Originally Posted by Lana
Originally Posted by Evita
Originally Posted by The Last Woltz
Originally Posted by lucab19
I started a thread about Roth's plan and how stupid/unnecessary it was. All he had to do was bide his time for a couple of weeks, have Michael killed in Cuba, use his connections to the Bautista regime to blame it on Castro and his rebels and he wins.

Maybe, but I think it was more like a few months. That's a long time to wait. A lot could have happened in that time, such as Michael figuring out that Roth is his enemy (actually, I think Michael already knew, but didn't expect such an aggressive move from Roth), Michael making further inroads in Roth's Nevada holdings, Fredo slipping up and revealing something, etc.

If there was no Tahoe shooting and Michael was to be killed in Havana, there would have been no need to recruit Fredo or backing up the Rosatos

I am not sure Michael was figuring out that Roth He acts like I'm his son -- his successor is his enemy until after the Tahoe shooting I reckon that's where Roth was slippin'

Michael would have turned up completely relaxed and confident, in their friendship and be a sitting duck
However it still could have certainly raised significant suspicions that Michael was the only one who died
My take, for what it is worth!

I doubt Michael was “figuring out that Roth is his enemy” Michael seemed to have been completely taken in! by Roth even after the Tahoe shooting Michael initially believed it was someone inside telling Tom
Quote
They [Tahoe assassins] are dead already, killed by somebody close to us inside
ie: It seems Roth was not even suspected


I'll concede that it's not clear that Michael already suspects Roth.

But Michael tells Pentangeli that he knows Roth is backing the Rosatos. It's hard to imagine that it didn't strike ever-paranoid Michael as odd that Roth would insert himself in a turf war over three territories in the Bronx. Backing the Rosatos was not, to coin a phrase, the act of a friend.

Michael's failure was not believing that Roth thought of him as a son, it was thinking that Roth wouldn't push back against Michael's aggressiveness, either because there was so much money at stake that Roth wouldn't want to jeopardize their deal or because Michael didn't really think Roth was someone who would resort to violence.

"A man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous!"