I really can’t figure out which side Savino is playing. I mean, he hates the sheriff but calls him in to arrest cheaters in the casino. Then, he seems to let Johnny Rizzo in on his Tumbleweed expansion deal, but we know he’d rather punch Rizzo out. He’s playing some sort of angle; I’m just not sure what it is.
Dad: I had a big black Lincoln like Savino when I was growing up.
Me: That car looked like a tank, and expensive.
Dad: A mob guy back home traded it in at Pop’s lot (his stepfather) and I got it. The trunk always smelled like liquor though.
Me: And I’m sure you told Grandma it was from the mobster.
The sheriff and his cowboy deputies are investigating the murder of an African-American worker at the Tumbleweed. Like everything else in the 60s, race turns out to be a major factor in the murder. She was run down after speaking out against the strike at a union meeting. Through the investigation we learn she is the result of her mother’s affair with the father of a white family where she was a housekeeper. As soon as you meet the dad you know there’s more to the story than what he’s telling. Possible suspects during the investigation included the union leader (an obvious no), the half-brother of the victim (a contender for a bit), and I even considered the wife of the victim’s father. He was paying her tuition money and I figured the wife found out and just faked a surprise when the police told her about the affair. But the killer turns out to be a white woman she works with at the casino.
Dad: I did not see that one coming. I don’t even remember seeing her that much.
Me: Me either. She just didn’t stick out to me. Good job on the writer’s part, keeping that hidden.
On the mob side of “Vegas,” Savino is trying to become a partner of the Tumbleweed, a rundown western casino. It’s his new attempt to try and build up his dream of Vegas expansion. Mobsters from Milwaukee are standing in his way and they battle it out. Rizzo stops in for a surprise visit at the Savoy and tells Savino he knows about the Tumbleweed plan. Rizzo wants to hide it from the big boss, Angelo, and wants 50% of the take. Savino seems to go along with the idea, but I can’t imagine it’s going to play out that civilly. And, to just muddy the waters a little more, the sheriff’s brother likes Rizzo’s daughter.
Me: I think she likes him too and there’s going to come a point where she will be stuck in the middle.
Dad: I just can’t believe she’s dating the D.A.
When the sheriff’s brother finally gets up the nerve to ask her out, she’s already leaving with the D.A. Earlier in the episode, the sheriff walked in on the D.A. and Savino having a chat. I think it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed. I was surprised when the sheriff just let the mobsters take each other out. Savino’s boys killed the Milwaukee guys.
Dad: You’d never be able to get away with that stuff in Vegas now.
Me: Why not?
Dad: The CSIs would catch you.
