When Tony is in the hospital in his coma, Silvio then becomes acting boss.

Paulie was the longtime Underboss at that point so he should have technically got the big seat.


Silvio was always the Consiglieri.



Any thoughts?

That's a good question. Titles aside, Silvio was closer to Tony and smarter than Paulie, so even though he turned out not quite desirous/capable of the job, it made sense that he would have gotten first whack at it.

I can't remember now but wasn't a rough consensus reached among the leaders at either a wake or a restaurant that Silvio would temporarily step up?

well he was never really chosen,he basically just said "i'll lead things while tony is gone"

Not that I remember. Paulie got the title of Underboss between Seasons 5 and 6. (Tony was shot in Season Six, Show 1, and Silvio took over in Season Six, Show 2).

Paulie was always tony's underboss

When Tony took over the Family in Season 2, Paulie became a capo. He remained at that level until Season 6 started (and Chris took over that crew while Paulie became Underboss).

Are you forgetting that Junior (as much as I liked him) was only Boss in name?

Tony was always the real Boss of the family for most of the show with Silvio as his consiglieri and Paulie his Underboss.

Not at all.... but for the most part Tony had his own crew in Season 1. In that crew was Paulie, a regular soldier. Paulie first took over as capo in Season 2.

Kind of makes you wonder who would have taken over if Tony had actually died. Silvio clearly wouldn't have been the long term answer. Paulie? No way. Chris was nowhere near ready.

Could have been open season for the New York boys to feast off of the Jersey crews.

I remember Vito wanting to be boss so bad he could taste it. Remember Vito & Paulie giving that fat envelope to Carm in the hospital? They looked like they would rather have been shot by Junior. Both would have yanked the plug on Tony if given the chance.

I remember that scene too. But neither of them was boss material. Of course, in real life there have been family bosses who never should have been bosses. Silvio just assumed the rank of boss as default. I don't remember Paulie being designated as underboss.

I don't remember Paulie being appointed underboss, either. I agree that neither Vito or Paulie were ready for "the big chair" - as Silvio called it. I have heard of smaller families/crews incorporating the consiglieri and underboss position because of the low numbers of made men in their family. The Soprano crew was not that big so it is conceivable that Sil held both positions.

Bobby was being groomed for underboss at the time of his death.

The whole Paulie being Underboss has been argued about many times. Since he was part of Tony's crew and close to him from the beginning, it seems many have just assumed Paulie became Underboss when Tony took over. But there isn't really anything in the show itself to support that assumption. There are, however, a number of things that contradict that assumption.

Season 3: Episode 11 – “Pine Barrens”

While they are lost in the woods, Paulie complains to Chris about Tony’s dealings with the Russians. Chris says that it is none of their business. Paulie replies “Fuck that, I’m a captain.” Later on, when Paulie threatens to pull rank on Chris for peeing outside the van window, Chris says “Fuck you Paulie, captain or no captain, right now we’re just two assholes lost in the woods.”


Season 4: Episode 2 – “No Show”

At a meeting involving Silvio, Ralph, Bobby, Chris, Patsy, and Little Paulie, the discussion comes up about no-show jobs on the Esplanade construction site. The decision is made to give a no-show job to Paulie, who is in jail, as well as a no-show job to Chris, who is made acting captain over Paulie’s crew.


Season 5: Episode 1 – “Two Tony’s”

Chris goes out to dinner with Tony, Silvio, Feech, and Paulie. Beforehand, Chris had to borrow money from Adriana because he was "low man" that night and so was expected to pay. At the end of the meal, Chris and Paulie fued over who ultimately has to pay. If Paulie was underboss, he would have been outranked by Tony alone, and would not have been bickering with Chris over who picked up the check.


Season 6: Episode 20 – “The Blue Comet”

Phil decides to go to war with New Jersey and makes his decision known to Butch and Albie. “We decapitate and do business with whatever’s left” he says. Later, Butch holds a meeting with other family members about who exactly to hit. They decide to hit who they identify as the top three guys – Tony, Silvio, and Bobby. One of them expresses his amazement that Bobby has risen so high after being “Junior’s driver.”

