You have to understand that people of Italian descent--especially those that still have ties to Italy--absolutely loathe the mafia. And it's not just because of negative stereotypes. The mafia in Southern Italy is ridiculously powerful and people there are in constant fear of them. Many politicians and law enforcement officials have tried to put a stop to them only to fall victim to car bombs or a hail of bullets. There is good reason for Italian FBI agents to hate members of the mafia. They have seen what organized crime does to society.
Yeah my old Italian American boss from Staten Island was the same way. It takes so much work to build a successful stable business and to have some meathead solider come in to steal a percentage of your profits for the remaining life of your business is basically unforgivable. If someone ever did to my dad what they all did to Sal Vitro, I wouldn't forget it and would make sure my kids didn't either.
There was one decent person on the show, Tony & Janice's sister Barbara. They should have used her character as a bit of a balancing point and veiled moral center for the show. Barb could have been a zen like personality where she does not really offer any advice or get in anyone's way, but instead they come to her at which point she calmly answers with the correct moral answer and that's it. Up to the others to take what they will. Would have made an interesting dynamic. Then Tony whacks her because he can't handle seeing his faults and weaknesses brought to his attention, even if that's what he asked for.
@@jamesmeow3039 That's a dumb comment as that is not how life works. People can actually say no and also not be attracted by such a stupid lifestyle. BTW I should know as half my family was mobbed up. My uncle was a mob associate for the Chicago Outfit until the early 90's when he retired. I have known mobsters and understand that world. My father could have been an associate as well but he wanted nothing to do with those clowns.
The FBI carelessly got witnesses killed and were pretty-much dirtbags. Pussy’s handler was a fat f*ck up and Adriana’s handler should have done a better job of keeping track of her.
I’ve always said this! The scene where the FBI just shrug off the fact that Adrianna had disappeared and was more than likely killed is what made me root against them.
They see their informants as disposable. And the ego as these agents have despite their lack of expression of any emotion is ego too, they look down on who they’re trying to prosecute they exploit the human side of their informants, they go after your vulnerabilities: your lover, your kids everything to get you to cooperate
@@danielshchyokin3047 NO! .....But they're (FBI) supposed to be the "good" guys, but their lack of empathy and coldness makes them the same aka sociopath's....especially with Adrianna!
@@YABUKIJOE2077When you’re trying to capture murderous sociopaths, you’ve gotta be just as ruthless as those murderous sociopaths. None of the people who they go after is innocent, not a one.
@michaelterrell5061 it just bad police work, though. If all of your informants end up dead, criminals don't have much incentive to cooperate. It's fine to be ruthless when investigating organized crime, but also aware that informants are not disposable for more than just moral reasons.
Adriana's death was the hardest episode of the series for me. She was relatively innocent in the whole thing. Yes, she knew about Chris being in the mafia, and that he was a made man, but she grew up with mobsters in her family, so it was normal to her. She was sweet, naive, and lonely. She thought she made a friend, and she was betrayed finding out that Danielle was actually an undercover FBI Agent. The stress was literally tearing her insides up, with the IBS and colitis. The FBI got her killed. Her handler sucked. They should have had an agent tailing Adriana, knowing that she was supposed to get Chris to flip and join the witness protection program with her. She really didn't even give them too much information either. It's so tragic that she ended up being murdered, when if she faced the charges brought against her, she would have done no more than six months in jail at worst, or two years probation at best. Nobody prepared her or explained to her what to do in the event the feds came asking questions. She could have lawyered up and got through the whole ordeal with her life. The FBI got Adriana killed, and in my opinion they were more brutal and ruthless than the mobsters they were trying to arrest.
Agreed! Adriana would've been better off taking the drug charge because the FBI didn't have any proof that she had drugs with the intent to sell. Consuming drugs isn't illegal, and she should've known that. Also, once the FBI revealed that they had a female agent as her friend, Adriana should've immediately gotten an attorney.
I've always hated how law enforcement is soo annoyed that no one will cooperate with them. When the truth is 99% percent of the time the law can't protect them
I always thought the subplot where that one female FBI agent almost intentionally gets Adriana killed out of jealousy was one of the most quietly insidious on the show.
@@BronzeBullBalls no, with Sanseverino it's at least heavily implied. in the one moment when she's real with Adriana, she says that her sister was killed by a lowlife boyfriend with a gun. she makes many snide and sarcastic remarks about Adriana's relationship with Christopher, it's like her main defining trait that she is fixating on their relationship for personal reasons. "maybe Christopher knows a good lawyer!" she shows a great unexplained contempt, and she doesn't act that way with the male rats that they intentionally show her talking to later. she sets up Adriana with the camera outside the club, pushes her to try and get CHRISTOPHER to flip, and she knows from experience what will happen. she's also the one who sells this stupid plan to the other agents. and when she half-heartedly tries to convince them that Adriana could be "halfway to China by now", it mirrors when they had to convince Adriana that Pussy and Richie were dead (in Sanseverino's first scene no less). it's bullshit and the other agents know she got Adriana killed, out of negligence, careerism, or otherwise. she just wanted to prove to herself that the world would be unkind to Adriana, as it was unkind to her and her sister. that a girl like Adriana could never have a happy ending, if even she couldn't. she was right, but she made herself a part of that process out of contempt.
@@miracle_grrrl_mira well said. Honestly I never read into it that deep but it makes sense, yet another detail I missed that makes me want to go back again for the 100th time. Also that shot after Adrianna pukes with Danielle in the interrogation room and it shows the vomit on her multiple thousand dollar bracelet that Danielle envied over, smirking very smugly at.
I always kind of wondered if the reason they spied on the Sopranos for so long is because they enjoyed watching them like the audience who watches the show does
You could symbolize that, or that the NJ office was tired of the NYC office getting all the glory in RICO cases regarding the mafia and they wanted some recognition.
I remember a few short scenes of the feds in the surveillance vans talking about mundane anecdotes of what the mobsters they are watching got going on like a TV show
It reminds me of the The Departed quote *"Some become cops, others criminals, I say, when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"* Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson's character) had a point, don't fully agree with the quote, but it's not inaccurate either.
The whole Adrianna debacle would have resulted in that lead investigator guy getting immediately sacked. If those agents would have treated Aid as a misguided friend they genuinely wanted to help, she would have gave them everything. But anyone as incompetent as Agent Brill Cream, that would have been a career ending miscalculation.
I always found the relationship between Tony and Agent Harris fascinating. The Agent seemed to like Tony from the beginning, and vice versa. Which wasn't the typical, between them and the FBI
I forget where I saw the source but there were similar cases where FBI agents were pursuing certain crime families during a war and when one major player in another family was killed by the family they were investigating (purportedly since no legal evidence for them to charge the murderers with) one of the investigators essentially said "We might actually win this war" While they were on opposite ends there was a weird sort of feeling of connection between the two opposed organizations, perhaps if the family fell the investigation would have been fruitless but honestly we tend to like everyone we meet regardless so I think its a case of just a human connection
Cubitiso was a real hard on but agent Harris showed respect and learned how to work with Tony to trade inside information. Also, it was very smart of David Chase to film a few scenes of agent Deborah Ciccerone with her husband and infant child to humanize her and remind the audience that no matter how much we dislike her for setting up Adriana that she’s still a person who’s on the side of good. It’s hard to stay mad at her when you see her with her family.
@@Hilz28 I'm just gonna guess most people that meet you dislike you instantly. Mainly because they know they can't talk freely around you without fear of having their lives destroyed out of petty vindictiveness.
Harris always seemed more like a regular guy than the rest of the FBI. He talks to Tony with a level of respect, he’s human. The rest of them are mean spirited or cold and ruthless
What I really liked was when they planted that lamp in the Sopranos basement and they finally get it working and they pick up the sound of Carmela talking about Tony's bowel movements. "You really need more roughage in your diet, Tony" as she does the laundry while he rides the exercise bike.
