Is this a writing gaff?

1
I've watched "Two Tonys" at least 6 times already, but I've only watched the Chris/Paulie stuff twice (I watch them only to follow their impact on Tony and the overall story). This just hit me on second viewing.

When they are arguing in the parking lot, the waiter approaches holding a small restaurant portfolio with apparently the dinner check and the money Chris left for it. Chris says something like, "there's $1200 in there [the portfolio]." When the waiter falls after being hit, you see this portfolio on the ground ever so briefly with what looks like money and/or paper sticking out the edge. After the shooting, Paulie grabs the portfolio and Chris, running to his truck, shouts, "that's my money Paulie!"

Now two things flow from this:

(1) this would provide the police with a major lead on who commited the murder because that dinner check will be the only one missing for the night, and receipts are going to come up $1184 short. Other restaurant personnel would be bound to be able to give descriptions of some of the crew there (e.g. host/hostess, other waiters who invariably pour water or otherwise help with large parties).

(2) there would be no "tab" from that evening since they took back the cash Chris left, yet when Paulie calls to patch things up with Chris, he ends with "we'll split the tab", as if they're out of money. They weren't. Nobody ended up paying anything that night.

Thoughts?

</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandf ... fisWall</A> at: 3/9/04 11:35 pm

Atalantic City

2
It is posible that someone could give there description but unlikely as Paulie said he is not worried about the cops they don't know them in that area. Also wha he means by splitting the tab is he will give Chris back half the money. Even though they actually didn't have to pay because they killed the waiter Paulie will still end up with some money it is a pyramid type thing, he will take all he can from Chris because even though Chris is Tony's nephew Paulie still demands respect because of senority.

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Tab

3
I am pretty sure when he says we'll split the tab, I think they mean tabs to come, not the one from the night before because Chris already said its his money. Oh yeah, and even if the cops came around asking the crew about the waiter, and even if they talked to chris and paulie, all they had to say was he came out and gave them shit about the lousy tip (or lie and say the waiter came out and thanked them for a very gracious $300 tip) OR say they have no idea, and thats the last they saw of him. The cops would have to assume that it was a robbery/cold case.

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re

5
NO WITNESSES, end of story. We're talking about an organized crime family here. As far as the splitting the tab goes, what about the tab that Chris had 2 days to pay "before he starts payin' points"? I haven't thoroughly watched the episode, so i don't remember.

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Re: Tab

6
Matzner, I just didn't hear the tab remark the way you did.

Tony had just told Chris he would keep paying until Tony told him not to pay anymore, that this was a long tradition in the mafia (lowest ranking guy paying for dinner) that even went back into ancient history and pages. Chris is the fair-haired boy, but he's not a captain and is WAY junior to Paulie. Thus it's a settled issue that in that particular group of people, he'll be paying from now on.

After their fight resulted in a needless whacking, Paulie suddenly became sensitive to the fact that it might just as well have been him or Chris dead from the explosion of temper and was feeling a little guilty that he ran up such a humongous tab on purpose, knowing that Tony had ruled in his favor and that Chris would have to pay. So the "we'll split the tab" remark, besides the fact that its phraseology made it literally apply to a single tab that had already been paid, seemed contextually to apply to the tab in this case in every way except for the fact that the tab was never really paid, thus no one was out of any money.

If it is a gaff, it's really not that important, but it just surprised me.

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Re: Tab

7
"After their fight resulted in a needless whacking, Paulie suddenly became sensitive to the fact that it might just as well have been him or Chris dead from the explosion of temper and was feeling a little guilty that he ran up such a humongous tab on purpose,

**knowing that Tony had ruled in his favor**

and that Chris would have to pay."


Maybe I need to watch Two Tonys for a 5th time, but I don't recall Paulie being in the room with Chris and Tony when Tony was spelling out the 'custom' of these 'socials' to Chris.



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Re: Tab

8
You're correct that Paulie wasn't in the room, JZ.

But when Chris reports to Tony, it's after Paulie has already gone to Tony (off camera) to complain that Chris didn't pay the check like he should have at the first dinner. Tony's "ruling" was undoubtedly communicated one way or another to Paulie (also off camera) because he ran up a huge tab in the second dinner and gloated as he looked at the check, knowing Chris had to pay.

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Re: Is this a writing gaff?

9
After watching the first time, and chatting with you guys, I pondered how easy it would be to track down the murderers.
They were in a casino with cameras EVERYWHERE. The Soprono and New York guys are wining dining and gambling all night and their waiter ends up dead.
Yes, it is very obvious to any investigator that a member of one of these families killed him, but I found a way to look at it that makes my brain stop hurting.
The Soprano crew must have allot of interest in the casino, so the casino bosses who are probably in close with the crew got rid of tapes and maybe clearing the bill from the computer, all evidence that they were there,(working fast, so Paulie would have had to talk to one of the bosses of the casino not long after the death) before any investigator set eye's on the body.
WHEW, it is quiet a mess if you think about it too much, and who know's, maybe there will be more to this incident in the upcoming episodes.


</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub132.ezboard.com/bsopranolandf ... RJUNIOR</A>
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at: 3/13/04 2:19 am

Re: Is this a writing gaff?

10
Also, Ray Curto was there. If he is still ratting to the feds (and im sure he is) its very likely that the feds already knew that they were their. But at the same time there were no witnesses (that we know of). So it could at least be enough for an investigation, and im sure they would try. The feds love murder. In the words of Tony "...its what the feds want for Christmas."

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