Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT A World Of Hurt
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 07.13.1997
Ryan meets with Keane, and suggests they give Post up to get Schibetta off their tails. Keane don't play that, and says to chill. Ryan leaves, and the Sicilians note the meeting. Schibetta says it could mean nothing, but that they should have Burruano haul Ryan in for "a little fishing trip."
Cut to Burruano's office, where Ryan is informing him that the St. Pauli Girl is a hooker. Burruano chuckles, probably envisioning the look that'll be on Ryan's face in a couple of minutes. He tells Ryan that Keane & Co. killed Ortolani, but someone had to have arranged for one of them to get into the hole, someone connected. Ryan suggests Keane & Co. paid a hack, but Burruano demurs. "An inmate arranged it all. And now I know who that inmate is." Ryan doesn't flinch as Burruano says that it was him, but there's more. "Eventually, I'm gonna get the little fuck who killed Ortolani, and he's gonna start singing. And the only name that fucking nigger is gonna rap is the skinny-assed white boy's." Hey, I like his skinny ass! Burruano smiles that Ryan should either give up the killer or shut him up. Nice job getting an impartial investigator, Glynn. Does any staff member ever have a good idea in this place?
Cut to Schibetta's pod, where Ryan busts in and announces that he knows who killed Ortolani. Schibetta beckons him in. Later, Rebadow plays solitaire. Groves leans in like he's going to take a bite out of his ear, but merely offers some card-playing advice. Not sure what the point of that was, but I like Groves, so I'm not complaining. Back in Schibetta's pod, McManus has just broken the news that Schibetta's wife has passed. Schibetta takes it stoically, saying she'd been sick for a year. McManus asks if there's anything he can do. Yeah -- SHUT UP AND LEAVE THE GRIEVING MAN ALONE. Behind McManus, D'Angelo beckons to Schibetta, and Schibetta tells McManus he'd like to be alone, like, tough fucking concept, Timbo. When he's gone, D'Angelo enters and offers his condolences. Schibetta tells him what a good and patient woman his wife was, and that he's not the easiest man to live with. D'Angelo: "Believe me, I know." Hee. Schibetta turns to look at him, and he gives a "hey, just telling it like it is" shrug. Hilarious non-verbal exchange. The conversation continues in the stairwell, where Schibetta details the funeral arrangements he wants, including getting an actor whose name he can't remember to be a pallbearer. "He was in that movie where the thing blew up." D'Angelo: "Oh yeah, I know who you mean. Tall guy." Schibetta: "Yeah, and Lena Horne." D'Angelo: "As a pallbearer?" Schibetta: "To sing a hymn." Hee. I love that exchange. It's partly because you could substitute "Lena Horne" for the punchline of any joke, and it would still be funny. When they get to the bottom of the stairs, Schibetta starts crying, which, given the scene with his son, nicely illustrates how close he is to D'Angelo. Once he's composed himself, they go through a door, where Post is tied to a chair and gagged with duct tape, guarded by two big toughs. Schibetta Godfathers that he's only going to ask once: Who hired him for the Ortolani hit? He rips off the duct tape, which would really hurt, considering that Post has a goatee. Post: "Fuck you, you fuckin' dago! Before I did it, I fucked him up the ass." I'm guessing that's the wrong answer. Schibetta, to his lackeys: "Kill him. Start with his dick." Post looks around even more psychotically than usual, and manages to get in one more "dago" and three more variants of the word "fuck" before we cut away. My stomach's feeling a little better, but even if it weren't, I still would have gotten shellacked in the "fuck" competition.