Luxury Lounge
Updated 2006-04-28 17:00:00
As has been hinted at all season, things are not good at Vesuvio. The food and service are both going downhill, and Artie won't take anyone's suggestions on how to fix the problem. Artie's new hostess is having an affair with the married Benny, and Artie isn't happy about it. Things get complicated when Artie discovers that Benny and his hostess have been working together to commit credit card fraud, and the restaurant is under investigation. Artie responds by beating the crap out of Benny, who then wants to kill Artie. Tony defends Artie to the bitter end, even smoothing things over with Benny, but Artie just can't get over the fact that he's in bed with the Mob, for better or worse, or take any of Tony's constructive criticism. Meanwhile, Christopher and Little Carmine go to LA to pitch their movie to Ben Kingsley, who couldn't be less interested. While there, Christopher accompanies Kingsley to a "luxury lounge," where celebrities get tons of free swag. Christopher falls off the wagon in a big way, and flies his AA sponsor out to help him. The duo ends up mugging Lauren Bacall for her gift basket from some awards show. Kingsley unsurprisingly passes on the movie. Christopher tries to appease Tony by giving him stuff from the stolen gift basket, but Tony thinks that the foray into the movie business is causing him to lose focus. The guys from Naples arrive in the US, whack Rusty, and just as quickly leave.