It was just that it pushed Richie another step further towards confrontation with Tony. He was always going to clash with Tony, he couldn’t see that Tony was in charge and from the get go caused trouble because he didn’t respect Tony or his crew. Tony didn’t know or care about the significance of the 🤌JACKET 🧥
Exactly! Totally accurate and reasonable points she made, but I think Tony had so internalized everything Livia said that he was still trying to please her and felt like putting Junior in assisted living would have been "abandoning" him, too.
I think another huge mistake Tony made was bringing Christopher up in the ranks. It showed the others that he favored his blood over them, Christopher wasn't particularly good at the life, and Chris really didn't want to even be in the mafia. If Tony had encouraged him to follow another path, or discouraged him to be in the life, like he did with both AJ and Jackie Jr, Chrissy may have been a great d-boy or male model instead of killed. By Tony.
One of Tony’s biggest mistakes was flaunting his wealth and his greed, along with his philandering. He and Carm did not need to live the lavish lifestyle they were living. If Tony could have stopped cheating on Carm he would not need to buy her off with luxury goods. The need to keep up this lifestyle led to reckless business decisions.
@@molasorrosalom4846it’s also supposed to reflect how many Americans were living above their heads at the time. But I don’t think it would’ve been all that entertaining to watch a mob boss who isn’t impulsive and obsessed with appearances
@@opaljk4835 He didn't have a lifestyle problem, he had a gambling problem... It was the one thing his dad forbade him ever to do! Tony bets big, frequent and heavy. We are not talking about a 10K weekend to Las Vegas... If Tony would've taken his dad's advice, he would be swimming in cash. When someone asks Hesh about Tony's money situation he explains it exactly the same way. The only thing that's lavish, in the first seasons, about Tony is his house. Not much bling bling, no armani suits, no mazeratti like John.
@ wouldn’t a gambling problem be a lifestyle problem? He buys multiple boats and cars. Carmela spends a lot. His kids are given anything and everything. It’s not totally out of control, but it’s certainly not a financially conservative lifestyle…everything he buys he says “it’s supposed to be the best”. I think his lifestyle is a pretty common American consumerist lifestyle.
@@opaljk4835 Not in the maffia it ain't. You don't get high on your own supply, that includes gambling. The fact that it was so strictly forbidden by his dad and we don't see junior partaking in it either, makes us believe it's pretty obvious he has a gambling addiction and the mob lifestyle isn't part of that. I think Phil makes a comment about him too, something like gambling degenerate and Hesh made it pretty clear too that the biggest hole in his hand is his gambling. Gambling is not party of any lifestyle and certainly not the mob. Gambling has always been a source of income for the mob, if you believe otherwise be my guest. History just begs the differ...
After watching the series a few times and seeing countless soprano's clips on UA-cam, I think Tony was not a good Boss, like not at all. He was incapable of not being controlled by his emotions. The only reason he lasted so long is he made good business with New York and nobody in the glorified crew was competent a side from Silvio (who didn't really want to be a boss) and Ralphie (who was absolutely nuts).
True! I feel like he didnt make great choices, was controlled by his emotions--but that made people afraid of him and convinced them to do what he says.
Yeah he was good middle management. I think this is actually a recurring theme of the show, how few people are cut out for leadership and end up in positions they are unsuited for.
Tony seemed like a good boss until the show decided he was too sympathetic and had to make him seem worse. Or at least that's what his progression in the show felt like
@@therodentryresistance95 he was a good boss with great instinct, but he was also in his own worst enemy and would let his ego, etc., override his better instincts. He was a sociopathic murderer.
I think Gigi's promotion is a really interesting one that almost warrants its own video. It's the kind of management decision an outsider proclaims wanting to make when they strive to "do it better" than the current bosses, getting in a "good guy" rather than respecting the rule of the envelope. That's why Tony genuinely agonized over this decision while it was instantly obvious to Junior that Gigi is a no-no.
The only mobster in the show who truly was a good mobster was Big Carmine. He was smart, calm, cool, collected, unemotional. Nothing personal, just business. Everyone else was a clown.
Tony soprano, Janice soprano, and the guy who played Chis Moltisantis drug councilor were all in a 1991 movie together called “Fallen” with Denzel Washington, like 8 years before Sopranos
Haha, that's a good point! Though I think overall he actually made a good decision by keeping it in his pants there, which was NOT what we would've expected.
@@SopranosBlueprint I think Tony was both attracted and scared of her, but definitely more scared. She was the mother figure he wanted, strong, powerful, sexual. He did not go for the old in-out, in-out because she was the dominant force, not him. She was fierce and turned Tony into a squeaky little gerbil.
Tony killing Ralph over Pie-O-My, after his character seemed to be changing for the better with his kid’s injury, is one of the worst decisions he made imo.
@@SopranosBlueprint I think so as well about Pie-O-My. Many disagree with that. I think because David Chase or Joe Pantoliano allegedly said Ralph started the fire. But based on the script there is no proof Ralph killed her for the insurance money. He didn’t seem dishonest either when Tony confronted him.
Tony says to Carlo and others in the room 'Fuck all that honor and loyalty, shit.' In that moment the boss showed his true colors to his men and to this thing. To keep his kid outta jail, Carlo remembered Tony's words and flipped.
Great point! Really good observation re: Carlo - and then with Tony dumping on him over only bringing in 1/3 of the money Vito was bringing him, I imagine Carlo was no big fan of Tony.
