I always took that as a reference to Jim and Sonny having worked together for years, and the likelihood -- make that the certainty! -- that Sonny had always been a bit of a hairball. A general reference, I think, sort of like Sonny's line about The Old Dunbar and the OK Corral.
This is my favorite question upon which to speculate. It just gives us such a rich backstory image, which I wish they could have expounded upon. Later episodes and such.
--GB
Oh GB, thankyou for bringing this wet fish back up for us to play with! I agree wholeheartedly. A two part episode, complete with another murderer, scene with Marty and Jim etc, yes!
Personally, I am convinced that Sonny did set Jim up.
1. When Gianni and Louis arrive Jim asks Sonny “what’s that.” Instead of saying a car he says I don’t know, Deb? Like he wants to shift the attention away form himself.
2. He then tells Jim there are two “Latin gentlemens”. Maybe he could tell that from the distance without hearing them but… more likely he knew these two guys.
3. When the locker turns out empty Jim asks “What is this a shake-down Sonny?” Again he passed to Deb.
4. Now, even before the Puerto Riccans show, Sonny starts to look very nervous to me. IN fact he looks scared. Why? SO the dope’s not there. Big deal, at this point they should just get in the car and go back, Jim can call and get the squad to meet them, pick up Debbie without the drugs and go from there. But no, Sonny looks like he is shitting himself.
5. Gianni addresses Sonny “Where is it?” Not Debbie who is known to be the one who had the drugs. Not Jim who looks like the most credible guy there, No he addresses Sonny. Why? It could only be that he is expecting to pick up the drugs as arranged by Sonny.
6. Sonny takes on the job of explaining, does not try to pass to Debbie, who in fact is the one who is supposedly in control. He explains that they got ripped off already, sounds to me like he is telling his customers/boss/someone who has promised something to, why he isn’t delivering.
7. Gianni then says “I think we’re being lied to.” What lies? That the drugs are gone? No. That the drugs would be here? YES. And again Gianni addresses Sonny.
8. “We got ripped off.” Sonny steps forward toward the gun toting Gianni who has just said someone’s going to get shot today. He steps toward him. Ths suggests to me he has some reason to think this guy is not going to shoot him. A prior relationship is what I presume. He makes very strong eye contact, not a thing Sonny does a lot of, to try and convince him he is telling the truth.
9. Gianni’s reply “You best not be messing with me Sonny Boy.” Is for me a clincher. All the possibilities of it being just a term of endearment shrivel to dust for me under the weight of the earlier evidence. And the words “you best not be messing with me.” These sound like words you say to someone you know and you have a deal with which the other one says has fallen out of their hands. Not to someone you never met who just happens to be at the scene where Debbie’s drugs are supposed to be and apparently Debbie hasn’t got them. I ask again . Why are they talking to Sonny at all? He’s just the liaison between Debbie who supposedly had possession of the drugs and the new to the scene blind drug dealer. The only reason I can see is if Sonny invited them to pick up the drugs at the buy, told them the drug buyer would be blind and so could not identify them to the police and ( Debbie would have sold to a sighted person no questions, that was what she was looking for and besides she’s pretty stupid.) now they have shown up and he has not delivered the goods.
10. Jim’s echoing attention to this line also points out it is significant. Our blonde dude doesn’t make clues out of nothing. Every time he has zeroed in on anything, coin dropping to floor, Christie talking about a book that blends fact and fiction – it is because it is a significant clue. The fact that I cannot see Jim ever doing anything less than brilliant is beside the point!
11. Louis, queries that Jim is blind but does not seem surprised really. It’s more like he is verifying what he has been told earlier. Maybe he had heard word on the street like he says later in the interview room, but more likely Sonny told him.
12. When Louis pistol buts Jim, Sonny seems a little upset but not worried that it’s going to get worse. Debbie asks “what about him” but not Sonny who seems to already know he is about to be taken away by the two Latin gentlemens.
13. For all his earlier “I only work with Dunbar.” Sonny seems quite unconcerned that they are leaving him, without Hank, in a place he doesn’t know. (Jim asked where they were earlier but Sonny never answered.)
14. When Jim calls into the squad he says “It was a set up.” There is no thought that these Latino’s were just following of their own accord, Jim’s reading is they knew where to go and what to expect when they got there.
15. When Jim returns to the squad he says he’s been trying to reach Sonny but no answer.
16. When discussing the case Jim later says “and Debbie’s. I guarantee you, she’s the reason this thing went bad.” But did Debbie look like she was high to you? Maybe Jim is protecting his informer here so he can get the bottom of this?
17. After the first interview with Gianni Marty asks “Is there any chance at all that your snitch is playing both ends?”
18. “Why do you ask?”
19. Come on Jim, you gotta be asking yourself this, mate? “Well, when we find Sonny I’m sure he’ll have answers.” Jim’s pretty sure they’ll find Sonny alive. It looks like Sonny is as guilty as hell and like Jim is covering for him.
20. Debbie says she thinks the guys “let Sonny go. If Sonny ain’t dead or beaten up like me, he’s in on it.” So, she is not sure he is in on it but she thinks so and that if he isn’t they will have beaten him up or killed him.
21. OK, the last straw. Sonny’s story. “I spent the last 6 hours in a dumpster.” Too farfetched for Jim, too far fetched for me. And although he is dirty, maybe he smells? He is not beaten up at all and he is no longer afraid, making jokes about the OK coral. I think he's been let go to go back and find the coke. That's why he asks about it as soon as he can.
22. Jim asks for a minute alone with Sonny. So he can accuse him of setting him up without others being involved. Maybe he does not want to taint his informer unless he has to.
23. “They took my phone, they took my wallet. They robbed me.” Is this their style? Didn’t do that to Dunbar. If Sonny jumped out of the car on the way when would they have done this?
24. Perhaps Jim does not follow up on this right now because he has other priorities, finding Hank and finding the murderer. But in that room, Jim walked in asking if Sonny was lying and I don’t see him convinced that he wasn’t, and if Jim’s not convinced, neither am I.
25. This set up would be a good one for future stories, and I think the writers did well to set up such ambiguity and a rich mess for future disentanglement.
26. End of thesis
