I'd have to see it again, but isn't Tony trying to get Riff to see reason and make the choice himself not to use the gun; in other words, it wasn't just about the gun, but about changing an outlook.
Also, I think the gun got back in the hands of the gang and so the latter part of the dance was trying to get it back when the earlier strategy clearly hadn't worked...
I think.
By the way, do you notice how, years later, Toby was cornered by the police at the end of Sweeney, although he was the least responsible for the killings, and, in a similar way (not the same) Chino at the end of WSS? And both shows had chase sequences towards the end. Some tropes endure.... |
