunately another trainer has also spotted the potential of the horse places the same bid and wins in the lottery suggesting some kind of fix.
A third horse being followed is trained by another Hollywood A Lister Nick Nolte as an aging training from Kentucky who is quietly bringing on a horse sired by the famous Delphi which could have won the famous Derby. Nolte had trained the horse only to have his hopes and ambition dashed when the owner died and the family arranged the accidental death of the potential champion in order to claim the substantial insurance money. Gettin up is showing all the potential of a champion and his female training rider is pleased when she is allowed to let him go during the last quarter of the morning gallop.
Nolte agrees to an established jockey being given the ride under pressure of a Jockey’s agent who is wanting to get his client a good win because the man is on the slide from drugs and drink. Fortunately the jockey is sidelined for medical reasons but this leaves Nolte with the dilemma of using an apprentice who like the horse has not raced before or getting someone who does not know the horse. He decides on the young who is boxed in by more inexperienced jockeys but manages to break through going on the inside rail and wins the race.
Thus we lean that there is no such thing as Luck in the business and it is all a fix.
Balancing up crime from the perspective of the criminals was the third episode of Inspector Montalbano Shapes in Water, which in fact is the title of the first published book. I forgot to record until well into the programme so had to watch the first part on the BBC I player until reaching the recoded final section.
I can understand why the first book has becomes the third in the series because of the “softer” approach to criminal activity protecting the reputation of individuals.
A well known politician is found to have died in a heart attack while being serviced by a prostitute in a notorious beach spot frequented by the lowest level of whore, one of whom an illegal immigrant witnesses the arrival of the vehicle and disappearance of the female whore.
The story which Montalbano uncovers is complicated. Because of the man’s political position the establishment of presiding judge, local bishop and other interests want the death quietly buried in order to protect the widow and her son. There is something about the situation which rouses the Inspector’s natural instinct to get to the bottom of what happened.
A gold diamond encrusted necklace has been found by one of two “street cleaners” who had held on to the find wanting to pawn to gain the funds to take their sick son away for specialist treatment which could save his life and which was urgently required. Montalbano tracks down the man and his wife through blagging his way into the home of the other cleaner who discovered and reported finding the body. After hearing the story of the sick child the Inspector gives a receipt for the necklace on the basis that it was handed in on the day of its finding and makes sure the news of finding is out there.
This has the desired effect because a lawyer the political fixer of the dead man comes forward to claim the necklace with a cock a bull story about it came be lost.
Now that I come to write I have not grasped some of the essential elements and I am to busy to watch the programme again. He alleges that a wife had persuaded her husband to go down to the site to observe the life having worn the necklace at a social function earlier. The implication is that they had got out of their vehicle to have sex among the dunes and the necklace had not been noted as being lost until later. What with the death it was publicity the family did not want. (The bit I am not sure about is that the wife, a six foot woman from Sweden regarded as a free spirit was married to the man’s son),
Montalbano agrees to return the property on the understanding that the man who found the necklace said to be worth 70 million lire (only about £30000 before the euro) to pay the finder a reward of 10 million and he then advises the family to immediately make arrangements to take the child for treatment and leave as soon as the money is paid. This appears to have taken place without a hitch.
When Montalbano revisits the site he find a hand bag clearly belonging to the wife from Sweden, and the witness to the event describes the woman in the car as tall, not one of the regulars and having left he car made her way to the roadway. The witness also reveals that oddly the woman was immediately picked up by a car as if by prior arrangement. Montalbano turns a blind eye to her illegal status because of her help.
He then visits the widow to pay his respects and finds her a fine woman but no illusions about her husband except that she does not understand the circumstances of his death as he has a cottage by the sea which he used for his affairs. The photo in the car shows that he was wearing his underpants pants inside out something about which he was fastidious and would never do.
Montalbano visit the cottage and finds it is a large villa where they are women’s clothing and a hand gun in a side drawer.
