Agent Harris- Friend or Foe?

Throughout the Sopranos, the FBI is a constant enemy of the DiMeo crew. They bug Tony’s house, turn his closest friends into informants, and all the while pursue a lengthy investigation to take him down.

One of the central characters on this side of law is Agent Dwight Harris, a member of the taskforce investigating the mafia. Harris serves as the main federale we get to know in the series. Though he and Tony are ostensibly enemies, as the series goes on and priorities change, so does their relationship. By the end of it, it’s hard to tell whose side Harris is really on. Is he a defender of justice, or a friend of the mob? Let’s take a look and find out.

Harris is introduced in the season one episode “The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti”, where he searches Tony’s house as part of a warrant. He doesn’t want to traumatize Tony’s family by kicking in the door, showing a level of empathy the other agents don’t.

When another Agent Grasso breaks a bowl in the kitchen, Harris acts as a mediator and calms everyone down. Even still, Tony thinks this is an act and calls him a sneak.

“Trust me, he’s the biggest sneak out of all of them. It’s all part of his little act.”

After the attempted hit on Tony’s life, the FBI bring him in to offer him a deal. This is where we are first introduced to Frank Cubitoso, the lead agent in charge of the investigation. Cubitoso shows contempt for Tony, saying despite the fact that they are both Italian, they are nothing alike.

He then plays him the recorded conversation of Livia manipulating Junior into doing the hit in order to break Tony down and get him to corporate. It should be noted that Harris looks uncomfortable with doing this to Tony, again showing a level of empathy towards him.

Despite the continued investigation, Tony and Harris develop a friendly relationship. They shake hands and are seen chatting at the end of “House Arrest”.

However at the end of Season 2, Harris is part of the team that arrests Tony after finding the stolen airline tickets in his car. They have plans to indict him with Livia’s testimony, however her death ends these plans. By the way, this was going to be the original plotline to Season 3, but Nancy Marchand’s death in real life forced them to quickly rewrite the story.

Harris then leads a team to plant a bug in Tony’s house in the Season 3 premier “Mr. Ruggerio’s Neighborhood”. This episode is unique as it focuses on the FBI point of view, and all the hoops they have to jump through to get this wire. It gives us an insight into how difficult their investigation really is.

They successfully plant the bug, but Meadow inadvertently removes it when she takes the lamp it is planted in back to her dorm, saving Tony without him even knowing it.

With the investigation going nowhere, the FBI try a new strategy. They send an undercover agent “Danielle” to become friends with Adriana and get information out of her. They eventually discover that she helped cover up a murder, and force her to become an informant to avoid prosecution. Harris is part of the team that handles her, and the other rats in Tony’s crew.

However things change in Season 6. In the wake of 9/11, Harris is transferred from the mafia division into counter terrorism, and spends some time in Afghanistan. When he returns to New Jersey, he offers Tony goodwill if he will provide him any information about terrorist activities. Tony tips them off on two Arab drug dealers he knows from the Bing, though how much they are actually involved with terrorism is unclear.

This marks a complete change in their relationship. Harris begins to act as an ally to Tony, showing concern for him when he is shot. He also begins providing him with information in his conflicts with Phil Leotardo and the Lupertazzi family. Harris does this in part for information about terrorism, but also says that he has a personal animosity to Phil Leotardo, who tried to set up a female agent for a rape and beating in the past.

Tony himself also shows sympathy for Harris when he learns about the parasite he picked up overseas.

“Fuck him. I hope that parasite eats his asshole out.”

“I kinda feel bad for the guy.”

Christopher & Tony

Harris continues to hang around Satriales throughout the season. Christopher suggests that the reason Harris keeps coming around is because he misses them, and Harris doesn’t deny this.

“I think you don’t come here for the sandwiches. I think you come cause you miss us.”

Christopher

In the series finale, Harris gives Tony Phil’s location, which he obtained from sleeping with a female agent working Phil’s case. Some fans think this may be the agent that Phil intended to have raped, but there is no evidence either way. 

However what we do see is that Harris has gone completely team Tony. In his final scene when he learns that Phil was killed, he shows excitement for Tony’s victory.

“Damn! We’re going to win this thing.”

Harris

This is actually a reference to a real life incident, when Agent Lindley DeVecchio gave information and support to his informant Greg Scarpa. Though he was investigated for corruption, he was never prosecuted. 

Overall, Harris is an interesting character. Though he begins the series actively trying to bring Tony down, by the end he’s one of Tony’s most useful allies. What brought about this change, and what does it say about him as a federal agent?

Well one possible reason for this change is of course 9/11. As the US government is focusing all of its efforts into fighting terroism, the mafia just isn’t the same priority it was at the start of the series. Once Harris is transferred, he no longer has any reason to care about Tony’s involvement in the mob. And not only that, but he is able to leverage Tony’s knowledge of the underworld to further his investigation of suspected terrorists.

However, this doesn’t seem to be the reason why Harris seems to go out of his way to help Tony. After all, even if he isn’t on the Mafia taskforce, his colleagues still are. They are still trying to build a case against him, and it doesn’t make sense for him to fraternize with their target and possibly endanger their investigation. 

Furthermore, Tony’s information about possible terrorists is suspect at best, and Harris seems to be aware that Tony is only providing useless information in order to get information from Harris. But yet despite this, Harris goes out of his way to get information on Phil’s location to Tony that he knows will result in a murder, which is almost certainly corruption in the eyes of the bureau.

Of course, there is the personal animosity he feels towards Phil for setting up a female agent to be raped and beaten. But in his final scene, he doesn’t cheer the fact that Phil is dead. He cheers that Tony is going to win. This seems to suggest that his feelings for Tony are what is motivating him, not his feelings for Phil.

Now don’t get excited. I’m not claiming Harris is in love with Tony or anything, though I’m sure I could make a great clickbait with that idea. No, what I think is that he becomes attached to Tony in a way that is unhealthy for a law enforcement officer. From his first scenes with Tony, we see him sympathize with him in a way that the other agents don’t. And as the series goes on, this friendly attitude develops into culpability. 

This is something Cubitoso warned Agent Lispari that this could happen.

“These things can work two ways Skip. You can find yourself getting too close.”

Cubitoso

The irony of Harris’ character is that he is a snake like Tony said he was. Only it’s the FBI that he is duplicitous with. In the end, even Tony’s enemy is sucked into his charisma, just like we the audience are.

That… or he’s secretly in love with him.