So, now onto Part 2 of my pick for the dumbest decisions made by any of the characters that appeared in the acclaimed crime drama series, The Sopranos. These are of course just my own personal choices, so some people might disagree and not see them all as being too dumb but most of the are for sure lol!
Anyway, so here we go again...
And because these decisions often refer to crucial aspects of the story lines in the show, the following warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!
5. Carmela telling Tony that the boss in Cleaver was based on him
Episode "Stage 5"
So, at No.5 is probably an unusual choice but I always felt this was a bit of dumb decision in my opinion because of the eventual outcome it would lead to for Christopher Moltisanti.
So, that after seeing the Cleaver film premiere, which features a gangster who is killed but then returns to life and is out for revenge over his boss who ordered his death which was co-produced by Christopher, Carmela points out the similarities between the depicted boss and Tony, which Tony dismisses at the time while viewing the premiere.
However a day after the premiere, Carmela is clearly bothered by the mob boss depiction and again tells Tony that it was clearly based on him and the events where Christopher had a big confrontation with Tony over Tony's alleged sexual encounter with his then fiance, Adrianna (in the episode "Irregular around the margins"). After this Tony seems shaken up and believes Carmela is right and laments about it in therapy to Melfi and that he feels hurt that Christopher leaves him the image of an "asshole bully" onscreen.
This is further compounded by a visit from JT Dolan, who wrote the script for Cleaver to explain the film's plot was in fact based on an old gangster film from the 50's but Tony at the time notices JT has a bruise on his head, which makes him suspicious (as Christopher forced JT to meet with Tony to explain he came with the idea after Carmela confronted Chris over the film).
So, the reason I think this was a dumb decision was because of the eventual repercussions it had with Tony's relationship with Christopher and I think basically Carmela made too big a deal out of the film and the plot similarities which would then lead to a growing resentment from Tony for his nephew and ultimately this lead to Chris's demise at the hands of Tony. So, basically if Carmela had not overreacted and kept her opinions to herself or just not taken the Cleaver plot similarities so seriously then just maybe Tony's relationship with Christopher might not have soured as quickly (although maybe it would have eventually).
So, for me this is definitely is one decision I felt that warranted a place on the list.
4. Tony sleeping with Svetlana
Episodes "The Strong Silent Type" and "Whitecaps"
At No.4 is the somewhat hasty decision that cost Tony's marriage dearly as he slept with Livia's former carer, the Russian one-legged Svetlana.
So, to give some background here, Tony one day pays a visit to Svetlana when she is making a website for her business, which impresses Tony. Then not long after Christopher enters rehab for his heroin addiction, Tony again pays a visit to Svetlana and he is smitten by her attitude and her looks and the two of them have sex on a couch. Later, Svetlana tells Tony that while she enjoyed it, she is not looking to go out with him or see him again in that way, which leaves Tony a bit bemused.
However things soon to go pot for Tony as Carmela receives a call from Tony's ex goomah, Irina, who shares the bad news that Svetlana slept with Tony, which leads to a full blown fight between Tony and Carmela that eventually sees them separate for two years or so. And there are plenty of examples of Tony's infidelities but this is definitely the worst of the lot as it cost his marriage at the time and for that it certainly is one of his dumbest decisions.
So, this one definitely deserves a place on here given that Tony just couldn't keep it in his pants just this one time and it definitely didn't work out well as a result.
3. Matthew and Sean try to kill Christopher
Episode "Full Leather Jacket"
So, at No.3 is the decision of the dynamic duo from the second season of the show that was Matthew Bevallaqua and Sean Gismonte to try and take out Christopher in order to try and move themselves up in the criminal world, which was the DUMBEST thing they could ever have done!
So, the background behind the decision was in part due to Matt and Sean realising that they were getting nowhere fast in their efforts to climb the criminal underworld ladder having just been doing routine robberies with Christopher and serving drinks and food at Tony's executive card game. Also after being humiliated by Furio at their apartment, who was there to collect money from them and then demanded an extra $1000 and Tony berating Sean at the Bing in the toilets for attempting to talk business there, they clearly felt disrespected, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.
