It seems as if Carmine became boss of the Lupertazzi family in the last episode, as Butch looks to him before answering about Phil's location.
In a previous episode, the one where Gerry Torciano was killed, it was assumed that Doc Santoro ordered the hit. As Carmine said to Tony, "Doc showed a lack of respect." Carmine made it clear that he did not want to be boss at all.
Now, as I think others have stated, could it be that Carmine played one off of everybody? In that, he ordered the hit on Gerry, and then acted like he didn't want to be boss? Let Phil and Doc battle it out, then wait for the old-geyser winner to fail. Carmine knew that his perception to others was of an idiot, so he knew that others would not perceive him as a threat. Possible, no? Thoughts?