The BEST episodes of Wiseguy
Every episode of Wiseguy ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Wiseguy!
Vinnie Terranova does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an agent for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) of the United States. His roots in a traditional Italian city neighborhood form the underlying dramatic base throughout the series, bringing him into conflict with his conservative mother and other family members while acting undercover as syndicate enforcer.
#1 - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (2)
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/10/1990
While Frank is in Washington to talk to Paul about returning to work, Dan calls to say Vinnie missed his last check-in. Frank goes to Vinnie's house and finds evidence that he was kidnapped. Despite Paul's objections, Frank begins his own investigation, finding out from Carlotta that Vinnie was looking into the death of a priest in El Salvador. Frank follows the trail to Miami and Michael Santana, a disbarred Federal prosecutor, and the last person Vinnie contacted. Santana refuses to help Frank, saying he doesn't know anything about Vinnie's disappearance. Digging deeper, Frank stumbles upon a CIA investigation and is ordered to back off. Part 2 of 2
#2 - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (1)
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/10/1990
While Frank is in Washington to talk to Paul about returning to work, Dan calls to say Vinnie missed his last check-in. Frank goes to Vinnie's house and finds evidence that he was kidnapped. Despite Paul's objections, Frank begins his own investigation, finding out from Carlotta that Vinnie was looking into the death of a priest in El Salvador. Frank follows the trail to Miami and Michael Santana, a disbarred Federal prosecutor, and the last person Vinnie contacted. Santana refuses to help Frank, saying he doesn't know anything about Vinnie's disappearance. Digging deeper, Frank stumbles upon a CIA investigation and is ordered to back off. Part 1 of 2.
#3 - Aria for Don Aiuppo
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/7/1988
Vinnie is questioned about his connection to Don Aiuppo, thus learning his mother is dating the retired mobster. Checking into it, he finds Rudy and Carlotta were in love as teenagers, then is stunned when Rudy proposes and she accepts. Mark digs up information showing that Rudy is in the country illegally and sets him up to be deported, not knowing it means that Carlotta will leave, too. At the last minute, Rudy changes places with his brother, Tito, who wants to return to Italy.
#4 - The One That Got Away
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/3/1989
Winston serves Vinnie with an order to vacate, which Vinnie counters with the vow that he's going to stay at Radiance for the duration of his contract, causing Winston to dig deeper into Vinnie's past. Winston orders Vinnie and Bobby to work in the mailroom. Bobby uncovers Vinnie's file, which was sent to Winston, and confronts Vinnie about being a cop. Winston is arrested when he agrees to buy the illegal tape of Eddie from Isaac.
#5 - Meltdown
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/28/1990
Volchek becomes depressed over losing the hospital. Roger and Frank try to save Lynchboro by getting Volchek to realize he really is in control. Vinnie goes to Kousakis when he realizes the waste they're dumping is causing a hepatitis outbreak in a nearby school, then attacks Kousakis when he tells Vinnie to mind his own business. Vinnie tries to alert an official to the toxic waste, but it turns out the guy is corrupt and tells Kousakis to kill Vinnie. Feeling trapped, Vinnie kills the two gunmen sent to kill him, then flees into the night. Roger leaves, telling Frank to tell Vinnie they're now even.
#6 - Living and Dying in 4/4 Time
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/10/1989
Just as Frank's suspected, the case against Winston is thrown out of court as entrapment, pushing the investigation back to square one. Vinnie urges Bobby to start working away at Winston from inside Radiance by contacting all of the acts and showing them how badly Winston has been ripping them off. Isaac suffers a massive heart attack and later dies. Winston goes mad. Bobby gets Dead Dog. Amber gets Shakala back.
#7 - Call It Casaba
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/17/1989
Wrapping things up at Shakala, Frank reminds Vinnie that they're scheduled to go fishing in the morning. Vinnie and Amber go to dinner, stay up all night talking. Vinnie is surprised to find they're going fishing with Lifeguard, who is in an emotional struggle over his daughter's plans to marry. Frank, Vinnie and Dan have a long talk about relationships around the campfire. Dan agrees to meet his future son-in-law. Frank tries to reconcile with Jenny. Vinnie decides to go after Amber.
