when one sentence starts a mafia war — Transcript

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1. 0:00This is Scarface, final scene. [ __ ]
2. 0:02bazookas under each arm. SAY HELLO TO MY
3. 0:05LITTLE FRIEND.
4. 0:06>> ALWAYS WITH THE SCENARIOS.
5. 0:08>> [music]
6. 0:17[music]
7. 0:22>> I'm willing to move forward.
8. 0:24Let the past be bygones.
9. 0:25>> Fine with me.
10. 0:26>> Your brother Billy, whatever happened
11. 0:28there.
12. 0:28>> Whatever happened there?
13. 0:29>> God rest his soul, man.
14. 0:31>> This is one of the funniest scenes in
15. 0:32The Sopranos, probably one of the most
16. 0:34popular scenes in the whole show, and I
17. 0:36couldn't leave it out of the catalog.
18. 0:38Tony, Phil, and Little Carmine are
19. 0:39sitting down trying to calm things
20. 0:41between New York and Jersey, and somehow
21. 0:43Little Carmine manages to say the worst
22. 0:45possible thing at the worst possible
23. 0:47time. He looks at Phil dead serious and
24. 0:49says,
25. 0:50>> Your brother Billy, whatever happened
26. 0:51there.
27. 0:52>> And Phil repeats it back because his
28. 0:54brain is still trying to process the
29. 0:55level of stupidity that just entered the
30. 0:57room.
31. 0:58>> Happened there?
32. 0:59>> And then this stupid [ __ ] goes and says,
33. 1:01>> The shooting.
34. 1:01>> Like Phil was confused about which dead
35. 1:03brother they were discussing and needed
36. 1:05help remembering what part Carmine was
37. 1:06talking about. I have talked about how
38. 1:08stupid Jackie Jr. is, but I think we
39. 1:10have a new number one here. He phrases
40. 1:12Phil's brother getting murdered like it
41. 1:13was some vague unfortunate event nobody
42. 1:15wants to get specific about. He is
43. 1:17sitting in a room full of people trying
44. 1:18very carefully not to make things worse,
45. 1:20and he immediately makes things worse
46. 1:22with one sentence. And yes, the line is
47. 1:24already funny by itself, but it gets
48. 1:26even funnier when you know the context.
49. 1:28Because Tony and Phil did not arrive at
50. 1:30this table with some random tension.
51. 1:32They are sitting inside one very
52. 1:33specific problem. Tony B getting
53. 1:36involved in New York's war, Angelo
54. 1:37getting killed, Billy getting murdered,
55. 1:40Phil being denied the revenge he wanted,
56. 1:41and Tony Soprano trying to keep all of
57. 1:43it from turning into something bigger.
58. 1:45So, before we come back to this scene
59. 1:47and go through it line by line, I want
60. 1:49to quickly explain only this plot line,
61. 1:50just the chain of events that makes Phil
62. 1:52hear this guy and instantly lose his
63. 1:54mind. Once you understand what Phil is
64. 1:56carrying into that room and what Tony
65. 1:58went through, Little Carmine's line
66. 2:00stops being just a funny stupid quote
67. 2:02and becomes one of the most perfectly
68. 2:04stupid things anyone could have said.
69. 2:06The context starts with Tony B trying to
70. 2:08stay clean after prison, but every part
71. 2:10of his new life is humiliating him. When
72. 2:12New York starts falling apart after
73. 2:14Carmine Sr. dies, Tony B becomes useful
74. 2:16to the wrong people. Johnny Sack wants
75. 2:19the top seat. Little Carmine wants it,
76. 2:21too. And Little Carmine's side needs
77. 2:23somebody to hit one of Johnny's guys.
78. 2:25That is where Tony B comes in. He gets
79. 2:27offered money to kill Joey Peeps, and at
80. 2:29that point, the offer touches the exact
81. 2:31weak spot in him. He wants fast money.
82. 2:33He wants to feel dangerous again. He
83. 2:35wants to stop being the guy on the
84. 2:37outside watching everyone else live the
85. 2:38life he missed, so he takes the job.
