Arthur "Artie" Bucco

Almost all of the major characters on the show have some larger

 connection to the mafia “family” through their crimes, birthright, or marriage. So when we get an occasional glimpse of this world from a “regular guy” such as Artie, the view is often pretty interesting.

We are introduced to Artie in the first episode, where we learn about some themes in his life that will continue throughout the series. First, he has a long and enduring friendship with Tony Soprano that goes back to their childhood, (Tony confirms this in a later episode saying, “Third grade on up, you needed something, I was there, no questions.”) Also, his wife Charmaine strongly disapproves of this friendship with Tony and discourages it at every turn. We also are introduced to Artie’s restaurant “Vesuvio,” which will become a focal point in the story’s first episode.

Tony learns that Junior intends to “whack” his longtime enemy Pussy Malanga in Artie’s restaurant, which he fears will ruin his business. Tony plots and schemes to prevent this development, and offers Artie two luxurious cruise tickets to use so he will have to close the restaurant. Charmaine interferes with this plan, and Tony is forced to go back to the drawing board.

Eventually, Silvio burns down the restaurant on Tony’s orders, as they believe Artie will be able to collect the insurance money and rebuild the restaurant with no damage to his reputation. Later at a backyard BBQ at Tony’s house, a heartbroken Artie questions why the fates would conspire against him like this. We also learn an arson investigation is underway, and we see that Tony’s attempts to “help” Artie may come with some unintended consequences. 

Tony and Artie’s friendship seems intact when we next see them sharing a nice meal together at a fine dining establishment. Artie becomes irritated that a man is wearing a baseball hat, and when Tony goes and intimidates the man into removing the hat, we see Artie pump his fist and beam at Tony with admiration. Given they have known each other since the third grade, one wonders how many times such scenes have played out over the years.

Next, we turn our attention to girls’ soccer, where both of their daughters play for Don Hauser, a man that both Artie and Tony greatly respect. On the field, Tony makes an offer for Artie to “put a little money” out on the street as a loan shark, but Artie fends him off without much argument. When Hauser threatens to leave the team to take a better job, Tony and the crew alternate between trying to bribe him and trying to intimidate him to stay, which is a tactic Artie disapproves of.

Things take a serious turn when we find out that the coach has been having sex with their daughter’s teammate Ally. Artie at first comes to Tony pleading for street justice, which Tony is more than happy to oblige. After this, an interesting change takes place, as Artie reconsiders what he’s asking, and then implores Tony not to handle the problem with violence. Tony becomes furious at Artie for trying to tell him what to do, but Artie remains steadfast in his plea.

But later we see Tony does not solve the problem with violence, which seems somewhat out of character given what we’ve seen of him thus far. Did Artie’s insistence move him to take this action? This seems plausible given Tony’s triumphant declaration, “I didn’t hurt nobody” when he staggers in drunk later that night.

In the season finale of the first season, we see that Artie has finally collected the insurance money and rebuilt his restaurant, now called Nuovo Vesuvio. Things change when he visits Livia in the hospital, where she informs him that it was Tony who burned down his restaurant. Artie confronts Tony with a shotgun after this, and when Tony swears “on his mother” he didn’t start the fire, an angry and confused Artie smashes the gun against his own car in frustration.

Later we see that Charmaine is happy with the new restaurant, and Artie confides in the family priest Father Phil he’s not sure what to believe about the fire. In the final scene featuring Artie that season, a storm rages throughout New Jersey, and the hungry and cold Sopranos turn to Artie to take them in and feed them. Artie cooks for them by candlelight, and Tony’s admonishment to his own family to “remember the little moments” is interesting to consider against the backdrop of Artie and his own family preparing their meal for them in the restaurant.

But the incident involving the fire at the restaurant is not entirely forgotten, as Artie briefly considers “outing” Tony for burning Vesuvio down at Livia’s wake. He decides against this at the last moment and instead uses the opportunity to plug his restaurant.

Later in the third season, we see that Artie has fallen in love with Adriana La Cerva, who has served as a hostess at his restaurant for several years. When Adriana gives her notice when Christopher finally becomes a “made” man, a hurt and angry Artie antagonizes Chris, which nearly ends in violence. Artie then confesses to Tony he is in love with Adriana, which results in Tony slapping him around and telling him never to say that again. When Artie asks, “What am I a joke?” Tony replies, “Yea, a stupid fucking bald one.”

Artie takes Adriana out for a luxurious retirement dinner anyway, but things quickly turn awkward when he attempts to hold her hand, and she gently refuses his affections. Further developments include Tony offering Artie a potentially lucrative opportunity at the Esplanade. When Artie discussed this with Charmaine she gives him an ultimatum, essentially telling him he must choose between her and Tony. When Artie tells her he is going to go into business with Tony, she informs him the marriage is over, to which he replies “good, it’s about fucking time.”

Artie and Charmaine separate, and Charmaine takes this opportunity to improve her appearance, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Tony and the crew. Charmaine escalates her disapproval of Tony, and the tension between them increases when Tony refers to her as “Mainie” which is a nickname from their younger years when she and Tony were briefly involved romantically. Artie soldiers on and later hosts Jackie Jr’s funeral gathering at his restaurant, which nearly every family associate attends.

In the fourth season, a still separated Artie develops another crush on his French hostess Élodie, and can’t refuse her when she asks him to make a large loan to her brother Jean-Phillipe. Artie at first asks Ralph Cifaretto for the money, but when he refuses, Tony steps in to help instead. When Jean-Phillipe does not repay the loan and refuses to even take Artie’s calls, a visibly angered Artie decides he is going to become an enforcer and collect the debt himself. He is instead pummeled in this fight, and the subsequent guilt and shame he experiences culminates in a suicide attempt where he overdoses on pills and alcohol.