@SopranosBlueprint Someone said you're nothing more than a glorified UA-camr. I said, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...... then they said, relxax kid, it's just an expression. On a sidenote; awesome content, my son and run a little YT channel mostly on baseballl cards but did a short and actual video on the Soprano's baseball cards. I'm a huge Soprano fan. Prob give you a run for your money. Wasn't sure if you knew or not about them. Great content just subscribed 👍🏽 maps.app.goo.gl/9wPcmRXkpbu1EWtn7
I love it you people are funny, it's good to find a community online that loves Sopranos as much as me. I remember watching 'many saints' at the cinema and when Junior made that varsity comment I was looking around for people to laugh with but it seems nobody gave a shit.
That was long overdue, but worth it. The Zelman incident might not have made much difference, but it was really uncalled for. Killing Ralph was probably a bigger mistake than giving Gigi the bump.
@@davidmajer3652 Glad you enjoyed it!! I’m going to do another video where I talk more about Tony’s decision to kill Ralph, so you’ve got the right idea, for sure! Thanks again for the comment 😎
The Zelman incident made a huge impact. If it was someone like Georgie he beat (again), it's no big deal. Georgie was a civilian in the mafia sphere. There are no reprocussions. Tony failed to realize with the Zellman beating that he was hurting Irina, who was not under his influence, at least not anymore. Under the influence of vodka, Irina blew up his world.
I think one of Tony's worser decisions is not trying to get closer to Hesh and embrace him more as a father figure. The scenes where Tony dumps emotions on Hesh like a therapist and the two of them do it back and forth without giving a shit about the other one are some of the funniest, but also most commonly relateable interactions that happen on the show. Hesh is a guy you really should want as committed to you as possible. Smart, rich, good at business, not in your usual cirlce, has a ton of connections to other similar people. If you ever get someone like that where the other person actually entertains you beyond the minimum and wants something from it especially at 1am, you don't take them for granted.
Yet you all forget that he also went to bat for Vito just as much as he did for Tony B. He literally tried to keep him away from Phill and NY but Vito got himself caught up.
LACK OF IMPULSE CONTROL - one of the many traits of a narcissist. All of these incidents led to Tony's downfall. His wide-eyed optimism let people control the mayham in Tony's life. If AJ got sent to a military school, if Junior got sent to a home, if Irena got sent to the Bing, if Ralph got sent to Miami, if Tony B got sent to live with Feech, if Push got sent to Elvis country...ya ya, it'd be a boring series. All of these elements antagonized Tony, on his success journey. But had he kept them on a tighter leash, as narcissists do, Tony may have avoided all of the problems he faced with each of these subordinates.
Yes! Paulie talked about Tony keeping his eye on the big picture, but only when he was able to control himself and didn't feel personally insulted. And yes, gotta take into account the not becoming a boring series part. Imagine if all of Tony's problems were solved in the very first episode...LOL
Yeah the decision that cost him the most is Junior, I mean he almost had him killed in season 1 and then dementia...does anyone think that Junior despite his mental illness demonstrably had it in for Tony from the very beginning?
Also, people with dementia are time consuming, you need to keep your eyes on them 24/7 and if they're like junior and arent able to be controlled or problematic with being confrontational, they will ruin every aspect of your daily life costing you money, your belongings, your Secrets, everything. Tony felt some hidden guilt and anguish for the mother and kept Junior out of a moral obligation he place on himself. There is no reason for Tony to keep Junior and not put him in a home at all. Tony is a mob boss, financially stable (well off at that) with a wife and kids, a full functioning crew etc. It would be different if tony was a poor schmuck and relied on juniors money or to stay with him. I would never keep my grandmother beyond her expiration date if I could afford to ship her off to assisted living or have her instituonalized. I'll never get why tony didn't realize having a former criminal with dementia who already put a hit out on him was a horrible person to keep nearby
Tony's biggest weakness was his arrogance. A wise leader doesn't go out of his way to give offense or make enemies, even in the mafia. Tony's insecurity in the presence of more seasoned guys meant that he always had to put up a tough front, which painted him into a corner and forced him to make illogical decisions. His weaknesses for women and gambling only compounded these problems.
so many mistakes. Looking back, Tony was a pretty horrible boss. I think that was the hidden central theme. Chase's storytelling made us like Tony and we were blind to it until the end. We thought Tony was the smart one and Little Carmine was the dumb one, but in the end, it was Little Carmine who was the boss material. I still think Jimmy wasn't a rat. The feds let him go early to make Tony think he was the rat instead of Pussy. Tony fell for it. The first time I watched it, I was just along for the awesome ride. Now when I watch it, I just see Tony making mistake after mistake. Slowly alienating or killing off his entire crew.
Thanks for your comment! That's interesting that you think Jimmy wasn't a rat. What explains his incessant questioning of Tony in his basement, then, with those very detailed questions that sounded like they came right from an FBI agent?
Meh. Appointing Gigi captain of the Aprile crew instead of Ralph wasn't *that* bad a decision. What was worse was that Tony was terrible at keeping his employees gruntled (in a manner of speaking 😏). He tolerated Richie Aprile's and Feech LaManna's seditiousness for far too long and alienated Big Pussy, Paulie Walnuts, and eventually even Christopher. All of these mistakes cost him sooner or later.
4 hours ago I watched this video, and since then I've been doing NOTHING but watching all of your other stuff. This channel is the definition of underrated. I cannot believe this channel isn't bigger. 13k subscribers is HEAPS and you earned every single one through hard work... but it should be x10 more, because these are QUALITY. Sopranos has really been trending lately, so I hope you get some more recognition, because you have opinions, takes and views that no one else has. Its really. Really refreshing. Maybe it's a woman's view on things, or maybe just a different perspective from a different angle. All I know is, you're absolutely killing it.
