Tony's enraged when he finds out Christopher accidentally smothered Adriana's (Drea de Matteo) dog to death, then disgusted by the revelation that Christopher was high during his mother's funeral. There is friction when Chris has difficulty making payments to Paulie, who subsequently humiliates him. Distractify is a registered trademark. His promotion irks Patsy, who has seniority. Moreover, the plot follows Tony having an affair with his psychologist, Jennifer Melfi. The first real sign of decay comes in season 4, in which Christopher's heroin addiction progresses to the point where an intervention's necessary. The ambiguity here is also clear to Chris. They may bust each other's balls, sure, but you can tell Tony genuinely loves his nephew and wants the best for him, and Christopher sees Tony as a father figure and respects his decisions. He indulged her aspirations for a career in music by allowing her to produce a demo and later giving her a club to run. During the TV series episode 'For All Debts Public and Private', Tony tells Christopher that the retired police investigator Barry Haydu killed Dickie. Rather than feel sorry for the loss of Adriana, he talked up his personal sacrifices and almost begged for sympathy. Chris is reprimanded by Tony for not using his leadership to stop Brendan. Do you have any idea, if I wanted, what I could do to these pr**ks? Advertisement. However, because of their family ties, Tony was willing to give him extra leeway in the hope that he would finally straighten up. 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. Christopher begins the series as Tony's driver and enforcer and is eager to rise through the ranks in the Mafia. 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. At the time this may have seemed like a rough patch the two would be able to recover from, but in hindsight it was simply another sign of their inevitably decaying relationship. Although the moment was shocking, Tony's motivations in The Sopranos presciently link to a song that plays before the accident, with Christopher referencing The Departed soundtrack and playing Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." As Tony's last direct kill in The Sopranos, the tragedy of the decline in his and Christopher's relationship makes it one of the most memorable deaths in the whole series. He then began working as a travel agent while also giving speeches at Colby College to Criminal Justice students. becomes severely depressed and shows suicidal behavior, at least according to his sister Meadow (Jamie-Lynn DiScala). One of The Sopranos' greatest tricks was how it combined domestic drama with the generic conventions of the mob movie. The final straw is when Ralphie orchestrates the death of his and Tony's horse, Pie-Oh-My for the insurance money. Christopher has helped dispose of several people murdered by other people throughout the series, mainly Tony. Big Pussy served as an FBI informant for a long time before he was finally discovered. If anyone else had done this they probably would've been whacked, but because Tony still has some semblance of humanity left, he makes an effort to find a solution, and the two of them manage to work things out. Tony continuously bailed Christopher out of trouble and saw so many terrible things happen to him. In one of The Sopranos' final episodes, "Walk Like a Man," the long-time friends joke around with each other and appear to be on good terms, despite some conflict to resolve with Paulie. He is spared only after Tony Blundetto intercedes for him. He then bonds his nephew to him by having him murder the recently retired Lieutenant Detective Barry Haydu, after telling Chris that Haydu had murdered his father. During the film, an infant Christopher cries when he sees Tony at a welcoming back party for Tony's father, "Johnny Boy" Soprano. The biggest test of Christopher's loyalty to Tony happens when Adriana reveals she's been an informant for the FBI. As Christopher was attempting to change the radio station while chatting to Tony, he swerved into the wrong lane and in an attempt to avoid crashing into the other car, overturned his own on the side of the road. All of the details on one of the most infamous scenes in television history. Brendan is shot in the eye by Mikey Palmice. Tony has Adriana La Cerva murdered for being an FBI informant, but Carmela, not knowing the truth, spends the first half of Season 6 enraptured by the thought of her potential disappearance. Moreover, that the idea of simply apologising when he had done wrong, like drinking and driving, would be forgiven with one single apology. But as it turns out, improving yourself is hard, so it only takes a few episodes post-coma for Tony to find himself going back down the same old path. Tony was shocked and disappointed. Ralph then killed his girlfriend Tracee outside the Bada Bing. Much like with Tony's maybe-death in the finale, the moment where Christopher was truly beyond saving was when he let his crew murder Adriana. Things got worse when Carmela