Wiseguy (1987–2009): Season 1, Episode 13 - Smokey Mountain Requiem - full transcript
Vinnie tells Mel Profitt he is leaving to go home to New Jersey, but Mel offers him the biggest cocaine distribution network in the country -- a plum that Vinnie feels is too juicy for any undercover cop to turn down.
- [Announcer]
Tonight on Wiseguy.
- It's the biggest coke
operation in the United States.
And if you save it, you will
be a double-digit millionaire.
- I know Mel set up my boy.
I know he did.
- Am I askin' too much to
have my family left alone?
- Kill them.
Scorched earth.
(screaming)
- [Earnest] Burn in hell!
- You hired me.
You can handle my resignation.
- Then he'll tell me to
kill you, which I will do.
(upbeat heroic music)
(soft instrumental music)
- [Russell] Dear Ma and Daddy,
I've only been in
prison two weeks
but it already seems
like two years in hell.
I'd never let Mel Profitt
talk me into runnin' shine
if it wasn't for that
loan being called in
and you bein' afraid
of losin' the farm.
I knew I shoulda
trusted in the Lord
to see us through.
Believe me when I say I
was only tryin' to help.
I thought I knew all the
back roads to Gatlin,
but it didn't matter.
The police knew I'd
be comin' through,
thanks to Mel.
(banging)
(shrieking)
(ominous music)
Right off, I realized I
had to build myself up.
In prison, only
the strong survive.
I got six years to go.
If we trust in the Lord,
maybe they'll pass quick
and I'll be comin' home.
Home's all I think about.
Your son, Russell.
- This is as close as it
gets to home for me, Vince.
We'll be here a while.
Get yourself a hotel room.
- George Sank is expecting you.
We have a house to count there.
(suspenseful music)
(speaking in foreign language)
(speaks in foreign language)
- Sure hope you speak English.
(speaking in foreign language)
- My apologies, monsieur.
Your name?
- I'm Vinnie Terranova.
I'm with Mel Profitt.
- Ahh, oui oui.
Mademoiselle! (speaks
in foreign language)
- 'Scuse me, pardon me, please.
(laughing)
(soft instrumental music)
I'm gonna love sleepin' here.
(muffled singing in
foreign language)
(phone ringing)
- Yeah, Mike Terranova.
- Agent 4587.
Day code, the
Journall, world column.
Woesome, Zimbabwe, endemic.
- Vinnie, it's two
o'clock in the morning.
- Not where I am.
Tell McPike I wanna meet.
- Okay, the meet will
be on the 13th floor
Hotel Vancouver
in the file room.
- Okay, great.
I'll talk to you later.
Hey, Uncle Mike?
- Yeah, Vinnie.
- How you doin'?
- I'm doin' all right,
thanks for asking.
How'd my favorite nephew?
- Ah, I been on the road so long
I forget what you look like.
- (laughs) Well,
that's a blessing.
Hey listen, tell McPike
it's time we broke bread.
- Yeah, I'd like that.
- Me too.
You take care, Vinnie.
- You too, Uncle Mike.
- Vinnie!
- Are you sure he's stable?
- Yeah, I'm sure.
- Hey.
What's he doin' here?
- It's my jurisdiction.
- He doesn't have
anything to do with you.
- Well, it doesn't matter.
I'm off the case.
- Agent Terranova,
operationally you are the case.
You can't just walk.
- [Vinnie] I have
no authority here.
- [Charlie] Your authority
here is through me.
- You have no authority here,
and I answer to the bureau.
- Semantics.
Same government, same
branch, same objective.
- I don't think so.
- Our objective is protecting
the same sovereign nation.
- Don't you wave
the flag in my face.
We don't share objectives.
- We're sworn to the
same Constitution.
- I'm not debating
democracy here.
My bein' here stinks.
I'm an OCB operative,
not a CIA mole.
- It's an awkward
situation, Vince.
It's on an ad hoc basis, which
does not make it an order.
It's strictly voluntary.
- I have no vested
authority here, correct?
- That's correct.
All right, you got it,
he's outta here, Charlie.
- Now wait a minute!
- It is a done deal.
No discussion necessary.
- Look, don't feed
Profitt's paranoia
by evaporating without a
reasonable explanation.
It's just gonna make
it that much tougher
for the next guy to get in.
- I'll tell Roger I'm homesick.
(elevator humming)
(sparks crackling)
Hey Roger.
- Give me a minute, huh?
A man can kill with anything.
You missed Vietnam
by what, five years?
- Didn't miss a thing.
- So, what brings you
in out of the cold?
- Goin' back to Brooklyn.
- Oh, you are, huh, Buckwheat?
- That's right, Spanky.
- Oh, what is this,
a bitter exit?
- I'm on the moon here.
- Ah.
- I got opportunity back East,
family, I know the territory.
- Goin' to be a monkey,
better know the jungle, huh?
What is it, the money?
- It's not just the money.
- Well, what is it?
You don't live close
enough to a pizza parlor?
- Yeah, well, I'd
love to stand around
and chat with you, Spanky,
but I'm allergic to glib.
- Vinnie, wait.
- What?
- You ever spend any
time in Central America?
- No.
- Anywhere around
the Caribbean Basin?
You ever hear of Eric
Gairy's goon squads,
Papa Doc's Tonton Macoute?
There's a hole in the
ozone over Antarctica
the size of Arkansas.
It was put there by
petrol chemical companies
and housewives, or space aliens,
depends on who you talk to.
Either way, same result.
Dust bowls in Oklahoma,
bumper crops on Ottawa,
hemispheric schizophrenia.
- What's your point?
- My point is your point.
It's not just money.
There is a lot more going on.
- What?
What's going on?
- Ask Profitt, and you
tell him you're leaving.
- You hired me, you can
handle my resignation.
- Mel Profitt is insane.
If I tell him you vamoosed
'cause you missed your mama,
he'll extrapolate
until he's convinced
you're with the FBI.
And then he'll tell
me to kill you,
which I will do.
(suspenseful music)
So if you wanna leave
here worry-free,
I suggest you look into his
crazy face and tell him adios.
- Leaving?
And you're a smart man.
Well, maybe I should
leave too, huh?
What do you think?
- Where would you go?
- Where would you go?
And why would you want to?
I need answers before you leave.
- Some people like hotels.
I like goin' home at night.
- Well home is a joke.
It makes you weak and poor.
It's an addiction.
- Vinnie, could you
open this please?
- Sure.
(cork popping)
- Elvis is leaving us.
