'Sopranos' fans get no revenge for Adriana's death -- yet
Posted: Monday, May 14, 2007 9:20 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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TV
I like to think I'm tough to shock, especially when it comes to fictional characters, and especially with a show like "The Sopranos." But not only was I surprised that Tony killed his almost-son Christopher, I was shocked at how matter-of-fact the murder was.
Chris and Tony were in a car accident caused by Chris, who was high on cocaine and let his truck slide into the other lane, then swerved back and flew off the road, flipping the truck several times. Tony escaped with bruises, and doctors at the hospital later said Chris' injuries were survivable. But those doctors don't know Tony Soprano.
While Chris struggled to breathe through what seemed to be a lungful of blood, Tony, the man who'd been his foster father, his boss, who'd stood godfather to Chris' daughter, reached into the car as calmly as if he were swatting a bug and held Chris' nose closed until he lost consciousness and died. It seemed almost an impulsive decision for Tony, who at one point had dialed 9 and 1 on his cell phone before thinking better of it.
Some "Sopranos" fans are saying that the murder came out of nowhere, that a major character like Christopher deserved more of a buildup, more of a dramatic death. Perhaps his death should have come along the same lines as his fiancee Adriana, who lived in agony for months before Silvio murdered her. She felt forced to rat to the FBI on Chris and the family, but then confessed all to Chris and begged him to run away with her. But Chris' loyalty to Tony topped his loyalty to her, and he turned her over to Tony and crew to be shot down in a field, crawling and crying.
In fact, as "Sopranos" deaths go, Chris' was pretty tame. Already badly injured from the crash, he didn't really have a chance to call Tony out on what he was doing. He died quietly, not beaten to death in a motel room like Vito, or tortured in any of the other numerous ways Mob soldiers have died on this show.
As an Adriana loyalist, I'm a little irked about that one -- it would have been interesting to see Christopher have to face what he'd done to the woman who loved him. Imagine the scenario if Carmela, she who has been so suspicious of Ade's death, had come face-to-face with the fact that her beloved nephew had killed the woman who was his lover and her friend. Carmela has, bit-by-bit, had to come to grips with the ways in which she has sold her soul for her lifestyle, but had she been forced to face Chris knowing he killed Ade, that might have been the last straw. If she was able to stay in denial after that, she would have been a haunted woman for the rest of her days.
So in a way, Chris got off easy. Those of us who wanted a satisfying revenge for Adriana's death will have to wait and see if the remaining episodes bring that revenge to Tony or even Silvio, who wielded the actual gun that shot her down. But Chris' death still shocked on other levels. If Tony is so quick to end the life of someone this close to him, it's obvious that he's been pushed to a breaking point. With just three episodes to go, viewers have been alerted: If you thought we were on a dark and twisty road before, hang on. There will be no warning signs when the bridge is out, and anything could happen between now and the June 10 finale.
