Wiseguy (1987–2009): Season 2, Episode 8 - All or Nothing - full transcript

- [Announcer]
Tonight, on Wiseguy.

- Corruption never
changes, gentlemen.

It's your basic
law of the jungle.

If the workers
earn a living wage,

then there's less fat
for the owner's to skim.

- Don't let these
people intimidate you.

- You anti-sematic commie witch.

- Where's the car?

(speaking foreign language)

- Lee just said she
dug her own grave

and to say hello
to her ancestors.



- I love my wife.

I love my kid.

Why isn't that enough?

(intense music)

(alarm buzzing)

- Good evening, Mister Chen.

Rightwear closed at 87
and a half last night.

We'll let Z-Mart
blow smoke for now.

We could have bought another
hundred thousand shares,

but that would take
our position up to 4.6,

and we don't want the SCC
disclosure regulations

to trigger anything yet.

Fine.

I'll take care of it.



You're welcome.

- [Man] That was wonderful.

- I'm glad one of us thought so.

- You think you can
just walk in here

and take over for Terranova?

Where is he?

- [John] Healing.

- Where?

- Someplace where he
can't be bothered.

He suffered massive chest trauma

when he got hit by that cab.

- Oh really?

And how come Epstein
at the bureau

told me it was a cracked
rib and a broken leg?

- You were misinformed.

- I wanna talk to him.

- That's not possible.

The guy can hardly
breathe, let alone talk.

- How am I supposed
to explain you?

Immaculate conception?

You know what kind of
a tightrope I'm walking

letting you guys
run your operation

through my father's company?

- Pinzolo thinks
I'm Vinny's partner

in the security business.

So does your father.

My cover is secure.

Yours is too.

- Yeah, unless something
else goes wrong.

- Look, Mister Sternberg, I've
got 10 years field experience

on Terranova.

He's good.

So am I.

- Then how come the bureau
didn't send you in first?

- I've got a wife and a kid.

Keeping you safe is
one way of ensuring

that I get to see them again
when this case is finished.

Now,

how about helping
to stop Pinzolo

from bleeding the
garment district dry?

- You guys are really
a trip, you know.

I keep hearing that.

I keep hearing that,

but so far, all I
know is that you guys

have arrested some low lives

who are as significant as fleas.

My father keeps hocking me for
paying for useless security,

and Pinzolo still smells
like fresh laundry.

- You came to us.

You wanted us to
save your business.

- I came to you to stop
Pinzolo from ruining my father.

You guys got our
goods out of customs.

My father repaid Pinzolo.

I'm grateful.

- You're using Pinzolo's
trucks for delivery

at killing rates.

He's got a collar
around your neck.

What happens if he decides
to squeeze a little tighter?

You know that's inevitable.

- We're late for
the Medici show.

(upbeat music)
(clicking)

You know how much
this stuff costs?

- Yeah, well I don't
imagine anybody here

is crying about welfare reform.

- [Commentator] The
fabulous Medici!

(audience applauding)

- Hey, isn't that your
cousin over there?

- What is she doing here?

You know who she's with?

- No.

- It's Vivian Schneer.

She's the head
buyer for Rightwear.

(audience applauding)

How do you know my cousin?

- I met her at your
father's office.

- Hi.

- What are you doing here?

- I'm working.

Hi.

- Hi, nice to see you again.

- Why have you been
holding out on me?

- Vivian?
- Vivian, yes Vivian.

- Oh, this woman, you've got
to keep her away from me.

She has a one track mind,
and it's fixated on her body.

We belong to the
same health club.

She is a riot in the shvitz.

She brings in calipers
to measure her body fat.

- She's got eyes like a
graphic computer screen.

I bet you she is planning
her knockoff for the month

for Rightwear, isn't she?

- David, you know giants
only do business with giants.

- (mumbles) favor time.

- Okay, I can't say no to you.

Vivian!

Vivian, I'd like you to meet
my cousin, David Sternberg,

with Elrose Fashion.

- How do you do?

A pleasure to meet you.

- And John Henry Raglin.

- An associate.

- Really?

One of my favorite euphemisms.

- So I hear
Rightwear's been having

some offshore
production problems too.

- A few earthquakes in India.