- Why?
- He wanna go home to Guido.
- Who's Guido?
- It's the mob, the outfit.
(speaks in foreign language)
Kiss my ring.
- Hey Mel.
Why don't you stick
to snide remarks
about my heritage?
All I am to you is a trigger.
In Jersey, I can
work on operation.
I can run it.
- Can you, pal?
- That's right.
You know, this may come
as a surprise to you
but I see myself as a
businessman, not muscle.
- Yes, yes, ambition.
Do you know what I do, Vince?
Do you understand what
it is Susie and I do?
- Yeah, I understand
what you do.
You're drug dealers.
- That much of my business.
I'm a malthusian!
You tell him, Sis,
let's tell him.
- We were seeded
by the coca leaf,
but it's not where our
power comes from now.
Singer's name is on
the sewing machine
but it's PNLs and
aerospace technologies.
Modern Western economy was based
on the theories
of Thomas Malthus.
He was an 18th century wizard.
- Malthus figured it out.
Theory as truth,
pure and simple.
Population increases
geometrically.
Economy grows arithmetically.
We pop out new babies
100 times faster
than we grow food
enough to feed them.
Bottom line, there
is never enough food
to sustain the
existent population.
Three things keep the balance:
famine, disease, and war.
Eureka, pal.
There is one
exception to the rule,
one area of the economy that
does grow geometrically.
- Munitions.
- Yes!
It's the ultimate deal.
Take a look at this map.
Bullets from Ohio to
Pakistan for Afghani rebels
to shoot Soviet soldiers,
or for Pakistani soldiers
to shoot Afghan refugees.
Israeli Uzis to Thailand.
Laotians and Cambodians, they
lurk at their border like,
like the plague!
I love this!
Bigger countries, bigger deals.
Surface to air
missiles, stingers,
exocets, howitzers, mirages,
fully-equipped,
laser-guided paveways,
side winders, penguin
anti-ship missiles,
$80 million dollars a pop!
And I sit on the Jutai
and I do business
by the telephone.
- So what do you
sell to Tennessee?
- Drugs.
- You think you're
a businessman?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Here's the chance
to run the business
on which I built this empire.
- Save, is a better
way of putting it.
- Right.
And if you save it, you will
be a double-digit millionaire.
- But if I don't, I'm to give
it a proper burial, right?
- That's the deal.
- I don't think so.
Listen, you ever need
anything in New York,
I'll be there for you.
Thanks for the champagne, eh.
- It's the biggest coke
operation in the United States!
Take Roger.
He can be your man on this one.
What do you say?
(plane engine humming)
- Thanks a lot, Buckwheat.
In the future, please
don't volunteer me
for anymore assignments,
especially when they include
field trips to dimwit
South Carolina.
You lookin' for something?
- Yeah, holes in the ozone.
- (laughing) You gotta
go a lot further south.
- Hey Roger, do me
a favor, will ya?
- Hm?
- Quit callin' me Buckwheat.
(laughs)
- Mr. Terranova.
- Yeah.
- Mr. Profitt said
you should get this
on our approach.
We're 10 minutes
outside of Johnson City.
- All right, thanks.
- what do you got?
- It says here,
dear businessman,
welcome to Valdosta
Ridge, Tennessee.
Rest, see Jesus, try
Lottie's banana pudding.
Save the biz, smart ass.
Be in touch, Mel.
- Mr. Terranova?
- Yeah, you Jesus?
- Nah, I'm just
here to pick you up.
Get in the car.
- Is there a problem, mister?
- By my deeds I
invited God's wrath.
I accept that.
I swear to the Almighty
I'll blaze in damnation
before another member
of my family's harmed.
- Ho!
I like you, you're crazy.
Explain this.
Hey!
- Roger.
I'm Vinnie Terranova and
this is Roger LoCocco.
Who are you?
- Earnest Haynes.
- All right, Earnest, look,
Roger and I think we're here
to meet somebody named Jesus
and to examine a business
for the guy who owns it.
- Don't forget Lottie's
banana pudding.
- Why do you think we're here?
- You're here by
way of Mel Profitt
to see Willie Jesus?
- Yes.
- You're here for a lot more
than my wife's banana pudding.
(suspenseful music)
Jesus will see you
boys in the morning.
You look like you
was once good boys.
Am I askin' too much to
have my family left alone?
(fire crackling)
- Well.
- No, no, don't get
up, don't get up.
- Lottie, this is Mr.
Terranova, Mr. LoCocco.
This is Mrs. Haynes.
- So pleased to meet you.
Can I get you anything?
- No, no, no thank you.
- Nice to meet you, ma'am.
- It's late.
Your room's right at the top
of the stairs on the left.
- Okay.
- Where's my room?
- Same room.
- (laughs) No,
no, you gotta have
a hotel around here somewhere.
- 40 miles away.
Everything's closed
for the season.
- Well, we can
work somethin' out.
- It's fine for now, thank you.
Goodnight.
- I love the way
you quit this gig.
Goodnight.
(suspenseful music)
- Yeah, I had you
pegged for a homophobe
the minute I met you.
- Oh, you did, huh?
- Oh, yeah, sure, with
that macho black wardrobe
and I-am-a-coiled-snake look.
- Just the fact
that you remember
what I was wearing is
reason enough for me
not to want to bunk
with you, sweetheart.
- Looks like their
son was some kind
of a high school
hero or something.
Something's wrong here.
Look at you.
I think some of Mel's paranoia
has rubbed off on you.
Got no idea what this
is about, do you?
- Look, I been with Mel a year.
This is my first encounter
with American gothic.
- Now this stinks.
I live by some rules, Roger.
- You're not gonna start
speakin' Italian to me, are you?
- Look, if you're not a
player, you're not a target.
No exceptions.
- Cut the light, will you?
- All right.
Any time you wanna talk.
- Yeah.
(birds chirping)
(upbeat merengue music)
What the hell is that?
- Merengue.
Am I on drugs or what?
Ah!
- Welcome to Dixie.
I'm Willie Jesus.
Now that you've seen me,
if you're not outta here
by five o'clock, you're dead.
- What's goin' on here?
- I ask myself every day,
how can I serve
hell to save my son?
How'd I let this happen?
But I know, I know the answer.
I've looked into
the eyes of scratch.
I let him take my son.
(gasps)
(wheezing)
- Roger, give me a hand here.
- [Roger] Looks like
he's hyperventilating.
- This happens all the time.
Only cure is our son's freedom
or those bastards in our
backyard dropping dead.
