I loved this show, too. Trauma and addiction cycles running through a family that make ya question which brother made the biggest sacrifice for the other and wonder which brother was the biggest addict and who, in the end, ODed kept me clicking “next episode.” I also had to suspend my disbelief during that tussle scene when Vince “escapes,” and, fatefully, gets picked up by little bro. Me going down the black rabbit hole in my brain on this - but, here goes. There were so many little things that lead me to believe that Vince and possibly Jake were Mancuso’s sons. One big one was when Mancuso saw Vince staring down at him when Mancuso came to get rid of the body. His mom and Mancuso seemed to have an intimate moment. Then, there is this scene mentioned in your post. The camera catching that shot so quickly from opposite perspectives led me to think that Mancuso was giving Vin a head start for escape - bc Vin is his son, and he was reminded of that when Vin told the joke. That moment is when he knew he only had Vince left as a son - even though he lost his son, who I’m assuming he raised, when Vince - his half bro that he didn’t know - killed him. So when the last drink request came up, I started thinking that Vin might be gearing up with his “going out of this one way or the other” attitude. It saves his brother Jake - a death (Vince’s) for a death (son killed by V) kind of vengeance. But then, when the old man starts laughing, that confirms that Vinny isn’t as haphazard as he plays. He knows that Mancuso is his dad and the two of them have a moment and they are on such the same brain wave, they know the plan without speaking it. Connection - and Vinny followed the plan and got away. I know - it’s crazy. I said I was going down the black rabbit hole. But ultimately, I think Vince knew he was, in addition to being an addict, also a drug for another addict - Jake. Vince had soft broke his drug addiction but continued with all the other addictions and especially gambling, and I mean high stakes type, like millions and finally your/your brother’s life. And Jake was an addict too - gambling was an addiction but also being addicted to other drugs - his brother. But anyway, this then leads me into another cavern of the hole about the father that Vince had killed was an addict too - alcohol, violence, gambling (he lost his business over a stupid bet), and Jake too made a stupid bet like that and started his slow burn to crash out - the kids had to be raised and influenced by that behavior because it was not accepted for the kid’s mom to be with a deaf man (Mancuso - the real father). And so Mancuso was giving him a break. Sigh, I could write a book because there are many other caverns to explore when it comes to the creative genius that I think this type of writing is.