A couple of
revolutions in Dubai.

Why is it the cheap
countries always have

the most expensive catastrophes?

Well Mario's got
himself another hit, no?

- There wasn't anything here
I can't make look 100% as good

for 70% less.

- Hm.

If you can do it for 80%,
maybe we should talk some time.

- How about now?

- Sure.

- Would you excuse us?

- Talk about moving
in for the kill.

- Yeah.

- Have you had any feedback
from your sales people

on this one?

Everybody loves it.

- It's a dog.

We sold two.

I got 70 units collecting dust.

- We're not even talking
three weeks, Mabel.

- I'm not panicking,
but I will be soon.

- Well, look at the
folds off the waist.

Look at the cut on the neckline.

Have you tried this on?

I mean, this is the way
a woman should look.

Maybe we can work
something out on the order.

How about some lunch?

Order the cow a tuna with
ground glass on white.

Big stores bleed
you with mark down.

I can sell condoms to
the Vatican council.

Their sales people
couldn't give them away

to the Surgeon General.

I'll tell you Raglin,
mornings used to be simpler.

You woke up, you had
a bagel and a shmear

on a Lexington Line,
you went to work,

you earned an honest dollar.

What ever happened?

What's the celebration?

- Vivian Schneer wants
two thousand dozen

to hit Rightwear racks
under a private label

with The National
American Made Promo.

- Don't kid a kidder.

What is this?

- My Medici makeover.

We've hit the big time.

- David.

David.

What's our turnaround?

- Six weeks.

In time for the resorts
spending stampede.

I figured we'd do
coordinated colors.

The fabrics ordered.

- Six weeks is close.

Our factories are overbooked.

What about our margin?

- 18%.

But we gotta stay
local and cheap.

- Yeah, local and cheap.

Local and cheap.

- Chinatown.

- Get me Hong now.

- Hong sujet shop?

Hong smokes so much opium

it's like moving
through quicksand.

- His girls work fast,
and they work good.

(beeping)

Why is that thing
always shrieking?

- You're not my only client.

I got something I've
gotta take care of.

- What you better take care
of, Mister Security Man,

is making damn sure that
there's no high jacking,

no delays and no problems that
have to do with this order.

We could be in the hole for?

- One million.

- That's not Corn Flakes, pal.

- Don't worry, I'll
take care of it.

- We need another cutter.

Phil's gonna need
help on this order.

I want Mo.

- Mo is a washed up Schneider.

- He's the best cutter
in the business.

He cut these beauties.

I want him.

It's my deal.

- Oh, it's your deal.

Well, it's my mil,

and it's my neck,

and it's my reputation.

And don't you
forget that, David.

- Not a chance, papa.

- Carmine is my
best quality man.

Listen and learn from him.

He'll be your eyes,
and you be his hands.

There's been some problems
in Chinatown lately.

Some unrest.

I don't want any problems
with this Rightwear order.

- You mean the Elrose deal?

- Nothing happens in Chinatown
that I don't know about.

The fabric for the Elrose deal

and it should be in the
Amici warehouse by Thursday.

I want you glued to that cargo
until it gets to Hong's shop.

- Tell me, what's the big
deal about this shipment?

- We're finished, Raglin.

Thank you.

(phone ringing)

- Sailor Hardware,
Mike Terranova.

What can I do you for?

- Agent 3623.

We may have hit on something.

I need a line on an
outfit called Rightwear.

- All right.

What's the play?

- There's a Rightwear fabric
shipment leaving a mill

in South Carolina tomorrow by
one of Pinzolo's transporters.

It arrives at the Amici
trucking warehouse on Thursday.

- Okay.

Rightwear Incorporated,

biggest retail clothing
chain in America.

Word on Wall Street is they
may be looking up the barrel

of a hostel takeover
bid by Z-Mart.

- Elrose and Pinzolo are
salivating over this deal.

You wanna get me piked to
give this cargo a once over?

How do you wanna handle it?

- Well, we'll cover
the transport.

You stay on Seventh Avenue.

Hey, nice going.

- See you later.

(suspenseful music)

- What?

- Clean as a whistle.

- This Pinzolo's a
walking piece of Teflon.

Nothing sticks.

- Trucks are waiting Mo.

