Contents
- 1 How did Tony betray Christopher?
- 2 Why did they kill adriana?
- 3 Who did Tony visit after Christopher died?
- 4 Who did Tony tell Christopher killed his father?
- 5 Did Tony sleep with Adriana?
- 6 Who did Tony Soprano kill first?
- 7 Who killed Silvio Dante?
- 8 How did they know Adriana was a rat?
- 9 Did Tony sleep with Adriana?
- 10 What did the last scene of The Sopranos mean?
Why did Tony kill Chris in Sopranos?
How The Sopranos Explained Why Tony Killed Christopher – Tony killed Christopher to stop him from destroying other people’s lives. While Tony killing Chris in The Sopranos was a shock to viewers when the episode aired in 2006, the show had dropped subtle hints about Chris Moltisanti’s murder. Christopher Moltisanti’s death, years before Christopher narrates The Many Saints of Newark, was thematically foreshadowed in “Walk Like a Man” through Tony’s interactions with his son A.J.
(Robert Iler) and Dr. Melfi. While they initially seem unrelated, they reveal a great deal about Tony Soprano’s worldview and outlook at the time, which by extension explain why he killed Chris. Christopher wasn’t killed by Tony as part of a mob hit, which led to the question “why did Tony kill Christopher?”, but because of what Christopher represented in regard to Tony’s son, and where Tony was on his journey as a parent.
After a break-up, A.J. becomes severely depressed and shows suicidal behavior, at least according to his sister Meadow (Jamie-Lynn DiScala). Tony subsequently tells Dr. Melfi that he’s done with therapy, and calls the sessions “a jerk-off.” He references his failures as a parent, and how he has passed “rotten” genes to his son.
- Meanwhile, Tony anticipates yet another Christopher meltdown after he throws Paulie’s nephew through a window.
- Importantly, though, Tony doesn’t realize that Christopher is no longer sober.
- These are all factors that build to a fateful car accident involving Tony and Christopher, with the latter admitting that he’s unable to pass a drug test, one of the final straws for Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti’s relationship, leading to the answer to “why did Tony kill Christopher?”.
Although Tony can never change what he genetically passed on to A.J., he can prevent Christopher from destroying lives other than his own. Christopher’s life is worth saving, of course, but Tony’s subconscious guilt takes over, and he squeezes Christopher’s nostrils until he dies.
Why was Tony happy when Christopher died?
At that moment, Tony came to understand what a serious liability Chris really is. So yeah, he probably only felt relieved. You can see Tony’s face when he’s suffocating Chris, ice cold.
Did Tony plan to kill Christopher?
The Real Reason Behind Tony Killing Christopher in The Sopranos In season 6 of The Sopranos, Tony killed his nephew by choking him to death following a car crash to end a relationship that had developed over the course of the previous five seasons but rarely been plain sailing.
- Tony loved Christopher like a son and originally had high hopes for the kid.
- But Chris was a hothead who would never really make it after the drugs came calling.
- He became a liability in the DiMeo crime family and, as we’d already seen many times by this point, Tony wasn’t averse to whacking anyone that put the family at risk.
After Christopher threw Little Paulie out of a window, breaking 6 vertebrae, though, it was clear that he was never going to learn. Tony sensed his nephew going off the rails once again. And the ongoing feud between Christopher and Paulie was one that was tearing Tony apart.
- Even when he had a gun to Christopher’s head a short while later, it was clear Tony didn’t really want to pull the trigger.
- However, following the car crash, Christopher confessed to Tony that he would never pass a drug test.
Upon hearing this, Tony immediately turned to look at the car seat on Chris’ back set. The seat that Christopher’s daughter Caitlyn sat in when he was driving her around. The child who Christopher, just moments before, had been praising. Up to this point, Tony was unaware that Chris had fallen off the wagon once again.
- When it became clear that he had been driving under the influence, Tony faced a dilemma.
- Could he trust that his nephew would ever escape the drugs? Could he trust his nephew would never get dragged into spouting off the insider knowledge he had of DiMeo operations? Could he run the risk that Christopher would harm his family because of his struggles with addiction? While he hadn’t necessarily wanted to kill him, Tony realised he had an opportunity to put a lot of things right and save Christopher from himself.
And so he placed his hand over his protégé’s mouth and nose – and freed him from the car crash that was his life. In season 6 of The Sopranos, Tony killed his nephew by choking him to death following a car crash to end a relationship that had developed over the course of the previous five seasons but rarely been plain sailing.
Tony loved Christopher like a son and originally had high hopes for the kid. But Chris was a hothead who would never really make it after the drugs came calling. He became a liability in the DiMeo crime family and, as we’d already seen many times by this point, Tony wasn’t averse to whacking anyone that put the family at risk.
After Christopher threw Little Paulie out of a window, breaking 6 vertebrae, though, it was clear that he was never going to learn. Tony sensed his nephew going off the rails once again. And the ongoing feud between Christopher and Paulie was one that was tearing Tony apart.
- Even when he had a gun to Christopher’s head a short while later, it was clear Tony didn’t really want to pull the trigger.
- However, following the car crash, Christopher confessed to Tony that he would never pass a drug test.
Upon hearing this, Tony immediately turned to look at the car seat on Chris’ back set. The seat that Christopher’s daughter Caitlyn sat in when he was driving her around. The child who Christopher, just moments before, had been praising. Up to this point, Tony was unaware that Chris had fallen off the wagon once again.
When it became clear that he had been driving under the influence, Tony faced a dilemma. Could he trust that his nephew would ever escape the drugs? Could he trust his nephew would never get dragged into spouting off the insider knowledge he had of DiMeo operations? Could he run the risk that Christopher would harm his family because of his struggles with addiction? While he hadn’t necessarily wanted to kill him, Tony realised he had an opportunity to put a lot of things right and save Christopher from himself.
And so he placed his hand over his protégé’s mouth and nose – and freed him from the car crash that was his life. : The Real Reason Behind Tony Killing Christopher in The Sopranos
Why did Tony Soprano kill his cousin?
Deceased –
Tony Blundetto : Shot and killed by Tony Soprano in order to make peace with the Lupertazzi crime family and to save Tony B from a more painful death at the hands of Phil Leotardo.
How did Tony betray Christopher?
HBO One of the more unique aspects of “The Sopranos” was the way it killed off its major characters. Season 2 featured its main antagonistic figure Richie Aprile (David Proval) being taken down not by any of the main gangsters, but by a spur-of-the-moment decision made by his fiancée, Janice (Aida Turturro).