#8 - Le Lacrime D'Amore (1)
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/24/1989
Vinnie warns Amber about her lawyer, but Amber thinks he's just jealous. Vinnie runs into an old high school buddy who urges Vinnie to pursue Amber. Vinnie uncovers proof the lawyer is conning Amber into selling Shakala. Amber and Vinnie fall in love.
#9 - Le Lacrime D'Amore (2)
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/24/1989
Carlotta and Rudy Aiuppo return to the States when they hear about Amber. Carlotta thinks Amber isn't right for Vinnie. Rudy takes Vinnie to the Commission and tells them that Vinnie is under his protection, even though he's not in the business. Frank is overjoyed to learn that Vinnie has been introduced to the Commision. Vinnie tells Amber he's a cop and proposes to her. Rudy is shot, forcing Vinnie to become embroiled in a brewing mob war.
#10 - A Rightful Place
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1989
While keeping vigil over Rudy, Vinnie learns that Grosset's father-in-law was also hit, setting up a power struggle within the mob. Albert courts Vinnie's alliance by letting him in on his plan to smuggle millions of dollars worth of heroin into the country. Vinnie goes to the Commission and demands Rudy's seat at the table.
#11 - Battle of the Barge
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1989
The tension mounts between Cerrico and Grosset over control of the garbage collection business. Grosset forms an uneasy alliance with Chinatown mobster Chin. Carlotta urges Rudy to get better and get Vinnie out of the middle of the impending mob war. The OCB closes down the explosives factory in Chinatown. Gina Grosset kills Chin. After an assassination attempt at the opera, Amber tells Vinnie to move out.
#12 - Sins of the Father
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1989
Frank wants to pull Vinnie off the case when he finds out that D.A. Peter Alatorre plans to expose Vinnie as the head of the Commission in a news conference. Albert is distraught when his son is expelled from school because of his recent press coverage. Rudy calls Alatorre to his hospital room to show that he is back in the country, taking the heat off Vinnie.
#13 - Heir to the Throne
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1989
Rudy discovers Joey's plan to kill him, Albert and Vinnie, so sets his own plan into operation by convincing Albert he must kill Grosset. Albert and Joey have a showdown that ends with Joey dead and Albert in jail for his murder. Wanting her due, Gina sets up a meet with the Commission to offer them Albert's heroin deal. When Frank easily affects the arrest of the Commission, Vinnie begins to suspect that Rudy set everything up for them.
#14 - Sleepwalk
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1989
Frank and Dan urge Vinnie to try and reconcile with Amber. At their urging, he goes to her, they make love, then she demands that they see a counselor. Following their therapist's advice, they go away for the weekend, where they both realize they're too involved in their careers to be able to maintain a relationship with each other.
#15 - How Will They Remember Me?
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/1989
When a local priest finds a box that belonged to Pete, he takes it to Vinnie, who finds a diary of his father's inside. As he reads it, he finds out about a dark episode involving his father and the local mob. The episode uses black and white film and familiar faces to bring John's diary to life.
#16 - People Do It All the Time
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1989
Vinnie and Frank try to cheer up Dan, who's depressed about becoming a grandfather. When Lauren finds a phony check in her husband's pocket, she asks Dan to investigate, and he uncovers a scam a local builder is using to bilk his insurance company. The builder is shut down, throwing Stephen out of a job and making him decide to leave town.
#17 - Day One
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1989
Vinnie is called to Washington to investigate a counterfeiting operation designed to sabotage the Japanese economy. Frank warns Vinnie to be careful, that there is some kind of power play going on, because Paul was mysteriously sent to Thailand, leaving Mark in charge. Vinnie suspects Masters wants to set him up for throwing the coup of Isle Pavot. Mark is relieved of duty when he loses control after his former mentor is murdered. Vinnie meets Kate Gallagher.