We gotta get this
stuff to Hong's.

- You want fast, you
should've called a hooker.

- Give Hong a
little inspiration.

I love the smell of money.

- Your work here is slave labor.

The Seventh Avenue manufacturer.

They don't want you to know

that you're entitled
to a living wage.

Safe working conditions
with health benefits.

We wanna help you to fight
for what you deserve.

Don't be afraid.

These people want to keep
you oppressed and silent

to prey on your fears.

They enforce the system,
which dehumanizes its laborer.

- Hiya.

Raglin right?

Oh forget about those
commie screwballs.

I'm (mumbles).

Raglin, go find Hong.

Probably in the back
playing Mahjong.

(sewing mashing humming)
(babies crying)

- Oh, I'm sorry.

You okay sweetheart?

Excuse me?

Are you Hong?

- No complaint.

(laughing)

- Mister Sternberg
says, "Have a whiff."

(gentle music)

(screaming)

Come on.

Come on, Sweetheart.

Grab hold of my neck.

Come on, baby.

Come on.

Come on.

I got you.

(intense music)

(gentle music)

How can people work like this?

- The Chinese?

They're used to it.

But me, some days I
just hate this job.

You gotta watch these Chinese.

They smile and bow and
tell you one thing.

Then they do something else.

They think they're
smarter than you.

They pray to some fat
guy who smiles away

all their problems.

Screwy, huh?

- Maybe not.

Their culture's been
around thousands of years

longer than ours.

- Culture?

What culture?

You been to a
Chinese movie lately?

(sirens wailing)

- Hey, something I can do?

- Hey you, you
don't belong here.

Go on, get out of here.

- Okay, I'm sorry, I was just
trying to help out, all right.

Just trying to help.

(gentle music)

- In 1911, the Triangle
Shirtwaist Company

lost 146 sweatshop workers.

It became the unions battle cry,

which later turned militant.

- You mean left wing.

- Spare us the prep
school prejudice, okay?

We're talking about
why these people work

like scared animals.

- In the 1930s, the
garment district saw some

of the most brutal strikes
this country's ever seen.

The unions were made up of
immigrant eastern Europeans

who'd escaped revolutions
and (mumbles).

They weren't about
to give up a dream

they'd fled here to find.

People lost their lives
fighting for a better deal.

Two people died in last night's
fire in a non-union shop.

Even though this sujet
is a union house,

the workers better
not expect much help.

- Corruption never
changes gentlemen.

It's your basic
law of the jungle.

If the workers
earn a living wage,

then there's less fat
for the owners to skim.

- Organized crime influences
certain union shops.

They set up and control
non-union shops.

One hand feeds the other.

They either force
the union on you

or help to protect you from it.

Either way, you're
in bed with them.

- What are we gonna do to
break Pinzolo's union action?

- This guy's a lot
smarter than us, Frank,

and throwing temper
tantrums in his office

only keeps Pinzolo smiling.

You want him don't you?

- I want the arrogant
sucker's face plastered

all over my wall.

- How many people have to die

before we get safe
shops and fair pay?

No fair pay, no work today.

- God, what have I
done to deserve this?

I thought we had
an understanding.

- They're only trying to
stand up for their rights.

- It ain't Shabbat.

Spare me the sermon.

Phil, get David.

Tell him to line up
another shop pronto.

- You forget where
you came from.

Too big now to remember what
it was like to have problems.

You should be ashamed.

- We're having problems
with the sujet shop.

- We all should be ashamed.

- You better work on getting
together another place.

- It's a shame.

- Keep us informed.

- No fair pay, no work today.

No fair pay, no work today.

Save shops, or work stops.

- Now that's (mumbles) to work
getting done in the shops.

- Save shops, or work stops.

Save shops,

or work stops.
- I give 'em jobs.

They should all be
grateful they're working.

- Didn't you hear?

Lincoln freed the slaves.

- Get off the soapbox.

- Don't let these
people intimidate you.

They grow fat off your fear.

- That broad's
some piece of work.

- That broad is in trouble.

- My life is up there.

I want these people
up there sewing.

- They build big houses

and send their children
to fancy colleges,

while you live in squalor.

- We're gonna have to show
them we're not gonna back down.