- Tempting, isn't it?
- Yeah, but how'd
they get there?
Things just don't show up
where they're not wanted.
- Mel and Susan show up
wherever they damn well please.
They got poor Earnest thinkin'
Mel's the devil himself.
- What do you think?
- Mel's a bump on his rump,
but Susan, she's death for
any man short on fortitude.
- You got yourself some
real ugly neighbors.
- Mel and Susan.
Four years ago, Mel
flashed $10,000 dollars
at my son, Russell.
- The track star?
- Yes, sir.
All he had to do
was take some shine
across to Gatlin.
- That's in another state.
- Russell was 19.
Like most boys at 19,
he knew he'd never die.
Well, they caught
him with the shine,
with the money, and,
in and out of court so fast
it'd make your head swim.
30 years.
10 'fore they'd
think about parole.
Only thing quicker
than the trial
was Susie flying in
here with a scheme
to get Russell out early.
They had bribed somebody
so Rusty'd get out
in six, guaranteed.
All we had to do was
let 'em use the still
as a front for their business.
It's been horror since then.
I know Mel set up my boy.
I know he did.
I called him on it.
You know what he did?
He smiled and said,
"Only the toes knows."
You know he's crazy.
- Maybe we should talk to Jesus.
Hm?
(upbeat merengue music)
- Babe, I got 200 acres for you.
(banging)
- Yo!
Oooh.
- Hey, I'm conducting
business here.
- What are you
sellin', nightmares?
- 400 acres by Friday.
Ciao.
Tell Mel expenses grow
faster than income.
- Maybe you're
just a bad manager.
- Maybe you smell like Panama
City because you're dead.
- I tell you what, why don't we
crack open the books and
see what we got, all right?
- Two years ago,
Mel brings me here,
promises me a fortune.
"Just keep things running,
Jesus," he tells me.
I have not seen my fortune
or Mel Profitt since,
so I take what was promised
and to hell with Mel Profitt.
- Let me tell you something,
there are no free fajitas
on Mel Profitt's bus.
Now you either pony up his
share of his enterprise
or you're gonna die,
comprende, fat man?
- Brian!
Throw them out.
- Gonna call Mel.
- Give him my love.
(phone dinging)
- Sailor Hardware,
Mike Terranova.
- Can't ID, no papers available.
- Noted.
- All right, listen.
I want you to trace this call.
You wouldn't believe
what I stumbled on to.
Now first, there's a kid
named Russell Haynes.
Now Mel Profitt set him
up and stiffed him good.
He's doin' time now and
I want him cut loose.
- Hey, wait a minute,
I need some specifics.
- Uncle Mike, I've been there
and it ruined part of my life
and I had the full protection
of the federal government.
Now, if this kid's
story checks out,
I want him released.
(phone bangs)
- What'd Mel say?
- Um, havin' trouble
gettin' through.
- Try the 800-number.
(ringing)
- [Operator] S and M
Profitt Enterprises.
- Yeah, Mr. Profitt please.
- [Operator] Mr.
Profitt is in transit.
Would you like to
leave a message?
- This is Vinnie Terranova.
- [Operator] Mr. Terranova,
he asks that you stay
in Valdosta Ridge and
call him tomorrow.
- All right, thanks.
He wants us to stay put.
- Look, I don't want
your projections--
- What?
I don't know what he's
doin' in Tennessee.
He was supposed to leave
this operation 24 hours ago.
As far as we can tell,
he's in Valdosta Ridge.
Let me tell you something,
this kid got scammed.
You look at this file, first
offense, running moonshine.
He gets 30 years.
I mean, why in the hell
didn't they just hang him?
Everybody involved in
this case is crooked,
the arresting officer,
prosecuting attorney,
and the public defender.
Russell Haynes should
be released immediately.
- I'm a distiller.
- As in moonshine?
- Yah.
Even sold to the sheriff.
Aha, got one.
20 years old.
Show me a shiner willin'
to wait two decades
to sell his product.
Shine money is a little like
the cheese this rat was after.
Big and inviting, but you
never live to enjoy it.
Lead us not into temptation.
If that rat was a Christian,
he'd be alive today.
- You makin' tequila
these days, Earnest?
- (throat clears) Our Father,
we thank you for the food
we're about to receive
in Christ's name, amen.
- Amen.
- [Lottie] Banana pudding.
- Thank you.
(cow mooing)
(banging)
- Well, while you
boys stand around here
waitin' for orders from Mel,
might pitch in and
do something honest.
Why don't you
brush old Joe down.
Here you go.
- (laughing) Are
you kiddin' me, man?
- Here Vinnie, jump right up.
I got a job for you.
Just jump right up here.
- What?
- Atta boy, here you go.
Come right around here.
Now Vinnie, this is Bossy.
- What is this, Green
Acres over here?
- No, no, no.
Bossy, now this is Vinnie.
He's a good boy, he
won't hurt you at all.
- Yeah, I won't hurt it
'cause I'm not gonna touch it.
- Oh, come on, Vinnie.
Right down--
- I don't wanna do it.
What do I know about--
- Here, here.
Put your behind right here.
- Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go.
- Put it right here.
Take hold right there,
take hold right here.
- What, this thing there?
- Yep, that's right.
Just right there,
now squeeze, squeeze.
Gentle.
(cow mooing)
- When you leaving?
- You know, it's gonna
be a major disappointment
in my life if I don't get
a chance to kill that guy.
(cow moos)
- I was just callin' you.
- It's too late, isn't it?
- [Vinnie] What, you
mean the business?
- Yeah, I mean the
business, what do you think?
I'm bearing witness
to the second coming
here in the convenience dump
of Valdosta Ridge, Tennessee?
- Yeah, it's too late.
There was nothin' to save.
Jesus took this business
over before I got here.
- We were spit out
here by the state.
Because I could read,
they got me a job
as a janitor in
the grammar school
so I could use the library.
If I'd been flatulent,
they would've
found me a job as a disc jockey.
Business had to decentralize.
Too many revenuers in Miami,
circling their AWACS like hawks.
Florida was one
big DEA convention.
One full DC-3 from
Belize to Valdosta Ridge,
non-stop once a
week for four years.
Geometric expansion, Vinnie.
Boh.
It's not your fault.
Jesus and his men, Earnest
and Lottie, kill them.
Scorched earth.
No chain of evidence.
- Susan with you?
- Susan's at a blood doping.
You take care of
business, Vince.
The jet'll be back
in three days.
Defoliate and come home.