Her gets to know the daughter of the man’s son and her story helps him understand what has happened. It is true that the daughter had been seduced by her father in law who had shown a violent streak and had bullied her into further sex. He had a tendency to tear off her clothes which is why she had clothing at the villa. However she had not been with him the night he died. She had lost the necklace but previously, and she had also lost a bag which had her initials
When the Inspector the widow he had noted the beautiful and distressed nephew who had a petit mal occurrence he was present. Eventually the Inspector is able to establish that the boy had become the lover of the politician and had been with him at the villa on the night of the heart attack. He had called on his uncle’s lawyer for help and the lawyer had seen the opportunity for advancing his own political fortunes within the Party by discrediting the family and in particular the husband of the woman he tried to frame. He had arranged for a contact who was a cross dresser to come out and drive the dead man from the villa via a river bed onto the beach and to the spot where the car was found. He had dumped the necklace and bag hoping that the combined publicity with ruin the political reputation of the family.
The Inspector had taken the Swedish wife to the villa to test out that a car could be driven from their off road to the site where the body was discovered. She is a fast driver of fast cars. She stumbles and hurts her ankle at one point and gets Montalbano to rubs some ointment. She takes off her skirt and comments he is a gentleman when he does not take this as an invitation. When he decides to close the case as requested covering up various aspects she offers herself but again as in the previously episode he is tied to mistress more than he appreciates.
The lawyer is found shot and the Inspector realises that the murder weapon is the one he found at the villa, and left there. The nephew is then found dead having gone off the road at a bend high on the cliff side. He therefore closes the case much to the delight the establishment but without disclosing or recording all that he knows. He has confided in his mistress who is surprised that he has behaved out of character. On reflection despite another messed up weekend with him she appreciates that he was being kind to various people rather than cow towing to the establishment.
In Two Tonys, two years after the separation, Tony has come to realise realises that he needs the anchor of playing the family man and he also misses the sparring with Dr Melfi. Carmela has established a new life and formed a cinema club using the home cinema Tony created in beach house. There are mixed reactions to a viewing of Citizen Kane which starts with the warning about copying and illegal showing of films. Afterwards they talk about their relationships and Janice discloses that her new husband Bobby Bacala has not yet found her Rosebud. Tony then spoils the party by arranging to remove the projection and sound mechanism when he finds that she is beginning to cope without him.
It also a film, The Prince of Tides which re-ignites Tony’s interest in Dr Melfi. This is the film where the son of a dysfunctional family travels to New York to help his suicide tendency twin sister and establishes a relationship with her psychiatrist played by Barbara Streisand.
Tony sends a giant bouquet of flowers and calls at her office to invite to dinner. Dr Melfi is in a dilemma understanding that this may be Tony’s way of wanting her help again although also aware that his interest is potentially dangerous and tries to let him down without rejection but in the end is forced to do so and he storms out of the office swearing at her.
When son AJ discovers a bear has entered the grounds he is terrified. Carmela calls the authorities who explain their difficulty in taking action with the bear having attacked someone or caused significant damage. When Tony hears about the problem he arranges 24/7 security as and takes a shift as a means of regaining a foothold back in the family setting. Carmela has learned that Tony has been ringing around Italy to locate the whereabouts of Furio having learned about his wife’s infatuation from Meadow. He openly admits to putting out a contract if he can find where his former employee is located. AJ and Meadow do not play significant roles in the first episodes.
His sister Janice has married Widow Bobby Bacala and become the step mother of his two children and is expected to provide Sunday lunch for Tony his son and daughter as well as Uncle Junior and the other sister and her husband who live in New York. On one of these events the news announces that a number of local associates imprisoned in the 1980’s are to be released including a cousin of Tony also called Tony Blundetto who had grown up with him as a brother and then Michele Feech La Manna the former Capo of the defunct La Manna crew.
At his coming out party after 20 years inside Feech explains how he survived by picking on the man who looked toughest when he arrived and beating him up. While he has a bakery to run as his day job he announces that he wants to be back in the rackets and the first he chooses is to provide environmental services through a relative selecting an area which is not already controlled.
