American crime boss Bumpy Johnson attempts to go legit in season 4 of Godfather of Harlem, but rival crime boss Joe Colombo intentionally throws a wretch in his plan.
Speaking to ABC Audio, Michael Raymond-James, who portrays Joe in the show, explains Joe is still upset about Bumpy rejecting his past offer to “join forces” and get into the Italian families.
“I think when other kids in the neighborhood had their heroes [who] were baseball players or, you know, musicians or whatever, I think Joe Colombo’s heroes were gangsters. And I think he looked up to Bumpy and I think he thought maybe he could be a peer with Bumpy,” Michael says.
When Bumpy rejected him and teamed with mobster Chin Gigante to send Joe to prison in season 2, Michael says the “little boy inside of Joe Colombo” had “his feelings hurt.”
“[Joe]’s the leader of men, he’s an aggressive sociopath,” Michael says. “He hide[s] those things and channel[s] that into aggression.”
Throughout season 4, he requests a share of the profits from Bumpy’s nightclub, The St. Clair, and eventually forces him into a corner to agree, before finessing his way into owning the club.
By episode 9, Bumpy has had enough and calls on an old enemy to help handle Colombo.
Joe’s fate remains to be seen in the finale of Godfather of Harlem’s fourth season, airing Sunday on MGM+.
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