The Sopranos: What was Feech La Manna’s Problem?

The Sopranos is a show full of memorable side characters. Characters who while not around for a long time, make a big impact with the screen time they do have. And one of the most interesting of these characters is Feech La Manna.

Feech is one of the oldest mobsters in the DiMeo family. He’s a man of the past, a vestige of the old guard who is struggling to find his place in the modern world of the Mafia. He is a man who is both respected for his loyalty and dedication to the mob code, and feared for his violence and antagonistic ways.

Though he was away in prison for most of the events of the show, he is actually deeply involved in the backstory of Tony and Jackie Aprile. And though he was only around for a few episodes, his story is important for the generational themes of the show.

So in this video, let’s take a look at the man and the legend: Feech La Manna

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Feech La Manna is an old school member of the DiMeo family, dating back to the time of Tony’s father Johnny Boy and possibly all the way back to the origin of the family. Ralph states that Feech was made in Italy before moving to America, giving him even more legitimacy as a mobster.

As an early member of the family, Feech was involved in many historical events. He was the driver of Tommy Pinto, another legendary mob figure in the family.

Feech eventually became a high ranking member of the mafia himself. In addition to shylocking and other racketeering, Feech also ran the executive card game that we see being continued even to the present day.

There is a slight continuity issue when it comes to the executive game. In Season 2, Junior states that he and Johnny Boy invented the executive card game themselves.

However when Feech gets out of prison, he says he wants his game back, and Tony says that the game now belongs to his Uncle, confirming that it once belonged to Feech.

It’s possible that Junior and Johnny started the game, but that Feech took ownership of it as a captain. This might imply that Junior and Johnny were underneath Feech at one point, but we just don’t know.

Either way this game would be an important part of Tony’s backstory. It’s revealed that when they were young, Tony and Jackie Aprile Senior robbed the card game. Though this was a clear act of disrespect against Feech, Tony’s father and Jackie’s older brother Richie were able to get them off with a pass.

This action demonstrated that Tony and Jackie were rising stars in the family who had to be respected, and within a few years they were both made. Eventually both would go on to become bosses of the family directly as a result of this action.

It’s likely that Feech harbored resentment against Tony because of this act, but he wasn’t around to challenge him. In the 80’s along with Tony Blundetto and Phil Leotardo, Feech was arrested and convicted for racketeering as part of the crackdowns on the Mafia. Feech would serve 20 years in prison, however unlike some other characters, he didn’t feel the need to constantly remind people about it.

Feech is an interesting character, as he’s mentioned as early as Season 2, though he doesn’t appear in the show until three seasons later. Some fans think they were laying the groundwork for Feech very early, however Terrence Winter revealed in an interview that Feech’s appearance wasn’t planned out ahead of time, and that it was just created based on the existing references to him in the show.

Feech finally appears in person in Season 5, having been released along with the other mobsters this season. He immediately springs back into action, setting up his old businesses and starting to make money.

This causes friction with some of the other mobsters, who feel he is muscling in on their territory. And this sets up the recurring theme we see in the show of conflict with mobsters getting out of prison. They feel that because of their loyalty in staying quiet all those years, they are entitled to a higher position. We see this not only with Feech, but also Richie and Tony Blundetto.

And that definitely seems fair given the time they served protecting the family and their oath. However this creates conflict with the mobsters who took their territory since then and don’t want to give that up. It highlights the selfishness of the mob world, how despite all their talk of being a family, at the end of the day everyone is out for themselves.

We actually saw the very same thing happen in Goodfellas as well, as part of the reason they wack Billy Batts is because Jimmy had taken over his loan shark business and did not want to give it up.

However the problem with Feech goes beyond just money issues. He also has a problem with Tony as the boss. Before Feech went away, Tony was just a young kid. Even setting aside the poker game, it’s hard for Feech to respect Tony as his superior given his age. He constantly belittles him, referring to him as the “boy king” and such.

We saw the same thing happen with Richie Aprile. And due to the lessons Tony learned in his conflict with Richie, he decides to get rid of Feech before he inevitably makes a move against him. He has Christopher and Benny set him up with stolen goods, and Feech is then busted and sent back to prison, where he will stay for the rest of his life.

Fun fact: the parole officer who busts Feech, Jimmy Curan, is confirmed to be corrupt and working for the DiMeo family in a later episode.

Some fans think that Feech was originally meant to have been around longer, but was written off the show because the actor Robert Loggia had trouble remembering the dialogue. However, according to Alan Sepinwall, famous TV critic and friend of David Chase, Feech was always intended to be written off for thematic reasons.

Feech’s role in the story is two fold. One was to show how Tony had evolved from his conflict with Richie Aprile, and learned how to deal with old timers. Though Feech was set up to be another potential antagonist, Tony took him out before he became a serious problem.

But another reason was to show the generational conflict that prison creates. Mobsters at the top of their game get sent away, and return to a world that has moved past them. Newer, younger players have taken their place, and this leaves them feeling threatened and lost.

Feech’s end is certainly a tragic one. Despite his disprect of Tony, Feech was still a long standing member of the family who had well earned his place. His refusal to kowtow to Tony is what ultimately led to his fate, one he arguably doesn’t deserve. He’s going to die alone in prison, his years of loyalty and silence ultimately meaningless in the face of an organization that only cares about tomorrow’s profit.

Tony often complains about the state of the mafia, and how almost everyone turns into an informant. But it’s hard to justify loyalty when this is the reward. He may have challenged Tony’s authority at times, but at least he never betrayed his oath. If the mob focused more on people like Feech instead of just who was the best earner, maybe the organization wouldn’t be in the state it is today.