Tony's Troubles

spoiler alert: this post makes reference to the August 24 episode on CBC

Poor Tony. Life's hard for a villain. (Just ask Richard Hillman; he had to deal with David Platt - ed). Unfortunately, not even the Tonemeister is immune from the economic downturn. And, unlike other obstacles (Webster's Garage, Liam, endangered bats, Jed Stone's cat), he can't simply hand over a wad of cash and 'arrange' for the recession to have a 'wee accident'. So, for now, he is lumbered with a building full of unsold condos, mounting debt and a mouthy sales associate who always skiving (Leanne).

But that's just the beginning of his woes. Carla is AWOL in LA. She's been chatting with Leanne but won't even return Tony's calls and Leanne's explanation of 'poor reception in LA' (cellphone connectivity capital of the world) is a little, how you say, goofy. Then there's the sudden appearance of Giles, his accountant, whose job seems to be to remind Tony that he's leveraged all the way up to his sporron (Keep it clean - ed). Despite the problems, Tony refuses to lower the price on his condos to tempt would-be buyers. (How about a sales promotion like a free meal from that famous Scottish restaurant: McDonald's?)

On top of that, Rosie (a problem waiting to happen) has re-appeared out of nowhere like the Loch Ness Monster. Not only that, but she seems to be much smarter and canny than before she was kidnapped (Stockholm University syndrome? -ed). Here she is asking questions about her cellphone and why Tony didn't at least keep the SIM card. His only way to keep a lid on Rosie is by feeding her gems of management expertise like: "the only way to get on in management is to prove you can keep a secret" (yeah, just forget about increasing revenues, building marketshare or cutting costs).

Poor Tony doesn't even have a good buddy or peer to commiserate with. When he wants to have a heart-to-heart, Tony has to force his hired thug (the nervous bald guy) to be a friend, have a drink and listen to his problems (i.e. why doesn't Carla love me after I had Liam killed? What does a McBrother have to do to get a break?)

Boy, just wait till he finds out that 'Rosie's Insurance' has nothing to do with medical and dental coverage.