Big reward waitin'.
Flesh and blood.
All your dreams fulfilled.
(crickets chirping)
- Somethin' troubling you boys?
- No, ma'am, just a
hard day on the farm.
- You and Roger,
you're not at all
like what we'd expect from
the likes of Mel Profitt.
- They're all right.
You should see these two
pullin' Bossy's teets.
She won't be givin'
milk for a month.
(laughing)
- Oh, I believe you
two are blushin'!
(chair scrapes and bangs)
(Roger breathing heavily)
- I'm sorry.
I'll see what's the
matter with him.
'Scuse me.
- I am afflicted.
(heavy breathing)
- Hey, Roger.
- Those people might as
well be my grandparents.
- You talked to Mel, didn't you?
- Yeah, how do you know?
- I saw him at
the General Store.
He was in the back,
standing in garbage.
Roger, I am not
killing these people
for that lunatic.
Money isn't reason enough.
- Money is the worst reason.
- Then why are you here?
- Too much changes
if I leave now!
- Too much changes every day
whether you leave or not.
Come on, Mel's half way to Rangu
and he doesn't even know it.
- Stay.
- Why?
- Just stay, please.
- All right.
- The third world is a
desperate place, Vinnie.
- Never been there.
- You don't have to go.
It'll come to you.
- Guess you been all
over the place, huh?
- Yeah.
Far East.
Louse, Cambodia.
Less time in South
America, the Caribbean.
That'll change, new business.
- What new business?
- Spent so much time there,
I used to dream in Vietnamese.
(soft instrumental music)
(salacious music)
(heart beating)
(breathing heavily)
(upbeat merengue music)
- Why do they wait?
I told them to
leave or they die.
See if the two white men
are available to talk.
Take a gun.
Mr. LoCocco has a
dangerous reputation.
(ominous music)
(heart beating)
(banging)
- Ma?
Daddy?
- Russell?
- Shut up!
- Russell!
(laughing)
- [Earnest] Son!
- Who are these people?
- [Earnest] Mel Profitt's boys.
(gun clicks)
(suspenseful music)
- Yeah, this is the phone.
- Well, he hasn't checked
in in nearly 20 hours.
So we wait.
- I think we oughta be
getting directly to the farm.
- You may be right, but I
gotta give him his four hours.
- Hey, what if he forgot?
- He's a trained agent.
- With a history of alcohol
and mental disorders.
- First of all,
that's classified.
- Hey, I've got
clearance, Frank.
- Second of all, he has a
major distortion of reality.
- Well, all I know is what
I read in the COMSTAT Bank.
- Oh Chuck, you make me
wonder why I do this.
- I've got clearance.
You think people put
things in data banks
simply because they got
nothin' better to do?
- Yep.
- What is this?
- You gotta leave, Willie.
- Russell, you are Russell.
Look at you.
Prison was good for you.
Look how healthy you are.
- Thank you.
Now, you gotta leave.
My family can't deal with this.
- I can't go.
We got a deal with your daddy.
- Deal was till I got out.
Here I am.
- No.
Our deal with your father
was you be out in six years.
You got two years left.
- You boys made a
ton of money here.
Now time's come to move on.
- I've known men like you
who run things in prison.
Inside, they respect muscle.
Outside, brains are
where the power is.
Think, Russell.
That gun buys you nothing.
They will kill you before
you empty the second barrel.
They don't care
if I die. (laughs)
You and Mel's flunkies,
get out.
(thudding)
(grunting)
(shrieking)
(guns firing)
(gun firing)
- Run, boys!
- Get in the house, Ma!
- [Vinnie] Keep your head down.
- I'm gonna stop this.
- Oh, Earnest!
(suspenseful music)
- Burn in hell!
- Noo!
(guns firing)
(booming)
(guns firing)
(booming)
(dramatic music)
(crashing)
(thudding)
(grunting)
Stay calm, Mama.
- [Vinnie] Don't do it,
Roger, don't kill 'em.
- [Russell] Stay calm, Daddy.
I'll get ya a doctor.
It's okay.
Just hold on.
(suspenseful music)
(police radio
chattering indistinctly)
- Hey, there was a guy in here
with his head on backwards.
- Well, it's confirmed.
Vince is back in Vancouver.
I'm lookin' at
permanent jet lag here.
- I guess congratulations
are in order.
- How's that?
Well, well.
You know, once in a while,
just once in a while
we get a little satisfaction.
(laughs)
Who put a feather in your pants?
- Nah, no.
10 years ago I was
station chief in Uruguay.
I got so strung out on that
junk, I went into a coma.
(inhales deeply)
Feels good just to be
alive and breathing
through a regular nose.
Well, almost a regular nose.
Baby collapsed on me
'cause of that crap.
- There's no explanation
necessary, Chuck.
- Amen, brother.
(soft instrumental music)
- We took care of
shutting down a business
that was producing liabilities.
Now that's how define the job.
- Didn't Mel give you a
specific set of orders?
- He wasn't on site.
- Okay, what was it on
site that caused you
to alter orders?
- Malthus.
Poverty's inescapable, and
it's not in my position
to alter it except for myself.
I left them in poverty,
and that was enough.
- You have completely
misinterpreted
the foundation of
modern Western economy.
- No, I haven't.
You know, you people think
that just 'cause I
was raised in Brooklyn
that I got my education
in the pool hall.
I haven't
misinterpreted Malthus.
I haven't
misinterpreted anything.
You have.
The only reason you wanted
those people whacked
was for your own
ego satisfaction.
Now that's bad business
no matter who's theory
you subscribe to.
- What do you have
to say for yourself?
- (throat clears)
Vertical integration.
- What?
- Own everything from
the seed to the street,
that way you don't have
problems with subcontractors.
- I'm surrounded by genius.
- Well, well, look at this.
If it ain't mutt and mutt.
- Well, aren't we jolly.
And let me compliment
you on the way
you gracefully bowed
out of this assignment.
- Frank, something
incredible came up.
- Yeah, I've seen his sister.
- No.
The only place Mel Profitt
doesn't do any business
is at the polar ice cap.
This guy is huge.
He's into arms, drugs,
political power.
There is nothing that
he doesn't trade in.
- You'll be staying on, then?
- Yeah.
I'm gonna bring
him to his knees.
- What else?
- I want you to dig
deeper on Roger LoCocco.
This guy's got convictions
that just don't go
with a contract killer.
- Vinnie, Vince, don't do this.
Don't pick up strays.
- Frank, trust me.