The symbolic victim is Sal Vitro who he advises is no longer required in an area where fortunately for him he cuts the lawn and is kind to the aunt of Pauli Walnuts. She intercedes when Sal is beaten up and has his arm broken by Feech. Fortunately Tony’s Cousin prevents more damage as they are both on parole. Pauli now intervenes and visits Feech at the bakery to say that he is not entitled to anything because he has been to prison. Feech points out that what is Pauli’s is Pauli’s but anything else is open. Pauli returns to site and hits relative of Feech on the head with a spade causing the other guy to fall from a height from a tree. He takes cash which they have in hand and the lawn mower until they meet all the hospital bills of Sal and also agree to pay him a percentage for taking over his territory. Pauli and Feech have a sit down with Tony and agree that the Sal and the nephew should have half the disputed area. Sal is effectively no longer free and is part of the mobster’s empire.
There is also Phil Leotardo a captain in the Lupertazzi Family, and Angelo Garepe who was the Consigliere for the family. Tony has a celebratory lunch with Garepe, his boss Carmine and New Jersey resident under boss Johnny Sachs when Carmine has a heart attack and later dies. Tony contacts his son Little Carmine who he visited last season in Miami which brokered the peace deal the and brought to a halt the Carmine execution which Johnny Sacks had encouraged and which Christopher arranged but then had to kill the assassins when the deal was made
At the Funeral there are heated words between Little Carmine and Johnny Sacks over his decision to place an Opus Dei rosary in the hands of his father as the son regards these as representing a fundamentalist cult which his father would have not been involved with.
In Where’s Johnny it is Phil Leotardo who attempts to move on two loan sharks who pay dues to Little Carmine in Florida. They pull a gun on Lorraine Calluzo and shoot her but placing a phone directory over her chest to absorb the bullet. Lorraine takes her concerns to Tony who tries to act as a peacemaker. Lorraine feels she is being pulled three ways as in addition to Leotardo and Little Carmine she believes Johnny Sachs wants her to fund him exclusively. Tony suggests that Johnny and Little Carmine be recognised as territory bosses together with Angelo and divide the business tribute accordingly. Angelo says he is in semi retirement and wants to enjoy his grandchildren. Tony tries to resolve the situation at a meet with Christopher at his side who he has told not to intervene but Christopher cannot keep quiet and afterwards Tony tells him off perhaps signalling a new rift between the two.
The rivalry between Christopher and Pauli heats up when Pauli not only makes Christopher pay for special dinners but makes a point of over ordering and giving away drinks to strangers with the consequence that Christopher finds himself with $1000 dollar bills The situation comes to a head when forced to cover another night out Christopher only gives $16 dollars to round up the bill to $1200 instead of the usual 10%-15%, The waiter comes out after Christopher to protest and calls them fucking arseholes. Christopher throws a brick and wounds the waiter and Pauli shoot him to shut his potential mouth up, They two men realise things have gone too far and split the tab as a means of burying the hatchet.
Christopher’s woman Adriana continues to report overheard talk or disclosures from Christopher to the FBI but she is not alone. One evening the contractor for the recent apartment development calls with a farewell present for Tony, a contemporary painting of the Rat Pack which is the title of episode 54. Unbeknown to Tony he has been “persuaded” by the FBI task force to wear a wire in his baseball cap and quiz Tony about his contact with corrupt officials pretending to be interested in another important job tender coming up which he would like to undertake in another deal with Tony.
Tony is alerted to the possibility that the contractor is another in the line of FBI spies when Patsi Parisi comments that their earlier meeting was under surveillance. Tony arranges a meeting with Prime Suspect Massarone giving him a frisk during a warm embrace unaware that the device is in the cap. He therefore is uncertain and his comments to his associates are ambiguous. The man is found in the trunk of his car although who killed him is not disclosed. Meanwhile Adriana is becoming more concerned about her position and nearly spills the beans to the wives at the next film society met when they are forced to talk because Tony has disabled the system. Mention is made of the husband of Angie Bonespiero who they believe is in witness protection.