Always makes me happy when movies and series portray law enforcement and intelligence agencies exactly as they are; government gangsters. Real people with flaws and ill desires. Another series that does this well is Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Just like Sopranos, they manage to realistically portray people as people. Some good, some bad, some both good and bad, and some just downright horrendous. There's nothing worse than overglorified TV "heroes" who can do no wrong.
the best example of this is Boardwalk Empire vs The Untouchables, exact same scenario (last season or so of BW) but, totally different take on how the "Law" is portrayed.
@@plaidchuck finally someone gets it! i just talked with my older cousin about this the other day about simpsons. he said seeing a dysfunctional family on tv when it first came out was refreshing. i agree but i also told him i grew up on simpsons and seeing the dysfunctional family trope in sitcoms since forever and seeing any wholesomeness on tv is actually what is refreshing to me. guess its about balance. too much of one or the other and it becomes boring. they made a tv show about the archie comics a few years ago and i was like 'let me guess its about a serial killer' and i was right lol. so predictable.
@@THEEMOWELL depends on what you wanna see and your reality, to you a dysfunctional family is a trope to me its the reality for most of the people I know
Dude. Look into pretty much any IRL FBI investigation. This is exactly how they act. They strongarm people into being informants constantly, and then just shrug their shoulders if someone gets made and bumped off. My dad's best friend from college became an FBI agent in the 80s, and resigned after like 8 years cause he couldn't live with himself doing such greasy shit. He ended up becoming a UPS driver and makes more money now anyway. 😂
The animosity is understandable as Cubitoso is also from Italy. He sees the mob as a stain on immigrants to the US. From his perspective they're guilty, whether they turn and become informants or not.
Good points in this video. Chase's point was to point out parallels between all sorts of characters, warts and all. I can believe that the FBI are flawed, but their biggest flaw in the show was their lack of competence in their strategy and tactics.
I feel like the point of the FBI in the show was to provide a glimpse into the failures of the justice system especially once the war on terror gets involved. No matter how many people, man hours, and money were put in, they still came up with next to nothing and let countless people die in the process.
My guess, is because Studio execs probably typecast her because of the Sopranos... It seems to be the mo of alot of them... But i could be wrong though...
Right then and there, when the FBI threatened to let Tony know about bringing Danielle into his house, they killed her. In that moment and for every moment, after she was just a walking corpse.
Similar to Cubitoso, there's a scene with Danielle where she watches Adriana's bracelet with a face full of envy and jealousy. I have always thought that this sole scene shows her and her co-workers true motivations to persecute Tony's Crew, using sick and twisted ways to do so: envy. Several episodes before, there's also the scene where they are all watching the footage from Tony's basement and how they comment on that, cracking jokes about the amount of food, and the capacity of Tony's water heater. It is all envy on their behalf.
@@EssexAggiegrad2011 This is a guy that really loves the pygmy thing in New Jersey. It's not envy because in the end they always get you. It's anger because they have to prove what they're doing when the mob will and do just murder anyone they victimise
It’s the opposite of envy. It’s disgust - law enforcement see all that high end jewellery and know all the misery and death that has obtained it. And the FBI use that disgust to drive them.
If it is ‘envy’ it’s the envy of knowing that the very worst people in the world are doing better materially than a lot of other people who are scum of the earth blood sucking parasites like the mafia pos
The FBI were antagonistic, but the principal bad guy of the series was Tony. We spend the most time with him since he's the POV character of the series, but he does many horrible deeds over the course of the show, and by the end he has regressed into a worse version of himself. He was a bad husband, a bad father, a bad friend, and a bad leader of men, and knowing this about yourself doesn't matter if you're unwilling to change.
Yes lidia was a horrible mother an no doubt was partially responsible for tony becoming who he was but at some point we all have to take responsibility and cant blame everything on your parents , had lidia been a wonderful mother tony still would have been in the mob , still been unfaithful to his wife , still been a murderer ....ect ect
The FBI are the "villains" of the show because we empathise less with them than the awful, albeit entertaining, main cast. The FBI are portrayed as underhanded, two-faced, cold, and generally unpleasant, but that's kind of the point. We're sometimes disillusioned to the fact that Tony and his glorified crew are all monstrous criminals who don't deserve to be treated with sincerity or respect.
The FBI suffers the same “up or out” mentality that plagues other agencies, the continuous pressure to make cases to get promotions or be pushed out or into dead-end positions, which leads to rushed investigations and the strong-arming of cooperators .
Ehhh. That's all they really knew, particularly Adriana. She deserved far better than Christopher, but her family life was fucked up and she didn't value herself enough to see that
Italian-Americans over-react and believe they would not be rejected were it not for the Mafia. Take away the Mafia and what do you have? A bunch of ethnic immigrants who everyone despises and no one fears.
In the context of the show, I've always seen the FBI as simply the biggest gang with the most resources. They're able to get away because they can validate their violence and cruelty against others, something that men like Tony struggle to do.
The Feds abuse the justice system as much as the mobsters. Whether or not they busted Tony's crew, they would've done nothing to reduce crime. It's likely that the Lupertazzi's would've picked up any racket that Tony was running. Agent Harris understood this, and realized that despite Tony being a violent criminal, he had history in Jersey had a level of respect for the community. Anyone that took his place, especially a New Yorker, would've been far worse. Aside from just being friends with Tony, I think Harris understood this.
I don't know about that, the FBI in the show simply plays by the dirty rules that all these mobsters play by. If they ended up getting someone killed due to the things they coerce them to do as an informant, then they are reaping what they sowed by becoming a mobsters in the first place. It was honestly kind of satisfying watching all these pig ignorant narcissistic mobsters that think they're masters of the universe get put in their place by a government organization.
There is absolutely no way the real Mafia would have held Junior’s “coronation” in a public venue such as a hotel banquet room. It would have been held in a very private secure location.
One of the biggest concepts on the show centers about morality. And I've never watched a tv series that depicted moral ambiguity so accurately as the sopranos. An idea for a future video kino. I always loved how sopranos dealt with silence pretty much on every scene. It's such a big part of the show in my opinion, it almost feels like another character itself. I'm not sure how you could tackle this topic, but there's someone who could do it, it's you. 😅
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul had a similar element with their portrayal of the DEA. The characters that worked for it were either corrupt, or they had such massive blind spots that they couldn’t perform their jobs adequately. By the end of BCS, they were more or less looking for someone to make and example of when every main instigator of the universe was dead or long gone.
They are ANTAGONISTS, not villains. The mob who robs, bullies, extorts, and murders people are the villains. Tony is the protagonist but still a villain.
Similar stuff in Breaking Bad (although the DEA's investigation arguably yields better results), where Hank constantly breaks the law in the name of justice
The government is the same as the mob, the only difference is that most people have Stockholm syndrome and consider their brutal extortion not only legitimate but good. They just don't like another mob muscling in on the cows they are farming.
It's amazing how easily people are lulled into believing that the murdering criminals are actually the good guys and the people trying to stop them are bad.
Everyone’s corrupt in this show everyone’s flawed in the show, but every character you can see a backstory to, and that’s in my opinion what makes the show so great that you believe they really exist even that 26 year old Puerto Rican.
The Adriana story with the FBI was always a bit weird to me as it does make the FBI villains, but at the same time, would the FBI really go for her- i mean at the end of the day she is not in the Mafia, what realistically can she give them. To me the plan to get close to her was like- thats a dumb plan. Not only dumb but it likely to endanger her gor little gain
They got desperate cause the actual mob members kept dying by Tony finding out (pussy and Jimmy) or dying by suicide or heath reasons, Ade wasn't married to Chris and knew the lifestyle and benefited trying to get her to snitch was cruel but made sense, but her not getting a lawyer at the beginning always annoyed me
@@timothypayton7623 but would they actually go for her, its not like she will know or be part of any conversations of significant mob activities. Just seems like FBI would only get her killed for nexxt to nothing. It would have been cool though if writers made Chris go into witness protection and story showing what life would be like, always keeping an eye out over shoulder or if they just ran away together
Of course they would go for her. Have you ever researched the FBI's tactics? They do this kinda stuff in real life. And the wife or girlfriend of a prominent member of the mafia is just as valuable as an actual member. If someone like Carmella flipped for example, that would probably be more valuable to them then some of the actual members, because she's the wife of the boss.