- I never crushed a
picket line in my life.

- Don't give me that
commie panko crap.

- You have to listen
to our demands.

- Give it a rest Eli.

- Let go.

You got your wires
crossed, honey.

We're all losing money here.

That fire wasn't in my shop.

- You're worried about
your big mortgage payments,

Mister Manufacturer?

- Come on, honey, work is work.

This is certainly a lot
better than picking weeds

out of rice fields.

- How many of you
wanna sell your souls

for a new shiny Cadillac?

- You anti-sematic commie witch.

- Where's the car?

We gotta get him out of here.

- Let go, I'm all right.

They don't wanna work, fine.

This is a free country.

And I want your men
to protect mine,

because we're going up there.

- You wanna start a riot?

- No, I want somebody
to do their job.

- [Crowd] No fair
pay, no work today.

No fair pay, no work today.

No fair pay, no work today.

- Move your people
away from the doors.

Clear the doors now, or
you're going to jail.

- Look, you made your point.

So why don't you back off
before this little demonstration

of yours turns into
a nasty situation?

- The point is about
getting things to change.

- There are laws to help.

- The laws are for the people

who are rich enough to buy them.

My people don't have
the money or influence.

- Good luck posting bail.

(speaking foreign language)

- We won't be defeated.

- Reminds me of the old days.

Owners sent scabs, hired thugs.

They could hurt us
with those clubs,

but we still never
gave in, remember?

- I remember being poor.

- Yeah, but we
believed in something.

- Could we talk about
buttons instead of nostalgia?

We got an order to get done.

What's going on here?

- Set this broad straight.

- Maxine Tzu?

What am I supposed to
do, break her head?

Who gave this order?

- You don't get paid
to ask questions.

Just set her straight.

- Who is there?

(speaking foreign language)

What do you want?

- I have a message to deliver.

- From who?

- From people who
want to hurt you.

- I saw you at the
fire helping people.

I know you're working
for the manufacturers,

and now you're here.

I don't get you.

- I'm a surprising guy.

- Take off your shoes.

Surprise me.

- There's a system out there
that you may not understand.

A system that's bigger
than your crusade.

- My crusade is about people

who can't get any
justice from your system.

- I'm not telling
you to give in.

I'm telling you to use the
system to change the odds.

You make it work for you.

- The system stinks.

And as far as I can see,
you're just another part of it.

- It takes more than sounding
off to beat the game.

If you wanna win,
then you better learn

how the other players think.

Then once you outthink them,
that's when you make your move.

- That's not winning.

That's collaborating.

- You afraid if you compromise,

you're gonna get your
hands dirty, is that it?

- I'm afraid of
losing my integrity.

- No, you're afraid
of being wrong.

You think your problems entitle
you to stand on a pedestal

and tell everybody else
that theirs don't matter.

People like you don't
care who's sacrificed

on the alter of their politics,

as long as they get
to make the big point.

I don't see that that
makes you any different

than the men who run the system.

Who's hurting who?

- Get out of here.

- It's gotta be all or
nothing with you, doesn't it?

You have the power right now

to make some of the
changes that you want,

but you won't negotiate.

- I have the power
to choose sides,

and you can do that and
your conscious is clear,

if you're lucky
enough to have one.

- You think life threw
you a curve, right?

Why?

Because you're a woman?

Because you're Chinese?

Because you're poor?

And you want someone
to pay for it,

even if it costs
the innocent more

than they can afford to lose.

- The innocent have been paying.

They always do.

When I was a child,
I lived in Beijing.

My mother was a poet.

At night, the wind would shiver
when she read me her poems.

My father was an economist,

planning the destiny for
the great people's republic.

We were marched from our
home to the rice field,

so we could be
reeducated by the system.

- What happened to them?

- It was like a storm,

madness that came from nowhere.

Young soldiers, boys laughing.

They broke my mother's
fingers so she couldn't write.

They beat my father
with rakes and hoes

until he went insane.

I hid.

I watched.

He died talking to animals.

She died talking to his ghost.

I couldn't cry.

When I came into this country,

I was so happy just to slave
in kitchens and go-go bars

and sweatshops,

so I could afford to
study to be strong enough

to fight for the innocent,

to fight the system.