Season 4 showed Ralph ( Joe Pantoliano ) getting killed halfway through the episode out of retaliation for suspicion of him killing a horse. It would’ve been more expected for Ralph to get whacked back in season 3 when he was acting like a full liability to the crew; instead he’s killed after he’s mellowed out a bit and become more sympathetic than in his debut season.
But it’s with season 6’s “Kennedy and Heidi” that the show does something truly unprecedented. Not only does it kill off Christopher Moltisanti ( Michael Imperioli ), one of the most important characters on the show throughout its whole run, but it does so at the beginning of the episode.
- After a relapsed Chris crashes the car and nearly gets himself and Tony killed, Tony makes the cold, calculated decision to suffocate him to death and tell everyone he died purely from the crash.
- Although it was widely speculated that Christopher might not survive the final season, fans weren’t expecting his death to be so anticlimactic.
The rest of the crew seems sad to hear the news, but they get over it quickly. Tony himself doesn’t feel any real guilt over the situation; he’s cracking jokes at Chris’ funeral and keeps bringing up the fact that the car seat in the back for Chris’s daughter was destroyed in the crash.
Why did they kill adriana?
Adriana La Cerva: shot and killed by Silvio Dante for being an informant to the FBI.
Who did Tony visit after Christopher died?
Synopsis – A.J. ‘s therapist sees that the prescribed drugs are working: he is happier and calmer, and taking college courses again. He continues to spend time with Jason Parisi and Jason Gervasi at their frat house, They laugh about Victor, who had his toes amputated after they injured him with sulfuric acid,
The two Jasons and others assault a Somali student while A.J. stands by in distress, doing nothing. He relapses into depression. “Why can’t we all just get along?” he says to his therapist. Phil discovers that the construction/demolition waste that Tony has been sending to Barone Sanitation contains asbestos.
At a meeting in New York, he says that he will not accept any more unless he receives a 25% cut; Tony refuses. As Christopher drives him back to Newark, Tony admits he may have to yield, but the waste is eventually dumped into a lake. Chris is restless as he drives, and Tony looks at him carefully.
- Their car drifts into the opposite lane, then swerves sharply to avoid an approaching car.
- They go off the road and the car rolls many times as it descends an embankment.
- Tony exits the wreckage in pain but with only minor injuries.
- Chris, who was not wearing a seat belt, is seriously injured, with internal bleeding.
He manages to tell Tony to call a taxi as he would not pass a drug test. Tony begins to call 911 for help but abruptly changes his mind. He pinches Chris’s nose shut so that he cannot breathe, and he chokes to death on his own blood. Tony dreams that he tells Dr.
- Melfi that he killed Chris, Pussy, and Tony B,
- During his actual session, he recalls Chris as a liability and an embarrassment and says he resents having to feign remorse in front of his family.
- At the wake, he is disgusted by the display of sorrow.
- He and Carmela also go to the wake of Paulie ‘s adoptive mother Nucci, who has died of a stroke ; Paulie is angered by the poor attendance but appreciates Tony and Carmela’s presence.
Tony decides to get away to Las Vegas, He meets Sonya, a stripper who was Chris’s mistress. They have sex, smoke marijuana, and take peyote, Playing roulette, he has a winning streak. He mumbles, “He’s dead,” and collapses on the casino floor laughing.
Why did Christopher betray Adriana?
The mole – By the end of season 3, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targets Adriana as a potential witness in the family’s organization. Upon the death of Sal “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero, the FBI looks to Adriana as a close relation to Christopher, a rising star in the crime family, and sends Special Agent Deborah Ciccerone to befriend her in ” Army of One “.
Ciccerone, who goes by “Danielle Ciccolella”, succeeds at befriending Adriana, but the FBI have to abandon the mission earlier than planned when Christopher makes a pass at Ciccerone, upsetting Adriana. In ” No Show “, the FBI brings Adriana in and threatens her with long imprisonment for drug possession, or perhaps punishment by Tony Soprano, if she does not co-operate.
Adriana vomits all over herself, the table, and the agents. Out of loyalty to Christopher, Adriana avoids giving up any serious information on the family and does her best to avoid the Soprano family house in order to have nothing to give back to the FBI.
- Her deception catches up with her after the FBI learns of her involvement in covering up a murder at her club and threatens to press charges of being an accessory to murder against her unless she offers full cooperation, which would include wearing a wire ; Adriana agrees.
- A year later in ” Long Term Parking “, she reveals the truth to Christopher, hoping they can go into the Witness Protection Program together and start new lives.
An enraged Christopher beats and almost strangles her, before breaking down crying. His loyalty to his crime family turns out to be greater than his love for Adriana, and he reveals her status as an informant to Tony. Tony telephones Adriana, falsely informing her that Christopher attempted suicide at a diner in Ramapo Mountain State Forest before being found by the New Jersey State Police and has been hospitalized, and that Silvio Dante will drive her to the hospital.
- En route on Interstate 287, Silvio stops the car in the middle of the woods.
- Realizing what is about to happen, a terrified Adriana tries to flee, crawling away from the car on all fours off screen where Silvio shoots her dead.
- Christopher is later seen putting some of her clothes in a red suitcase and dumping them.
He then leaves her light blue Ford Thunderbird in the long-term parking lot at Newark Liberty International Airport,
Who did Tony tell Christopher killed his father?
Despite being the prequel film to the seminal HBO drama The Sopranos, The Many Saints of Newark never fully resolves whether Tony Soprano ever found out the truth about Dickie Moltisanti’s death. In the final act of The Many Saints of Newark, Dickie gets assassinated under the orders of Junior Soprano, putting an end to the speculation regarding the true circumstances of how Dickie died.
In The Sopranos season 4, episode 1, “For All Debts Public And Private,” Tony told Christopher that his father Dickie was killed by Barry Haydu, a New Jersey detective. According to Tony, Barry was taking orders from a criminal named Jilly Ruffalo, who had his eye gouged out by Dickie. Even though Christopher doesn’t really buy Tony’s story, he follows orders and kills Barry.
However, as The Many Saints of Newark reveals, neither Barry nor Jilly is to blame for Dickie Moltisanti’s death,.
12/19/2022by Peter Mutuc ScreenRant.com
Who betrayed Tony in the end?
9 Carlo Gervasi Flips On Tony – Tony often feared that a member of his crew would turn on him. As it turns out, several of Tony’s closest allies betrayed him. However, the most consequential might be Carlo Gervasi. Carlo was a capo and top earner for Tony. In the series finale “Made In America,” Tony discovers that Carlo became an informant and posed the greatest threat to Tony going to prison.
- Of course, Carlo made that decision to protect his son from going to jail as well.
- In the end, Carlo flipping on Tony was just the beginning of his problems.
- This actually played out in the Sopranos ending, where the FBI picked up Carlo’s son on drug-dealing charges.