The FBI in general wasn't gunning for her, so much as it was the one specific agent. It's pretty heavily implied that there was a jealousy thing going on, and she was getting some level of sadistic satisfaction out of it. I think the other agents went along begrudgingly, without any initial or explicit intent. All of it just seemed like a little pet project for agent Ciccerone. Currently rewatching as it has been many years, so I'll see how this holds up.
Probably dumb in real life but made for good drama for the show. All moral ambiguity isnt it? We love Tony, Chrissy and Sil as characters yet we come to revile them for what they did to her. We wonder why they're such miserable pricks that they couldn't have just put her on a plane to Fiji and told her to stay lost for a few years.
Great idea for a video, Don Kino. As nasty as the FBI are, it is kind of fair game up until they manipulate the naive Adriana, who was way out of her depth and really didn't have a grasp on what was going on. The rest of them knew the stakes and being in organised crime would be tough enough as it is - constant pressure, but this pressure is amplified ten-fold when you are coerced into being an informant. Adriana really was about as innocent as any of these characters could be, and even her assisting in covering a murder was arguably a panicky, naive move. They completely destroyed her and had her murdered really, which is unforgivable. One thing I wish they made more of a point of was Ray's character however - many, many people involved in organised crime are informants for personal gain. In The Sopranos, the only rats tend to be people who have been coerced into it due to some kind of crime, such as dealing drugs which automatically carries a long sentence, but you will often find people high up in organised crime who use their status as informants to benefit themselves. The most notorious case of this would be Whitey Bulger, who had a long-standing relationship with the FBI as well as local law enforcement in Boston and wider Massachusetts. The film with Johnny Depp made it out to be a simple friendship with one corrupted agent and this was how the case was eventually handled, but it went far deeper than that. Bulger ran organised crime basically without interference because he helped bring down the Italians in the area, and it was known for years that, not only was he a murderer and vicious gangster - as well as a pedophile - but also it was suspected by many that he was an informant. There are many similar cases. In the five families, you had people like Greg Scarpa, "the Grim Reaper" who was a long time, high echelon informant. And there were and are many more. The most successful gangsters tend to have friends in law enforcement, in politics and so on, and these are the ones who are around for a long time to the point where it looks suspicious. The whole "snitches get stitches" thing applies generally to lower-echelon criminals and the whole point is to make the gangsters - as well as the communities that they operate in - to be terrified into keeping to a code of silence. There really is no honour amongst thieves and, as I said, the most successful criminals tend to be friendly with law enforcement and even with the spooks. Look at the links between the Italian-American mob with the CIA around the JFK assassination. Also look at how Meyer Lansky struck up a deal which allowed lucky Luciano to leave prison, as long as he left the country, all in exchange for any information about the docks which the mob controlled. This allowed for the original French Connection to happen, as Luciano had an interest in heroin processing plants in Sicily which would process opium which came from Turkey at that point IIRC, and this would then be shipped to NYC via the Corsican and Marseilles mobsters, who also ran the docks and were allowed to get away with things due to strike-breaking and fighting the communists on behalf of French intelligence. Great vid though - the FBI really were a nasty bunch in this who saw people as expendable, but I think that the relationship was a bit simplistic in relation to the reality of informants and how/why they do what they do. It isn't all based on blackmail and coercion and it can "go both ways". Agent Harris being a kind of friend to Tony was probably the closest they got to showing the other ways that mobsters having relationships with the feds, even though Harris wasn't on the payroll. It could be argued that he acted as a kind of informant by talking about the activities of the muslim guys, even though there was probably some patriotism to it, but ultimately, Tony was out for himself there.
"They completely destroyed her and had her murdered really, which is unforgivable. " The one thing they did that was unforgivable was not put a tail on Adriana after she said she was going to bring in Christopher. If they had done that and caught Sil about to murder her in the woods, they would've had the Sopranos #2 dead to rights and Adriana would still be alive. Pure incompetence.
Adriana wasn’t innocent either. She knew where Christopher’s money came from. She didn’t care. She just wanted the possessions. Then you add in the drug dealing and trying to cover up a murder. Adrianna was not a babe in the woods.
Watching this show from the start for the first time ever...I caught seasons 5 and 6 when they aired, because my friends loved it, but I never watched it in its entirety. It's so brilliant, almost on par with The Wire. HBO was really cooking with sauce during this era, it's special and likely won't be topped ever again. To have The Sopranos and The Wire airing at the same time is something magical. Tony created the template for shows with anti-hero protagonists. Breaking Bad and The Shield were good, but still not even close to being on par with this show or The Wire. Every subsequent generation of TV that tries to emulate these shows has something lost in translation.
Check out Succession. It is a worthy addition to the canon of great TV. Ozark was pretty good too although a but over the top in places, but a great commentary on corruption within capitalism and how these big dynasties are formed. Boardwalk Empire was great too, despite the last season letting it down a bit.
Long story short, if you ever get arrested, shut your pie hole and demand your lawyer. Don't talk to the cops about anything. ANYTHING. Literally anything. Don't talk about sports, the weather, just pretend your mouth was stapled shut and keep it that way. Be a mute. I'd say be a mime but even mimes communicate through mimery. So just sit there and don't do or say anything. Actually say "I want a lawyer" and then that's it. Say nothing after that.
Good analysis. Really it's dead on about how the FBI behaved. Sure Tony's crew are monsters under the bed, but the FBI does everything in their power to push someone under the bed. One of the darkest scenes in the series is Silvio baring down on Adrianna as she tries to crawl away. Adrianna's projectile vomiting is also a dark scene. The entire way they treated her was just unbelievable. Their initial approach of blackmail is beyond unethical.
Ade was a sad story of someone naive who didn't know how to handle either side. A candle in the wind who didn't know where to turn to when the rain set in as the song goes.
Another YT I saw years ago did not go so far as saying they were the real bad guys but maintained they had some attributes of a rival mafia family, and quite a few FBI in the show are actually Italian-American themselves, which heightens this impression.
Technically speaking I think nobody is meant to be the villain or hero, everything is meant to be grey. The FBI are portrayed as an organisation that wants a return on their investment. This leads them to do questionably moral things.
8:12 I never understood why she’d be more scared at that because she didn’t know rather than feel more safe by actually giving information to the feds, I think if she took the charge she would’ve been out in hours and even gain more respect from tony
Cruelty and incompetence. What sets the Wire apart is actual ingenuity and intelligence messed up by politics and tradition of both the law and the criminals. Sopranos is a wonderful panopticon of personal misery that manifests in and maybe from day to day living in a system that does not value human life.
Adriana knew exactly what was going on. It's sad she couldn't rise above her circumstances, but she could have just as easily died sitting next to Joey Peeps.
That's still my favorite scene, when grasso breaks something in the kitchen, during the first search and tony tells him he'll rip him a new one in italian
I always loved the gunshot noise in Adriana‘s Death scene. It’s not the typical bassy modern sounding pop, It sounds just like a snub nose revolver in the middle of the woods on a gloomy winter day. Really sets the tone for how unsettling scenes like this really are.
You know this is why I like The Sopranos more than Breaking Bad. BB has you literally rooting for the DEA, a very very questionable agency. Where as The Sopranos does a much better portrayal of the FBI being well, just as corrupt and evil as the Mob in certain respects.
Does it though? Breaking Bad season 2 has an entire episode devoted to how corrupt the DEA are and we see Hank Schrader act almost as ruthless as Walt from season 3 onwards. The main difference I would say is the portrayal of competence. The DEA are actually successful in killing a few cartel members. Meanwhile apart from having a few characters turn informants, the FBI really don't do anything of big meaning
Hey Kino, will you ever do a video focused on Bunny Colvin from the Wire? He is my favorite character on that show, and one of my favorite positive characters in general, also without spoiling anything else, Robert Wisdom also appears on Barry, another great show on HBO
Happy Friday. I’ve seen this show 8 or 9 times all the way through. I’m probably done forever, but I definitely get a lot out of watching your analysis videos . Thanks
Watching The Sopranos is like having Stockholm Syndrome, we are always seeing things from the mobsters perspective. Unlike The Wire where we the viewers are more like outsiders looking in and having empathy/sympathy for the murdered victims, Sopranos purposely lacks that. Someone is killed be it an elderly lady a pregnant woman or a waiter, life goes on for these scumbags, we are more concerned for the mobsters than their victims. The FBI is portrayed as ruthless on the show, further enhancing the Stockholm Syndrome effect of seeing things from the mobsters perspective who see themselves as the victims.
