Dating Lessons From the Sopranos
What a Bunch of Fictional Mobsters Can Teach Us About Relationships
Some (tongue in cheek) points, inspired by the popular HBO series.
Christopher Moltisanti's girlfriend, Adriana La Cerva, begins talking to the Feds in Season 4. She doesn't mean to, it's just that Danielle, who Adriana thought was her friend, was actually an undercover FBI agent. Adriana doesn't realize she's ratting on anyone even though she's telling the Feds things that are best left "in the family." The minute she opens her mouth she unwittingly starts the break down of her relationship with Christopher. Sure, she was faithful to him, but she also told secrets about their relationship. And that ain’t cool. In Season 5, Silvio takes her deep into the woods and kills her.
LESSON: Breaking someone’s trust can involve more than just cheating
Tony Soprano's sister Janice is jealous of Tony's money and power. Even though she mocks Tony's wife Carmela, Janice secretly envies the life Carmela seems to have. Enter Richie Aprile. He's the brother of former boss Jackie Aprile, and just out of prison. When he begins dating Janice, it doesn't take long before she starts filling his head with complaints that he should be the boss of the family, not Tony. Janice's constant harping goes too far one night, and Richie hits her; then smiles and keeps eating. Janice forgets all about wanting to be the boss' wife and fetches a gun and kills him.
LESSON: Pretending to love someone for a superficial reason can be murder
When Adriana and Tony begin to get chummy in Season 5, it starts out innocently enough. But then it turns ugly when Tony starts having thoughts of sleeping with Adriana. They are edging close to the line of infidelity. When they get in a car together at 2:00 in the morning to purchase drugs, it's obviously that they'll probably end up doing more. What happens instead is they get in a car crash, causing Adriana injury. Tony thinks he's in the clear because he didn't have the opportunity to sleep with Aid, but when Christopher comes back into town, he’s the laughing stock of the gang.
LESSON: The perception of cheating can hurt as much as the actual act
Tony visits his father's grave one day and happens to meet his father's old mistress. Tony's Uncle Junior finds this out he confesses he had pined for the woman, also, and even bought a ring because he was in love. But he didn't want the woman to have to deal with the mobster life, so he never gave it to her. Turns out the mobster life wasn't an issue for her, so she hooked up with Tony's dad instead.
LESSON: You’ll always regret the chances you don’t take
Unhappily married Artie Bucco falls in love with Adriana when she comes to work for him at the restaurant. He is beside himself, and the next time Christopher and Tony come into the restaurant, Artie acts like a jerk to Christopher. Despite a warning from Tony, Artie then proceeds to ask Adriana to dinner. Adriana agrees to not only go to dinner, but to keep it from Christopher, because she thinks she and Artie are just friends. What follows is an awkward scene where Adriana finally realizes what Artie is after, and has to gently pull her hand away from his grip.
LESSON: Respect other relationships and know the appropriate boundaries