86. 2:41Joey Peeps is sitting in the car,
87. 2:42relaxed, with no idea that Tony B's
88. 2:44failure at living normally is about to
89. 2:46land on him. Tony B walks up, kills
90. 2:48Joey, kills the girl with him, and limps
91. 2:50away after hurting his foot. That one
92. 2:53job puts him inside New York's war. And
93. 2:55once Tony B steps into that war, New
94. 2:57York enters back in a way that hits him
95. 2:58personally. Because Tony B killed
96. 3:01someone from Johnny Sack's side,
97. 3:02Johnny's people go after Angelo, and
98. 3:04that is where this stops being just a
99. 3:06paid job Tony B took for money. Angelo
100. 3:09isn't just some name in the New York war
101. 3:11to Tony B. He is one of the few people
102. 3:13from prison who still feels close to
103. 3:15him. One of the few men who understands
104. 3:17the years he lost without Tony B having
105. 3:19to explain them. He belongs to the part
106. 3:21of Tony B's life nobody else really
107. 3:22understands. Tony Soprano can feel
108. 3:25guilty for him. The guys can welcome him
109. 3:27back. His family can try to act normal
110. 3:29around him, but Angelo knows what those
111. 3:31years felt like because he was there,
112. 3:33too. So, when Phil and Billy kill
113. 3:35Angelo, Tony B doesn't just hear that
114. 3:37some old New York guy got taken out. He
115. 3:40hears that one of the only people
116. 3:41connected to his missing life has been
117. 3:43murdered because of a move he made. Now,
118. 3:45it has touched him. The first hit was
119. 3:47business. Joey Peeps was money, but
120. 3:50Angelo's death makes it personal, and
121. 3:52now Tony B is thinking like someone who
122. 3:54just got dragged back into the only
123. 3:55language this world really respects. And
124. 3:58the important detail for the whatever
125. 3:59happened there scene is that Billy is
126. 4:01there. Billy is part of Angelo's death.
127. 4:04So, when Tony B goes after Billy later,
128. 4:06it is Tony B answering the pain he
129. 4:08helped start. After Angelo is killed,
130. 4:11Tony does not see Tony B's revenge
131. 4:12directly. He dreams at first. In the
132. 4:15dream, Tony B walks up and shoots Phil
133. 4:17in the car, and the whole thing has that
134. 4:19strange dream feeling where everything
135. 4:20is obvious and wrong at the same time.
136. 4:23Tony is watching something his mind
137. 4:24already knows is coming. Angelo is dead,
138. 4:27Tony B is hurt, and a man like Tony B is
139. 4:30not going to sit quietly with that pain.
140. 4:32The dream gets the details wrong. Phil
141. 4:34is not the one who dies, but Tony's fear
142. 4:36is right because later Tony wakes up
143. 4:39into the real version of it. Tony B did
144. 4:41go after Phil. He did answer Angelo's
145. 4:43death. Only the bullet lands on Billy,
146. 4:45Phil's younger brother, while Phil
147. 4:46survives. Phil loses a brother and he
148. 4:48survives the attack that killed him. He
149. 4:50is left alive with the image of Billy on
150. 4:52the ground and with Tony B's name
151. 4:54attached to it. After Billy gets killed,
152. 4:56Tony B finally calls Tony. The call
153. 4:58already sounds like the end of the road.
154. 5:00Tony B is hiding. His voice is low, and
155. 5:02before anything else, he asks Tony to
156. 5:04look after the twins. He knows New York
157. 5:07is coming. Then he says the part Tony
158. 5:09already understands.
159. 5:10>> I'm leaving you with a real pile of [ __ ]
160. 5:11in your lap.
161. 5:12>> That line pulls the whole situation onto
162. 5:14Tony. Billy Leotardo is dead, Phil
163. 5:16survived, and the man who caused it is
164. 5:18Tony's cousin. Tony can hear the
165. 5:20disaster in front of him, and he can
166. 5:22also hear the old guilt underneath it.
167. 5:24So, the call turns into something older
168. 5:26than Billy. Tony finally tells Tony B
169. 5:28the truth about the night he went away.
170. 5:30>> The night you went away,
171. 5:31I told you that I got
172. 5:33jumped by a couple of shines.
173. 5:36That was all [ __ ] I got in a fight
174. 5:37with my mother and I passed out.
175. 5:39>> For years, Tony let the old story stand
176. 5:41that he missed the hijacking because he
177. 5:43got jumped. Now, with Tony B hiding in
178. 5:46New York waiting for blood, Tony admits
179. 5:48he had a fight with his mother, had a
180. 5:49panic attack, and passed out. All these
181. 5:52years, Tony B carried the prison
182. 5:54sentence. Tony carried the lie and
183. 5:56guilt. It sounds like he is trying to
184. 5:57give his cousin [clears throat] one
185. 5:58clean thing before everything closes in.