suggested that the flawed main character in a B-movie that Christopher produced wasbased on Tony. Shredding the rulebook, The Sopranos set new standards for serious purveyors of television. He comes close to death when enraged about rumors that his fiance Adriana and Tony are having an affair, he pulls a gun on Tony, who is ready to kill him for doing so. Silvio was actually the guiding force behind Patsy's actions, as he was also jealous of Chris' promotion. Tony resented too that Chris could use drugs to escape a reality that was unpleasant; he was almost jealous of it. Kenya. Johnnie Culpepper Bundy Ted Bundys stepfather. As a mob boss, Tony had to get his hands dirty sometimes. The attempted hit failed but Matt still went to Richie and told him that he did it for him. His addiction simply made him completely untrustworthy. RELATED: Does Tony Soprano Know Junior Killed Dickie Moltisanti? He thus decided to give him a more decent death as he knew the New York crew would torture him. Thereafter, offer an apology and expect to be forgiven. Check out what I found below. 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. Sure, Tony had other reasons to want Chris dead. Chris tells the crew that during his coma, he had seen himself in either hell or purgatory and warned them that Brendan and Mikey told him that three o'clock would be a significant time in their future. Tony and "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) tracked down Matthew, and shot him to death in the back of a refreshment stand in revenge for the attack on Chris. There are a lot of reasons for Christopher's relapse in season 6, but at the core of it is his understanding he made the wrong choice and he can never take it back. We know, from The Sopranos, that Tony believes the murderer to be Detective Lt. Barry Haydu - who Dickie's son, Christopher, ends up killing. Over the course of the show, it becomes increasingly clear that Christopher is unable to change. But it's with season 6's "Kennedy and Heidi" that the show does something truly unprecedented. The rest of the episode then focuses on the after-effects of Christopher's death on the Soprano family, the rest of their crew, and even Tony in particular, who struggles to come to terms with what he has done. Moreover, seeing that he could not successfully get Christopher out of the car without further injuring him, he decided to asphyxiate Christopher in the drivers seat through holding his nose shut. Furious that Chris would be so reckless and noting the baby seat in the back of the car, Tony suffocates his cousin so that it looks like the crash killed him. The episode is titled Kennedy and Heidi and, spoiler alert, sees Tony killing his long-standing friend, Christopher. His lack of focus on the road caused the car to veer across the yellow line into oncoming traffic. Tony, Silvio, and Paulie figured out that Chucky was the person most likely to come after Tony so they made plans to whack him. Blundetto had to go because he angered the New York mob by killing one of their members. However, he somehow always seemed more tolerant of Christopher. He has a belated bachelor party with the Soprano crime family at Nuovo Vesuvio, where "Larry Boy" Barese makes a toast to his future. After consulting Silvio and Paulie, he decides to remove Chucky Signore (Sal Ruffino), one of Junior's trusted lieutenants, before Junior can make a third attempt. In The Sopranos season 2, the release of Richie Aprile (David Proval) leads to a clash with his brother Jackie's successor, Tony Soprano. In the sequence leading up to Christophers death, Tony was being driven by Christopher. The Sopranos is one of the cult classic series of the early 2000s. 25 years later, they had to lie low in Miami when Larry Barese told the FBI where Willie was buried. His volatile behavior was put up with for so long because of his family ties and Tonys wish to have a leader in place. I have always felt the fact that Tony saw the tree branch that had struck the child seat, then immediately turned around and decided to suffocate Christopher, made it obvious that Tony felt he was in some way protecting Christopher's daughter from his reckless behavior, but amazingly I've been told a lot of people disagree with this premise. Despite this, the two don't get married. This was made most clear the season 5 episode "Cold Cuts," where Janice starts working on her anger problems, and Tony stomps all over it to make himself feel better. Chris is also one of the few (along with Furio Giunta) to know Richie Aprile was murdered by Janice Soprano, and (along with Silvio Dante) to know about Tony Soprano's murder of Fabian Petrulio, about the aborted plan to hit New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi, Sr. and about Silvio's murder of Christopher's fiancee, Adriana La Cerva. This drug habit led to many issues between him and Tony throughout the show. After the accident, Tony sees a crushed baby seat and seemingly thinks about his own children, forcing Tony to take control, because