- Tony’s attorney revealed to him that someone was testifying to the grand jury and indictments were coming, and Tony quickly realized it was Carlos who was turning evidence on him.
After years of betrayals on The Sopranos, it was one of his top men who ended up turning on him just to save his own flesh and blood.
Did Tony sleep with Adriana?
4 Adriana La Cerva – Another Tony Soprano mistress that brings the almost incestuous nature of The Sopranos into question is the tryst that never was with Adriana La Cerva. Adriana and Tony never technically hook up, which is the only reason she doesn’t rank higher among Tony’s romantic interests.
However, unlike some other women who reject Tony’s advances (such as Dr. Melfi), Adriana and Tony absolutely would have become entangled with one another except they were interrupted — twice. Given their chemistry, it only seems fair to include her. Tony mentions to Dr. Melfi that he’s attracted to Adriana, and despite his misogyny, this is one more shred of proof of his attraction toward intelligent and driven women.
Adriana is Christopher Moltisanti’s lover throughout most of the series. Due to this fact, any tryst she and Tony might have had would have inevitably caused trouble. Rumors are ablaze about a potential affair between Tony and Adriana in The Sopranos after the season 5 installment “Irregular Around The Margins.” The episode saw the two hanging out until 2 am and taking a joyride to go grab cocaine that ended in a car accident.
Who ordered Tony to be killed?
But who ordered the hit on Tony? The answer: Paulie. – Here are all the clues Paulie had Tony killed: Season 1 – Paulie makes it clear at the end of s1e13 he has a problem with Tony seeing a woman psychiatrist specifically. It is made very clear that it is a problem for Paulie and this issue is never resolved with Sil effectively pulling rank “look, he’s gonna be the new boss now in name, in everything” to settle Paulie’s reservations.
Season 2 – While the position of consigliere is always clearly signposted as Sil throughout the entire series, the equally important position of underboss is never clearly named except for two points on the show: s6e20 “Blue Comet” when New York declares war and they name Bobby Baccalieri as the underboss and primary target and s2e5 when Tony explicitly tells Paulie he is the underboss “it’s me then you and Sil together, that’s the new pecking order” (we can deduce if Sil is consigliere, Paulie must be underboss).
We can also deduce that at some point between s2e5 and s6e20, Paulie is demoted because Bobby has supplanted him as underboss. This is most likely due to tensions Paulie personally stoked between Jersey and New York while he was in jail during season 4.
- Season 3 – “Pine Barrens” (s3e11) is a black mark on Paulie’s record by sheer virtue of the fact that he put the family in a very precarious position with the Russians.
- All while failing to complete a task that he does a hundred times a week, that is picking up money owed.
- This can be used in the case to depose Paulie from underboss.
Season 4 – This is actually where things fall apart. Here’s what most Sopranos fans fail to recognize when they talk about Paulie’s fencewalking between Jersey — NYC: he never wanted to join New York because he was more loyal to them, he wanted to join New York because Jersey unappreciated him while he was in jail.
Tony showed his hand in a really bad way during this period. Specifically, he showed the only two ways Tony would be loyal to you was if you were related to him (read: nepotism) or if you made him a lot of money (Ralphie and later Vito highlight this). Even with Paulie’s loyalties questioned (at a time when he was actively prospecting to switch teams for NYC), it came down to his drops being light.
All it took was Paulie robbing an old woman and kicking up his score to Tony to restore confidence. As for Paulie prospecting for NYC and the infamous cool guying Carmine did of Paulie. Here are the facts: a.) Johnny Sack is the one who made the offer to Paulie to switch teams while suggesting Tony may be eliminated for being intragnizanlt (s4e11), “suffice to say, no matter what happens now, or in the future Carmine won’t forget you and as far as us talking like this It’s just because we’re old friends”.
Read between the lines here: Johnny Sack is already laying down the groundwork for the war with Jersey (even when he was alive) and he’s trying to recruit Paulie (Jersey’s undisputed toughest enforcer) to his ranks (no doubt a nod to The Godfather where Luca ostensibly offered to join up with Sollazzo).
Keep in mind at this point, Paulie is under the impression Johnny Sack and New York had Ralphie (a Jersey capo) killed so this approach from Johnny can only be seen as an overture of war against Jersey.b.) People focus too much on Carmine’s cool guying of Paulie.
It never mattered. Carmine was never going to be boss for much longer. Between his failing health and Johnny’s ambition to become boss (s4e13 when he orders a hit on Carmine), he was going to die sooner or later. Johnny Sack recruited Paulie. For the benefit of optics, Johnny had to say “Carmine wants to recruit you” because Carmine was still boss, he couldn’t speak as an assumptive boss without being accused of treachery.
Season 5–6 Tony’s leadership almost completely unravels over the next couple of years: a.) Tony’s handling of the Tony Blundetto situation which brings Jersey — NYC to the brink of war. Tony killing Blundetto was way too little too late. Jersey never made this right with New York.
- Tony allowed a rogue member of his family to kill two made guys in New York.
- Illing him wasn’t penance, it was necessary.b.) The rise of Bobby Baccalieri for no good reason other than marrying Janice.
- Bobby’s role as an earner is never celebrated, nor is his ability to make tough decisions.
- He was always Junior’s driver and later Janice’s husband.
Lest we forget Tony ruled against Paulie in favor of Bobby in s6e9 over the malfunctioning carnival ride despite the fact that it is very, very clear Janice is faking being injured in order to shake down Paulie for money (which works).c.) The handling of the Vito situation.
Right or wrong, Vito had to go for leading a double life. Tony, blinded by greed, refused to surrender one of his top earners to New York (even though Phil was within his rights as Vito was married to Phil’s cousin and frankly, Tony delivering Vito to Phil would have been a gesture of good faith after he refused to rightfully deliver Blundetto to Phil).
The ironic part is that when Ralphie was ostensibly killed by New York, Tony only seemed to shrug despite the fact that Ralphie was his top earner. Season 6 Tony seems to be ready to kill Paulie in Florida for no other reason than Tony thinks Paulie is annoying.
- However, Tony tries to make it about the Ginny Sack joke incident as he correctly susses out Paulie as the, forgive the pun, mole in the Soprano family.
- However this makes little sense as everyone involved in the incident is dead (Johnny and Ralphie).
- Beyond that, here are the rest of the clues in season 6: a.) When Phil goes to Marie Spatafore’s house to confirm Vito is gay.
He says “its been confirmed by an eyewitness” implying he was told by someone from the meeting with Finn at Satriale’s. The only people at that meeting were Bobby (dead), Carlo (rat), Chris (dead), Tony’s driver, Paulie, and Sil (coma). Phil’s emphasis on the witness means he heard it from someone there, deduction, plus prior relationship with New York would suggest it’s Paulie.