- Trust me?
That's it?
- No.
I wanna meet the Lifeguard.
- I'll see what I can do.
- Thanks.
(soft instrumental music)
(upbeat heroic music)
Tonight on Wiseguy.
- It's the biggest coke
operation in the United States.
And if you save it, you will
be a double-digit millionaire.
- I know Mel set up my boy.
I know he did.
- Am I askin' too much to
have my family left alone?
- Kill them.
Scorched earth.
(screaming)
- [Earnest] Burn in hell!
- You hired me.
You can handle my resignation.
- Then he'll tell me to
kill you, which I will do.
(upbeat heroic music)
(soft instrumental music)
- [Russell] Dear Ma and Daddy,
I've only been in
prison two weeks
but it already seems
like two years in hell.
I'd never let Mel Profitt
talk me into runnin' shine
if it wasn't for that
loan being called in
and you bein' afraid
of losin' the farm.
I knew I shoulda
trusted in the Lord
to see us through.
Believe me when I say I
was only tryin' to help.
I thought I knew all the
back roads to Gatlin,
but it didn't matter.
The police knew I'd
be comin' through,
thanks to Mel.
(banging)
(shrieking)
(ominous music)
Right off, I realized I
had to build myself up.
In prison, only
the strong survive.
I got six years to go.
If we trust in the Lord,
maybe they'll pass quick
and I'll be comin' home.
Home's all I think about.
Your son, Russell.
- This is as close as it
gets to home for me, Vince.
We'll be here a while.
Get yourself a hotel room.
- George Sank is expecting you.
We have a house to count there.
(suspenseful music)
(speaking in foreign language)
(speaks in foreign language)
- Sure hope you speak English.
(speaking in foreign language)
- My apologies, monsieur.
Your name?
- I'm Vinnie Terranova.
I'm with Mel Profitt.
- Ahh, oui oui.
Mademoiselle! (speaks
in foreign language)
- 'Scuse me, pardon me, please.
(laughing)
(soft instrumental music)
I'm gonna love sleepin' here.
(muffled singing in
foreign language)
(phone ringing)
- Yeah, Mike Terranova.
- Agent 4587.
Day code, the
Journall, world column.
Woesome, Zimbabwe, endemic.
- Vinnie, it's two
o'clock in the morning.
- Not where I am.
Tell McPike I wanna meet.
- Okay, the meet will
be on the 13th floor
Hotel Vancouver
in the file room.
- Okay, great.
I'll talk to you later.
Hey, Uncle Mike?
- Yeah, Vinnie.
- How you doin'?
- I'm doin' all right,
thanks for asking.
How'd my favorite nephew?
- Ah, I been on the road so long
I forget what you look like.
- (laughs) Well,
that's a blessing.
Hey listen, tell McPike
it's time we broke bread.
- Yeah, I'd like that.
- Me too.
You take care, Vinnie.
- You too, Uncle Mike.
- Vinnie!
- Are you sure he's stable?
- Yeah, I'm sure.
- Hey.
What's he doin' here?
- It's my jurisdiction.
- He doesn't have
anything to do with you.
- Well, it doesn't matter.
I'm off the case.
- Agent Terranova,
operationally you are the case.
You can't just walk.
- [Vinnie] I have
no authority here.
- [Charlie] Your authority
here is through me.
- You have no authority here,
and I answer to the bureau.
- Semantics.
Same government, same
branch, same objective.
- I don't think so.
- Our objective is protecting
the same sovereign nation.
- Don't you wave
the flag in my face.
We don't share objectives.
- We're sworn to the
same Constitution.
- I'm not debating
democracy here.
My bein' here stinks.
I'm an OCB operative,
not a CIA mole.
- It's an awkward
situation, Vince.
It's on an ad hoc basis, which
does not make it an order.
It's strictly voluntary.
- I have no vested
authority here, correct?
- That's correct.
All right, you got it,
he's outta here, Charlie.
- Now wait a minute!
- It is a done deal.
No discussion necessary.
- Look, don't feed
Profitt's paranoia
by evaporating without a
reasonable explanation.
It's just gonna make
it that much tougher
for the next guy to get in.
- I'll tell Roger I'm homesick.
(elevator humming)
(sparks crackling)
Hey Roger.
- Give me a minute, huh?
A man can kill with anything.
You missed Vietnam
by what, five years?
- Didn't miss a thing.
- So, what brings you
in out of the cold?
- Goin' back to Brooklyn.
- Oh, you are, huh, Buckwheat?
- That's right, Spanky.
- Oh, what is this,
a bitter exit?
- I'm on the moon here.
- Ah.
- I got opportunity back East,
family, I know the territory.
- Goin' to be a monkey,
better know the jungle, huh?
What is it, the money?
- It's not just the money.
- Well, what is it?
You don't live close
enough to a pizza parlor?
- Yeah, well, I'd
love to stand around
and chat with you, Spanky,
but I'm allergic to glib.
- Vinnie, wait.
- What?
- You ever spend any
time in Central America?
- No.
- Anywhere around
the Caribbean Basin?
You ever hear of Eric
Gairy's goon squads,
Papa Doc's Tonton Macoute?
There's a hole in the
ozone over Antarctica
the size of Arkansas.
It was put there by
petrol chemical companies
and housewives, or space aliens,
depends on who you talk to.
Either way, same result.
Dust bowls in Oklahoma,
bumper crops on Ottawa,
hemispheric schizophrenia.
- What's your point?
- My point is your point.
It's not just money.
There is a lot more going on.
- What?
What's going on?
- Ask Profitt, and you
tell him you're leaving.
- You hired me, you can
handle my resignation.
- Mel Profitt is insane.
If I tell him you vamoosed
'cause you missed your mama,
he'll extrapolate
until he's convinced
you're with the FBI.
And then he'll tell
me to kill you,
which I will do.
(suspenseful music)
So if you wanna leave
here worry-free,
I suggest you look into his
crazy face and tell him adios.
- Leaving?
And you're a smart man.
Well, maybe I should
leave too, huh?
What do you think?
- Where would you go?
- Where would you go?
And why would you want to?
I need answers before you leave.
- Some people like hotels.
I like goin' home at night.
- Well home is a joke.
It makes you weak and poor.
It's an addiction.
- Vinnie, could you
open this please?
- Sure.
(cork popping)
- Elvis is leaving us.
- Why?
- He wanna go home to Guido.
- Who's Guido?
- It's the mob, the outfit.
(speaks in foreign language)
Kiss my ring.