he can, and essentially choose one family over another by killing Christopher (who, tellingly, isn't his direct blood relative). A few seconds later Tony is badly banged up, but in nowhere near as dire condition as Christopher. That car accident seems to have been the trigger that finally set Tony off after everything else. Tony sees a tree branch impaling a car seat where Christopher's daughter could have been sitting. I.e. One phone call and its over, the whole f**king castle comes down.. 13 October 2021 Tony Soprano kills Christopher Moltisanti during the series' sixth and final season of the cult classic, as a trope of that season's exploration of the psychology of the characters. Soprano is. Ambushing his cousin as he was opening the door, Tony got him with a single shot to the head using a12-gauge shotgun. Call me a taxi.". He also tries to distance himself from the criminal lifestyle and stays away from the Bada Bing. He was aware that his nephew was a ticking time bomb whose drug addiction would inevitably cause him to flip or do something stupid. As a result, he's directly responsible for eight murders, the second highest after Paulie's surprising Sopranos kill count. However, Tony Soprano wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty and often took matters into his own hands. Haydu's last words before he is killed by Christopher are "I'm sorry!" Granted, its popularity was spurred once again by the release of the prequel film The Many Saints of Newark, but even without that, The Sopranos train has seemingly never stopped chugging. Although Christopher tries to tell himself he made the right decision, by season 6 he's a shell of his former self. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Why Do People Hate Caillou? To protect himself from prosecution, Tony makes Chris the main contact in criminal dealings. When Tony asked why, Christopher explained that this should happen before the authorities arrive. People changing themselves for the better just reminds Tony of how he's only changed for the worse over the years, and it brings out the most spiteful side of him. The hit show officially premiered with the first season in 1999. They use Satriale's bandsaw and processing room to dismember the corpse. Chris and Paulie are put in charge of a cigarette smuggling operation. The two are ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to Junior and leave the trucks alone. 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. (2004), Adriana La Cerva: Once she confessed to Christopher that she had been an FBI informant, divulging important information about the DiMeo crime family Christopher's loyalty to Tony proved to be greater than his love for Adriana. Tony even tried to justify it in a session with Melfi later in the episode. Chris Moltisanti wasn't killed by Tony as part of a mob hit, but because of what Christopher represented in regard to Tony's son, A.J, and where Tony was on his journey as a parent. Its no different with The Sopranos when you think about it. Throughout the episode's remainder, Tony displays the proper decorum for the family in mourning yet can barely restrain his relief that he is finally free of the burden Chris has placed upon him for so long his insubordination, his substance abuse, his reckless behavior, and his complaints. And that meant a handful of cold, merciless kills throughout the course of The Sopranos. The Sopranos: 10 Best Cars On The Show, Ranked By How Much They Cost, The Sopranos: 10 Actors Who Also Appeared In Goodfellas, The Sopranos Characters, Ranked Least To Most Likely To Win The Hunger Games, The Sopranos: Tony's 10 Closest Friends, Ranked By Likability, The Sopranos: 10 Unpopular Opinions About The Show (According To Reddit), Stranger Things Fan Art Sees Steve Replace Tom Cruise In Classic '80s Movie, Star Wars Already Teased The Perfect Title For The Mandalorian Movie, Why Missy's Hair Is Shorter In Young Sheldon Season 6 Episode 18. (11 Reasons Why), Why Does Batman Not Kill? How Should 'The Sopranos' Have Ended? Dickie is killed when Chris is very young. There aren't many television shows in history that have had the impact that The Sopranos has on pop culture. Tony sends Silvio Dante to meet with Adriana, purportedly to drive to the hospital to visit Chris, but in reality, he executes her in the woods. Any gangster-infested area is guaranteed to have plenty of murders and such was the case in New Jersey and New York in The Sopranos. Tony Soprano has been a father figure to Christopher since the death of his father, Dickie Moltisanti. Throughout the entire show where Christopher is involved, we see nothing but trouble. Fictional character on the television series The Sopranos, Killings or possible killings committed or assisted by Christopher, explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective, Learn how and when to remove this template message, informant for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Alessandro Nivola In Talks For Lead Role In 'Sopranos' Prequel Movie", "A