Government and mafia act in the same way. They use force and violence to steal other people's assets and establish their political leadership. Each state organ is like a soldier in the mafia. You don't need to be American to understand, just see how the state works in essence against the population. The government only deals with the mafia because it fears competition. Stockholm Syndrome is not realize that government is only the most powerful mob
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
I've never seen The Sopranos, but I have rewatched The Wire too many times to count. A good show or movie or book, to me, only improves after a rewatch. I love catching stuff I missed or forgot. The Sopranos seems to be like that. I really need to sit down and watch it.
Well that's some big moral relativism. There's basically one innocent life ruined directly by the FBI in the whole series (altough I wouldn't call Adriana innocent, she is enjoying all the benefits of the blood-money existence, which she is perfectly aware of despite all her naivity). The Jersey and New York mob however (in the series alone) kills, beats up, extorts, ruins and traumatizes people in the range of hundreds. Think only of the prostitutes witnessing the murder of Doc, or all the people in the restaurant where Jerry was killed. I am pretty sure that experience would have an adverse impact on most of our lives. The other big difference is the main purpose: the FBI's one (in the series at least) is to make Jersey and New York a better and safer place by repelling organized crime, and Cubitoso's personal motivation is to fight against the root of all negative preconceptions towards his ethnic group. The maffia however is only drived by greed and sociopathic habits. I am not saying the FBI doesn't commit unethical and reckless acts from time to time, but come on, these people work their asses of for a yearly salary less than Tony's daily income, it's not good but natural that their judgement slips someties. I like your video, but basically you are plucking the same strings as Tony at Melfi, and it feels like you forget that there are some big F@CKING differences in the degree of the two sides' sins :) But you are not the first to slip into this, remeber all the resentment Skylar White received for unknowingly hampering Walter's rise as a sociopathic murderous drug kingpin :D P. S.: that's why my favourite maffia series is Gomorrah, that thing in my opinion puts a lot more emphasis on the damage organized crime does to a society.
This video and the comments are a bit…disturbing. He keeps saying ‘yeah you could argue they are bad people etc’ no no no no. There’s no could argue. These people are absolute scum who prey on helpless people or their own kind. I had a tiny bit of sympathy for adriana inasmuch as she was contrasted with Raymond who didn’t care about being a snitch and was never caught whilst she clearly agonised over it but she still chose to be with someone like Christopher.
Government and mafia act in the same way. They use force and violence to steal other people's assets and establish their political leadership. Each state organ is like a soldier in the mafia. You don't need to be American to understand, just see how the state works in essence against the population. The government only deals with the mafia because it fears competition. Stockholm Syndrome is not realize that government is only the most powerful mob
The FBI is a whole “the ends justify the means” kind of group but it’s kind of hard to make that kind of argument when the methods causes so much damage to both their targets and anyone even a little bit related to them
You have to understand that people of Italian descent--especially those that still have ties to Italy--absolutely loathe the mafia. And it's not just because of negative stereotypes. The mafia in Southern Italy is ridiculously powerful and people there are in constant fear of them. Many politicians and law enforcement officials have tried to put a stop to them only to fall victim to car bombs or a hail of bullets. There is good reason for Italian FBI agents to hate members of the mafia. They have seen what organized crime does to society.
Furio didn’t seem to have a problems with them
@@donkeysaurusrex7881because he was a part of it lol the comment is talking about civilians probably
And now we're seeing that the FBI is in no way different from organized crime syndicates like the Mafia, only in real life.
Yeah my old Italian American boss from Staten Island was the same way.
It takes so much work to build a successful stable business and to have some meathead solider come in to steal a percentage of your profits for the remaining life of your business is basically unforgivable.
If someone ever did to my dad what they all did to Sal Vitro, I wouldn't forget it and would make sure my kids didn't either.
they also hate the government whats your point?😂
What I love about the Sopranos is that there were no heroes. The FBI were terrible in a way different from the mob.
There was one decent person on the show, Tony & Janice's sister Barbara. They should have used her character as a bit of a balancing point and veiled moral center for the show. Barb could have been a zen like personality where she does not really offer any advice or get in anyone's way, but instead they come to her at which point she calmly answers with the correct moral answer and that's it. Up to the others to take what they will. Would have made an interesting dynamic. Then Tony whacks her because he can't handle seeing his faults and weaknesses brought to his attention, even if that's what he asked for.
Nah. They clean up this mess
@Ted Wojtasik Barb needed to be away, if she was a constant presence she would have been corrupted.
@@jamesmeow3039 That's a dumb comment as that is not how life works. People can actually say no and also not be attracted by such a stupid lifestyle. BTW I should know as half my family was mobbed up. My uncle was a mob associate for the Chicago Outfit until the early 90's when he retired. I have known mobsters and understand that world. My father could have been an associate as well but he wanted nothing to do with those clowns.
the only good guy is that one cop who writes tony a ticket (and gets punished for it)
"I can't find pussy anywhere!" Out of context, that's a hilarious line.
Especially coming from Tony.
Out of contexts it's relatable
Should have be a popular meme by now
Me saying this all the time at the brony convention.
"Welcome to my world."- Johnny Saccramone
The actual villain is Tony. Chase hammered this so hard, but many fans refuse to accept it.
ok, glowie
@@PeachBoi_Real lmfao
This Tv Show about Anti Hero in the Corrupt World😊👌
The FBI carelessly got witnesses killed and were pretty-much dirtbags. Pussy’s handler was a fat f*ck up and Adriana’s handler should have done a better job of keeping track of her.
BOTH THINGS can be true, lavinder.
Fun Fact:
The FBI being portrayed as villainous, is actually a reference to the real life villainous agency of the same name.
CIA?!
@@midas7659 that one too
@@midas7659nobody’s got CIA!! I don’t wanna hear that word in here again!!!
Yea I hate it when the government goes after criminals and terrorists, such villains!
Cringeeee
The actual villain of the Sopranos is that dude from Employee Of The Month
jesus grossi
Yeah he was disgusting
AND the people that "lost the evidence" and "had to let him go" AKA law enforcement.
Im super surprised they never put him in any other episodes… he was free roaming so it would be safe to assume he got what he deserves off screen
@@captaincap700for5 No Jesus Rossi employee of the month. He was half Puerto Rican and Italian . Dr. Melphi's ex husband was fixated on that.
To Quote Red Dead Redemption " After im gone theyll just find another monster, they have too. Because they have to justify their wages"
2:23
I never thought about typing this before, but in this scene...
Tony is literally me.
Ha! Nice one!
We’ve all been there before.
C’est la vie
@@Pointlesshandle48before?
Fuck man I haven’t laughed that hard in awhile
I’ve always said this! The scene where the FBI just shrug off the fact that Adrianna had disappeared and was more than likely killed is what made me root against them.
They see their informants as disposable. And the ego as these agents have despite their lack of expression of any emotion is ego too, they look down on who they’re trying to prosecute they exploit the human side of their informants, they go after your vulnerabilities: your lover, your kids everything to get you to cooperate
more than rooting against the people who murdered someone they loved in cold blood?
@@danielshchyokin3047 NO! .....But they're (FBI) supposed to be the "good" guys, but their lack of empathy and coldness makes them the same aka sociopath's....especially with Adrianna!
@@YABUKIJOE2077When you’re trying to capture murderous sociopaths, you’ve gotta be just as ruthless as those murderous sociopaths. None of the people who they go after is innocent, not a one.
@michaelterrell5061 it just bad police work, though. If all of your informants end up dead, criminals don't have much incentive to cooperate. It's fine to be ruthless when investigating organized crime, but also aware that informants are not disposable for more than just moral reasons.