Thanks so much!! That's really kind of you to say - I'm so glad you enjoy the channel and the videos! I truly appreciate it - and much more on the way, that's for sure! :-D
Thank you Stephanie for keeping The Sopranos alive! One could make the argument that the worst decision is the one that got him killed. Or at least the decision that set the butterfly wings in motion. (1) Tony killing Philly Spoons likely caused Patsy to conspire against him with NY. (2) Tony covering for Tony B ultimately caused Phil Leotardo to want to kill him (3) The blundered hit on Phil Leotardo (shot in front of his family and had to have a closed casket definitely violated some rules in Cosa Nostra. These were unforced errors that may have resulted in Tony living longer.
You're so welcome, and likewise! I always gain something valuable from your comments. EXCELLENT POINT re: Spoons! Patsy was never going to forget about the killing of his TWIN.
Another bad decision was how Tony handled Christopher immediately after Jackie Aprile Jr shot up the card game. Chris was understandably enraged and when he announced his intention to kill Jackie, Tony put the kibosh on that by simply saying, “No, you’re not”. Chris thought Tony was going to spare Jackie because of who his father was. All Tony had to say was something like, “No, he’s not getting away with this. But I’M gonna take care of it, not you.” Instead, Tony puffs his chest out and gets all high-handed with Chris, saying “I don’t gotta explain anything to you.” Chris takes that the wrong way and is offended to the point of saying, “I loved you!”. Tony then throws more gas on the fire by throttling Chris and furiously demanding respect. Chris storms out. Way to go, Tony, alienating one of your top guys, especially the kid you plan on bringing up to succeed you one day. Again, all Tony had to do was settle Chris down by simply explaining that Jackie was marked for death, but they were going to handle it carefully, not recklessly. Instead, Tony created a rift between himself and Christopher that never truly got fixed for the duration of the show.
One other mistake Tony made was getting Feech back in the game. Feech stepped on too many toes and acted on his own accord. The incident with Sal Vitro, where he ended up losing half his business and had to fire his helper and pull his son out of college. Tony looked the other way that time. Then, the heist at Doctor Frieds' daughters wedding, where all of the imported vehicles got stolen. Feech got the info from Johnny Sack and decided to go behind Tonys back a second time. Feech became way too much of a liability because he was still living on his past glory during a time when things had changed since the 80s when he went away. He still thought he was a boss (or the boss) and hated having to take orders from Tony, so he did what he wanted. Tony did what he had to do to get Feech out of the picture. If he kept him around longer, Feech could have brought the whole thing down on all of them.
Correct! Feech still saw Tony, "the Godfather," as the kid that knocked up his card game, which is why he said right to Tony's face that he still thought of him as a kid. Feech had no one to blame but himself for getting sent back to the can and he really was living in the past when he thought it'd be okay to do what he did.
@@SopranosBlueprint The other thing about Feech was that, according to Ralphie, he got made on the other side. Feech possibly let that go straight to his head. He got his stripe in the mother country, so he probably thought that made him an even bigger boss than the others.
Or their idea to go to Holsten's that night in the first place, though it was Carm's suggestion - "Holsten's is the consensus." I guess the only variable here would be whether or not Butchie actually lied or whether he too was really over all the bloodshed and just wanted to get on with it. He did want to wipe Tony off the planet, so I suppose we couldn't put it past him. If Butchie was behind it, I think Paulie and Patsy also looked the other way.
It's the sheltering of Tony B that was the tipping point that unraveled Tony's command and the loyalty of his guys. Patsy's sarcastic "thank you, that was great" summed up how everybody at that dinner table was feeling after Tony's speech. He was very adroit at keeping his family out of the frying pan. Meanwhile the only ones who gotta obey the rules is them.
Larry B. said it very well! And we know Patsy in particular was no big fan of Tony's after Tony had Spoons clipped and passed Patsy over as acting capo in favor of Christopher.
His biggest mistake was not pursuing a career as a NFL Player or a coach. Even though he is the show, the show ends with him, when he dies. Remember what Tony said, “They’re are 2 ways out for guy like me. I either go jail, maintaining my loyalty. Or I die”. The latter happened in front of his family. So yeah my hot take, he should’ve been made as a member of the mafia…… but then again we wouldn’t have a show, with a talented cast.
I think if Vito had been able to stay away from Jersey, the problem would've eventually fizzled out -- at least until someone decided to take their kid on a college tour through New Hampshire!
I think Tony's other mistake was also murdering Ralph, It is never made clear if Ralph murdered the horse pie oh my, and in the context it was in his redemption (obviously it was a good plot twist)
I had to run into these comments because I was talking back to the tv during the video and didn't wanna forget what I was saying out loud. Re: Ralph, Tony's poor people management skills brought that situation to a head. Again, his unwillingness to cater to anything but his own appetites is the root cause. tony is too self centered to manage other people. He can only manipulate and control them.
EXCELLENT point re: being too self-centered to manage other people. Just like he even said to Ralph, he put Gigi in so he could have someone watching over that crew so that he could control it without having to do the work of managing people who weren't "easy" to manage.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and yes, I agree with you - a lot of short-sightedness that only served to harm him, whether at that moment or later on.
Nice vid. I wanna ask you smth: If the series had continued past Made In America, do you think we would've seen Meadow slowly become part of This Thing Of Ours?
Thank you! It's funny, I actually started doing some fan fiction on that where Meadow became the boss. If any of the kids were gonna make it in this thing of ours, I definitely wouldn't count Meadow out!
Yelling at Carlo to sux sum dik because Vito was bringing in 3x what he was at construction. Carlo was the guy who believed being a "stand-up" guy should be the most important thing and Tony just cared about the dollars
Biggest mistake he made was not killing Coco and Butchie at their restaurant/club. He would have been well within his rights to do so as family is never to be involved. Would it have caused a big problem… of course, but in the end Tony could stand behind the rules of La Cosa Nostra. Plus, he would’ve gotten rid of Butchie who was a problem. Just my take.