186. 6:00The problem is Phil has no room for any
187. 6:02of this. Phil doesn't care about panic
188. 6:04attacks, old guilt, prison stories, or
189. 6:06what Tony owes his cousin from when they
190. 6:08were young. Phil has Billy dead on the
191. 6:10ground, Tony B breathing somewhere, and
192. 6:12Tony Soprano still answering the phone
193. 6:14like the killer belongs to him. That is
194. 6:16the wound that keeps moving toward the
195. 6:18sit-down. Phil is already carrying the
196. 6:20whole call without ever hearing it. In
197. 6:22his mind, Tony is protecting family. He
198. 6:24is managing the story and keeping the
199. 6:26man who killed his brother just out of
200. 6:28reach. After that call, Tony goes to
201. 6:29Johnny Sack with a way to end it. He
202. 6:31knows where Tony B is, and he knows what
203. 6:33has to happen. The offer is simple, let
204. 6:35me handle my cousin, and we can keep
205. 6:37this from getting worse. Johnny doesn't
206. 6:38give him that.
207. 6:39>> I want your promise it'll be quick.
208. 6:41I'm not going to lie to you, Tony. I
209. 6:42don't have to.
210. 6:43>> Tony is trying to turn Tony B's death
211. 6:45into damage control. Johnny is telling
212. 6:47him there is no clean version left
213. 6:49because Phil doesn't want an ending. He
214. 6:51wants time with him. Meaning, he wants
215. 6:53to torture him. So, now Tony understands
216. 6:56what handing Tony B over really means.
217. 6:58It means letting Phil take Billy's death
218. 7:00out on his cousin slowly, personally,
219. 7:02and with New York's approval. And Tony
220. 7:04cannot do that. So, when this meeting
221. 7:06fails, the choice becomes smaller.
222. 7:09Tony can either give Tony B to Phil, or
223. 7:11he can get to him first. Tony brings the
224. 7:13guys together and tries to make the
225. 7:15problem sound like loyalty. He tells
226. 7:17them he is giving Tony B the same
227. 7:18protection he would give any of them.
228. 7:20>> I am offering him the same protection
229. 7:22that I would offer any of you.
230. 7:24>> And you can hear what he wants the room
231. 7:25to believe. If you are in trouble, I
232. 7:27would stand between you and New York,
233. 7:29too. Then he says,
234. 7:30>> But we are a family.
235. 7:31>> And that is the line he needs them to
236. 7:33buy. Because by now, the danger is no
237. 7:36longer sitting only with Phil. It is
238. 7:38sitting at this table, too. These guys
239. 7:40are eating, drinking, looking down at
240. 7:42their plates, and every one of them
241. 7:44understands that Tony's cousin has made
242. 7:46all of them a target. Tony says they'll
243. 7:48deal with it together, no matter how it
244. 7:50affects anybody. That sounds noble until
245. 7:52you look at the faces around him. Nobody
246. 7:54is inspired. They don't hear family.
247. 7:56They hear a boss asking them to absorb
248. 7:58the consequences of his cousin's
249. 7:59mistake. They hear New York outside the
250. 8:01door. They hear Phil looking for
251. 8:03somebody to hurt if he can't get Tony B.
252. 8:06Tony can still protect his cousin in
253. 8:07private, but now he has to perform that
254. 8:09protection in front of men who are
255. 8:11starting to wonder if his blood family
256. 8:12means more to him than the family
257. 8:14sitting at the table. The room claps,
258. 8:16but it feels thin. The speech ends, and
259. 8:18the problem is still sitting there with
260. 8:20them.
261. 8:21This next scene has one of my favorite
262. 8:23Tony moments in the whole show. Silvio
263. 8:26follows him after the meeting because he
264. 8:27knows this speech didn't fix what
265. 8:29everyone is thinking. Tony tried to make
266. 8:31it sound like family, like protection,
267. 8:34like the kind of loyalty that holds a
268. 8:35crew together. And Silvio lets him get
269. 8:37all the way through it before putting
270. 8:39the real word in front of him.
271. 8:41>> We all got flaws, even you. Seven deadly
272. 8:44sins, and yours is
273. 8:46pride.
274. 8:46>> And Tony takes it badly because it lands
275. 8:48close. Silvio is basically saying that
276. 8:51maybe part of him is holding this line
277. 8:53because he can't stand the idea of
278. 8:54Johnny Sack or Phil forcing his hand.