In a later scene, Carlo explicitly tells Tony that Paulie has been talking about it a lot and raising hell with everyone.b.) During s6e15 “Remember When”, Paulie has a dream where he sees Pussy cooking in the kitchen. Pussy represents being passed over and ultimately killed. Paulie simply asks him “when my time comes, tell me: will I stand up?” which is clearly setting up a showdown with Tony.
Paulie is asking himself if he will take the outcome like Pussy, who took the slight in silence (until he complained about it ad nauseum to his FBI handler). The next shot is now Paulie who is wide awake in the middle of the night lifting weights with a very angry look on his face.
He is preparing for the final showdown with Tony.c.) Like the Carmine cool guying being a red herring, so too was Chris’ funeral. Chris and Paulie never liked each other. Full stop. If you don’t get along 98% of the time and then you say nice things 2% of the time, that’s not love, that’s a bad relationship.
Chris and Paulie were at odds all the way up to Chris’ death. Even as Paulie seemingly said he loved Chris and wishes he had been better to him in life, he immediately curses Chris because of the poor attendance of his mother’s funeral. This slight by the Soprano family gives Paulie pretext to look back toward New York.d.) when New York declares war on the Soprano family in s6e20, they do NOT name Paulie as a primary target.
This is strange as Paulie is one of the family’s toughest enforcers. In The Godfather, the first person Barzini eliminated was Luca Brasi, the Corleone family’s toughest enforcer. This is a huge clue that New York had plans for Paulie in the aftermath of the war. Ask yourself “who runs Jersey after the war?” They need someone who commands loyalty from the Soprano family whilst remaining loyal to New York.
The only person in Soprano management who fits that description is Paulie.e.) in s6e21 “Made In America” (the series finale), Paulie watches Tony meet with FBI Agent Dwight Harris to discuss the whereabouts of Phil Leotardo. This can not be emphasized enough.
- The boss of a family is collaborating with the FBI against the boss of another family.
- This is Paulie’s golden ticket.
- If he takes this to The Commission in New York, they would immediately sanction a hit against Tony.
- There is no coming back from this for Tony.f.) by the end of s6e21, it has been made clear Carlo, another capo, has become an informant for the FBI meaning Tony was about to be indicted.
In the same week, Paulie now knows Tony has no problem working with the FBI while also knowing he is about to be facing hard time unless he cooperates. Considering the business Tony did with New York, the Commission can not allow Tony to survive with the knowledge he has.
- He needs to go and he needs to go fast before he enters protective custody.g.) also at the end of s6e21, after the war is over, Tony tries to offer Paulie a “promotion” to capo of the Aprile crew.
- Never mind the fact that Paulie is already a capo.
- Never mind the fact that there are now job openings at consigliere and underboss.
Never mind the fact that there are no qualified candidates for the jobs or the fact that Paulie has been there since the 60s or that he used to be underboss. Based on deduction and Tony’s patterns of nepotism, we can guess Patsy Parisi would be named underboss by virtue of his son’s engagement to Tony’s daughter Meadow.
- The fact that after everything Tony refused to promote Paulie was the last straw that gave him the gumption to eliminate Tony (much like a frustrated Johnny Sack was prepared to eliminate Carmine).
- Now that we have established Paulie’s motives, here is how it went down: Paulie cut a deal with New York where he would arrange the assassination of Tony and declare himself the new boss of the DiMeo family.
New York would back it with their muscle and influence to make sure Paulie’s coup is seen as legitimate within the remaining Soprano family and the Five Families. In return, they would have a peaceful and harmonious relationship with New Jersey, something they had not had in years.
Who killed Jimmy Soprano?
Deceased –
Jimmy Altieri : shot by Silvio on orders from Tony Soprano. Chucky Signore : shot by Tony Soprano on his motorboat. Mikey Palmice : shot while out jogging by Christopher and Paulie on orders from Tony.
Who did Tony Soprano hate the most?
Originally Answered: Who in The Sopranos, did Tony Soprano, hate the most? Tony didn’t really hate anyone until they got in the way of his business. He hated Mickey Palmice because he knew Mickey was working against him. He hated Febby Petrullio for talking to the feds and getting his mob colleagues locked up.
Who did Tony Soprano kill first?
Early life – Tony Soprano was born in 1959 (1955 in The Many Saints of Newark ) to Livia and Johnny Soprano. His father was a caporegime in the DiMeo crime family, Tony grew up living with his parents and two sisters, Janice and Barbara, in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey,
Tony’s paternal grandfather, Corrado Soprano, was from Ariano, Sicily, and immigrated to the United States in 1911. He was a master stonemason who helped to build a church in Tony’s old neighborhood. In adulthood, Tony recalls how Johnny used Janice as a cover for attending meetings with criminal associates at a children’s amusement park, leading him to assume she was his father’s favorite child.
In therapy, when asked to remember happy childhood memories about his mother, Tony struggles to come up with any; he later describes his mother as a cruel, joyless woman who wore his father down “to a little nub” and who seemed to delight in threatening her children.
Tony has a troubled relationship with Janice, due to her flighty and impulsive nature, which leads to her constantly relying on him for financial and emotional support. Their bond is further complicated in adulthood when she murders her boyfriend, Richie Aprile, one of Tony’s subordinates, for striking her during a domestic dispute, leading to her calling on Tony for assistance in disposing of his body.
In high school, Tony met his future wife, Carmela DeAngelis, and became friends with Artie Bucco and Davey Scatino. He was also close to his maternal cousin Tony Blundetto, Their mutual relatives called them Tony-Uncle-Al and Tony-Uncle-Johnny (after their fathers) to tell them apart, although Tony Soprano and his friends would take to calling Blundetto “Tony B”.
- The two Tonys spent summers at the farm of their uncle Pat Blundetto, a former DiMeo soldier allowed to retire from the Mafia due to chronic illness.
- When they were in their early twenties, Tony Blundetto was arrested for his part in a hijacking ; Tony Soprano was supposed to join him on the job but failed to appear because of a panic attack after an argument with his mother, which resulted in his blacking out and suffering a head injury.
For years after, Tony Soprano claimed that he had sustained the injury during a mugging, a story he maintained to allay his guilt. As a young adult, he attended Seton Hall University for a semester and a half before dropping out to pursue a life of crime.
- Tony was part of an unofficial crew of young criminals consisting of Silvio Dante, Ralph Cifaretto and Giacomo “Jackie” Aprile, Sr.
- He and Jackie gained notoriety in the DiMeo family by robbing a card game run by Feech La Manna.