To be fair, Ralph was like Ritchie, someone that was never going to kiss the ring on Tony' ass. He was simply too much of a wiseass and a hole, and he had the same ego as Tony that meant the two never saw eye to eye. Of course Tony killing Ralph and then trying to blame NY for it over Ralph pushing his buttons one last time was the outcome on top of choosing Gigi over Ralph that you point out maybe started the domino. Tony B like Chrissy was another of Tony valuing blood above all else and it costing him big time. Because it puts the pair in the position to light the fuses and cause issues where they did. Where if Tony had been less prone to nepotism. Junior, I think a part of T's denial as you say of Juniors dementia was because of what happened with his mother, of not wanting to risk him being an issue at Green Groove, potentially giving things away either to the FEDS or someone else. Not to mention pride and greed with how expensive the place is as well.
Good points! Specifically re: the feds and Green Grove. I think Tony internalized a lot of the horrible things Livia said to him and was probably still trying to please her all those years later by treating Junior "better" and not putting him in assisted living.
#1. Was getting rid of ralph. After he offed ralph. Tony had major money problems. He had to borrow from hesh to pay off gambling debts..ralph brought in more money than anyone.
I agree it was a bad decision. And it only made the rest of Tony’s crew trust him less. And re: Hesh, ironic how that went full circle - in the Pilot, a “degenerate gambler” owed Hesh 250k, and then look who owed Hesh 200k later on!
I’ve watched the show forwards and back, and employee of the month is my least watched for obvious reasons. I find if fascinating Tony’s convo with Ralph would be a domino in his downfall and how Melfie decides not to perpetuate his justification of mob activities, but ultimately is still a part of how he continues to not walk away from the lifestyle and unprocessed trauma that is making him more and more depressed as he’s attempting to pick up the pieces of the NY fallout that ultimately contributed to the fall of their - uh - glorified crew. Cases of too little too late.
Great points! And in terms of the dominoes falling in the show as a whole, if Dr. Melfi hadn't had such a traumatizing experience that episode, she may very well have continued to encourage Tony to see another therapist, and like you said, who knows what would have happened from there. Too little too late is right.
Personally I believe not killing Paulie was the worst decision he made Paulie wasn’t a great Earner and always made trouble with other notably The whole Ralphie and Jennie or whatever her name is Joke Extremely troublesome not to mention so greedy and traitorous with no loyalty
You should do a top 5 mistakes of Nucky Thompson aka that Animal from AC 🥃 His would be more conclusive cuz we at least know for sure what his ending was unlike Tony
Two bad decisions tony made during the show; 1. Making a chrissy a made guy. Chrissy was not ready mentally or emotionally to be a capo. He was too irrational and immature to handle the pressure. In addition, he well know issues with drugs constantly put him as a liability and unrealiable in tony's eyes. Throughout the years on the show tony would always have to clean up chrissy's screwups. 2. Tony not digging enough to find out that paulie was divulging information and to johnny sack and getting rid of him caused the chaos between jersey and new york. Deep down i think tony knew that paulie was talking to johnny but i guess he gave their years of friendship the benefit of the doubt. Also the Paulie's lack of accountability was an ire for tony. A couple of examples for instance in seaon 3 in the infamous pine barrens paulie's screwup turn a simple a pickup into him and chrissy being stuck in the woods. In season 6 paulie not hiring the proper people for the feast which had janice and her baby on the ride. Tony had a chance to kill him on the boat but by done the damage had long been done already
What a terrible list. I can think of so many more things that were much more damning to him. Like the way he treats Paulie throughout the entire series and the way he sabotages Christopher with his addictions... Ralphie was a good earner, but that was because of the portfolio he got with construction. The contracts were so huge that it was very easy to make a good deal of money. Vito was the same kind of earner and so kept on protecting him until they found him... That's the entire problem of Tony. He is constantly thinking about the money and passing up more loyal guys with much more seniority over his favorites or top earners. That's Tony's biggest fault and problem. He is always talking about this code and honor, while at the same time he throws all of the codes and loyalty out of the window as soon as he sees big envelopes. Not to mention that Ralphie was an extreme lose cannon... He killed his own pregnant gumar in front of the Bing... He almost started a war with Paulie with his stupid jokes. When Vito's brother is in the hospital, he can't stop but make stupid remarks. Ralphie was on a path of self destruction throughout the series. Just like Richie, he had it coming. If he would've respected and valued Paulie, he would've kept his mouth shut and so there would be no beef between him and New York. If he didn't kept on pushing Christopher into addiction, he wouldn't have had to kill his own nephew... If he didn't protect Vito as much, there again would've been no beef with New York... The entire beef he got with his uncle escalated because he kept making jokes about Junior eating pussy... One thing that was, in my opinion rediculous, though it would turn out perfect. That was pulling old man Bacala out of retirement. Him of course dying in the process is like the perfect mobster hit... The entire war with New York is purely Tony's own fault. And the majority of their scarole came from their shared businesses with New York. Like Tony says to Richie. Those who give respect, get respect. And Tony disrespected his most loyal guys, which is the reason why they will flip and talk about him. If all your captains flip, rat, talk or die on you, then the leadership is the problem... By the end of the series, Paulie is the only one that isn't dead or ratting to the feds. Pat never became a rat, but he never became a captain either. But Pat Parisi is one of the prime suspects of who might have killed Tony... Pat knows, stayed loyal, did everything he had to. Just to be jumped over by Tony's favorite Christophhuuurrrr. Same goes for Chris, he is extremely loyal to Tony. He even gave up the love of his life and how did Tony thank him? By beating him up... Nice... That's Tony in a nutshell... He literally bites the hand that feeds him. And in the end, IF, Tony gets whacked at the end. Somebody of his own crew had to be involved. In general I think Paulie gets too much shit from people as a talker. He only starts talking as soon as he feels passed and overstepped by others. And talking is his only vice, because talking or not. He is fiercely loyal. The only people that were by heart loyal to Tony were Paulie, Christopher and Syl. All the others would actually rat, die or try to kill him. We should give Gigi a pass though, for what we saw of him, to me he came off as a good captain. He was well spoken & quick. He seemed to command respect. It's a bit sad that we never saw him in action in some kind of way, so we could judge Junior's remarks. It could also just be that Junior was criticizing Tony just for the Sake of it. If he might've picked Ralphie, he would say the opposite. Don't worry I still subbed ^^, good luck!