- I'm sorry.

I don't wanna see you hurt.

(romantic music)

- Wait.

That's my (mumbles).

To ward off the evil spirit.

- I'm not a superstitious man.

- Well, I think you're
probably hard to know.

- Well for starters, my name--

- Sh.

It's better not to
know too much yet.

(gentle music)

Do you trust me?

- No.

Do you wanna hurt me?

- Only if you want me to.

(gentle music)

- My son is crawling up and
down the eastern seaboard

looking for a factory that'll
take the Rightwear order.

Everybody's charging triple.

- Why don't you just
listen to their complaints?

You take a few bucks,

and you can fix the
problem where it is.

- Everybody's always
got bright ideas

about how to spend my dough.

- Spending money is the
cheapest thing you can do.

If you move that order,

it's gonna cost you more in
lost time and lousy publicity.

- He's right dad.

- What do I got here,
advice and consent?

Some refugee ingrate who
thinks he's got a hot date

with the American dream,

or the creeps that wanna
squeeze every drop of blood

out of every dime you make?

- Just tell them no.

- You can't say no.

- Not to you.

- I'm holding.
- You say no, you're out.

You say yes, and you make
the best deal you can.

This is a crystal
ball business, baby.

(beeping)

Again with the shrieking.

Let me help you with that.

- I'll call you back.

Come on Eli, cut
it out, stop it.

He's only trying to help.

- You see this Raglin?

I made that happen.

Nobody gave it to me.

I sell clothes.

They want it, I
cut it, I sew 'em,

it's theirs for the right price.

- Well, if you would use your
brains instead of your ego,

you would see that what
I'm saying makes sense.

- Well, you're fired, sonny.

- No, you're not.

We need him.

- I don't need anybody.

- You need us more
than you know.

The only people you can count on

are the people that
care about you,

and you are running
out of them fast.

- Yeah, well this
business and my sweat

has made a damn good
life for all of them.

It put that Armani on your back

and sent your kids
to private schools.

- My children,

your grandchildren can hardly
remember what you look like.

Every year, they get a hundred
bucks of Hanukkah guilt

and a gift certificate
on their birthdays.

They think your name is Sacks.

- Don't play emotional
blackmail with me.

I don't buy the guilt.

- No, you mortgage it.

My mother gets a
condo in Florida,

and a diamond choker that
says, Thanks For the Memories.

- She can buy more
expensive ones.

Use the alimony payments.

- Oh, and that's
supposed to make up

for all the years she spent
with you when you had nothing,

so you could dump her
like last seasons rejects,

first for a beauty queen and
now some scheming shiksa.

- We're talking about my wife.

- A buyer from the
Midwest who figured,

hey, why work for it when
you can sleep with it?

- David.

- Don't you David me.

- All right, all right David.

I'm sorry.

- Don't say it.

Don't, don't even say it.

You'll only make me
pay for it later.

(door banging)

- They don't understand.

I just wanted him

to be better at it than me.

- Yeah.

Well, you're setting
one hell of an example.

(dinging)

Where's Pinzolo?

He wants to see me.

- Not anymore.

He told me since you
can't take care of things,

that I should take care of them.

- Where is he?

- Upstairs, in the gym.

- Excuse me, sir,
are you a member?

- I don't think this crowd
is for me, thank you.

- Our data shows Carol Goldman

is the youngest female ever
to become a full partner

at Derrick Barton Investments.

Top of her class at Wharton.

MBA in International Finance.

Eli Sternberg paid
his nieces tuition.

I don't know.

Maybe just an accidental meeting

between two physical
fitness nuts.

- Accidents don't
happen to Rick Pinzolo.

They happen to
people around him.

I don't think she
was there to check

the tread on his sneakers.

- All right, I'll
run a match profile

on all the deals and company
she's been involved with.

She just may start to fill
in some of the dotted lines

on the flow chart.

Anything else?

- Yeah, the Chinese woman.

That strike of hers has
Pinzolo in an ugly mood.

- You don't preach
revolutions on the streets

of this country without
renting drawer space somewhere

in Washington.

What, I tell you something
you didn't already know?

- You still happily
married, Frank?

- Now, boy there's
something I don't like

to think about very often.