- Hey Mel.
Why don't you stick
to snide remarks
about my heritage?
All I am to you is a trigger.
In Jersey, I can
work on operation.
I can run it.
- Can you, pal?
- That's right.
You know, this may come
as a surprise to you
but I see myself as a
businessman, not muscle.
- Yes, yes, ambition.
Do you know what I do, Vince?
Do you understand what
it is Susie and I do?
- Yeah, I understand
what you do.
You're drug dealers.
- That much of my business.
I'm a malthusian!
You tell him, Sis,
let's tell him.
- We were seeded
by the coca leaf,
but it's not where our
power comes from now.
Singer's name is on
the sewing machine
but it's PNLs and
aerospace technologies.
Modern Western economy was based
on the theories
of Thomas Malthus.
He was an 18th century wizard.
- Malthus figured it out.
Theory as truth,
pure and simple.
Population increases
geometrically.
Economy grows arithmetically.
We pop out new babies
100 times faster
than we grow food
enough to feed them.
Bottom line, there
is never enough food
to sustain the
existent population.
Three things keep the balance:
famine, disease, and war.
Eureka, pal.
There is one
exception to the rule,
one area of the economy that
does grow geometrically.
- Munitions.
- Yes!
It's the ultimate deal.
Take a look at this map.
Bullets from Ohio to
Pakistan for Afghani rebels
to shoot Soviet soldiers,
or for Pakistani soldiers
to shoot Afghan refugees.
Israeli Uzis to Thailand.
Laotians and Cambodians, they
lurk at their border like,
like the plague!
I love this!
Bigger countries, bigger deals.
Surface to air
missiles, stingers,
exocets, howitzers, mirages,
fully-equipped,
laser-guided paveways,
side winders, penguin
anti-ship missiles,
$80 million dollars a pop!
And I sit on the Jutai
and I do business
by the telephone.
- So what do you
sell to Tennessee?
- Drugs.
- You think you're
a businessman?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Here's the chance
to run the business
on which I built this empire.
- Save, is a better
way of putting it.
- Right.
And if you save it, you will
be a double-digit millionaire.
- But if I don't, I'm to give
it a proper burial, right?
- That's the deal.
- I don't think so.
Listen, you ever need
anything in New York,
I'll be there for you.
Thanks for the champagne, eh.
- It's the biggest coke
operation in the United States!
Take Roger.
He can be your man on this one.
What do you say?
(plane engine humming)
- Thanks a lot, Buckwheat.
In the future, please
don't volunteer me
for anymore assignments,
especially when they include
field trips to dimwit
South Carolina.
You lookin' for something?
- Yeah, holes in the ozone.
- (laughing) You gotta
go a lot further south.
- Hey Roger, do me
a favor, will ya?
- Hm?
- Quit callin' me Buckwheat.
(laughs)
- Mr. Terranova.
- Yeah.
- Mr. Profitt said
you should get this
on our approach.
We're 10 minutes
outside of Johnson City.
- All right, thanks.
- what do you got?
- It says here,
dear businessman,
welcome to Valdosta
Ridge, Tennessee.
Rest, see Jesus, try
Lottie's banana pudding.
Save the biz, smart ass.
Be in touch, Mel.
- Mr. Terranova?
- Yeah, you Jesus?
- Nah, I'm just
here to pick you up.
Get in the car.
- Is there a problem, mister?
- By my deeds I
invited God's wrath.
I accept that.
I swear to the Almighty
I'll blaze in damnation
before another member
of my family's harmed.
- Ho!
I like you, you're crazy.
Explain this.
Hey!
- Roger.
I'm Vinnie Terranova and
this is Roger LoCocco.
Who are you?
- Earnest Haynes.
- All right, Earnest, look,
Roger and I think we're here
to meet somebody named Jesus
and to examine a business
for the guy who owns it.
- Don't forget Lottie's
banana pudding.
- Why do you think we're here?
- You're here by
way of Mel Profitt
to see Willie Jesus?
- Yes.
- You're here for a lot more
than my wife's banana pudding.
(suspenseful music)
Jesus will see you
boys in the morning.
You look like you
was once good boys.
Am I askin' too much to
have my family left alone?
(fire crackling)
- Well.
- No, no, don't get
up, don't get up.
- Lottie, this is Mr.
Terranova, Mr. LoCocco.
This is Mrs. Haynes.
- So pleased to meet you.
Can I get you anything?
- No, no, no thank you.
- Nice to meet you, ma'am.
- It's late.
Your room's right at the top
of the stairs on the left.
- Okay.
- Where's my room?
- Same room.
- (laughs) No,
no, you gotta have
a hotel around here somewhere.
- 40 miles away.
Everything's closed
for the season.
- Well, we can
work somethin' out.
- It's fine for now, thank you.
Goodnight.
- I love the way
you quit this gig.
Goodnight.
(suspenseful music)
- Yeah, I had you
pegged for a homophobe
the minute I met you.
- Oh, you did, huh?
- Oh, yeah, sure, with
that macho black wardrobe
and I-am-a-coiled-snake look.
- Just the fact
that you remember
what I was wearing is
reason enough for me
not to want to bunk
with you, sweetheart.
- Looks like their
son was some kind
of a high school
hero or something.
Something's wrong here.
Look at you.
I think some of Mel's paranoia
has rubbed off on you.
Got no idea what this
is about, do you?
- Look, I been with Mel a year.
This is my first encounter
with American gothic.
- Now this stinks.
I live by some rules, Roger.
- You're not gonna start
speakin' Italian to me, are you?
- Look, if you're not a
player, you're not a target.
No exceptions.
- Cut the light, will you?
- All right.
Any time you wanna talk.
- Yeah.
(birds chirping)
(upbeat merengue music)
What the hell is that?
- Merengue.
Am I on drugs or what?
Ah!
- Welcome to Dixie.
I'm Willie Jesus.
Now that you've seen me,
if you're not outta here
by five o'clock, you're dead.
- What's goin' on here?
- I ask myself every day,
how can I serve
hell to save my son?
How'd I let this happen?
But I know, I know the answer.
I've looked into
the eyes of scratch.
I let him take my son.
(gasps)
(wheezing)
- Roger, give me a hand here.
- [Roger] Looks like
he's hyperventilating.
- This happens all the time.
Only cure is our son's freedom
or those bastards in our
backyard dropping dead.
- Tempting, isn't it?
- Yeah, but how'd
they get there?
Things just don't show up
where they're not wanted.
- Mel and Susan show up
wherever they damn well please.