Adriana's death was the hardest episode of the series for me. She was relatively innocent in the whole thing. Yes, she knew about Chris being in the mafia, and that he was a made man, but she grew up with mobsters in her family, so it was normal to her. She was sweet, naive, and lonely. She thought she made a friend, and she was betrayed finding out that Danielle was actually an undercover FBI Agent. The stress was literally tearing her insides up, with the IBS and colitis.
The FBI got her killed. Her handler sucked. They should have had an agent tailing Adriana, knowing that she was supposed to get Chris to flip and join the witness protection program with her. She really didn't even give them too much information either. It's so tragic that she ended up being murdered, when if she faced the charges brought against her, she would have done no more than six months in jail at worst, or two years probation at best. Nobody prepared her or explained to her what to do in the event the feds came asking questions. She could have lawyered up and got through the whole ordeal with her life.
The FBI got Adriana killed, and in my opinion they were more brutal and ruthless than the mobsters they were trying to arrest.
Agreed! Adriana would've been better off taking the drug charge because the FBI didn't have any proof that she had drugs with the intent to sell. Consuming drugs isn't illegal, and she should've known that. Also, once the FBI revealed that they had a female agent as her friend, Adriana should've immediately gotten an attorney.
She fucked herself over she refused to wear a wire
RIP Adriana. Meow.
No excuse
Why didnt Adrianna get a lawyer?
I've always hated how law enforcement is soo annoyed that no one will cooperate with them. When the truth is 99% percent of the time the law can't protect them
you’re comparing tv law enforcement to real life law enforcement sooooooo
@@woopoganntnt7379FBI informant survival rate isn’t as high as you think in real life.
I always thought the subplot where that one female FBI agent almost intentionally gets Adriana killed out of jealousy was one of the most quietly insidious on the show.
not almost, the FBI knows what happens to informants, they just don't care.
When was that?
I think you're remembering that wrong
@@BronzeBullBalls no, with Sanseverino it's at least heavily implied. in the one moment when she's real with Adriana, she says that her sister was killed by a lowlife boyfriend with a gun. she makes many snide and sarcastic remarks about Adriana's relationship with Christopher, it's like her main defining trait that she is fixating on their relationship for personal reasons. "maybe Christopher knows a good lawyer!" she shows a great unexplained contempt, and she doesn't act that way with the male rats that they intentionally show her talking to later. she sets up Adriana with the camera outside the club, pushes her to try and get CHRISTOPHER to flip, and she knows from experience what will happen. she's also the one who sells this stupid plan to the other agents. and when she half-heartedly tries to convince them that Adriana could be "halfway to China by now", it mirrors when they had to convince Adriana that Pussy and Richie were dead (in Sanseverino's first scene no less). it's bullshit and the other agents know she got Adriana killed, out of negligence, careerism, or otherwise.
she just wanted to prove to herself that the world would be unkind to Adriana, as it was unkind to her and her sister. that a girl like Adriana could never have a happy ending, if even she couldn't. she was right, but she made herself a part of that process out of contempt.
@@miracle_grrrl_mira well said. Honestly I never read into it that deep but it makes sense, yet another detail I missed that makes me want to go back again for the 100th time. Also that shot after Adrianna pukes with Danielle in the interrogation room and it shows the vomit on her multiple thousand dollar bracelet that Danielle envied over, smirking very smugly at.
I always kind of wondered if the reason they spied on the Sopranos for so long is because they enjoyed watching them like the audience who watches the show does
You could symbolize that, or that the NJ office was tired of the NYC office getting all the glory in RICO cases regarding the mafia and they wanted some recognition.
I remember a few short scenes of the feds in the surveillance vans talking about mundane anecdotes of what the mobsters they are watching got going on like a TV show
@@milesbrown7345 and when they are going over footage of tonys basement, one of thems like “hey i have that same powerdrill 😃”
As above so below
The guy spying on Adriana certainly enjoyed it. Something tells me he would have done that for free.
Hey Tone, you ever realize that these FBI guys are kinda glowing green? What's up with that?
always with the aliens, you
@@Ventuura Take it easy. We're not making a Western here.
@@Ventuurait’s from the leftover radium dial company in New Jersey, duh
Hey T, you gotta hit em with your car. They glow in the dark!
Its like their glowin or something, Heh Heh.
It reminds me of the The Departed quote *"Some become cops, others criminals, I say, when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"* Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson's character) had a point, don't fully agree with the quote, but it's not inaccurate either.
The more time goes by, the more accurate that statement becomes.
The whole Adrianna debacle would have resulted in that lead investigator guy getting immediately sacked. If those agents would have treated Aid as a misguided friend they genuinely wanted to help, she would have gave them everything. But anyone as incompetent as Agent Brill Cream, that would have been a career ending miscalculation.
She doesn't know anything though.
It is only TV show
@@vtapvtap3925a muvie
Is that what Uncle Junior meant when he said, “that guy is so far up my ass I can taste Brylcreem?
@@molasorrosalom4846 She don't need to. Christophah does
7:20 I knew THAT was coming!
I always found the relationship between Tony and Agent Harris fascinating. The Agent seemed to like Tony from the beginning, and vice versa. Which wasn't the typical, between them and the FBI
I forget where I saw the source but there were similar cases where FBI agents were pursuing certain crime families during a war and when one major player in another family was killed by the family they were investigating (purportedly since no legal evidence for them to charge the murderers with) one of the investigators essentially said "We might actually win this war"
While they were on opposite ends there was a weird sort of feeling of connection between the two opposed organizations, perhaps if the family fell the investigation would have been fruitless but honestly we tend to like everyone we meet regardless so I think its a case of just a human connection
Cubitiso was a real hard on but agent Harris showed respect and learned how to work with Tony to trade inside information.
Also, it was very smart of David Chase to film a few scenes of agent Deborah Ciccerone with her husband and infant child to humanize her and remind the audience that no matter how much we dislike her for setting up Adriana that she’s still a person who’s on the side of good.
It’s hard to stay mad at her when you see her with her family.
@@michaelrichards9150 That's a great summation. One thing I disagree with; I don't tend to like everyone. Think of...Trump. 🤣
@@Hilz28 I'm just gonna guess most people that meet you dislike you instantly.
Mainly because they know they can't talk freely around you without fear of having their lives destroyed out of petty vindictiveness.
Harris always seemed more like a regular guy than the rest of the FBI. He talks to Tony with a level of respect, he’s human. The rest of them are mean spirited or cold and ruthless
What I really liked was when they planted that lamp in the Sopranos basement and they finally get it working and they pick up the sound of Carmela talking about Tony's bowel movements. "You really need more roughage in your diet, Tony" as she does the laundry while he rides the exercise bike.
Always makes me happy when movies and series portray law enforcement and intelligence agencies exactly as they are; government gangsters. Real people with flaws and ill desires. Another series that does this well is Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Just like Sopranos, they manage to realistically portray people as people. Some good, some bad, some both good and bad, and some just downright horrendous. There's nothing worse than overglorified TV "heroes" who can do no wrong.
the best example of this is Boardwalk Empire vs The Untouchables, exact same scenario (last season or so of BW) but, totally different take on how the "Law" is portrayed.
I dunno, after 25 years of difficult men and grey moral ambiguity, heroes can be refreshing.
@@plaidchuck finally someone gets it! i just talked with my older cousin about this the other day about simpsons. he said seeing a dysfunctional family on tv when it first came out was refreshing.
i agree but i also told him i grew up on simpsons and seeing the dysfunctional family trope in sitcoms since forever and seeing any wholesomeness on tv is actually what is refreshing to me. guess its about balance. too much of one or the other and it becomes boring. they made a tv show about the archie comics a few years ago and i was like 'let me guess its about a serial killer' and i was right lol. so predictable.