279. 8:57That is a dangerous thing to say to
280. 8:58Tony, especially coming from Sil. He is
281. 9:00the one person close enough to Tony to
282. 9:02say it low, careful, and still cut
283. 9:05straight through him. So, when Tony
284. 9:06turns on him, the line comes out like it
285. 9:08has been sitting in his chest for years.
286. 9:16>> All due respect,
287. 9:18you got no [ __ ] idea what it's like
288. 9:20to be number one.
289. 9:26>> [music]
290. 9:34[music]
291. 9:40[music]
292. 9:44>> And this is where the line gets bigger
293. 9:45than Tony B, because every face around
294. 9:48Tony has an opinion. Every guy has a
295. 9:50fear. Every problem gets carried to his
296. 9:52chair like he's supposed to hold it,
297. 9:53solve it, and still look untouched after
298. 9:55it's done. The crew wants safety. New
299. 9:58York wants blood. Phil wants time with
300. 10:00the body. Tony B wants mercy without
301. 10:02asking for it. And Tony is standing in
302. 10:04the middle of all of it, knowing the
303. 10:05answer is going to make him smaller to
304. 10:07somebody. Everyone else gets to judge
305. 10:09the move after it happens. Tony has to
306. 10:12make it. And once Silvio says pride out
307. 10:14loud, Tony understands the room has
308. 10:16already started turning on the version
309. 10:18of him that keeps protecting his cousin.
310. 10:20The only move left is the one nobody can
311. 10:22do for him.
312. 10:22>> Mhm, boy, are you fat.
313. 10:26That's good.
314. 10:30>> Okay, obviously that is not the reason
315. 10:32he kills him. Although with Tony, let's
316. 10:34be honest, joking about his weight
317. 10:35probably moved you up the list a little
318. 10:37bit. But the real reason is much
319. 10:39heavier. Tony gets to that farm before
320. 10:41Phil does. That is the whole point. Tony
321. 10:44B walks outside like there is still a
322. 10:46conversation waiting for him. Still some
323. 10:48final cousin moment, still some way this
324. 10:50can become another thing Tony talks his
325. 10:53way through. Tony doesn't give him that
326. 10:55space. The shot comes fast because Tony
327. 10:57already knows what New York would do if
328. 10:59they got there first. Phil didn't want
329. 11:01Tony B quietly dead. He wanted him
330. 11:03handed over. He wanted time with him. He
331. 11:05wanted Billy's death paid back slowly.
332. 11:07So Tony gives his cousin the last
333. 11:09protection he can still offer. A quick
334. 11:11death. It's a mercy and it's disgusting
335. 11:13at the same time because this is still
336. 11:15Tony B, the cousin from the old life,
337. 11:18the guy Tony carried guilt for, the guy
338. 11:20he just told, "Now we're even." And now
339. 11:22Tony is standing there with the shotgun
340. 11:24because every softer version of the
341. 11:26ending disappeared. For Tony, this
342. 11:28closes the crisis. For Phil, this steals
343. 11:30the revenge. And this next one is the
344. 11:32last piece of context before we go back
345. 11:34to the actual scene. Tony has killed
346. 11:36Tony B, and now he goes to Johnny Sack
347. 11:39to make the whole thing official. This
348. 11:41is the part where for a second, it
349. 11:42actually looks solved. Tony B is gone.
350. 11:45Phil never got him, which is already
351. 11:47going to hurt, but Johnny can still keep
352. 11:49the situation from turning into
353. 11:51something bigger. So, Tony comes to him
354. 11:53with a peace offering, a piece of the
355. 11:54casino, basically something to put on
356. 11:56the table so everyone can pretend the
357. 11:58blood has been paid for. And Johnny
358. 12:00takes it. Tony already did the ugly
359. 12:02part. He killed his own cousin, gave New
360. 12:04York the body, and came to Johnny with
361. 12:06money so the situation could finally
362. 12:07stop moving. For a moment, it works.
363. 12:10Tony and Johnny are standing there in
364. 12:12the snow talking like two bosses who
365. 12:14found the price of the damage. And then
366. 12:16the FBI comes. Johnny gets arrested
367. 12:18right in front of Tony, and the whole
368. 12:19structure changes. The one guy who could
369. 12:21keep Phil under control is suddenly in
370. 12:23cuffs walking into a completely
371. 12:24different problem, and Phil is now the
372. 12:26boss. Things are not looking good for
373. 12:28Tony. By the time we reach the sit-down,
374. 12:31Tony and Phil are carrying all of this
375. 12:32into the room. Billy is dead. Tony B is
376. 12:35dead. Johnny is out of the way, and this
377. 12:37is the reason I wanted all that context
378. 12:39first. Because when you first watch this
379. 12:41scene, it's already funny. Little
380. 12:43Carmine says something insanely stupid.