Adriana has developed a relationship with FBI agent Sansevrino who explains what happened to her sister who was killed by a bullet from one of the hand guns made by her criminal boyfriend. Adriana is shocked to learn she could be asked to continue her present role for as long as ten years. She uses this relationship to rat on Tina Francesco, previously her best friend, after she had noted the woman makings eyes at Christopher and talking dirty innuendo. She reveals the woman has been fixing the books from her boss at the clothing store providing her with a second income.
Tony has been looking forward to the release of his namesake from prison for a crime which Tony was to have been directly involved, On release Tony (uncle Al) as he was known to identify him from Tony (Uncle Johnny), declares that he is not interested in getting directly involved in crime again and has been training to become a masseurs and that in the meantime he wants to take a regular job, which understandably bugs his cousin. Tony nevertheless gets him a job collecting laundry. The owner of laundry advises Tony that he is not satisfied with the work and proposes to dismiss his cousin and Tony agrees but is angry at being put in the situation.
In fact Tony is becoming angry with everyone, his wife, Dr Melfi, Christopher and the New York interests. He also become angry with Uncle Junior who at a Sunday gathering appears to ignore what Tony tells him. Tony goes off angry. However Junior is showing all the signs of paranoia dementia. He watches TV thinks he is on screen and is being mocked. He slips out one evening, in bathrobe and slippers, takes his car and goes to his old neighbourhood to the house where is brother lived. Finding him not there he visits a building where he once had slot machine to find it is a church with a youth group. He forgets where he has his car.
He sits on a bench and a homeless woman sit with him appearing to know who he was and offers him sex but Junior goes off in search of his car. He is picked up by police officers who disbelieved that he is Corridor Soprano but they get him to his house where Janice shows his driving licence. Janice and Bobby recognise that Junior is developing Alzheimer’s. They visit Tony who is staying at Livia’s old house now that Janice is married and living with Bobby. Tony says Junior is dead to him.
He reminds of her record of trying to help people in the past, her drug habit and life on the road. There is a brawl as Tony gets angrier and Janice goes off in distress with Tony telling Bobby to control his wife!
On the golf course the neurologist treating Junior explains what is happening may be due the mini strokes and that it is important Junior takes his medication. Tony visits Junior to make peace and Junior advises that Feech is angry that Tony ruled against him in relation to Sal Vitro. Tony is upset that Feech went to Junior but Junior reminds that he is officially head of the family. Tony wants to know why Junior is always saying bad things about him and they both sit quietly getting upset.
The week also saw the commencement of a new and well advertised series which appears to concentrate on the criminal aspect of horse racing titled Luck. The series also has a major Hollywood A lister in the main role Dustin Hoffman as Ace Chester Bernstein. Immediately after the pilot showing in the USA in December a second series was announced with ten episodes from 2013. In addition to the pilot another 8 programmes are included in series 1 of which the second was broadcast back to back here in the UK.
Hoffman is released from prison after serving three years of a sentence for some drug violation where he has taken the fall to protect his son who was resident in his New York apartment when found in possession although the quantity of drugs belonged to his former business partner Mike, played by another former A lister the British actor Michael Gabon. And who had secreted them their without permission. Mike is therefore indebted to Ace who it quickly becomes apparent is out to break him.
Ace also makes it plain he trusts no one which given the goings on in the Sopranos is a wise philosophy for any one involved with crime families. He has someone who has looked out for him while away and who now is to become his front man as well as personal driver, This is Gus played a familiar face Dennis Farina. His first job is to act as the owner of a horse called Pint of Plain which is being trained by the Latin Turo Escalante a respected straight trainer who nevertheless has kept the potential of the horse under wraps until his outing to mark the release of Ace. This is one of the horses which a group of trackside gambling bums have in their syndicate betting to win the six race accumulator in which the winnings from one race become the bet on the second and so on.
Meanwhile we learn that the main plan of Ace is to gain control of the race track at Santa Anita Park which has the space and the potential to gain a licence for a Casino, which is his main goal as a means of breaking those who betrayed him but where honour prevented him from getting out of the prison rap. The Santa Anita track in California is regarded as the most prestigious in the USA because of its beautiful mountain background setting and quality of the racing during the Winter and Spring
Ace owns a legitimate investment company and he holds a board meeting in which he commences his plan by ordering a purchase of shares in the track and takes an interest in a young pushy securities trader who he decides to spearhead his revenge. He meets up with his suspicious former business associate who Hoffman does his best to reassure he carries no grudge but seeks his help in gaining control of the racetrack with a view to the Casino development.
