The Sopranos to "going straight" (to Tony's dismay), but also has an intense violent streak. Those in Tony's closest circle within the DiMeo crime family include Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt). Silvio is Tony's consigliere and best friend. He runs the family's strip club headquarters, and other businesses. Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri (Tony Sirico), a tough, short-tempered, aging soldier who is fiercely loyal to Tony and Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore), a veteran gangster who runs an automotive body shop. Paulie "Walnuts" and "Big Pussy" (often called just, "Pussy") have worked with Tony and his father. Also in Tony's criminal organization are:
Paulie Gualtieri when Chris becomes clinically dead for a few minutes after his heart stops while in his comatose state, he has a morphine-induced dream in which he visits Hell and sees his deceased father "Dickie" Moltisanti along with his deceased former best friend Brendan Filone and Mikey Palmice, who had slain Brendan. Chris informs Tony and Paulie that Mikey had a message for them: "Three o'clock". Paulie subsequently begins to have nightmares of being dragged to Hell. Paulie, at the recommendation of his mistress, goes to see a medium in Nyack, New York. Much to Paulie's chagrin, the authenticity of the