@@THEEMOWELL depends on what you wanna see and your reality, to you a dysfunctional family is a trope to me its the reality for most of the people I know
@@jorgenoname6062 me too that's why it's refreshing to see otherwise sometimes
Dude. Look into pretty much any IRL FBI investigation. This is exactly how they act. They strongarm people into being informants constantly, and then just shrug their shoulders if someone gets made and bumped off. My dad's best friend from college became an FBI agent in the 80s, and resigned after like 8 years cause he couldn't live with himself doing such greasy shit. He ended up becoming a UPS driver and makes more money now anyway. 😂
The animosity is understandable as Cubitoso is also from Italy. He sees the mob as a stain on immigrants to the US. From his perspective they're guilty, whether they turn and become informants or not.
just like Giuliani
Frank Cubitoso, who replaced agent Squaretto, and himself was replaced by agent Polygonata, and even later, agent Tetrahedronasimo
Good points in this video. Chase's point was to point out parallels between all sorts of characters, warts and all. I can believe that the FBI are flawed, but their biggest flaw in the show was their lack of competence in their strategy and tactics.
I feel like the point of the FBI in the show was to provide a glimpse into the failures of the justice system especially once the war on terror gets involved. No matter how many people, man hours, and money were put in, they still came up with next to nothing and let countless people die in the process.
Drea DeMateo deserved to be a movie star. Idk how she never blew up.
My guess, is because Studio execs probably typecast her because of the Sopranos... It seems to be the mo of alot of them... But i could be wrong though...
@@bwolf9587 that's a good guess.
Ever watched Sons of Anarchy?
Butter face
Anti-Italian Discrimination
I’m a simp for Charmaine. Total babe. Artie is nuts!?!?!?
My only regret is that I have but one like to give.
Fr Artie had a 10 at the crib the whole show
She seemed like a nag to me. Did she really think Artie could make all those mob guys stop eating at their restaurant? Lol
@@charleshammer7984 her being the occasional buzzkill would be a small price to pay.
@ Sean Linn True
Right then and there, when the FBI threatened to let Tony know about bringing Danielle into his house, they killed her. In that moment and for every moment, after she was just a walking corpse.
Similar to Cubitoso, there's a scene with Danielle where she watches Adriana's bracelet with a face full of envy and jealousy. I have always thought that this sole scene shows her and her co-workers true motivations to persecute Tony's Crew, using sick and twisted ways to do so: envy.
Several episodes before, there's also the scene where they are all watching the footage from Tony's basement and how they comment on that, cracking jokes about the amount of food, and the capacity of Tony's water heater. It is all envy on their behalf.
Tony's crew are harden criminals
@@EssexAggiegrad2011 This is a guy that really loves the pygmy thing in New Jersey. It's not envy because in the end they always get you. It's anger because they have to prove what they're doing when the mob will and do just murder anyone they victimise
It’s the opposite of envy. It’s disgust - law enforcement see all that high end jewellery and know all the misery and death that has obtained it. And the FBI use that disgust to drive them.
Very aligorical, the sacred and the propane. Hahah
If it is ‘envy’ it’s the envy of knowing that the very worst people in the world are doing better materially than a lot of other people who are scum of the earth blood sucking parasites like the mafia pos
The FBI were antagonistic, but the principal bad guy of the series was Tony. We spend the most time with him since he's the POV character of the series, but he does many horrible deeds over the course of the show, and by the end he has regressed into a worse version of himself. He was a bad husband, a bad father, a bad friend, and a bad leader of men, and knowing this about yourself doesn't matter if you're unwilling to change.
Real villian is lidia she one created tony the monster, she destroyed any if not what little humanity he had left in him!
@@viewtifuljoe66the real villain is her mother who made her the way she was
Yes lidia was a horrible mother an no doubt was partially responsible for tony becoming who he was but at some point we all have to take responsibility and cant blame everything on your parents , had lidia been a wonderful mother tony still would have been in the mob , still been unfaithful to his wife , still been a murderer ....ect ect
@@Quack_attack_ Livia**
@@opaljk4835 LUCA Brazzi!
There is absolutely nothing wrong w/ simping for Adrianna
I think the way the agents are sat around at the diner, making fun of Adriana is very reminiscent of how Tony’s crew behaves.
and some of the men objectify her too
The FBI are the "villains" of the show because we empathise less with them than the awful, albeit entertaining, main cast.
The FBI are portrayed as underhanded, two-faced, cold, and generally unpleasant, but that's kind of the point. We're sometimes disillusioned to the fact that Tony and his glorified crew are all monstrous criminals who don't deserve to be treated with sincerity or respect.
The FBI suffers the same “up or out” mentality that plagues other agencies, the continuous pressure to make cases to get promotions or be pushed out or into dead-end positions, which leads to rushed investigations and the strong-arming of cooperators .
Adriana and Carmela both knew exactly who they were involved with. I never had any pity for either.
Typical Tony fan.
Ehhh. That's all they really knew, particularly Adriana. She deserved far better than Christopher, but her family life was fucked up and she didn't value herself enough to see that
@@eva24gelion Don't talk common sense with OP
@@lavinder11 Oh poor you.
@@eva24gelion Always with the scenario's.
As an Italian - American I get why the Italian FBI agents reacted like they did.
Italian-Americans over-react and believe they would not be rejected were it not for the Mafia. Take away the Mafia and what do you have? A bunch of ethnic immigrants who everyone despises and no one fears.
In the context of the show, I've always seen the FBI as simply the biggest gang with the most resources. They're able to get away because they can validate their violence and cruelty against others, something that men like Tony struggle to do.
Please Don't Forget About How Controversy Elliot Ness.
Why would you play by the book if the people you’re trying to catch aren’t and are successful because of doing so?
2023 they are no Worse.
The Feds abuse the justice system as much as the mobsters. Whether or not they busted Tony's crew, they would've done nothing to reduce crime. It's likely that the Lupertazzi's would've picked up any racket that Tony was running. Agent Harris understood this, and realized that despite Tony being a violent criminal, he had history in Jersey had a level of respect for the community. Anyone that took his place, especially a New Yorker, would've been far worse. Aside from just being friends with Tony, I think Harris understood this.
I don't know about that, the FBI in the show simply plays by the dirty rules that all these mobsters play by. If they ended up getting someone killed due to the things they coerce them to do as an informant, then they are reaping what they sowed by becoming a mobsters in the first place. It was honestly kind of satisfying watching all these pig ignorant narcissistic mobsters that think they're masters of the universe get put in their place by a government organization.
There is absolutely no way the real Mafia would have held Junior’s “coronation” in a public venue such as a hotel banquet room. It would have been held in a very private secure location.
“ this guy Kino, you know he has a thing for Adriana, i dont mean nothing by it, but 1+2 is for math people “
Great video, I felt pretty similarly about the FBI, especially with regards to Adriana
Simp
The scene where they mocked Adriana caught me off guard lol I was shocked
One of the biggest concepts on the show centers about morality.
And I've never watched a tv series that depicted moral ambiguity so accurately as the sopranos.
An idea for a future video kino.
I always loved how sopranos dealt with silence pretty much on every scene. It's such a big part of the show in my opinion, it almost feels like another character itself. I'm not sure how you could tackle this topic, but there's someone who could do it, it's you. 😅
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul had a similar element with their portrayal of the DEA. The characters that worked for it were either corrupt, or they had such massive blind spots that they couldn’t perform their jobs adequately. By the end of BCS, they were more or less looking for someone to make and example of when every main instigator of the universe was dead or long gone.
I have no doubt BCS is an excellent show in its own right, but I don't think it was a good idea to make it.
They are ANTAGONISTS, not villains. The mob who robs, bullies, extorts, and murders people are the villains.
Tony is the protagonist but still a villain.
Yes, 100%.
Nope, they villains...
"The mob who robs, bullies, extorts, and murders people are the villains."
And so does the FBI. Your point?
No they are horrible people they are villains just not on the same level as tony
"Fuck 'em, they're criminals." - Frank.
Similar stuff in Breaking Bad (although the DEA's investigation arguably yields better results), where Hank constantly breaks the law in the name of justice
If only the FBI put a bug on the gabagol 😂
Even tho we never see him, harpo is one of my favorite characters.
SACREBLEU, WHERE IS ME MAMA
Harpo up there walking the streets whatever happened there
He goes by Hal now
@BradyBraza what's next? he gets to fuck her for a million?!
