In GF2 Michael turns over the family to Tom on the night of the Tahoe shootings. "Tom, you're going to be the Don".

I always thought this was kind of a corny line. But the other thing that I find a little disconcerting is the extent of Tom's Don-ship is confined to "Rocco, get rid of the bodies." (Rocco's response "Where's Mike?") Tom: "Rocco!" And that's it. I always thought it was an awkward segue and dialog. Tom's Donship has no bearing on any of the plot to follow. It only serves to give Michael the opportunity to tell Tom he always thought of him as a brother.

Tom did seem to have a bit of a swagger in his step when he walked away from Rocco in that scene.

Exactly, MC. The Tahoe shooting made Michael realize that Tom, who he'd shunted aside and abused, was the only person he could trust at that point. And he needed Tom to manage things while he was gone. So he tried to make "amends" by crapping him up to a fare-the-well: "I kept things from you because I love you and respect you"; "you're my brother"; "you're gonna be the Don." It was all B.S., as we saw--as soon as Michael got back from Cuba (after finally finding out who the traitor was), he was back to being abusive toward Tom.

Again, we see Mike as the master manipulator, using people to serve his own ends.

Tom actually did pretty well as temporary Don. He ket everything running and he brilliantly engineered the setting up of Geary. Michael didn't even say "thank you."

...but he didn't find out that Pentangeli had survived, thus setting up his one and only client for five counts of perjury...

Yeah, but as mentioned in antoher related thread, Tom's client wasn't exactly telling him the whole story. Lawyers don't get blamed when their clients lie to them!

Let's not forget that it was Tom who arranged the murders of both Khartoum AND Geary's hooker.

Yep, he knows how to get his hands dirty if he has to, but generally avoids a tendency to violence.

Arranged? The novel says that Vito gave Tom instructions regarding the horse. The hooker, I don't know about.

I posted in another thread that Michael, the arch-controller, would never have let Tom arrange a murder--much less one that implicated a US Senator--on his own. I'm guessing that, since Geary was a regular at Fredo's brothel ("We done it be-FOEwer..."), his patronage was reported to Michael right away. I'm guessing that, after the "oily hair. silk suit" insult, Michael instructed Tom and Neri to nail Geary's ass the next time he showed up in Fredo's brothel. It happened to occur while Michael was gone and Tom was "the Don," so Fredo gave the order, but Michael had approved it in advance.

Probably so. I also can't see Tom taking on that responsibility on his own, one that could very seriously backfire and bring the FBI directly into their midst.

I also don't understand why Mike gave Geary his answer right away.

yeah remember that this all goes along with how Tom "wasn't a wartime consigilere". I also don't know why Mike gave Geary his answer right away but my best guess is that he wanted to settle business with Geary quick so he could concentrate on taking care of his more important business with Roth. Mike probably also thought that he could muscle Geary much easier than he could muscle Roth.

If Michael knew, well before the "oily hair/silk suit" session, that Geary was a regular in Fredo's brothel, he'd have tucked that factoid away for further action. So, when Geary insulted him and made his greedy demand, Michael didn't need to hesitate--he already had his action plan laid out.

Yes, but why tip his hand in any way? Geary gave him until noon tomoorow to answer. Why not take any advantage of that possible? Also, why risk antagonizing Geary with his answer? It just seems an unnecessary and unintelligent thing to say.

Well Geary went out of his way to insult Mike personally. He wasn't worried about antagonizing Michael. He underestimated Michael and the Corleone power. So perhaps Michael took it personally and replied with equal condescension. As Michael had likely already decided how he would handle Geary if there were any problems this could have been a source of amusement to Michael.

Nicely said, Lilo. I agree.
To Olivant's point, Michael's cocksure answer wasn't consistent with the general Corleone modus operandi of making your enemies underestimate you. But then again, as you point out, Geary had already underestimated Michael.

Well, I guess my point was that Michael's truculent answer could have motivated Geary to take other action. The nature of that action could have seriously affected Mike's plan. Who knows. He could have said, "I'll show you. Take your money and shove it. I'm bringing in the FBI." The last thing that Mike would want to do was to excite Geary's emotions any more.

I highly doubt it. I'm sure that Geary was a senator that already had plenty of skeletons in his closet way before dealing or attemting to deal with Michael.

His shady background is probably one of the reasons that Michael attempted to do business with him.

And Geary went into that meeting with Michael a seasoned pro in how he laid out his demands. The way that he did so showed that he had done it before. Only mistake is that he underestimated Michael and how far his reach went.

I think that Mike answered right away because the "offer" mirrors the $1,000.00 offer that Vito made to the bandleader, which story Michael told Kay at Connie's wedding, just before saying, "That's my family, Kay. It's not me."

I'm surprised Geary didn't know he frequented a Corleone owned brothel. Did Turnbull drop the ball?

The novel implies that Luca pulled off the horse thing.

I always thought that it was left hazy as to exactly who had killed the horse?

The Don had LOTS of friends and connections. He could have had that arranged by his friends on the West Coast, no?

He actually "one-up's" his old man. Vito came back the next day WITH Luca.

Michael takes a different approach. Dont leave Senator I will break it down for you RIGHT NOW.

I think we have to see Michael's "nothing"-offer in connection to "All that's left is our friendship." These two statements are in fact contradictory. But only with the initial threatening, Michael and Tom can be sure that Geary got the message. Without the threat he might have believed that he really had killed her by himself.

Actually the statements are not contradictory at all. The offer of "nothing" comes after Geary makes it clear he doesn't like Michael, and Michael's kind with their oily hair and silk suits passing themselves off as real Americans. Michael, through Tom turns the tables on Geary 100% with the hooker. Tom leads him through a series of questions where it becomes clear that without Michael's help there is a damn good circumstantial case for manslaughter, against the senator and the likelihood that his career is over. In classic Corleone fashion, Tom explains the Senator has only one choice, and that is to accept Michael's "friendship," because that's literally all he has left if he wants to continue his career.

I don't find anything in the novel that even remotely indicates that Luca was involved in Khartoum's destruction, even a hazy one. The same is true of the film. The novel does state that Vito instructed Tom about how to handle the situation and that Tom was sure Vito's instructions would solve the problem. In the saga version of the film there is a scene where Vito says that he will try to reason with Woltz - meaning violently.

Exactly. It's never spelled out in the novel or film. That's more ominous in a way because it shows that the Don's reach is much further than anyone (including the viewer) realizes.

Right, Lilo! The novel never mentions Luca in connection with the horse decapitation. It says that the Don called Hagen in and gave him instructions. Hagen was "dazed with admiration" over the Don's plan. "There was no question...that Woltz would call him this morning [emphasis added] with the news that Johnny Fontaine had the starring role..." That line tells me that Luca could not have been dispatched on such short (no jet planes) notice to the West Coast to do the dirty deed himself. Vito evidently told Tom to reach out for Corleone allies in the movie unions to whack the horse. And it's a harbinger of things to come in the novel (i.e., Vito's influence over Johnny getting the Oscar for that film).

I always thought that was Tom at his most repellent. Downright reptilian.