Notice that right after Johnny Sack told Tony that he wanted Tony B. Delivered to him on a spit, Johnny Sack got arrested and he confessed to get a lighter sentence? Tony S. could have ignored Johnny Sack and protected Tony B. and everything would have worked out fine. Tony S. had a huge inferiority complex when it came to New York and he bent the knee to them when he didn’t have to.
I think it would've still been nearly impossible to go on with Phil still being there. And I think most of the guys on the DiMeo side were pretty much fed up with Tony B, too, after all that went down. Not that they'd try to conspire against him themselves, but it's hard for me to see a place for Tony B. to exist in that world after killing both Joey Peeps and Billy Leotardo while Phil Leotardo is still alive.
I know that your poor editing is a conscious decision, but in the third segment it threw off the sequence of events so much thar it was too hard to understand. I think Tony made so many bad decisions that I'm looking forward to watching your video about his good decisions to see when he thought outside of his box.
He also gave away "the JACKET!, which escalated the tension between him and Richie, when in fact it was Richie's way of extending an olive branch.
A lot of tension could've been avoided had tony thrown it in a closet or the trash. Anything for richie to not see the maids husband in it.
Cause it was an ugly ass jacket…what is he supposed to do? Wear it for the rest of his life?
Definitely 😂 that legit pushed Richie over the edge when it came to Tony. That's how these guys are. Petty as fuck.
It was just that it pushed Richie another step further towards confrontation with Tony.
He was always going to clash with Tony, he couldn’t see that Tony was in charge and from the get go caused trouble because he didn’t respect Tony or his crew.
Tony didn’t know or care about the significance of the 🤌JACKET 🧥
It’s the jaackeeet
And he wore shorts at the cook-out. Another bad decision.
He also didn’t have the making of a varsity athlete
You know what they say about those dons and their shorts...
Yes, people totally hate on Janice, but she was correct to say that Junior should be in assisted living and that their mother was thriving there.
Exactly! Totally accurate and reasonable points she made, but I think Tony had so internalized everything Livia said that he was still trying to please her and felt like putting Junior in assisted living would have been "abandoning" him, too.
I think another huge mistake Tony made was bringing Christopher up in the ranks. It showed the others that he favored his blood over them, Christopher wasn't particularly good at the life, and Chris really didn't want to even be in the mafia.
If Tony had encouraged him to follow another path, or discouraged him to be in the life, like he did with both AJ and Jackie Jr, Chrissy may have been a great d-boy or male model instead of killed. By Tony.
That's a different take than I have. Christopher seemed made for the life except for the addiction issues
Hard disagree, Chrissy was Tony's best soldier. Tony killing him before the war with Phil was objectively his worst mistake
Chris wasn't his blood. Chris was Carmela's blood, Dickie Multisanti was Carmela's uncle.
@@jdueck-w9y Chris was smart in the fact that he wanted to get them involved in the movie/music business like "Back in the day."
@@kgkg4118 That's not how we Italians think.
The freshest takes on UA-cam for this show right now 🤌
@@Papillon234 Thank you so much! Really appreciate that - or as Carmine Sr. would say, “I appreciat’-cha thoughts.”
@ haha best creator response ever, given that quote especially. Thank you so much 😊
@@SopranosBlueprint Alright then I'll talk to ya 📞
@@SopranosBlueprintI didn't say nutin'
One of Tony’s biggest mistakes was flaunting his wealth and his greed, along with his philandering. He and Carm did not need to live the lavish lifestyle they were living. If Tony could have stopped cheating on Carm he would not need to buy her off with luxury goods. The need to keep up this lifestyle led to reckless business decisions.
Except that's the perk of being a mob boss, the lavish lifestyle
@@molasorrosalom4846it’s also supposed to reflect how many Americans were living above their heads at the time. But I don’t think it would’ve been all that entertaining to watch a mob boss who isn’t impulsive and obsessed with appearances
@@opaljk4835 He didn't have a lifestyle problem, he had a gambling problem... It was the one thing his dad forbade him ever to do! Tony bets big, frequent and heavy. We are not talking about a 10K weekend to Las Vegas... If Tony would've taken his dad's advice, he would be swimming in cash.
When someone asks Hesh about Tony's money situation he explains it exactly the same way.
The only thing that's lavish, in the first seasons, about Tony is his house. Not much bling bling, no armani suits, no mazeratti like John.
@ wouldn’t a gambling problem be a lifestyle problem? He buys multiple boats and cars. Carmela spends a lot. His kids are given anything and everything. It’s not totally out of control, but it’s certainly not a financially conservative lifestyle…everything he buys he says “it’s supposed to be the best”. I think his lifestyle is a pretty common American consumerist lifestyle.