@@brandonjustisi laughed so much in this scene 😂😂😂😂
Right on Kino! I watch your sopranos stuff all great thank you.
This was brilliant. Love all your The Sopranos work.
Agent harris rules , were gonna win this thing lol his partners face is priceless.
The government is the same as the mob, the only difference is that most people have Stockholm syndrome and consider their brutal extortion not only legitimate but good. They just don't like another mob muscling in on the cows they are farming.
If it's leviathan state (to much feds with their nose in everything) then yes, if it's like founding fathers planed then no.
It's amazing how easily people are lulled into believing that the murdering criminals are actually the good guys and the people trying to stop them are bad.
I mean, they both suck. Idk what your point is.
Everyone’s corrupt in this show everyone’s flawed in the show, but every character you can see a backstory to, and that’s in my opinion what makes the show so great that you believe they really exist even that 26 year old Puerto Rican.
The Adriana story with the FBI was always a bit weird to me as it does make the FBI villains, but at the same time, would the FBI really go for her- i mean at the end of the day she is not in the Mafia, what realistically can she give them. To me the plan to get close to her was like- thats a dumb plan. Not only dumb but it likely to endanger her gor little gain
They got desperate cause the actual mob members kept dying by Tony finding out (pussy and Jimmy) or dying by suicide or heath reasons, Ade wasn't married to Chris and knew the lifestyle and benefited trying to get her to snitch was cruel but made sense, but her not getting a lawyer at the beginning always annoyed me
@@timothypayton7623 but would they actually go for her, its not like she will know or be part of any conversations of significant mob activities. Just seems like FBI would only get her killed for nexxt to nothing.
It would have been cool though if writers made Chris go into witness protection and story showing what life would be like, always keeping an eye out over shoulder or if they just ran away together
Of course they would go for her. Have you ever researched the FBI's tactics? They do this kinda stuff in real life. And the wife or girlfriend of a prominent member of the mafia is just as valuable as an actual member.
If someone like Carmella flipped for example, that would probably be more valuable to them then some of the actual members, because she's the wife of the boss.
The FBI in general wasn't gunning for her, so much as it was the one specific agent. It's pretty heavily implied that there was a jealousy thing going on, and she was getting some level of sadistic satisfaction out of it. I think the other agents went along begrudgingly, without any initial or explicit intent. All of it just seemed like a little pet project for agent Ciccerone. Currently rewatching as it has been many years, so I'll see how this holds up.
Probably dumb in real life but made for good drama for the show. All moral ambiguity isnt it? We love Tony, Chrissy and Sil as characters yet we come to revile them for what they did to her. We wonder why they're such miserable pricks that they couldn't have just put her on a plane to Fiji and told her to stay lost for a few years.
Great idea for a video, Don Kino. As nasty as the FBI are, it is kind of fair game up until they manipulate the naive Adriana, who was way out of her depth and really didn't have a grasp on what was going on. The rest of them knew the stakes and being in organised crime would be tough enough as it is - constant pressure, but this pressure is amplified ten-fold when you are coerced into being an informant. Adriana really was about as innocent as any of these characters could be, and even her assisting in covering a murder was arguably a panicky, naive move. They completely destroyed her and had her murdered really, which is unforgivable. One thing I wish they made more of a point of was Ray's character however - many, many people involved in organised crime are informants for personal gain. In The Sopranos, the only rats tend to be people who have been coerced into it due to some kind of crime, such as dealing drugs which automatically carries a long sentence, but you will often find people high up in organised crime who use their status as informants to benefit themselves. The most notorious case of this would be Whitey Bulger, who had a long-standing relationship with the FBI as well as local law enforcement in Boston and wider Massachusetts. The film with Johnny Depp made it out to be a simple friendship with one corrupted agent and this was how the case was eventually handled, but it went far deeper than that. Bulger ran organised crime basically without interference because he helped bring down the Italians in the area, and it was known for years that, not only was he a murderer and vicious gangster - as well as a pedophile - but also it was suspected by many that he was an informant. There are many similar cases. In the five families, you had people like Greg Scarpa, "the Grim Reaper" who was a long time, high echelon informant. And there were and are many more. The most successful gangsters tend to have friends in law enforcement, in politics and so on, and these are the ones who are around for a long time to the point where it looks suspicious. The whole "snitches get stitches" thing applies generally to lower-echelon criminals and the whole point is to make the gangsters - as well as the communities that they operate in - to be terrified into keeping to a code of silence. There really is no honour amongst thieves and, as I said, the most successful criminals tend to be friendly with law enforcement and even with the spooks. Look at the links between the Italian-American mob with the CIA around the JFK assassination. Also look at how Meyer Lansky struck up a deal which allowed lucky Luciano to leave prison, as long as he left the country, all in exchange for any information about the docks which the mob controlled. This allowed for the original French Connection to happen, as Luciano had an interest in heroin processing plants in Sicily which would process opium which came from Turkey at that point IIRC, and this would then be shipped to NYC via the Corsican and Marseilles mobsters, who also ran the docks and were allowed to get away with things due to strike-breaking and fighting the communists on behalf of French intelligence.
Great vid though - the FBI really were a nasty bunch in this who saw people as expendable, but I think that the relationship was a bit simplistic in relation to the reality of informants and how/why they do what they do. It isn't all based on blackmail and coercion and it can "go both ways". Agent Harris being a kind of friend to Tony was probably the closest they got to showing the other ways that mobsters having relationships with the feds, even though Harris wasn't on the payroll. It could be argued that he acted as a kind of informant by talking about the activities of the muslim guys, even though there was probably some patriotism to it, but ultimately, Tony was out for himself there.
"They completely destroyed her and had her murdered really, which is unforgivable. "
The one thing they did that was unforgivable was not put a tail on Adriana after she said she was going to bring in Christopher. If they had done that and caught Sil about to murder her in the woods, they would've had the Sopranos #2 dead to rights and Adriana would still be alive. Pure incompetence.
Not reading all that
I think it’s time for this comment to seriously consider salads
Quite educational.
Adriana wasn’t innocent either. She knew where Christopher’s money came from. She didn’t care. She just wanted the possessions. Then you add in the drug dealing and trying to cover up a murder.
Adrianna was not a babe in the woods.
Watching this show from the start for the first time ever...I caught seasons 5 and 6 when they aired, because my friends loved it, but I never watched it in its entirety. It's so brilliant, almost on par with The Wire.
HBO was really cooking with sauce during this era, it's special and likely won't be topped ever again. To have The Sopranos and The Wire airing at the same time is something magical.
Tony created the template for shows with anti-hero protagonists. Breaking Bad and The Shield were good, but still not even close to being on par with this show or The Wire. Every subsequent generation of TV that tries to emulate these shows has something lost in translation.
Enjoy the ride 🙂
Only reason it doesnt beat the wire is the kind bad first two seasons, but it came first so there’s that.
@@plaidchuck season 1 is probably the weakest of the show but season 2 was amazing. Richie Aprile and the pussy situation were great
Watch True Detective season 1 👍
Check out Succession. It is a worthy addition to the canon of great TV. Ozark was pretty good too although a but over the top in places, but a great commentary on corruption within capitalism and how these big dynasties are formed. Boardwalk Empire was great too, despite the last season letting it down a bit.
Long story short, if you ever get arrested, shut your pie hole and demand your lawyer. Don't talk to the cops about anything. ANYTHING. Literally anything. Don't talk about sports, the weather, just pretend your mouth was stapled shut and keep it that way. Be a mute. I'd say be a mime but even mimes communicate through mimery. So just sit there and don't do or say anything. Actually say "I want a lawyer" and then that's it. Say nothing after that.
Good analysis. Really it's dead on about how the FBI behaved. Sure Tony's crew are monsters under the bed, but the FBI does everything in their power to push someone under the bed. One of the darkest scenes in the series is Silvio baring down on Adrianna as she tries to crawl away. Adrianna's projectile vomiting is also a dark scene. The entire way they treated her was just unbelievable. Their initial approach of blackmail is beyond unethical.
That’s how they operate and they exploit every open wound you have.