They got poor Earnest thinkin'
Mel's the devil himself.
- What do you think?
- Mel's a bump on his rump,
but Susan, she's death for
any man short on fortitude.
- You got yourself some
real ugly neighbors.
- Mel and Susan.
Four years ago, Mel
flashed $10,000 dollars
at my son, Russell.
- The track star?
- Yes, sir.
All he had to do
was take some shine
across to Gatlin.
- That's in another state.
- Russell was 19.
Like most boys at 19,
he knew he'd never die.
Well, they caught
him with the shine,
with the money, and,
in and out of court so fast
it'd make your head swim.
30 years.
10 'fore they'd
think about parole.
Only thing quicker
than the trial
was Susie flying in
here with a scheme
to get Russell out early.
They had bribed somebody
so Rusty'd get out
in six, guaranteed.
All we had to do was
let 'em use the still
as a front for their business.
It's been horror since then.
I know Mel set up my boy.
I know he did.
I called him on it.
You know what he did?
He smiled and said,
"Only the toes knows."
You know he's crazy.
- Maybe we should talk to Jesus.
Hm?
(upbeat merengue music)
- Babe, I got 200 acres for you.
(banging)
- Yo!
Oooh.
- Hey, I'm conducting
business here.
- What are you
sellin', nightmares?
- 400 acres by Friday.
Ciao.
Tell Mel expenses grow
faster than income.
- Maybe you're
just a bad manager.
- Maybe you smell like Panama
City because you're dead.
- I tell you what, why don't we
crack open the books and
see what we got, all right?
- Two years ago,
Mel brings me here,
promises me a fortune.
"Just keep things running,
Jesus," he tells me.
I have not seen my fortune
or Mel Profitt since,
so I take what was promised
and to hell with Mel Profitt.
- Let me tell you something,
there are no free fajitas
on Mel Profitt's bus.
Now you either pony up his
share of his enterprise
or you're gonna die,
comprende, fat man?
- Brian!
Throw them out.
- Gonna call Mel.
- Give him my love.
(phone dinging)
- Sailor Hardware,
Mike Terranova.
- Can't ID, no papers available.
- Noted.
- All right, listen.
I want you to trace this call.
You wouldn't believe
what I stumbled on to.
Now first, there's a kid
named Russell Haynes.
Now Mel Profitt set him
up and stiffed him good.
He's doin' time now and
I want him cut loose.
- Hey, wait a minute,
I need some specifics.
- Uncle Mike, I've been there
and it ruined part of my life
and I had the full protection
of the federal government.
Now, if this kid's
story checks out,
I want him released.
(phone bangs)
- What'd Mel say?
- Um, havin' trouble
gettin' through.
- Try the 800-number.
(ringing)
- [Operator] S and M
Profitt Enterprises.
- Yeah, Mr. Profitt please.
- [Operator] Mr.
Profitt is in transit.
Would you like to
leave a message?
- This is Vinnie Terranova.
- [Operator] Mr. Terranova,
he asks that you stay
in Valdosta Ridge and
call him tomorrow.
- All right, thanks.
He wants us to stay put.
- Look, I don't want
your projections--
- What?
I don't know what he's
doin' in Tennessee.
He was supposed to leave
this operation 24 hours ago.
As far as we can tell,
he's in Valdosta Ridge.
Let me tell you something,
this kid got scammed.
You look at this file, first
offense, running moonshine.
He gets 30 years.
I mean, why in the hell
didn't they just hang him?
Everybody involved in
this case is crooked,
the arresting officer,
prosecuting attorney,
and the public defender.
Russell Haynes should
be released immediately.
- I'm a distiller.
- As in moonshine?
- Yah.
Even sold to the sheriff.
Aha, got one.
20 years old.
Show me a shiner willin'
to wait two decades
to sell his product.
Shine money is a little like
the cheese this rat was after.
Big and inviting, but you
never live to enjoy it.
Lead us not into temptation.
If that rat was a Christian,
he'd be alive today.
- You makin' tequila
these days, Earnest?
- (throat clears) Our Father,
we thank you for the food
we're about to receive
in Christ's name, amen.
- Amen.
- [Lottie] Banana pudding.
- Thank you.
(cow mooing)
(banging)
- Well, while you
boys stand around here
waitin' for orders from Mel,
might pitch in and
do something honest.
Why don't you
brush old Joe down.
Here you go.
- (laughing) Are
you kiddin' me, man?
- Here Vinnie, jump right up.
I got a job for you.
Just jump right up here.
- What?
- Atta boy, here you go.
Come right around here.
Now Vinnie, this is Bossy.
- What is this, Green
Acres over here?
- No, no, no.
Bossy, now this is Vinnie.
He's a good boy, he
won't hurt you at all.
- Yeah, I won't hurt it
'cause I'm not gonna touch it.
- Oh, come on, Vinnie.
Right down--
- I don't wanna do it.
What do I know about--
- Here, here.
Put your behind right here.
- Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go.
- Put it right here.
Take hold right there,
take hold right here.
- What, this thing there?
- Yep, that's right.
Just right there,
now squeeze, squeeze.
Gentle.
(cow mooing)
- When you leaving?
- You know, it's gonna
be a major disappointment
in my life if I don't get
a chance to kill that guy.
(cow moos)
- I was just callin' you.
- It's too late, isn't it?
- [Vinnie] What, you
mean the business?
- Yeah, I mean the
business, what do you think?
I'm bearing witness
to the second coming
here in the convenience dump
of Valdosta Ridge, Tennessee?
- Yeah, it's too late.
There was nothin' to save.
Jesus took this business
over before I got here.
- We were spit out
here by the state.
Because I could read,
they got me a job
as a janitor in
the grammar school
so I could use the library.
If I'd been flatulent,
they would've
found me a job as a disc jockey.
Business had to decentralize.
Too many revenuers in Miami,
circling their AWACS like hawks.
Florida was one
big DEA convention.
One full DC-3 from
Belize to Valdosta Ridge,
non-stop once a
week for four years.
Geometric expansion, Vinnie.
Boh.
It's not your fault.
Jesus and his men, Earnest
and Lottie, kill them.
Scorched earth.
No chain of evidence.
- Susan with you?
- Susan's at a blood doping.
You take care of
business, Vince.
The jet'll be back
in three days.
Defoliate and come home.
Big reward waitin'.
Flesh and blood.
All your dreams fulfilled.
(crickets chirping)
- Somethin' troubling you boys?
- No, ma'am, just a
hard day on the farm.