@@opaljk4835 Not in the maffia it ain't. You don't get high on your own supply, that includes gambling. The fact that it was so strictly forbidden by his dad and we don't see junior partaking in it either, makes us believe it's pretty obvious he has a gambling addiction and the mob lifestyle isn't part of that. I think Phil makes a comment about him too, something like gambling degenerate and Hesh made it pretty clear too that the biggest hole in his hand is his gambling. Gambling is not party of any lifestyle and certainly not the mob. Gambling has always been a source of income for the mob, if you believe otherwise be my guest. History just begs the differ...
After watching the series a few times and seeing countless soprano's clips on UA-cam, I think Tony was not a good Boss, like not at all. He was incapable of not being controlled by his emotions.
The only reason he lasted so long is he made good business with New York and nobody in the glorified crew was competent a side from Silvio (who didn't really want to be a boss) and Ralphie (who was absolutely nuts).
True! I feel like he didnt make great choices, was controlled by his emotions--but that made people afraid of him and convinced them to do what he says.
Definitely!
Yeah he was good middle management. I think this is actually a recurring theme of the show, how few people are cut out for leadership and end up in positions they are unsuited for.
Tony seemed like a good boss until the show decided he was too sympathetic and had to make him seem worse. Or at least that's what his progression in the show felt like
@@therodentryresistance95 he was a good boss with great instinct, but he was also in his own worst enemy and would let his ego, etc., override his better instincts. He was a sociopathic murderer.
I think Gigi's promotion is a really interesting one that almost warrants its own video. It's the kind of management decision an outsider proclaims wanting to make when they strive to "do it better" than the current bosses, getting in a "good guy" rather than respecting the rule of the envelope. That's why Tony genuinely agonized over this decision while it was instantly obvious to Junior that Gigi is a no-no.
Great point! I may explore this in its own separate video in terms of the overall management decision/management style. Thanks for your comment!
The only mobster in the show who truly was a good mobster was Big Carmine. He was smart, calm, cool, collected, unemotional. Nothing personal, just business. Everyone else was a clown.
@@tedwojtasik8781 you are forgetting Jackie aprile. Until he got Cancer everything ran smoothly for the glorified crew
Tony soprano, Janice soprano, and the guy who played Chis Moltisantis drug councilor were all in a 1991 movie together called “Fallen” with Denzel Washington, like 8 years before Sopranos
1998. In 1997 they shot the pilot for the sopranos.
Nice! I'll have to check it out.
Fallen is so underrated. “Tiiiiiime is on my side, yes it is.”
@ amen!
At lot are in cop land an mickey blue eyes
Regretful but mostly unbelievable: Not smashing the boss girl back at Italy 💔
Haha, that's a good point! Though I think overall he actually made a good decision by keeping it in his pants there, which was NOT what we would've expected.
@@SopranosBlueprint I think Tony was both attracted and scared of her, but definitely more scared. She was the mother figure he wanted, strong, powerful, sexual. He did not go for the old in-out, in-out because she was the dominant force, not him. She was fierce and turned Tony into a squeaky little gerbil.
Tony killing Ralph over Pie-O-My, after his character seemed to be changing for the better with his kid’s injury, is one of the worst decisions he made imo.
I agree - I think it was a bad decision and I also think he didn't kill Pie-O-My.
I think sleeping with his previous goomar was the mistake. That's when Ralph snapped out of depression mode and decided to fuck with Tony.
@@SopranosBlueprint I think so as well about Pie-O-My. Many disagree with that. I think because David Chase or Joe Pantoliano allegedly said Ralph started the fire. But based on the script there is no proof Ralph killed her for the insurance money. He didn’t seem dishonest either when Tony confronted him.
Tony says to Carlo and others in the room 'Fuck all that honor and loyalty, shit.' In that moment the boss showed his true colors to his men and to this thing. To keep his kid outta jail, Carlo remembered Tony's words and flipped.
Great point! Really good observation re: Carlo - and then with Tony dumping on him over only bringing in 1/3 of the money Vito was bringing him, I imagine Carlo was no big fan of Tony.
I appreciate the simplicity of these videos, just straight up good analysis.
Hey Sopranos Blueprint, I remember when you used to wait in the car, and as far as I'm concerned you should still be there!!!!!
What, I gotta stand here being threatened now?!?!
@SopranosBlueprint Someone said you're nothing more than a glorified UA-camr. I said, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...... then they said, relxax kid, it's just an expression.
On a sidenote; awesome content, my son and run a little YT channel mostly on baseballl cards but did a short and actual video on the Soprano's baseball cards. I'm a huge Soprano fan. Prob give you a run for your money. Wasn't sure if you knew or not about them. Great content just subscribed 👍🏽
maps.app.goo.gl/9wPcmRXkpbu1EWtn7
I love it you people are funny, it's good to find a community online that loves Sopranos as much as me. I remember watching 'many saints' at the cinema and when Junior made that varsity comment I was looking around for people to laugh with but it seems nobody gave a shit.
@@midable-mc2cz Charles Schwab ova here!!!!
@PoppaBearandBabyBear.-be5jz [insert Coco’s laugh]
Love hearing a woman talk about this show. All other Sopranos commentary I’ve encountered is by men.
Thank you - I appreciate that! I love talking about the show - glad it's well received. :-)
That was long overdue, but worth it. The Zelman incident might not have made much difference, but it was really uncalled for. Killing Ralph was probably a bigger mistake than giving Gigi the bump.
@@davidmajer3652 Glad you enjoyed it!! I’m going to do another video where I talk more about Tony’s decision to kill Ralph, so you’ve got the right idea, for sure! Thanks again for the comment 😎
The Zelman incident made a huge impact. If it was someone like Georgie he beat (again), it's no big deal. Georgie was a civilian in the mafia sphere. There are no reprocussions. Tony failed to realize with the Zellman beating that he was hurting Irina, who was not under his influence, at least not anymore. Under the influence of vodka, Irina blew up his world.
