End of the Innocence

Death of a Mafia bride-to-be

So close, now so far away. Last night's Sopranos brought Adriana within minutes of escaping the tangled web of deceit that has surrounded her since the day the government began pushing her to be an informer--in a brief daydream sequence, we even saw her leaving--only to bring an end to her life instead. As the article above points out, the impact on the show of this death is enormous. Christopher has chosen--apparently on the basis of his preference for a Hummer over a very used Chevy, if the scene preceding Adriana's death is to be believed--to be loyal to Tony despite his recent fury over perceived slights. Tony has chosen to kill someone who was practically a family member, several steps beyond having Meadow's wayward boyfriend (Jackie Aprile, Jr.) killed last season.

All this happens just as Tony was coming around, reconciling with Carmela and moving back into the house after a very long season of living in his mother's old house and, last week, at the Plaza. On a show that performs an amazing trick each week--making the audience care about people who are pretty despicable in their thievery and illicit killing--it will be hard to make people forget that Christopher betrayed his own soon-to-be bride, or that Tony Soprano could come down so hard and so quickly on someone he appeared to love like a daughter. As the Sopranos go to war with Johnny Sack and New York, as it appears they will, it's going to be hard not to root for Johnny.