Ade was a sad story of someone naive who didn't know how to handle either side. A candle in the wind who didn't know where to turn to when the rain set in as the song goes.
Another YT I saw years ago did not go so far as saying they were the real bad guys but maintained they had some attributes of a rival mafia family, and quite a few FBI in the show are actually Italian-American themselves, which heightens this impression.
Technically speaking I think nobody is meant to be the villain or hero, everything is meant to be grey. The FBI are portrayed as an organisation that wants a return on their investment. This leads them to do questionably moral things.
No difference between gangs and governments, just the competition and the winner.
When tony said i cant find pussy anywhere. A tear dropped from my eye weve all been there😂😂
8:12 I never understood why she’d be more scared at that because she didn’t know rather than feel more safe by actually giving information to the feds, I think if she took the charge she would’ve been out in hours and even gain more respect from tony
FBI: forever bothering Italians
Cruelty and incompetence. What sets the Wire apart is actual ingenuity and intelligence messed up by politics and tradition of both the law and the criminals. Sopranos is a wonderful panopticon of personal misery that manifests in and maybe from day to day living in a system that does not value human life.
Adriana knew exactly what was going on. It's sad she couldn't rise above her circumstances, but she could have just as easily died sitting next to Joey Peeps.
Peeps.....it's a f'n nickname.
Been so busy with work I've missed the past few of your Sopranos uploads.... catching up today!
Eugene’s death was truly heartbreaking
So many people were ratting….so realistic honestly.
Except it was the boss's in real life.
That's still my favorite scene, when grasso breaks something in the kitchen, during the first search and tony tells him he'll rip him a new one in italian
Everybody sucks in The Sopranos and that's why I love it
I always loved the gunshot noise in Adriana‘s Death scene. It’s not the typical bassy modern sounding pop, It sounds just like a snub nose revolver in the middle of the woods on a gloomy winter day. Really sets the tone for how unsettling scenes like this really are.
You know this is why I like The Sopranos more than Breaking Bad. BB has you literally rooting for the DEA, a very very questionable agency. Where as The Sopranos does a much better portrayal of the FBI being well, just as corrupt and evil as the Mob in certain respects.
Does it though? Breaking Bad season 2 has an entire episode devoted to how corrupt the DEA are and we see Hank Schrader act almost as ruthless as Walt from season 3 onwards. The main difference I would say is the portrayal of competence. The DEA are actually successful in killing a few cartel members. Meanwhile apart from having a few characters turn informants, the FBI really don't do anything of big meaning
Pure Kino… weak in the knees… 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hey Kino, will you ever do a video focused on Bunny Colvin from the Wire? He is my favorite character on that show, and one of my favorite positive characters in general, also without spoiling anything else, Robert Wisdom also appears on Barry, another great show on HBO
That's the next Wire video! Coming out on Monday
Only his friends can call him Bunny 😅
I'm always happy to see more Sopranos content but I gotta say, I miss hearing "What is up Sopranos fans, Kino here..." at the beginning
Great analysis. It always bothered how the FBI on the show used and abused Adrianna.
The FBI is coming for you now Kino, stay low, keep your circle tight
Happy Friday. I’ve seen this show 8 or 9 times all the way through. I’m probably done forever, but I definitely get a lot out of watching your analysis videos . Thanks
Mean giving the tactics the mod used at the time you understand the fbi being ruthless
I always thought that the Chief Cubitoso in the FBI looked similar to Melfi's shrink, Elliot. I wonder if that was intentional or just a coincidence.
yh same
love this channel, it''s such a gift
when adriana puked on that table she knew she was dead
creative view, I like this....
The head fbi agent, is a Brutus... Brutus lead the assisnation of Cesear, and he is a Brutus all wrapped up with the nice bow.
Watching The Sopranos is like having Stockholm Syndrome, we are always seeing things from the mobsters perspective. Unlike The Wire where we the viewers are more like outsiders looking in and having empathy/sympathy for the murdered victims, Sopranos purposely lacks that. Someone is killed be it an elderly lady a pregnant woman or a waiter, life goes on for these scumbags, we are more concerned for the mobsters than their victims. The FBI is portrayed as ruthless on the show, further enhancing the Stockholm Syndrome effect of seeing things from the mobsters perspective who see themselves as the victims.
Government and mafia act in the same way. They use force and violence to steal other people's assets and establish their political leadership. Each state organ is like a soldier in the mafia. You don't need to be American to understand, just see how the state works in essence against the population. The government only deals with the mafia because it fears competition.
Stockholm Syndrome is not realize that government is only the most powerful mob
You have one criminal organization going after another criminal organization.
Tbh the FBI were good at getting them to flip but sucked at keeping the assets alive.😂
I really enjoy your Soprano logs. I wish you would do the same for Game of Thrones.
Oh yeah people who deal with sociopaths are the actual bad guys!!! what a take.
they glow in the dark
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
@@GooseGumlizzard Very allegorical
6:57 Dr. Melfi has left the voicecall.
just like real life
Everybody sucks in real life
edgy
I've never seen The Sopranos, but I have rewatched The Wire too many times to count.
A good show or movie or book, to me, only improves after a rewatch. I love catching stuff I missed or forgot. The Sopranos seems to be like that. I really need to sit down and watch it.
I will allow how cruel the FBI are to the literal criminals on the basis that they are fucking criminals.
And what about when those same practices are applied to people who aren't criminals?
Oof that Patty hearst comment, after reading up on the reference, brutal.
At least they're not as bad as Agent Johnson and Special Agent Johnson.
No relation
🎵I’m agent Johnson
And I’m agent Johnson
And we’re from the fbi
He’s Johnson
I’m Johnson
He’s Johnson
I’m Johnson
Two fancy footed federal guys!🎵
2:23 yea I remember high-school too Tone...
Well that's some big moral relativism.
There's basically one innocent life ruined directly by the FBI in the whole series (altough I wouldn't call Adriana innocent, she is enjoying all the benefits of the blood-money existence, which she is perfectly aware of despite all her naivity). The Jersey and New York mob however (in the series alone) kills, beats up, extorts, ruins and traumatizes people in the range of hundreds. Think only of the prostitutes witnessing the murder of Doc, or all the people in the restaurant where Jerry was killed. I am pretty sure that experience would have an adverse impact on most of our lives.
The other big difference is the main purpose: the FBI's one (in the series at least) is to make Jersey and New York a better and safer place by repelling organized crime, and Cubitoso's personal motivation is to fight against the root of all negative preconceptions towards his ethnic group. The maffia however is only drived by greed and sociopathic habits.
I am not saying the FBI doesn't commit unethical and reckless acts from time to time, but come on, these people work their asses of for a yearly salary less than Tony's daily income, it's not good but natural that their judgement slips someties.
I like your video, but basically you are plucking the same strings as Tony at Melfi, and it feels like you forget that there are some big F@CKING differences in the degree of the two sides' sins :)
But you are not the first to slip into this, remeber all the resentment Skylar White received for unknowingly hampering Walter's rise as a sociopathic murderous drug kingpin :D
P. S.: that's why my favourite maffia series is Gomorrah, that thing in my opinion puts a lot more emphasis on the damage organized crime does to a society.
This video and the comments are a bit…disturbing. He keeps saying ‘yeah you could argue they are bad people etc’ no no no no. There’s no could argue. These people are absolute scum who prey on helpless people or their own kind. I had a tiny bit of sympathy for adriana inasmuch as she was contrasted with Raymond who didn’t care about being a snitch and was never caught whilst she clearly agonised over it but she still chose to be with someone like Christopher.
Government and mafia act in the same way. They use force and violence to steal other people's assets and establish their political leadership. Each state organ is like a soldier in the mafia. You don't need to be American to understand, just see how the state works in essence against the population. The government only deals with the mafia because it fears competition.
Stockholm Syndrome is not realize that government is only the most powerful mob
The FBI is a whole “the ends justify the means” kind of group but it’s kind of hard to make that kind of argument when the methods causes so much damage to both their targets and anyone even a little bit related to them
That cigar tone was smoking is about the size of a USAF Cruise missile.. hahah