- Ralph was left out of the plan due to debilitating pain from a venereal disease, leading to a lifelong animosity between the two.
Under the tutelage of his father’s friend Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri, Tony committed his first murder in 1982, killing a small-time bookie named Willie Overall. Following the murder, Paulie became Tony’s mentor in the Mafia, with Paulie eventually settling into a role as Tony’s own capo,
Johnny shepherded Tony through his ascendancy until his death in 1986 from emphysema, When he died, Johnny had risen to the level of capo of his crew, as had his older brother, Junior, Junior took over as Tony’s mentor, with parental figures Paulie and Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero passing their loyalty to Tony upon his father’s death, while Silvio joined the crew.
Tony became acting capo of his father’s old crew, a position which eventually became permanent. In 1995, Jackie became acting boss after Ercole “Eckley” DiMeo was sent to prison. The family was prosperous under Jackie’s rule until 1998 when he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer,
Christopher Moltisanti | |
---|---|
The Sopranos character | |
Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti | |
First appearance | ” The Sopranos ” (1999) |
Last appearance | The Many Saints of Newark (2021) |
Created by | David Chase |
Portrayed by | Michael Imperioli |
In-universe information | |
Alias | Chris Maccaviti (episode 2.05) Chris Montevani (episode 5.11) Chrissy |
Gender | Male |
Title | Associate (seasons 1–3) Soldier (seasons 3–5) Acting Captain (season 4) Captain (season 6) |
Occupation |
Union safety officialstock market chief compliance officerfilm screenwriter/producernightclub ownermobster varsity athlete |
Family | Joanne Moltisanti (mother) Richard “Dickie” Moltisanti (father) Aldo “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti (grandfather) Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti (granduncle) Carmela Soprano (cousin once removed) Tony Blundetto (cousin) Gregory Moltisanti (cousin) Constance Blundetto (cousin) Jason Moltisanti (cousin) |
Spouse | Kelli Lombardo Moltisanti (wife) Adriana La Cerva (late fiancee) Amy Safir (brief fling) Julianna Skiff (mistress) |
Children | Caitlin Lombardo Moltisanti (daughter) |
Relatives | Tony Soprano (cousin-in-law) Janice Soprano (cousin) Barbara Soprano Giglione (cousin) Al Blundetto (uncle) Pat Blundetto (uncle) Meadow Soprano (second cousin) A.J. Soprano (second cousin) Hugh DeAngelis (great uncle) Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti (Uncle) |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Christopher Moltisanti, portrayed by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos, He is Tony Soprano ‘s protégé and a member of the DiMeo crime family, rising from associate to captain over the course of the series.
- In the TV series, Tony Soprano has been a father figure to Christopher since the death of his father, Dickie Moltisanti.
- Tony affectionately refers to Christopher as his “nephew,” but he is actually a cousin once removed of Tony’s wife Carmela (Carmela’s father Hugh and Chris’s grandmother Lena were brother and sister).
Tony and Christopher knew each other before Tony met Carmela because their fathers were both involved in the Mafia and because they are both cousins, through unrelated sides, to Tony Blundetto ; Christopher’s girlfriend Adriana La Cerva also believes that Tony and Christopher are distantly related through Christopher’s mother.
- The character, Christopher, is a volatile and impulsive young man, frustrated by his perceived lack of progress in the business.
- Christopher oversteps his authority when he hijacks trucks under the protection of captain Junior Soprano,
- To teach him a lesson, Junior orders his mock execution,
- In the second season, Chris is shot by his subordinates Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte but survives.
Tony trusts Christopher with sensitive tasks, such as disposing of the bodies of murdered captains Richie Aprile and Ralph Cifaretto, and arranging the assassination of New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi, In the third season, Chris finally becomes a made man,
This leads to friction with Paulie Gualtieri, culminating in the Pine Barrens incident and although they make an uneasy truce, they clash again on several occasions. By the sixth season, he is promoted to captain, and Tony tells Christopher that he will lead the family into the 21st century. Christopher has a tumultuous and abusive relationship with his long-term girlfriend Adriana.
When enraged about rumors that his fiancée Adriana and Tony are having an affair, he pulls a gun on Tony, who is ready to kill him for doing so. He is spared only after Tony Blundetto intercedes for him. In the fifth season, Chris learns that Adriana has been working as an informant for the U.S.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation and that she wants him to go into the Witness Protection Program with her.
- Valuing loyalty over love, Christopher reports Adriana’s actions to Tony, who has Silvio Dante kill her.
- Christopher then marries his new girlfriend, Kelli Lombardo and they have a daughter, Caitlyn.
But his interest in his new wife soon wanes. He grows disillusioned with Tony and frustrated with his progress in the family, and distances himself from the business by making a film and trying to become a Hollywood screenwriter. In addition to professional obstacles, the character also struggles throughout the series with major drug and alcohol addictions and repeatedly spends time at AA and drug rehabilitation centers.
Despite wanting Christopher to succeed, Tony doubts his nephew’s loyalty and suitability to be his successor, and he fears that Christopher’s immaturity and frequent drug problems make him a ripe target to turn state’s evidence, Christopher’s efforts to stay clean of drugs and alcohol cause him to spend less time at their regular haunts, further arousing Tony’s suspicions.
Christopher causes a car crash as he is driving Tony home while high. After seeing that Caitlyn’s baby seat has been completely destroyed in the accident, Tony suffocates the injured Chris and is finally rid of his troublesome nephew.
Was Tony Soprano a sociopath?
He considered them as different, though, than psychopaths, in that the former were caused by growing up in an antisocial or criminal sub-culture, rather than from a fundamental lack of social emotion or moral reasoning (as is the case with psychopaths ). In other words, Tony Soprano is a sociopath, not a psychopath.
What did the last scene of The Sopranos mean?
Explaining the divisive ending of ‘The Sopranos’ is undoubtedly one of the greatest TV shows in history, given that fans worldwide practically fell in love with James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano. Although he was highly immoral and committed some of the worst acts in television history, audiences sympathised with Soprano’s struggle to juggle his professional and personal lives simultaneously.
However, it is impossible to ignore that the show’s ending was divisive among fans, to say the least. So let’s take a closer look at exactly what happened and hopefully get to the bottom of it once and for all. The final scene is one of the simple aspects of the show because it primarily features the Soprano family sitting down for a meal after much of the tensions surrounding Tony’s life as a mob boss are resolved.
As expected, there are major spoilers ahead. Whilst waiting for his family to arrive at the restaurant, Tony selects the Journey song ‘Don’t Stop Believin” to play on the jukebox. Slowly, the other members of the Soprano family arrive; first, his wife Carmela, then his son AJ.