@@SopranosBlueprint I have so much to say about tony's decision to kill ralph and if/when he really decided to.
I think one of Tony's worser decisions is not trying to get closer to Hesh and embrace him more as a father figure. The scenes where Tony dumps emotions on Hesh like a therapist and the two of them do it back and forth without giving a shit about the other one are some of the funniest, but also most commonly relateable interactions that happen on the show.
Hesh is a guy you really should want as committed to you as possible. Smart, rich, good at business, not in your usual cirlce, has a ton of connections to other similar people. If you ever get someone like that where the other person actually entertains you beyond the minimum and wants something from it especially at 1am, you don't take them for granted.
Great point! Along those lines, I think it was a very poor decision of him to treat Hesh as badly as he did in Season 6.
Tony made so many bad decisions along the way, its amazing he ever made it to boss!
Junior being his strongest connection is why.
@@60wwediva Of course, the mob has always been a family run business!
THEY MAKE ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY OVER THERE! LOL
@@SopranosBlueprint I heard AJ is the new NJ mob boss now!
It's like Phil said he stepped over his own uncle to grab the big seat his father's brother
Yet you all forget that he also went to bat for Vito just as much as he did for Tony B. He literally tried to keep him away from Phill and NY but Vito got himself caught up.
Tony opting out of whacking Vito was the worst, that domino effect was huge.
I know Vito's bottom was impacted if that's what you're referring to.
True.
@@SopranosBlueprint
I love this channel. I conveniently found it right when I finished the show
Thanks so much! I’m so glad to hear that! 😊 Quite a wild ride, wasn’t it?!
LACK OF IMPULSE CONTROL - one of the many traits of a narcissist. All of these incidents led to Tony's downfall.
His wide-eyed optimism let people control the mayham in Tony's life. If AJ got sent to a military school, if Junior got sent to a home, if Irena got sent to the Bing, if Ralph got sent to Miami, if Tony B got sent to live with Feech, if Push got sent to Elvis country...ya ya, it'd be a boring series.
All of these elements antagonized Tony, on his success journey. But had he kept them on a tighter leash, as narcissists do, Tony may have avoided all of the problems he faced with each of these subordinates.
AJ couldn't go to military school due to the panic attacks, which would have also disqualified him from the military
Yes! Paulie talked about Tony keeping his eye on the big picture, but only when he was able to control himself and didn't feel personally insulted.
And yes, gotta take into account the not becoming a boring series part. Imagine if all of Tony's problems were solved in the very first episode...LOL
Literally shows how shitty he was as a "Don". Great video as always
Thank you!! 😊🙏🏼
“This is just business,” he says. Not in many cases!
A Don doesn’t wear shorts
Yeah the decision that cost him the most is Junior, I mean he almost had him killed in season 1 and then dementia...does anyone think that Junior despite his mental illness demonstrably had it in for Tony from the very beginning?
Also, people with dementia are time consuming, you need to keep your eyes on them 24/7 and if they're like junior and arent able to be controlled or problematic with being confrontational, they will ruin every aspect of your daily life costing you money, your belongings, your Secrets, everything. Tony felt some hidden guilt and anguish for the mother and kept Junior out of a moral obligation he place on himself. There is no reason for Tony to keep Junior and not put him in a home at all. Tony is a mob boss, financially stable (well off at that) with a wife and kids, a full functioning crew etc. It would be different if tony was a poor schmuck and relied on juniors money or to stay with him. I would never keep my grandmother beyond her expiration date if I could afford to ship her off to assisted living or have her instituonalized. I'll never get why tony didn't realize having a former criminal with dementia who already put a hit out on him was a horrible person to keep nearby
It was smart making Junior the boss in season 1, especially since he was nothing more than a puppet.
Tony's biggest weakness was his arrogance. A wise leader doesn't go out of his way to give offense or make enemies, even in the mafia. Tony's insecurity in the presence of more seasoned guys meant that he always had to put up a tough front, which painted him into a corner and forced him to make illogical decisions. His weaknesses for women and gambling only compounded these problems.
Great analysis. The Tony B. decisions were the poorest. With Carmine, Sr., it was always about business.
Tony B should have been taken care of, as soon as Tony realized he took out Joey Peeps.
Thanks! And I agree, Carmine Sr. was the varsity athlete of bosses.
Nice write up 😁
You have a good voice.
@@boldbearings Thank you! Appreciate your comment and glad you enjoyed the video 😃😃
Just discovered the channel, love the content 👌
This video needs a part 2
so many mistakes. Looking back, Tony was a pretty horrible boss. I think that was the hidden central theme. Chase's storytelling made us like Tony and we were blind to it until the end. We thought Tony was the smart one and Little Carmine was the dumb one, but in the end, it was Little Carmine who was the boss material. I still think Jimmy wasn't a rat. The feds let him go early to make Tony think he was the rat instead of Pussy. Tony fell for it. The first time I watched it, I was just along for the awesome ride. Now when I watch it, I just see Tony making mistake after mistake. Slowly alienating or killing off his entire crew.
Thanks for your comment! That's interesting that you think Jimmy wasn't a rat. What explains his incessant questioning of Tony in his basement, then, with those very detailed questions that sounded like they came right from an FBI agent?
I thought his worst decision was letting those two black guys get away with all the problems they caused?
Problemsh dey caushed?
The drug dealers that killed Jackie Jr.?
@@SopranosBlueprint - Da two brack drug dealersh who are responsible for every “mafia” det over da whole Shopranosh run!