However what the duo decided was the WORST possible thing they could ever have done, which was to try and kill Christopher in an effort to get in good with Richie Aprile, who earlier told Matt and Sean that he didn't like him as Christopher hit Adrianna in an earlier episode in front of M & S. So, during the bungled hit on Christopher, Sean is shot dead by Christopher but Matt manages to run away and heads to tell Richie that they did the hit for him but Richie is angered by this and tells Matt to get the hell out of there. And in the end after Matt is tracked down by Tony and Pussy, it all ends very badly for the remaining member of the dynamic duo.
So, yeah there is no doubt that this was one of the stupidest decisions in the series from any character, especially as these two guys were dumb enough to think they could perform a hit on Christopher, Tony's nephew, who he virtually dotes on and get away with it.
So it definitely earns its spot here on the list at No.3.
2. Jackie Jr robbing a mob card game
Episode "Amo Fou"
So, in the runner up spot is the terrible decision made by Jackie Jr Aprile (the son of the late Jackie Aprile Sr, who was the boss of the New Jersey family) to rob a mob card game that was run by one of the family's captains, Ralph Cifaretto and the robbery of course goes horribly wrong for all involved.
As for what was behind Jackie Jr's decision was a story that Ralph told about how Tony and Jackie Sr years back made a name for themselves by staging a robbery at Feech La Manna's card game and Jackie Jr took a lot of inspiration from this to do his own robbery at one of Ralphie's card games. However the robbery itself turns out to be a total disaster as a gunfight ensues and Jackie Jr shoots the card dealer, Sunshine (who admittedly kept yakking throughout the robbery!) and shoots Furio in the leg. Jackie Jr then flees the scene and deserts his friend, Dino, who is left to die at the hands of Christopher and capo, Albert Barese.
After this, Jackie Jr is forced to go into hiding and Tony leaves the painful decision of what must be done about Jackie in Ralph's hands, who to make matters worse, is also seeing Jackie's mum, Rosalie. In the end of course, Ralph surrenders to the family pressure and decides to have Jackie Jr killed leaving behind a devastated mother in Rosalie.
There is no doubt that this decision was a dumb idea as Jackie Jr is a guy who took his life and completely flushed it down the toilet here by robbing the card game, which it looked he wouldn't have made much money at anyhow. In the end Jackie Jr just wasn't cut out for a life of crime as he simply wasn't bright enough to have made it and this was the proof.
So, Jackie Jr's bungled card game heist is certainly a worthy runner up.
1. Richie Aprile punches Janice Soprano
Episode "Knight in White Satin Armor"
And at number 1 is of course this somewhat snap decision made by Richie Aprile to punch his then fiance, Janice in the face, which had fatal consequences.
So, as for what lead up to it, Richie was trying to persuade Junior to have Tony killed for disrespecting him and not allowing him to earn more money (as he was trying to earn extra cash via drug deals on garbage route deliveries but Tony vetoed it). So, coming home frustrated, Richie opens a bottle of wine while Janice makes dinner and the two of them argue about Richie's son being a ballroom dancer and that Richie is embarrassed by him. However when Janice suggests that if Richie's son was gay it wouldn't be a big deal for Richie this a step too far and he suddenly punches her and then goes and gets his own dinner, leaving Janice stunned by this sudden outburst.
Janice however then moves off after Richie coldly asks her "What are you lookin at? You gonna cry now?" and she soon comes back with a gun in her hands. Richie however looks bemused and says dismissively "Get the fuck outta here. I'm in no mood for your..." but Janice then shoots him in the chest and he falls back onto the floor and Janice then fires another shot into Richie, who falls back dead. After this, Janice then calls Tony for help, who soon arrives and he gets Christopher and Furio to dispose of Richie's body and his car and Janice hastily exits New Jersey and goes back to Seattle.
And for me this was definitely the dumbest decision made in The Sopranos by any character and Richie definitely didn't know who he was messing with when he punched Janice. And its funny how in this series, one minute a character can be opening a bottle wine and getting ready to eat dinner and then in the next, being a corpse getting sliced up in a meat store! Its also a bit dumb because Richie warned Christopher not to hit Adrianne until they were married yet this is advice he didn't heed himself! However one way or another, Richie would have went down anyway as he was a real loose canon in the show and would have met his end at some point.
So, for me Richie's hasty punch is worthy of the top spot on the list.
Right, so that's it for now and I will be back some time soon with another post.
Till then its bye for now!
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