- Well I am.

This time around.

I love my wife.

I love my kid.

Why isn't that enough?

- I don't know Rags.

Maybe you need the action.

- When you're young, you think
it's gonna make you a man,

and when you're old, you think
it's gonna make you young.

It's not action, Frank,
it's the grand elusion.

(gentle music)

- I'm glad you reconsidered.

- What's he doing here?

- Oh, Mister Lee is here
to protect our interest

in anyway whatever.

- We'll make it worth
your while if you help us.

- It works like this.

Your people go back
into the shops,

and we make sure the union takes

a little bit better
care of them down there.

- Why should the
union listen to you?

- They know who
their friends are.

- What's in it for me?

- $5,000.

If you tell your workers
to end the strike.

So, we got a deal?

- You can't buy me or my people.

- You commies know how
to make a lot of noise,

but you don't know squat
when it comes to money.

(speaking foreign language)

- This tape was sent to
the bureau anonymously.

Two sets of prints, one unknown.

First we identified
from our FBI file.

- This guy Lee runs
Chinatown security

for Pinzolo's operations.

- There's enough evidence
here to nail both him

and Carmine on conspiracy
and obstruction.

- Yeah, but if she
doesn't testify

this tape doesn't
do us any good.

- But if she does testify,

maybe we can get at Pinzolo
through these two creeps.

- Well, that looks
good on paper, Frank,

but you know what
Pinzolo will do to her.

- Lee just said she
dug her own grave

and to say hello
to her ancestors.

(suspenseful music)

- Ling?

Why Ling?

Why not me?

- They don't want martyrs.

Remember your father?

They didn't kill him.

They just drove him crazy.

- I'm responsible
for people dying.

I'm telling them to go
back to work tomorrow.

We can't ever win.

- You can still help them.

You can testify against the
men who tried to bribe you.

It doesn't matter how I know.

You won't lose as long as
they don't get away with it.

- What difference would
it make if I testified?

- If you don't testify,

nothing down here will
have changed at all.

- I'm afraid.

- I know.

I know.

(choking)

- So what is fixing up this
sujet shop gonna cost me?

- Add on the wiring
for the fans,

new elevator door.

Okay, total renovation
comes to 4,000.

- It's cheaper than
another heart attack.

Are you finding it difficult
letting your old man

know you're proud of him?

- Like father like son.

I guess we forget
what's important.

- What's important is that
those dresses are getting done.

Rightwear is going
to get that order

on the promised
delivery date, right?

- Yes.

- Good.

I've got millions tied
up in Rightwear stock.

What about the
syndicate in Hong Kong?

- Mister Chen is prepared
for the takeover deal

as soon as my partners
think the timing is right.

- Good.

I'll tell my people to
sell short on more shares.

- I can't believe that Vivian
Schneer would commit suicide

after collection
a hundred grand.

She was paid for giving
Elrose the Rightwear order,

wasn't she?

- She got everything that
you and I agreed upon.

You never know with some people.

- We also agreed that David
would not be implicated

when our deal happens.

- Lucky for him, his
father's too selfish

to make him a partner.

Eli's the one who'll be
swimming in lawsuits.

- 40 years old, and
he's still an employee.

Oh, what a joke.

- Just like your father, right?

Saint Phil.

He still won't admit that
Eli stole his business away.

- I hope the only thing left
in Eli Sternberg's wallet

is enough cash to buy
a designer coffin.

- My concern is our deal.

I don't care about your family.

You're a shark when
it comes to finance,

but even sharks
aren't immune to bait.

Yours is emotion.

I don't wanna see it get
in the way of my business.

- Well, Lee and Carmine
are gonna be out of action

for a long time.

Thanks a lot.

- There will be others
to replace them.

- Well, let's hope
the union gets tougher

about enforcing it's
contracts in the sweatshops.

- The union is a bureaucracy.

For that, they'd need an army.

- Listen, if you
change your mind

about the Witness Protection
Program, give us a call.

- Thanks.

- Your people will
understand why you testified.

- They understand fear.

That won't have changed.

We Chinese don't like to
mess around with fate.

I don't really know you.

- Just someone trying
to fight the odds,

like you.

(gentle music)

(clapping)

(soaring music)