- You and Roger,
you're not at all
like what we'd expect from
the likes of Mel Profitt.
- They're all right.
You should see these two
pullin' Bossy's teets.
She won't be givin'
milk for a month.
(laughing)
- Oh, I believe you
two are blushin'!
(chair scrapes and bangs)
(Roger breathing heavily)
- I'm sorry.
I'll see what's the
matter with him.
'Scuse me.
- I am afflicted.
(heavy breathing)
- Hey, Roger.
- Those people might as
well be my grandparents.
- You talked to Mel, didn't you?
- Yeah, how do you know?
- I saw him at
the General Store.
He was in the back,
standing in garbage.
Roger, I am not
killing these people
for that lunatic.
Money isn't reason enough.
- Money is the worst reason.
- Then why are you here?
- Too much changes
if I leave now!
- Too much changes every day
whether you leave or not.
Come on, Mel's half way to Rangu
and he doesn't even know it.
- Stay.
- Why?
- Just stay, please.
- All right.
- The third world is a
desperate place, Vinnie.
- Never been there.
- You don't have to go.
It'll come to you.
- Guess you been all
over the place, huh?
- Yeah.
Far East.
Louse, Cambodia.
Less time in South
America, the Caribbean.
That'll change, new business.
- What new business?
- Spent so much time there,
I used to dream in Vietnamese.
(soft instrumental music)
(salacious music)
(heart beating)
(breathing heavily)
(upbeat merengue music)
- Why do they wait?
I told them to
leave or they die.
See if the two white men
are available to talk.
Take a gun.
Mr. LoCocco has a
dangerous reputation.
(ominous music)
(heart beating)
(banging)
- Ma?
Daddy?
- Russell?
- Shut up!
- Russell!
(laughing)
- [Earnest] Son!
- Who are these people?
- [Earnest] Mel Profitt's boys.
(gun clicks)
(suspenseful music)
- Yeah, this is the phone.
- Well, he hasn't checked
in in nearly 20 hours.
So we wait.
- I think we oughta be
getting directly to the farm.
- You may be right, but I
gotta give him his four hours.
- Hey, what if he forgot?
- He's a trained agent.
- With a history of alcohol
and mental disorders.
- First of all,
that's classified.
- Hey, I've got
clearance, Frank.
- Second of all, he has a
major distortion of reality.
- Well, all I know is what
I read in the COMSTAT Bank.
- Oh Chuck, you make me
wonder why I do this.
- I've got clearance.
You think people put
things in data banks
simply because they got
nothin' better to do?
- Yep.
- What is this?
- You gotta leave, Willie.
- Russell, you are Russell.
Look at you.
Prison was good for you.
Look how healthy you are.
- Thank you.
Now, you gotta leave.
My family can't deal with this.
- I can't go.
We got a deal with your daddy.
- Deal was till I got out.
Here I am.
- No.
Our deal with your father
was you be out in six years.
You got two years left.
- You boys made a
ton of money here.
Now time's come to move on.
- I've known men like you
who run things in prison.
Inside, they respect muscle.
Outside, brains are
where the power is.
Think, Russell.
That gun buys you nothing.
They will kill you before
you empty the second barrel.
They don't care
if I die. (laughs)
You and Mel's flunkies,
get out.
(thudding)
(grunting)
(shrieking)
(guns firing)
(gun firing)
- Run, boys!
- Get in the house, Ma!
- [Vinnie] Keep your head down.
- I'm gonna stop this.
- Oh, Earnest!
(suspenseful music)
- Burn in hell!
- Noo!
(guns firing)
(booming)
(guns firing)
(booming)
(dramatic music)
(crashing)
(thudding)
(grunting)
Stay calm, Mama.
- [Vinnie] Don't do it,
Roger, don't kill 'em.
- [Russell] Stay calm, Daddy.
I'll get ya a doctor.
It's okay.
Just hold on.
(suspenseful music)
(police radio
chattering indistinctly)
- Hey, there was a guy in here
with his head on backwards.
- Well, it's confirmed.
Vince is back in Vancouver.
I'm lookin' at
permanent jet lag here.
- I guess congratulations
are in order.
- How's that?
Well, well.
You know, once in a while,
just once in a while
we get a little satisfaction.
(laughs)
Who put a feather in your pants?
- Nah, no.
10 years ago I was
station chief in Uruguay.
I got so strung out on that
junk, I went into a coma.
(inhales deeply)
Feels good just to be
alive and breathing
through a regular nose.
Well, almost a regular nose.
Baby collapsed on me
'cause of that crap.
- There's no explanation
necessary, Chuck.
- Amen, brother.
(soft instrumental music)
- We took care of
shutting down a business
that was producing liabilities.
Now that's how define the job.
- Didn't Mel give you a
specific set of orders?
- He wasn't on site.
- Okay, what was it on
site that caused you
to alter orders?
- Malthus.
Poverty's inescapable, and
it's not in my position
to alter it except for myself.
I left them in poverty,
and that was enough.
- You have completely
misinterpreted
the foundation of
modern Western economy.
- No, I haven't.
You know, you people think
that just 'cause I
was raised in Brooklyn
that I got my education
in the pool hall.
I haven't
misinterpreted Malthus.
I haven't
misinterpreted anything.
You have.
The only reason you wanted
those people whacked
was for your own
ego satisfaction.
Now that's bad business
no matter who's theory
you subscribe to.
- What do you have
to say for yourself?
- (throat clears)
Vertical integration.
- What?
- Own everything from
the seed to the street,
that way you don't have
problems with subcontractors.
- I'm surrounded by genius.
- Well, well, look at this.
If it ain't mutt and mutt.
- Well, aren't we jolly.
And let me compliment
you on the way
you gracefully bowed
out of this assignment.
- Frank, something
incredible came up.
- Yeah, I've seen his sister.
- No.
The only place Mel Profitt
doesn't do any business
is at the polar ice cap.
This guy is huge.
He's into arms, drugs,
political power.
There is nothing that
he doesn't trade in.
- You'll be staying on, then?
- Yeah.
I'm gonna bring
him to his knees.
- What else?
- I want you to dig
deeper on Roger LoCocco.
This guy's got convictions
that just don't go
with a contract killer.
- Vinnie, Vince, don't do this.
Don't pick up strays.
- Frank, trust me.
- Trust me?
That's it?
- No.
I wanna meet the Lifeguard.
- I'll see what I can do.
- Thanks.
(soft instrumental music)
(upbeat heroic music)