Upon being warned by the FBI that New York is planning to strike, Tony gives the order to hit Phil to Silvio and Bobby. They, in turn, pass along the order to Paulie, who who clearly resents taking orders from Bobby. Continuing on down the chain of command, Paulie gives the order to Patsy, who arranges the hit with Corky, the go-between with the Italian hitmen.

In the latter part of the episode both Silvio and Bobby are shot by New York hitmen, though Tony manages to evade them. Paulie is never a target, as he likely would have had he been the underboss.

I think it was possible for Paulie to be promoted to Underboss after Bobby was whacked.

IvyLeague, A+ for the home work assignment. Great info - thanks. I think its safe to say that Paulie was a captain and never was underboss at any time.

I agree. I don't recall Paulie ever being referred to as the Underboss. I don't even remember it being understood that way. The only thing that comes to mind is in the episode Chris got made, I seem to remember Paulie also getting congratulated for his "promotion."

Didnt Paulie get asked by tony to take carlo's crew after he flipped, he told tony he needed to think about it, then outside satrialis he finally accepted. as an underboss wouldnt he already be above that.

Im not sure. But my theory is the same as everyone else's. Silvio was considered my capable and more worthy of the job. He was closer to Tony, and he was the first to step up as the big man.

how come when new york was trying to hit the jersey family. they said to go after sil. bobby and tony. that paulie wasn't a high up anymore if he was underboss wouldnt they have gone after him as well?

It's a status thing, everyone. Obviously as the show goes on we realize Paulie is a complete and total sociopath - and the characters definitely know it as well. And a good earner as well. But on a general level, Sil had respect. And consider the situation. It was a chaotic situation, and Sil would seem to fit the bill for the situation. Paulie is highly erratic.

. If tony had dies I think the best person for the job would have been larry baresse. I am not sure what his legal situation was but he seemed like the kind of guy who cud take tonys spot

just outta curiosity why do you think larry boy woulda been the man to step up

well he just seems like a stand up , old school gangster who understands LCN politcs and is respected across the board. No one ever said a bad word about larry. Also he is the capo of the biggest crew in the family whch shows he has leadership skills.

At a few other times in the show when major decisions are being made people go to larry. Example when juinor and richie want to take out tony junior send riche to make sure they would have larry behind them. Shows he is a powerful player wthin the family.

A rulng panel is also a possibility. Larry suggested it when tony and junior was going at it in season 1. Larry, Sil and paulie possibly?

I don't remember Paulie ever being underboss. The underboss spot seemed to have been vacant for a long time. Silvio was Tony's number two and I know he was always seen as the consigliere. Then Bobby started making some noise. He seemed to be doing well financially, he was tough and came from good stock. Not to mention he was also Tony's brother-in-law. With all the morons working for Tony, Bobby was probably the only guy he could really count on. I don't remember ever hearing him being called underboss on the show, but he was definitely the number three. People tend to put a lot of stock into titles. In reality, this isn't exact science and it didn't seem to be on that show either.

I think this scene represents the top 3 during the final season. Just before Silvio and Tony get playful, Bobby weighs in on Phil's fate. He's clearly the number 3 at this point.

Yeah, I was thinking about that scene earlier. There's also a few scenes where Christopher is seen looking at Bobby with sort of envious eyes. You remember that time in Chrissy's garden when he was barbequing? Bobby's rise caught most of them by surprise I think. Paulie resented it, but I always felt Bobby was the most underrated character on the show. There was a big shift in season six when Bobby took on more responsibilities and started bringing in a lot of money. He seemed to be always be telling Tony about new business opportunities. It was pretty obvious at that point where he stood.

"You should tell him to go fuck himself and his 200k. And what's he gonna do about it?" - Bobby Bacala

Tbf christopher became capo of paulies old crew and all the other five crews already had capos meaning paulie was promoted there is only two positions a capo could have been promoted to consigliere and underboss but since silvio was already consigliere the only vacant position was underboss making paulie underboss

Um...no.

I don't think there was an Underboss, and even if there was one, it definitely wasn't Paulie. I don't think the writers were too worried about that kind of thing. The show was geared to a more general audience and the average person wouldn't pick up on whether or not there was an Underboss.

And for what it's worth, in the 2nd to last episode, New York decided that Tony, Silvio, and Bobby were the top 3.