- Tony’s daughter Meadow has great difficulty parallel parking outside the restaurant.
- All the while, there are shots of a shady character lurking nearby, ramping up the tension.
- Each time a different person enters the restaurant, Tony looks up, which makes sense, given his profession and the paranoia surrounding it.
Eventually, the shady character enters the bathroom, which we consider a bad sign. Finally, Meadow parks the car and rushes over to the restaurant; the doorbell rings. And then nothing. A cut to black. Silence. Fans all over the world were confused, with many believing that their TVs had stopped working – and what a time for a cut-out to occur.
But when the credits began to roll, they realised that that black emptiness on their screen was really the ending of their favourite show. The Sopranos writer David Chase had been severely fucking with them all along. It’s clear, though, that the sudden cut to black represents the end of Tony Soprano’s life.
Earlier in the series, Tony’s friend Bobby said to him, “You probably don’t ever hear it when it happens, right?” And that’s it, a cut to black and silence, no explanation as to exactly what happens. You don’t see yourself lying dead in your bowl of pasta.
- Life, the show, is simply over.
- Done and dusted.
- Following the uproar surrounding the show’s finale, David Chase explained to : “Tony was dealing in mortality every day.
- He was dishing out life and death.
- And he was not happy.
- All I wanted to do was present the idea of how short life is and how precious it is.
The only way I felt I could do that was to rip it away.” Chase explained that he did not think would cause so much division between the fans of the show. “It was kind of incredible to me,” he said. “But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar.
- And was it annoying? What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed.
- That bothered me.” “They wanted to know that Tony was killed,” he added.
- They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, ‘God, you watched this guy for seven years, and I know he’s a criminal.
But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way’.” Indeed, our sympathy for Tony was undeniable, yet it was all too evident that he had suffered the worst kind of fate in front of his family at the dinner table.
- While the scene did anger some fans who wanted confirmation that Tony Soprano had died for certain, the fact remains that David Chase wrote the scene intentionally, and, as such, it ought to be given the artistic merit that it deserves.
- Finding the honourable ending to any show is always going to be a difficult task, but all the more so when it is one of the best TV series of all time.
In many ways, had we actually seen the shady killer shoot Tony in the head, his family screaming as bits of his brains and leftover tomato sauce fly across the table, it would likely have been a bit distasteful, especially so considering the fact that we came to love Tony as a family member despite his immoral outlook on life.
The ending of The Sopranos is, in fact, one of the best-ever endings to a TV show because it left room for interpretation and toyed with the actual conventions of watching television in the first place. Perhaps you believe that Tony Soprano did not die that fateful night in the restaurant, or perhaps its ambiguity is what immortalised him into the pantheon of the best-ever TV characters.
Regardless of public opinion, David Chase ought to be given the credit for having the gall to end his creation in such a manner. } } } } } } : Explaining the divisive ending of ‘The Sopranos’
Who killed Silvio Dante?
What happens to Silvio Dante in The Sopranos? Here’s a breakdown of his comatose fate in the HBO series, and why he most likely passes away. What happens to the comatose Silvio Dante in The Sopranos ? Portrayed by Steven Van Zandt, the gangster suffers numerous gunshot wounds in the penultimate episode, but his death is never confirmed. Based on The Sopranos’ controversial series finale, the subtext heavily implies Silvio’s grim fate.
Silvio works as the DiMeo crime family’s consigliere in The Sopranos and runs the Bada Bing nightclub for his childhood friend/boss, Tony Soprano (the late James Gandolfini). He carries out numerous mob hits during the series, even taking the life of Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), the long-time partner of Tony’s protege, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).
By The Sopranos season 6, Silvio remains loyal to his crew, but he’s gunned down by Lupertazzi hitmen in “The Blue Comet.” Tony learns that his right-hand man isn’t expected to regain consciousness and then holds his hand during a hospital visit in The Sopranos series finale, “Made in America.” The Sopranos implies that Silvio dies from his gunshot wounds.
During the Lupertazzi attack in “The Blue Comet,” Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) manages to flee from his vehicle outside the Bada Bing. However, Van Zandt’s character appears to suffer multiple gunshots wounds. In fact, the Lupertazzi hitmen don’t even bother shooting more rounds when they witness Silvio’s lifeless body in the car.
From there, there’s no evidence to suggest that he somehow survives. In “The Blue Comet,” Paulie Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) learns that doctors don’t expect Silvio to regain consciousness, and “Made in America” shows the dying consigliere in a coma. The Sopranos doesn’t confirm Silvio’s death to maximize the impact on audiences. For example, Silvio’s murder of Adriana takes place off-screen, leaving the audience to wonder about what’s not shown. The Sopranos creator, David Chase, has stated that he didn’t want to show Adriana’s point of view, and that concept seems to apply to Silvio’s final moments in the show.
He’s gone, even if his physical presence can still be felt by Tony. In a way, Silvio’s impending death marks the beginning of a farewell tour for Tony, as he hands over partial control to Paulie after leaving the hospital, visits his Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), and then reunites with his family shortly before the polarizing cut-to-black in the controversial series finale.
Tony anticipates his own death throughout the series, which makes his last meeting with Silvio so bittersweet; he’s able to say goodbye to a dear friend but knows that he could be killed at any moment due to the escalating conflict with the Lupertazzi family.
Despite being an incredibly violent series, The Sopranos doesn’t force the audience to watch the demise of popular characters. There are plenty of gruesome death scenes, with the last involving Bobby Baccalieri (Steven R. Schirripa) and Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), though characters like Adriana, Silvio, and Tony make their exits quietly off-screen.
As a result, there’s still a “What If” element for fans to theorize about, as some would like to believe that Adriana escaped, that Silvio miraculously pulled through, and that Tony managed to enter the Witness Protection Program, In The Sopranos, what’s not shown is often more devastating than what appears on screen, evidenced in part by Silvio Dante’s unconfirmed (but presumed) death.
Why did Adriana become a rat?
Watching The Sopranos during quarantine has been a fun journey—well, as fun as a series about racist, homophobic, murdering mobsters can be. In all seriousness, I have been completely sucked into the world of Tony Soprano, and while I “root” for him, what makes the show so watchable is that it doesn’t shy away of highlighting the moral failures of its characters.
- It waxes poetically about psychology, trauma, and other issues, but it never attempts to make excuses for who these people are.
- But the one character I truly feel bad for in the series is Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo).
- Spoilers for The Sopranos! ** Adriana is the girlfriend of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), the nephew/cousin of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).
She started off as initially a cameo, but grew into such a fan favorite that her slow walk towards death is one of the most haunting aspects of the show. And this is a show that has given us some messed up deaths. But let’s back up a bit. After losing one of their mob informants, the FBI targets Adriana to get her to flip due to her close ties with the Soprano crime family.
