Those were Hugh's words to Carmela way back in the first episode of the first part of this season. One of those little aphorisms that rings in the brain for a while.
Somehow I get the distinct feeling that it will prove prophetic regarding Tony's own downfall. As Chris said last year, "Tony takes this terrorism shit very seriously". We now know how seriously.
Tony with his bleak world view and "who gives a shit attitude" about the rest of humanity; Tony the stone gangster who has nightmares about flipping and suffers tachycardia when the subject turns to rats; Tony who in season one was willing to risk death rather than swing a deal for witness protection. Like another Jersey native, though, he is still "born in the USA." He is still "Made in America", as the promotional poster for this season reads, and there's still something in his makeup that separates him from people like the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center.
And so he is the same Tony who tonight willingly gave information about two suspicious Arabs to the FBI in exchange really for nothing particularly valuable or certain for himself. He did it because something in his conscience told him to do it. He even called up the guy in his crew that was dealing with these Arabs to ascertain their exact names and a cellphone number.
In doing so, and especially after seeing what transpired with Chris and how willing, even eager, he seems now to flip just to spite Tony and that whole crew, I get the feeling Tony has planted the seeds for his own demise. He has unintentionally put the FBI onto an investigation that could yield serious charges against Chris (trafficking in illegal weapons, credit card fraud, forming the basis for a RICO case). With legal and personal circumstances now ripe for Christopher to flip once and for all, he will do it and will give the FBI the smoking gun against Tony in the form of Ralph Cifarretto's head and hands.
Chris was supposed to burn Tony's clothes that night, but he was not shown doing so, and he'd already left the Bing when Tony called his name that morning. I have a feeling he kept those clothes, complete with ample amounts of Ralph's blood, so he would have his ace in the hole if he ever needed it.
The irony is almost too perfect: Tony's most justified homicide, in my mind, will be the one that puts him away. And his most noble impulse of citizenship will start the ball rolling.
"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" . . .
1Tony, his spirits crushed after b-lining to the fridge first thing in the morning: "Who ate the last piece of cake?"