He also takes an interest in a young woman who is seeking financial support for former racehorses rather than have them immediately put down when they break a limb as we witness with one horse on the race day. Ace is genuinely interested in giving support but also interested in the young woman in what appears to be primarily a male fronted series.
The series also follows the fortunes of the trackside “bums” a disparate collection of characters. The brain of the group is Jerry who has devised the system of accumulative betting. The plan usually involves betting on three horses in each race with any winnings placed in the races successively and then betting on every hose in the last to guarantee the big pay out. They appear to make sufficient money to finance their other interests or have other means to fund their 24/7 involvement with the track, the local trainers and the inside knowledge wherever it comes available.
Jerry has picked up the info that Escalante has been hiding the potential of a horse called Mon Gateau and persuades the group to place all their accumulated money from the first four races on the fifth in which Mon Gateau is running. Escalante is angry when he hears about the winning bet because this indicates that the jockey has been talking.
After the win of $2.6million the group book into a suite of rooms with interconnecting doors so they can keep an eye on each other until claiming and distributing the prize money because of concerns. The track is wanting to publicise the win, its biggest of the kind to attract future business whereas the syndicate do not want media interest of to be identified less inquiries about their information are made and exiting enjoyable life style is changed. One of the group wheel chair bound has is life revolving at the track and his regular spot available for wheel chair users. However two of the group are behaving in such a way to threaten his approach.
Jerry has started to play cards for bigger pots and loses although in the second episode he comes good with a major win against the man he has previously lost to. Another of the syndicate the older Marcus is flattered to find he has become the sexual interest of two women insurance agents. then finds himself the potential victim of the women who have taken out insurance on his life and set about killing him after a sex session. He is rescued. He has a kindly heart and has a plan to buy Mon Gateau in what we call a Selling Plate (in the USA a claimers stake), where the winning horse is sold. In the USA version there are sealed bids with the best bid taking the horse unless the bids are equal in which instance there is a lottery. Marcus uses a contact to front his bid until the gains a trainers licence. He hopes the purchase of he horse will help to keep Jerry from losing all his winnings in Poker as well as upgrade the role of his friends from gamblers into owners as he proposes to give a piece of horse to each of them. Unfortunately another trainer has also spotted the potential of the horse places the same bid and wins in the lottery suggesting some kind of fix.
A third horse being followed is trained by another Hollywood A Lister Nick Nolte as an aging training from Kentucky who is quietly bringing on a horse sired by the famous Delphi which could have won the famous Derby. Nolte had trained the horse only to have his hopes and ambition dashed when the owner died and the family arranged the accidental death of the potential champion in order to claim the substantial insurance money. Gettin up is showing all the potential of a champion and his female training rider is pleased when she is allowed to let him go during the last quarter of the morning gallop.
Nolte agrees to an established jockey being given the ride under pressure of a Jockey’s agent who is wanting to get his client a good win because the man is on the slide from drugs and drink. Fortunately the jockey is sidelined for medical reasons but this leaves Nolte with the dilemma of using an apprentice who like the horse has not raced before or getting someone who does not know the horse. He decides on the young who is boxed in by more inexperienced jockeys but manages to break through going on the inside rail and wins the race.
Thus we lean that there is no such thing as Luck in the business and it is all a fix.
Balancing up crime from the perspective of the criminals was the third episode of Inspector Montalbano Shapes in Water, which in fact is the title of the first published book. I forgot to record until well into the programme so had to watch the first part on the BBC I player until reaching the recoded final section.
I can understand why the first book has becomes the third in the series because of the “softer” approach to criminal activity protecting the reputation of individuals.
A well known politician is found to have died in a heart attack while being serviced by a prostitute in a notorious beach spot frequented by the lowest level of whore, one of whom an illegal immigrant witnesses the arrival of the vehicle and disappearance of the female whore.
