Why didn't Artie Bucco join the Mob?

I mean, he grew up with Tony and the guys yet he was never really involved. He accepted most of Tony's offers and gifts and didn't really care if they were obtained illegally or not. Can someone fill me in?

He was never really mob material plus I doubt Tony wanted him to join, he was after all his greatest friend because of being an outsider

btw welcome to the boards

Just looking at the way Artie handled the situations with the French swindler and later with Benny Fazio tells you more than enough imo..

While Tony maybe never had the makings of a Varsity athlete, ol' Artie absolutely never had the makings of a bonafide wiseguy..

Artie dont had the cold blood for be a wiseguy. He can't beat the french (but can easly use his rifle to scary him) while with Fazio when was angry for the scam,nearley killed him.

Artie dream the money but don't had the temper,not the ball for do the wiseguy.

Artie was just lacking in confidence after having his balls busted by his wife all those years.

Artie showed that he could "rise to the occasion" where he's not even scared to pull a rifle on the boss of the family.

Beat Benny to a pulp also, showed him who was boss of Vesuvio. Until his hand was fried of course.

He wasn't a sociopath and actually was good at what he did. Being a chef and having a restaurant was what he's about.
He represented one of Tony's only real friends. Not another criminal who only kissed his ass because he's boss or capo or feared him.
That's why tony wanted to keep that friendship.

Standing up for yourself and beating someone up and all that doesn't necessarily make you mob material.

Agree, well said.

This in Furio's voice is about as perfect an answer as you can get. Not the ball for do the wiseguy.


Please don't think this is mocking you Furio from Naples, but sometimes I enjoy reading you speak English because you bring real knowledge with it. Much respect.

He grew up around those guys but he didn't come from the same type of households as them. His father was a honest man and ran his own legitimate restaurant whilst other guys in the Soprano family probably came from broken homes.

The other point is that David Chase is trying to make out is that throughout the show we see Artie constantly down on his luck, even though he is trying to play it straight. He is consistently offered by Tony to get involved in some sort of business deal (like when he offers to loan out some of Artie's money) or a free cruise vacation but Artie always refuses but still always ends up getting shit on someway or another. He even tries to commit suicide at one point. But by the end of the show the Soprano/Dimeo family is decimated, most of the characters throughout all the seasons are dead, even the still living ones are fucked. Its implied Patsy is going to be ratted out by Carlo, Paulie will die because of the Aprile curse after taking over the crew. Yet at the end of season 6 Artie states he and his wife are getting back together, he still has his restaurant whilst Tony is 6 feet under. In the end, after all Artie went through, it pays to be an honest man and it sucks to be in the mob. That was the point of his character.

Because he was a Chooch

I think that's pretty spot on. At times he became jealous of Tony because he always seemed to have money and attract the hottest women. While he always seemed to be down on his luck but in the long run he may have had a more stable and productive wife while a guy like Tony lived a life full of stress. Risking prison and death, and ultimately losing his family/life.

In Artie's defense though wasn't Benny Fazio also beat up by Phil Leotardo at one point?

It seemed like Tony was giving Artie his shot in "Everybody Hurts". Tony was reeling from Gloria's suicide and didn't want to let anyone down. He kept referring to himself as "a toxic person". He finds out Artie reached out to Ralphie for a loan, and immediately questioned his own friendship to Artie and decided to offer a sweeter deal. Tony was even giving Artie advice on how to loanshark and stay on top of deadbeats. Who knows what happens if that Armagnac deal works out? Of course, it didn't. Artie being Artie and all. By mob standards, Artie was way too weak, period. But by civilized standards, he was a moderately successful restaurant owner in a mid life crisis, with a powerful yet potentially dangerous friend.

Edit: Make it dangerous friend, outright. I forgot Tony blew up Artie's restaurant in order to prevent a hit from taking place there.

Arte was just a working stiff. He was never a tough guy. They never said how he became friends with Tony to begin as a kid as I recall.

I think Buco never judged a friend for the things he did. That is why Tony was his friend.

He was softer than a Twinkie filling. But a great character nonetheless.

When Charmaine has the bigger set in the household, you might not be mob material...

John....JOHN!!! YOU HAVE COMPANY!!!!!!!!!

I like John he was closest to the real thing. You never saw him cheating on his wife either. He had real Charactor different then those below him which was why he should have been made boss.

Agreed, John and Junior were probably my faviorite characters in the show. Those two were probably the more decent type of people in their families compared to the others.

I'm glad they made John an important character in season 3. He was kind of a side act in the first two seasons. I still remember seeing a post at a fan site that had the brief plot lines of season 3's episodes before the season started, and seeing things like, "John moving to New Jersey takes Tony by surprise", "John and Paulie strike up a friendship that Tony is unaware of", etc., and looking forward to it. Season 3 is when the true treachery begins in Tony's immediate crew, aside from Pussy in season 2, and Johnny Sack is in the mix of just about every incident.

Exactly. Tony's father and uncle were powerful mobsters, Chris's father was also a violent mobster. Artie didn't come from the same type of bloodline

I didn't take Johnny Sack's father as being much of a wiseguy either. What kind of family did Frank Costello come from? You have your white collar gangsters and your blue collar gangsters. Don't think the mob could have existed without both. Artie's curse is that he was neither tough or smart.

Mobsters are murderous sociopaths. Artie Bucco is not.

I don't think Bobby Bacala was a murderous sociopath. He has one kill that we know of, and it made him sick. Of course he shot a rapper in the ass but that was at his own request.

Tony, Silvio and Paulie certainly were sociopaths. You have to be on that level. And look how long Bobby lasted on the administration. Cared more about his toy trains that the mob life, and he died with them. I dont' think Bobby fit the sociopath profile.

Was watching the test dream episode where Tony has the dream about his old football coach, who claims Artie was the worst of them all lol.

"You all listened to that pismire, Arthur Bucco! He was the worst of the bunch! I told you. - Coach Molinaro

Artie owns a restaurant. - Tony
He's doing great.

Bucco? - Coach Molinaro

Yeah - Tony

So what? The exception that proves the rule. - Coach Molinaro

Artie wasn’t cut out for that life.