big "Sopranos" death | The Seattle Times". Chris is a cousin once removed of Tony's wife Carmela. That statement is an admission to Tony that Christopher has been lying to him about being clean from drugs. However, in the writing of the series finale season, the writing team aimed at putting these psychological dilemmas in conflict with one another, just as when Christopher is killed by Tony during the penultimate episode of the series. ", before Christopher ever mentioned Dickie's death, whom Haydu supposedly did not even know. While DiMeo crime family capo Paulie Walnuts had the highest kill count (9), Tony Soprano came in at a close second with 8 kills. Tony struggles with managing his personal life and heading the family business. Why exactly did Tony kill Christopher in The Sopranos? Its quite clear to us in many ways that Tony Soprano took Christopher under his wing. "I went to the writers and said. A couple of incidents took Ralph's relationship with Tony to the drain. Tony does trust his protege to a certain extent and loves him like a son. Chris' drug use spirals out of control following his temporary promotion. That's ultimately why, in my opinion, Tony killed Christopher. 514 354 r/thesopranos Join 20 days ago Best or funniest use of props in a violent scene? The murder haunts Chris' dreams, and he twice has to dig up and move Kolar's corpse. He becomes distracted by the movie business. The Sopranos' backstory is revealed in the prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark, and Christopher narrates Many Saints of Newark to further establish the impact of not just Christopher's death, but also Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti's relationship on the DiMeo crime family. That, compounded with years of reckless behavior that complicated Tony's life in more ways than one, drives the gangster to pinch Christopher's nose until he suffocated and died. It wasnt just his drug use but the explosive behavior and the constant trail of problems as well. (11 Reasons Why), Why Are Harleys So Expensive? Tony survives both attempts on his life. Ever since the show premiered in 1999, Christopher's character was unapologetically rash, bold, erratic, and fueled by drugs and alcohol. Tony eventually strangled him. Just as Tony Soprano was haunted by dreams of the murders and wrongdoings he committed, karma eventually caught up to Christopher Moltisanti, and his death was simply reaping what he'd sewn throughout his life. Tony turned his rage inward and was chronically depressed over his lot in life. The pair ambush Chris outside a diner and badly wound him, but he manages to kill Gismonte as Bevilaqua flees the scene. Christopher then began sleeping with Julianna Skiff, a woman Tony was also eyeing. Ithas also been suggested that Tony himself got whacked in those polarizing last minutes in the series finale. He killed Chris because tony sympathizes with any living thing that's harmless. Christopher's life is worth saving, of course, but Tony's subconscious guilt takes over, and he squeezes Christopher's nostrils until he dies. As a mob boss, Tony had to get his hands dirty sometimes. Chris later travels to his uncle Pat Blundetto's farm alongside Tony and Tony B. The rest of the crew seems sad to hear the news, but they get over it quickly. Christopher was one such problem that had to be removed. Unfortunately, Christopher continuously proved that he might not be capable of being such. That's part of what makes Tony's smothering of him so especially cruel: Christopher threw away his chance of happiness for the guy who'd end up killing him. Because of his close relationship with Tony Soprano, Christopher is the only one (besides Tony) who knows which bodies were buried at "Uncle Pat" Blundetto's farm and what really happened to Ralph Cifaretto. Considering Tony's position in the DiMeo crime family, Tony needs to be absolutely convinced that someone like Christopher won't spiral out of control and reveal information about their organization. Tony didn't have time to rationalize all that stuff a few moments after a major car wreck. Moreover, Christopher narrates The Many Saints of Newark as a disembodied voice from hell. Tony ends up strangling made-man Ralphie to death, in clear contravention of the Mafia code. Additionally, the scene showcased the emotional trajectory he took at making the decision as he cried as he suffocated his long-standing friend for the mutually beneficial result. Christopher's narration begins during the opening sequence showing his tombstone, during which he provides context for the movie's title by explaining that Moltisanti is a religious name that literally means "many saints." Blundetto went into hiding but Tony knew it was only a matter of time before he was found. Chris is put in charge of the family's pump and dump scam, with Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte serving as his subordinates. Christopher is a volatile and impulsive young man, frustrated by his perceived lack of progress in the business.