The story which Montalbano uncovers is complicated. Because of the man’s political position the establishment of presiding judge, local bishop and other interests want the death quietly buried in order to protect the widow and her son. There is something about the situation which rouses the Inspector’s natural instinct to get to the bottom of what happened.
A gold diamond encrusted necklace has been found by one of two “street cleaners” who had held on to the find wanting to pawn to gain the funds to take their sick son away for specialist treatment which could save his life and which was urgently required. Montalbano tracks down the man and his wife through blagging his way into the home of the other cleaner who discovered and reported finding the body. After hearing the story of the sick child the Inspector gives a receipt for the necklace on the basis that it was handed in on the day of its finding and makes sure the news of finding is out there.
This has the desired effect because a lawyer the political fixer of the dead man comes forward to claim the necklace with a cock a bull story about it came be lost.
Now that I come to write I have not grasped some of the essential elements and I am to busy to watch the programme again. He alleges that a wife had persuaded her husband to go down to the site to observe the life having worn the necklace at a social function earlier. The implication is that they had got out of their vehicle to have sex among the dunes and the necklace had not been noted as being lost until later. What with the death it was publicity the family did not want. (The bit I am not sure about is that the wife, a six foot woman from Sweden regarded as a free spirit was married to the man’s son),
Montalbano agrees to return the property on the understanding that the man who found the necklace said to be worth 70 million lire (only about £30000 before the euro) to pay the finder a reward of 10 million and he then advises the family to immediately make arrangements to take the child for treatment and leave as soon as the money is paid. This appears to have taken place without a hitch.
When Montalbano revisits the site he find a hand bag clearly belonging to the wife from Sweden, and the witness to the event describes the woman in the car as tall, not one of the regulars and having left he car made her way to the roadway. The witness also reveals that oddly the woman was immediately picked up by a car as if by prior arrangement. Montalbano turns a blind eye to her illegal status because of her help.
He then visits the widow to pay his respects and finds her a fine woman but no illusions about her husband except that she does not understand the circumstances of his death as he has a cottage by the sea which he used for his affairs. The photo in the car shows that he was wearing his underpants pants inside out something about which he was fastidious and would never do.
Montalbano visit the cottage and finds it is a large villa where they are women’s clothing and a hand gun in a side drawer.
Her gets to know the daughter of the man’s son and her story helps him understand what has happened. It is true that the daughter had been seduced by her father in law who had shown a violent streak and had bullied her into further sex. He had a tendency to tear off her clothes which is why she had clothing at the villa. However she had not been with him the night he died. She had lost the necklace but previously, and she had also lost a bag which had her initials
When the Inspector the widow he had noted the beautiful and distressed nephew who had a petit mal occurrence he was present. Eventually the Inspector is able to establish that the boy had become the lover of the politician and had been with him at the villa on the night of the heart attack. He had called on his uncle’s lawyer for help and the lawyer had seen the opportunity for advancing his own political fortunes within the Party by discrediting the family and in particular the husband of the woman he tried to frame. He had arranged for a contact who was a cross dresser to come out and drive the dead man from the villa via a river bed onto the beach and to the spot where the car was found. He had dumped the necklace and bag hoping that the combined publicity with ruin the political reputation of the family.
The Inspector had taken the Swedish wife to the villa to test out that a car could be driven from their off road to the site where the body was discovered. She is a fast driver of fast cars. She stumbles and hurts her ankle at one point and gets Montalbano to rubs some ointment. She takes off her skirt and comments he is a gentleman when he does not take this as an invitation. When he decides to close the case as requested covering up various aspects she offers herself but again as in the previously episode he is tied to mistress more than he appreciates.
The lawyer is found shot and the Inspector realises that the murder weapon is the one he found at the villa, and left there. The nephew is then found dead having gone off the road at a bend high on the cliff side. He therefore closes the case much to the delight the establishment but without disclosing or recording all that he knows. He has confided in his mistress who is surprised that he has behaved out of character. On reflection despite another messed up weekend with him she appreciates that he was being kind to various people rather than cow towing to the establishment.
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