381. 12:46Phil reacts like Phil, Tony gets pissed,
382. 12:48and the clip becomes legendary. But
383. 12:50after you understand everything that had
384. 12:51to happen before this table, the scene
385. 12:53becomes even funnier because now you can
386. 12:55see how close they were to actually
387. 12:57fixing it. Tony killed his own cousin.
388. 13:00Johnny Sack accepted the settlement. The
389. 13:02whole situation has been dragged,
390. 13:03beaten, paid for, and almost pushed into
391. 13:06the ground. Now all little Carmine has
392. 13:08to do is sit there and avoid being a
393. 13:10[ __ ] idiot for 3 minutes. Impossible
394. 13:12task, apparently. He starts talking in
395. 13:14that calm voice, trying to sound like
396. 13:16the wise peacekeeper, and you can
397. 13:17already feel danger coming because every
398. 13:19time little Carmine tries to sound
399. 13:21smart, a sentence gets hurt. He looks at
400. 13:23Phil dead serious and says,
401. 13:25>> Your brother Billy, whatever happened
402. 13:26there.
403. 13:26>> That phrase alone is crazy. Phil's
404. 13:28brother got murdered. Phil survived the
405. 13:30attack. Tony took away the revenge he
406. 13:32wanted. Everybody in the room knows this
407. 13:35is the one thing you have to speak about
408. 13:36carefully. And little Carmine goes with
409. 13:39whatever happened there. Like Billy
410. 13:41slipped on a wet floor. Phil repeats it
411. 13:43back because even he needs a second.
412. 13:46>> Whatever happened there? Whatever
413. 13:47happened there?
414. 13:48>> That was the warning. That was the
415. 13:49universe giving little Carmine one
416. 13:51chance to close his mouth and let the
417. 13:53adults continue breathing. And this
418. 13:55stupid [ __ ] says
419. 13:56>> The shooting. Whatever God rest his
420. 13:57soul.
421. 13:58>> Like Phil needed help. Like Phil was
422. 14:00sitting there confused about which
423. 14:02murdered brother they were discussing.
424. 14:03At that point he should change his name
425. 14:05to little dumb [ __ ] because there is no
426. 14:07way a human being with working survival
427. 14:09instincts hears Phil repeat that line
428. 14:11and thinks the missing piece is
429. 14:13clarification.
430. 14:14Now Phil brings the whole thing back
431. 14:16into the room himself.
432. 14:17>> I'll tell you what [ __ ] happened.
433. 14:19This piece of shit's cousin put six
434. 14:21bullets in the kid.
435. 14:22>> And just like that, all the polite
436. 14:24language dies. Phil says Tony's cousin
437. 14:26killed his brother. He says it in front
438. 14:28of Tony, in front of Carmine, in front
439. 14:30of the whole failed little peace
440. 14:31meeting. The thing they were trying to
441. 14:33step around is back on the table with
442. 14:35blood on it. Tony tries to hold the deal
443. 14:37in place.
444. 14:37>> My cousin's dead.
445. 14:39>> That's Tony saying the price was paid.
446. 14:41He killed Tony B himself. He did the
447. 14:43ugly thing already. From Tony's side,
448. 14:45this meeting is supposed to be the part
449. 14:47where everyone accepts the damage and
450. 14:49moves on. Phil looks at him and says
451. 14:51>> [ __ ] you.
452. 14:52>> And that is the meeting gone. Because
453. 14:54Tony and Phil walked in with the wound
454. 14:55already there. Carmine's job was to help
455. 14:58keep it closed for one conversation. And
456. 15:00somehow he found the exact sentence that
457. 15:01made Phil feel like everyone was trying
458. 15:03to shrink his brother's murder into
459. 15:04vague meeting language. Tony's reaction
460. 15:06says everything.
461. 15:07>> Jesus Christ, Carmine. What the [ __ ]
462. 15:09>> That line is Tony realizing this idiot
463. 15:11just undid the whole thing in real time.
464. 15:14All the killing, all the talking, all
465. 15:15the compromises, all the attempts to
466. 15:17keep this from becoming something
467. 15:18bigger. Little dumb [ __ ] came to the
468. 15:20table as the peacemaker and somehow left
469. 15:23as the reason Phil remembered he still
470. 15:24wanted blood.