Adriana is manipulated into befriending an undercover FBI agent named Deborah Ciccerone. They get close and Adriana even shares her fears of infertility due to an abortion. Eventually, using drug charges as leverage, Adriana is forced to become a rat. This haunts her for the remainder of her existence on the show, leading to health issues as she tries to not share anything with the FBI, but also not go to jail.
But eventually, she tries to cut a deal for her and Christopher, but sadly it doesn’t go well. Episode 5.12, “Long Term Parking” is considered among one of the best episodes of the series. Adriana confesses to Christopher what happened, and for a split second, you think he is going to run away with her.
- But after seeing a poor family outside a gas station, he flips and hands her over to Tony.
- She is brought out into the woods and shot.
- Her car is placed in Long Term Parking at JFK airport.
- As Andy Cambria put it in his piece about the series for the book Off the Back of a Truck: Unofficial Contraband for the Sopranos Fan (which has been a great read as I finish watching the last 12 episodes): “In the world of The Sopranos, Adriana is as close to a purely tragic character as we get.
She indulges in the spoilers of Mob life and makes foolish decisions, but she is entirely motivated by love and loyalty.” We watched Big Pussy get shot to death on a boat after being revealed to be an FBI informat. During season six, another FBI informat will eventually hang himself in a gruesome attempt to escape from the trap he has been caught in.
- Yet, Adriana’s death hurts because we as an audience know how deep her love and loyalty are toward Christopher.
- She supported him even when he accidentally murdered her dog when he was high.
- She is a survivor of domestic abuse, a business woman, and most importantly a young woman who got caught up in something the FBI could not protect her from.
Infamously, Adriana was so beloved that it is one of the few deaths we don’t actually see on screen. “I completely didn’t think about it when I wrote it,” creator David Chace said later to EW, “But it just felt like the right thing to do, filmically and cinematically.
I think it worked really great, but I guess I did not want to see Adriana/Drea get shot. It speaks more to how much we fell in love with this character and that actress.” Often wife and girlfriend characters are maligned in fandom for not “leaving” or the excuse is made that “they know who that person was when they got with them.” That always seems like a victim blame statement, but in the case of Adriana I think it is very clear: She could not leave,
Christopher was violent and part of organized crime. Despite Adriana being related to two made men, it didn’t matter once she was labeled a rat. Even if she had come forward, just the hint of something going wrong marked her for death. I think if there is any character who is a descendant of Adriana it would be Tara Knowles from Sons of Anarchy,
Both were women who did get involved with their eyes open, but slowly realized that the environment was just too hostile. When they tried to leave—they were murdered. Brutally. Adrianna was murdered because of Christopher’s desire to stay in this business: “He sees his future life flash before his eyes: ‘This is going to be us, we’re going to be that family living hand to mouth in a shitty car with a bunch of kids,'” writer Terence Winter explained.
“It gives you his mindset as a guy who’s never going to leave New Jersey. There’s nothing like a mullet to shake you into reality.” So when we put the blame on these women for not leaving, even in fiction, we should remember what FKA Twigs so eloquently put it: “Question should really be to the abuser, why are you holding someone hostage?” (image: HBO) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site ! — The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.— Have a tip we should know?
How did they know Adriana was a rat?
The Sopranos’ David Chase and Drea De Matteo break down “Long Term Parking” Major spoilers for the greatest TV show of all time to follow. Two things will strike you on a rewatch of : a) you’ll notice just how stupidly funny it is, even in its darkest moments – Tony’s heavily slapstick murder of Ralphie Cifaretto springs to mind – and b) you’ll feel the true weight of the darkness at its core, especially as the series marches toward its conclusion.
Dramatic moments – Tony and Carmela’s cataclysmic fight in season four’s “Whitecaps”, AJ’s suicide attempt in season six’s “The Second Coming”, Tony gently smothering Christopher to death in season six’s “Kennedy and Heidi” – hit even harder, perhaps because we’re even further endeared to the characters after another 80-odd hours together.
But no arc feels quite as devastating as that of Adriana La Cerva, played by Drea De Matteo. Drafted in as fledgling mafioso Christopher Moltisanti’s girlfriend early in season one, she was one of the few true outsiders in the mob’s orbit. “You couldn’t help but fall in love with her because she was sort of collateral damage,” Sopranos director Tim Van Patten says.
A loveable dumbass, she is perfect prey for the, who enlist her as an informant in season four, and we immediately get that horrible sense of what’s to come. Adriana’s demise is at the heart of season five’s “Long Term Parking”, an episode often spoken about in reverent tones, alongside season three’s “Pine Barrens”, as perhaps the show’s greatest ever.
“Long Term Parking” works so well because it so perfectly teases out Adriana’s death after she confesses her sins to Christopher, leading the audience to believe that she might just make it out of New Jersey alive. But it almost didn’t play out like that, writer Terence Winter tells GQ,
- There was a scene in an early cut where Christopher tells Tony that Adriana is a rat, which was removed from the final version (it appears in a later episode as a flashback instead).
- Tim and I felt really strongly that it should be in there,” Winter says.
- We were wrong.” The decision to remove it ratchets up the dramatic tension as Adriana sits in Silvio’s car, ostensibly on the way to see an injured in the hospital, allowing the audience to delude themselves about her fate for that bit longer.
And then we see the car move into the depths of the woods, where only bad things happen. “When I look back on the show, it’s one of my favourite decisions, if you want to call it that,” creator David Chase says, almost 20 years later, of the call to remove the scene.
Did Tony kill Christopher’s dad?
The Sopranos – Dickie Moltisanti with his young son Christopher. In September 2002, Tony told Christopher that Dickie’s killer was Barry Haydu, who had just retired from the force, and supposedly did it under orders from Jilly Ruffalo, as revenge for disfiguring him in prison.
Tony delivered Haydu to Christopher as a part of his process of bonding Chris to him and slowly easing him up the family hierarchy. However, when confronted by Christopher, Haydu denied ever having heard of Richard Moltisanti and claimed that someone was “obviously” setting him up. Despite his repeated claims of being unfamiliar with Dickie, Chris puts an end to Haydu’s life.
Unbeknownst to him, he would never find out the truth of who orchestrated the murder of his father. Tony remembers Dickie as a “stand up guy” and describes a lot of his positive qualities to Christopher. Tony apparently never learned the full story of Dickie’s demise; he believes that Dickie was killed because of a beef with Jilly Ruffalo, not knowing it was really his uncle who did it.
Why did Christopher betray Adriana?
