Why did Bill (DeCaprio) make a big deal about giving Costello his Social Security number? He was undercover as himself, not a made up alias. They had created an elaborate backstory of having him drop out of the Police Academy and do some minor jail time to give him street cred. This history wasn’t a secret in Costello’s organization. The only people who knew he was a real cop were Dignam and Queenan and that information was locked in a secret file. It’s not like an SSN gives you access to the Secret Undercover Cop Registry.
For that matter, why did they write “Citizen’s [Bank]” on the envelope? Was that where they all had their Irish Gang 401k? Citizen’s doesn’t even operate in Massachusetts. They are based out of Michigan and serve the Midwest. It would have made more sense to write “Fidelity” or even “FleetBoston”.
The CD Bill sent Madolyn only resulted in some stink-eye from Sullivan’s neighbors? Not a full-blown investigation into his role in the deaths of four cops?
What was the point of tossing Queenan out of the window, other than to advance the plot? What did he violate some unspoken Irish Gang vs Cops rule about using undercover officers? Killing a police captain has no consequences for Costello’s crew?
Did Bill’s time undercover actually accomplish anything? It seems like Sullivan’s betrayal was what really did the job.
Did Scorsese know The Fens (A.K.A. the “Back Bay Fens” or "marshes by Fenway Park), is actually in a fairly busy part of Boston and probably not the best location for secretly burying a body undetected (or for getting a hand job after leaving your job at John Hancock). It’s not thousands of acres of isolated wetlands tucked between factories and the interstate like the Meadowlands in NJ or miles of uninhabited wilderness like the Pine Barrens in NJ or pretty much anywhere in NJ where it’s convenient to bury a dead mobster.
Did Dignam walk into Sullivan’s building wearing rubber gloves and plastic murder booties or did he change in his apartment?
Citizens bought several New England banks in the early 90’s, 15 years before The Departed was made. They’ve been my bank since the late 90’s. They are one of the largest banks in the Boston area.
Ignorance fought I guess. I lived up there in the 90s and was mostly saw Fidelity and BankBoston/FleetBoston/Bank of America.
But it still seems to be an odd think to write on the envelope. Was it supposed to remind him to go to his local Citizens branch and ask for background checks on a bunch of thugs?
I always thought Madolyn gave the CD to Dignam, hence his revenge killing of Sullivan. Dignam is not a guy who has the time or patience for investigations, he just wants him dead.
Watching this scene again I think Costello’s men kill Queenan out of sheer anger more than anything else. They’re expecting to find the undercover cop and he’s not there. Doesn’t Sullivan lead his unit to believe that Queenan was the mole?
Not really, although Costigan did impregnate Madolyn. So his bloodline will live on while Costello’s and Sullivan’s won’t.
I think Dignam walked in the building wearing the gloves and booties, thereby leaving no physical evidence he was there.
It had to be something distinctive and memorable, so when Costigan sees the envelope on Sullivan’s desk, the audience will immediately think: *"OH S&T! HE’S THE MOLE!!!"
Aside from the fact that there is a high likelihood that someone saw a guy dressed like a weirdo who looks like an angry ex-cop who had beef with the deceased sneak into an upscale doorman building.
Sullivan didn’t know Costigan was working for Costello, because Sullivan was kept at a distance from the Costello gang at all times, to maintain his clean image. As soon as Sullivan would run a check on the SS numbers of everyone in Costello’s gang it would pull up Costigan - who was a classmate of Sullivans statie graduation year. ka-ching! I know who the undercover cop is!
Costigan ‘knew’ there was a rat in the Staties. And he knew that his cover would be blown as soon as the Statie rat found his SS number in the pile.
Right, but I’m assuming Sullivan wouldn’t be able to pull up Costigan’s file because it was sealed even from him. All he would find out is what everyone already knew. Costigan was in the Academy, but then dropped out, went to jail and was now a criminal.
Maybe a better question is why Costello, who knew Costigan was once a cop ("ARE YOU STILL A COP!? whack) would even take a chance keeping him around once he suspected a rat?
Smart guy in the middle of a bunch of thugs. Frank saw himself and a son in Costigan. A blind spot for sure. But not 100% since Frank did feed Costigan false information to see if he was a mole.