Tony likely saves Artie’s life when he calls an ambulance, and when he arrives at the hospital he is very angry with Artie for his behavior and the two of them have words. This seems an especially important scene between the two of them, as when the issue of Artie’s outstanding debt to Tony arises, Tony quickly computes the particulars. Artie replies, “The cobwebs are now removed” and then accuses Tony of being able to see “20 moves ahead” due to his predatory nature. This infuriates Tony even more, and he tells Artie “you’re disgraceful” as he lectures him one last time. Their relationship takes a negative turn from there.

In the fifth season, we see Artie has fallen on hard times, as he is now living at the Motel 6. Tony decides that it’s time to bury the hatchet between the two of them, and Artie reluctantly agrees to room with Tony at his mother’s house rather than continue to stay at a motel. Tony presents a “business opportunity” for Artie regarding his linens at the end of this conversation, and Artie’s raised eyebrow in response to this informs us he has likely been reminded again of Tony’s predatory nature. 

By the sixth season, we learn that Artie and Charmaine have reconciled, although this newfound marital bliss is short-lived, as Artie develops feelings for yet another hostess named Martina from Albania. When Martina begins dating married man Benny Fazio instead, Artie gets angry and begins treating her more roughly. This development angers Fazio, and he and Artie soon enter into a serious feud when he learns Benny and Martina are running an American Express scam in the restaurant.

Nuovo Vesuvio had already fallen on hard times, and this development is a serious blow to Artie’s livelihood. He goes to Fazio’s house in the middle of the night, and although we the viewers are not expecting this to end well for him, he beats Fazio into submission. Fazio later exacts revenge when he dunks Artie’s arm into the spaghetti sauce after Artie taunts him about his affair with Martina in front of his family.

We also see how Artie has gotten complacent and annoying as a restaurant host in this episode, and his endlessly repetitive jokes and stories are beginning to annoy both the customers as well as the staff. Charmaine points this out to him at the beginning of the episode, which he ignores. Tony tells him virtually the same thing at the end of the episode, even inserting his new favorite line “You go about in pity for yourself’ regarding Artie’s constant complaining. In the end, we see he has perhaps absorbed the lesson, as he returns to the kitchen to make a recipe his grandfather taught him, and appears to now be finally recommitted to his work as a chef.

Analysis:

At first glance, it may appear that Artie’s character is on the show for simple comic relief. Whether it’s his new earring (ripped off his head in a fight), his never ending crushes on the restaurant hostesses, or his ongoing battles with his wife, he never seems to get much satisfaction.

We learn that Artie is a third generation restaurant owner and that his grandparents came over from Italy and opened the first version of Bucco’s Vesuvio back in 1926. Later, Artie’s parents took over the business and were able to send Artie to the Cook’s Culinary Academy in London where he advanced his education as a chef. He has certainly grown up in and around the restaurant business, and through one perspective we can look at him as a hardworking chef trying to make a living in a difficult family business.

But perhaps if we look closer, we might see that Artie is in a sense a tragic figure.  All around him people he is close to have access to wealth, new cars, and beautiful women, while Artie watches it all from a tantalizing close distance. In the sixth season, we watch he and Tony at a strip club together, and Artie looks at one of the girls and sadly tells Tony, “You could fuck her. It's funny, 'cause guys like me, we come here, we get drunk and stare. Best-case scenario, we go in the back room, we get a lap dance a dry hump and pfft blow in our pants.”

And in a sense, Artie speaks the truth. We see Tony sleep with many such women over the various seasons, and yet Artie’s sexual urges always go unrequited. He seems to always be worrying about money throughout the series, and we see his car in season one is a beat up old station wagon that gets even more beat up when he smashes his own gun against it in frustration.

It is interesting to examine Artie’s life using something called Social Comparison Theory, which suggests that we define ourselves in relationship to others around us, and may use both upward as well as downward social comparison to achieve this definition. In Artie’s case, his children attend the same school as various wealthy mafia members including Tony and Silvio, and they share a number of common social bonds throughout the series. 

When Tony and Carmella visit the Bucco’s new home in the first season, Carmella reacts with a kind of pity regarding the way they have to live, although a defensive Charmaine essentially tells her she could have had Tony if she wanted, but how “it wasn’t for her.” Although Charmaine seems to maintain this ego strength throughout the series, Artie does not appear to have this same resilience. The one woman we know for certain he has had sexual relations with in his life has also had sex with Tony, which must be a further reminder to Artie regarding his own feelings of psychological impotence.

In thinking about the idea of “keeping up with the Joneses” with regard to Artie, it is interesting to consider research regarding conspicuous consumption. This research seems to demonstrate that a person would be happier as the richest person in a poor neighborhood, as opposed to the poorest person in a wealthy neighborhood. This seems to be related to social envy, status anxiety, as well as social comparison. Artie certainly has things to be grateful for, but the near-constant reminders that he has less than the people in the social circle must take a toll on his already fragile psyche.

But in the end, we see that perhaps Artie has found some measure of redemption. He appears to have taken Tony and Charmaine’s advice on board to spend more time in the kitchen, and in the end, the restaurant appears to be functioning well again, and he and Charmaine are reunited. Meanwhile, the entire Soprano crew has essentially been injured or killed, and perhaps Artie has learned a lesson to “be happy in thine own self,” which is advice Charmaine has given him throughout the series.