The mole – By the end of season 3, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targets Adriana as a potential witness in the family’s organization. Upon the death of Sal “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero, the FBI looks to Adriana as a close relation to Christopher, a rising star in the crime family, and sends Special Agent Deborah Ciccerone to befriend her in ” Army of One “.
Ciccerone, who goes by “Danielle Ciccolella”, succeeds at befriending Adriana, but the FBI have to abandon the mission earlier than planned when Christopher makes a pass at Ciccerone, upsetting Adriana. In ” No Show “, the FBI brings Adriana in and threatens her with long imprisonment for drug possession, or perhaps punishment by Tony Soprano, if she does not co-operate.
Adriana vomits all over herself, the table, and the agents. Out of loyalty to Christopher, Adriana avoids giving up any serious information on the family and does her best to avoid the Soprano family house in order to have nothing to give back to the FBI.
- Her deception catches up with her after the FBI learns of her involvement in covering up a murder at her club and threatens to press charges of being an accessory to murder against her unless she offers full cooperation, which would include wearing a wire ; Adriana agrees.
- A year later in ” Long Term Parking “, she reveals the truth to Christopher, hoping they can go into the Witness Protection Program together and start new lives.
An enraged Christopher beats and almost strangles her, before breaking down crying. His loyalty to his crime family turns out to be greater than his love for Adriana, and he reveals her status as an informant to Tony. Tony telephones Adriana, falsely informing her that Christopher attempted suicide at a diner in Ramapo Mountain State Forest before being found by the New Jersey State Police and has been hospitalized, and that Silvio Dante will drive her to the hospital.
En route on Interstate 287, Silvio stops the car in the middle of the woods. Realizing what is about to happen, a terrified Adriana tries to flee, crawling away from the car on all fours off screen where Silvio shoots her dead. Christopher is later seen putting some of her clothes in a red suitcase and dumping them.
He then leaves her light blue Ford Thunderbird in the long-term parking lot at Newark Liberty International Airport,
Did Tony sleep with Adriana?
4 Adriana La Cerva – Another Tony Soprano mistress that brings the almost incestuous nature of The Sopranos into question is the tryst that never was with Adriana La Cerva. Adriana and Tony never technically hook up, which is the only reason she doesn’t rank higher among Tony’s romantic interests.
However, unlike some other women who reject Tony’s advances (such as Dr. Melfi), Adriana and Tony absolutely would have become entangled with one another except they were interrupted — twice. Given their chemistry, it only seems fair to include her. Tony mentions to Dr. Melfi that he’s attracted to Adriana, and despite his misogyny, this is one more shred of proof of his attraction toward intelligent and driven women.
Adriana is Christopher Moltisanti’s lover throughout most of the series. Due to this fact, any tryst she and Tony might have had would have inevitably caused trouble. Rumors are ablaze about a potential affair between Tony and Adriana in The Sopranos after the season 5 installment “Irregular Around The Margins.” The episode saw the two hanging out until 2 am and taking a joyride to go grab cocaine that ended in a car accident.
What did the last scene of The Sopranos mean?
Explaining the divisive ending of ‘The Sopranos’ is undoubtedly one of the greatest TV shows in history, given that fans worldwide practically fell in love with James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano. Although he was highly immoral and committed some of the worst acts in television history, audiences sympathised with Soprano’s struggle to juggle his professional and personal lives simultaneously.
- However, it is impossible to ignore that the show’s ending was divisive among fans, to say the least.
- So let’s take a closer look at exactly what happened and hopefully get to the bottom of it once and for all.
- The final scene is one of the simple aspects of the show because it primarily features the Soprano family sitting down for a meal after much of the tensions surrounding Tony’s life as a mob boss are resolved.
As expected, there are major spoilers ahead. Whilst waiting for his family to arrive at the restaurant, Tony selects the Journey song ‘Don’t Stop Believin” to play on the jukebox. Slowly, the other members of the Soprano family arrive; first, his wife Carmela, then his son AJ.
Tony’s daughter Meadow has great difficulty parallel parking outside the restaurant. All the while, there are shots of a shady character lurking nearby, ramping up the tension. Each time a different person enters the restaurant, Tony looks up, which makes sense, given his profession and the paranoia surrounding it.
Eventually, the shady character enters the bathroom, which we consider a bad sign. Finally, Meadow parks the car and rushes over to the restaurant; the doorbell rings. And then nothing. A cut to black. Silence. Fans all over the world were confused, with many believing that their TVs had stopped working – and what a time for a cut-out to occur.
- But when the credits began to roll, they realised that that black emptiness on their screen was really the ending of their favourite show.
- The Sopranos writer David Chase had been severely fucking with them all along.
- It’s clear, though, that the sudden cut to black represents the end of Tony Soprano’s life.
Earlier in the series, Tony’s friend Bobby said to him, “You probably don’t ever hear it when it happens, right?” And that’s it, a cut to black and silence, no explanation as to exactly what happens. You don’t see yourself lying dead in your bowl of pasta.
- Life, the show, is simply over.
- Done and dusted.
- Following the uproar surrounding the show’s finale, David Chase explained to : “Tony was dealing in mortality every day.
- He was dishing out life and death.
- And he was not happy.
- All I wanted to do was present the idea of how short life is and how precious it is.
The only way I felt I could do that was to rip it away.” Chase explained that he did not think would cause so much division between the fans of the show. “It was kind of incredible to me,” he said. “But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar.
- And was it annoying? What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed.
- That bothered me.” “They wanted to know that Tony was killed,” he added.
- They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, ‘God, you watched this guy for seven years, and I know he’s a criminal.
But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way’.” Indeed, our sympathy for Tony was undeniable, yet it was all too evident that he had suffered the worst kind of fate in front of his family at the dinner table.
- While the scene did anger some fans who wanted confirmation that Tony Soprano had died for certain, the fact remains that David Chase wrote the scene intentionally, and, as such, it ought to be given the artistic merit that it deserves.
- Finding the honourable ending to any show is always going to be a difficult task, but all the more so when it is one of the best TV series of all time.
In many ways, had we actually seen the shady killer shoot Tony in the head, his family screaming as bits of his brains and leftover tomato sauce fly across the table, it would likely have been a bit distasteful, especially so considering the fact that we came to love Tony as a family member despite his immoral outlook on life.
- The ending of The Sopranos is, in fact, one of the best-ever endings to a TV show because it left room for interpretation and toyed with the actual conventions of watching television in the first place.
- Perhaps you believe that Tony Soprano did not die that fateful night in the restaurant, or perhaps its ambiguity is what immortalised him into the pantheon of the best-ever TV characters.
Regardless of public opinion, David Chase ought to be given the credit for having the gall to end his creation in such a manner. } } } } } } : Explaining the divisive ending of ‘The Sopranos’