#18 - Day Seven
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/1989
Vinnie and Dan find evidence of the counterfeiting ring in Utah, but it seems to have come too easily, so Vinnie heads into the mountains to meet a billionaire recluse, Prescott Wilson, who might hold the key to the truth in the case. Frank and Vinnie convince Senator Pickering to delay passage of Senator Getzloff's trade bill while they search for the plane carrying the yen. Masters presents the Attorney General with photos of Vinnie and Kate talking with Wilson, as well as the printing plate with Vinnie's prints on it. Frank is ordered to arrest Vinnie.
#19 - Romp
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/7/1990
Feeling lonely, Vinnie joins his old buddy Mike Caccatori at the bachelor party for their high-school friend Jimmy "The Legend" Vitale, but the trio's friendship is put to the test when Jimmy reveals that he's broke and owes money to a loan shark. It ends up being a dream.
#20 - Sanctuary
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/11/1990
Depressed, Vinnie contemplates suicide, then hears church bells. He goes to confession and breaks down, begging Father Pat to help him. Frank goes to Seattle to look for Vinnie. Vinnie tells Father Pat about the toxic dumping, and the priest arranges a press conference. Frank finally finds Vinnie at the church. Kousakis overhears the plan to expose him on the news and shoots at them, wounding Frank and Father Pat. Vinnie and Dan chase Kousakis. Dan finds out Frank is in critical condition and goes to the hospital. After trying to revive Frank, the doctors give up when he flat lines.
#21 - Brrump—Bump!
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/18/1990
Frank has an out-of-body experience, then briefly awakens when he hears Vinnie calling him. Kousakis kills Harriet, then hides out at the church while waiting to kill Boden. Vinnie decides to try repairing the church bells in the hopes that they will awaken Frank from his coma. Vinnie discovers Kousakis in the bell tower, but Kousakis jumps to his death before Vinnie can summon the police. Vinnie repairs the bells and rings them, waking Frank.
#22 - High Dollar Bop
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/5/1989
Sensing Eddie's unhappiness with Newquay, Vinnie tries to lure him away by promising him he can work with Monroe. Winston finds out and has Medley thrown off a roof as a warning to Vinnie. Bobby travels to Japan and finds evidence that Twine may be cheating him and Vinnie. Isaac loses Shakala to Newquay in a crooked poker game. Frank talks Isaac into helping him gather evidence against Newquay.
#23 - Hip Hop on the Gravy Train
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/12/1989
Amber talks Winston into letting her and Isaac run Shakala at Radiance. Feeling like he's at a dead end, Vinnie urges Bobby to make his own way inside Radiance while he starts turning up the heat under Winston. Isaac agrees to dig up information for Frank. Vinnie urges Claudia to take a more active part in Radiance. Eddie is furious when the check he uses to buy his mother a house bounces. Claudia begins an affair with Eddie, and both are killed when they fall through a skylight.
#24 - Pilot (2)
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/16/1987
Vinnie and Sonny's right hand man, Tony Grecco, have a run-in with the cops for which Vinnie is arrested. The Steelgraves find that guns are being exported illegally using their pier and decide to take possession of the guns and sell them back to the owner. The meeting goes down bad and ends with Dave Steelgrave's death. Vinnie gets rid of Tony by setting him up and having him arrested. To prove his loyalty, Vinnie shoots a federal agent for Sonny (but the agent was warned, wore a bullet proof vest, and was then moved out of state).
#25 - The Prodigal Son
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/22/1987
Vinnie decides he must tell his mother the truth about his work when she is hospitalized after being mugged. Frank has Lifeguard bug Carlotta's hospital room, then has a change of heart when Carlotta charms Sonny by telling him how much Vinnie loves him. Vinnie's admiration for Sonny lessens when his own informal investigation into his mother's mugging leads directly back to Sonny's empire.