Meh. Appointing Gigi captain of the Aprile crew instead of Ralph wasn't *that* bad a decision. What was worse was that Tony was terrible at keeping his employees gruntled (in a manner of speaking 😏). He tolerated Richie Aprile's and Feech LaManna's seditiousness for far too long and alienated Big Pussy, Paulie Walnuts, and eventually even Christopher. All of these mistakes cost him sooner or later.
Carmine Sr. was the gold standard of bosses.
Beating Coco in public was his biggest mistake!
4 hours ago I watched this video, and since then I've been doing NOTHING but watching all of your other stuff.
This channel is the definition of underrated. I cannot believe this channel isn't bigger.
13k subscribers is HEAPS and you earned every single one through hard work... but it should be x10 more, because these are QUALITY.
Sopranos has really been trending lately, so I hope you get some more recognition, because you have opinions, takes and views that no one else has. Its really. Really refreshing. Maybe it's a woman's view on things, or maybe just a different perspective from a different angle. All I know is, you're absolutely killing it.
Thanks so much!! That's really kind of you to say - I'm so glad you enjoy the channel and the videos! I truly appreciate it - and much more on the way, that's for sure! :-D
There's something about living vicariously through movies and TV shows like this. This thing of our's 😂
Have you ever watched the film Copland? Half the cast to Sopranos are in that movie.
I haven't! But I'll have to put it on my list.
@ it’s a great film and a fun game to see how many sopranos cast you can count.
Thank you Stephanie for keeping The Sopranos alive! One could make the argument that the worst decision is the one that got him killed. Or at least the decision that set the butterfly wings in motion. (1) Tony killing Philly Spoons likely caused Patsy to conspire against him with NY. (2) Tony covering for Tony B ultimately caused Phil Leotardo to want to kill him (3) The blundered hit on Phil Leotardo (shot in front of his family and had to have a closed casket definitely violated some rules in Cosa Nostra. These were unforced errors that may have resulted in Tony living longer.
You're so welcome, and likewise! I always gain something valuable from your comments. EXCELLENT POINT re: Spoons! Patsy was never going to forget about the killing of his TWIN.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 very good!
Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed it!🙂
Another bad decision was how Tony handled Christopher immediately after Jackie Aprile Jr shot up the card game.
Chris was understandably enraged and when he announced his intention to kill Jackie, Tony put the kibosh on that by simply saying, “No, you’re not”.
Chris thought Tony was going to spare Jackie because of who his father was. All Tony had to say was something like, “No, he’s not getting away with this. But I’M gonna take care of it, not you.”
Instead, Tony puffs his chest out and gets all high-handed with Chris, saying “I don’t gotta explain anything to you.” Chris takes that the wrong way and is offended to the point of saying, “I loved you!”. Tony then throws more gas on the fire by throttling Chris and furiously demanding respect. Chris storms out.
Way to go, Tony, alienating one of your top guys, especially the kid you plan on bringing up to succeed you one day. Again, all Tony had to do was settle Chris down by simply explaining that Jackie was marked for death, but they were going to handle it carefully, not recklessly.
Instead, Tony created a rift between himself and Christopher that never truly got fixed for the duration of the show.
One other mistake Tony made was getting Feech back in the game.
Feech stepped on too many toes and acted on his own accord. The incident with Sal Vitro, where he ended up losing half his business and had to fire his helper and pull his son out of college. Tony looked the other way that time. Then, the heist at Doctor Frieds' daughters wedding, where all of the imported vehicles got stolen. Feech got the info from Johnny Sack and decided to go behind Tonys back a second time.
Feech became way too much of a liability because he was still living on his past glory during a time when things had changed since the 80s when he went away. He still thought he was a boss (or the boss) and hated having to take orders from Tony, so he did what he wanted.
Tony did what he had to do to get Feech out of the picture. If he kept him around longer, Feech could have brought the whole thing down on all of them.
Correct! Feech still saw Tony, "the Godfather," as the kid that knocked up his card game, which is why he said right to Tony's face that he still thought of him as a kid. Feech had no one to blame but himself for getting sent back to the can and he really was living in the past when he thought it'd be okay to do what he did.
@@SopranosBlueprint The other thing about Feech was that, according to Ralphie, he got made on the other side.
Feech possibly let that go straight to his head. He got his stripe in the mother country, so he probably thought that made him an even bigger boss than the others.
I think it would be easier to list Tony's best decisions than his worst.
Good point! LOL I may do that for a future video 😂
The biggest mistake tony made was not having the makings of a varsity athlete.
Obviously biggest mistake was believing Butchie that the war was over
Or their idea to go to Holsten's that night in the first place, though it was Carm's suggestion - "Holsten's is the consensus." I guess the only variable here would be whether or not Butchie actually lied or whether he too was really over all the bloodshed and just wanted to get on with it. He did want to wipe Tony off the planet, so I suppose we couldn't put it past him. If Butchie was behind it, I think Paulie and Patsy also looked the other way.
not letting Tony B turn the back area into a Jack Lalanne
Touche 😅😊😂 They could've really eased a lot of tension!
It's the sheltering of Tony B that was the tipping point that unraveled Tony's command and the loyalty of his guys. Patsy's sarcastic "thank you, that was great" summed up how everybody at that dinner table was feeling after Tony's speech. He was very adroit at keeping his family out of the frying pan. Meanwhile the only ones who gotta obey the rules is them.
Larry B. said it very well! And we know Patsy in particular was no big fan of Tony's after Tony had Spoons clipped and passed Patsy over as acting capo in favor of Christopher.
One of the worst decisions was trying to groom a junkie to be his second in command. Everyone knows junkies are a liability
His biggest mistake was not pursuing a career as a NFL Player or a coach. Even though he is the show, the show ends with him, when he dies. Remember what Tony said, “They’re are 2 ways out for guy like me. I either go jail, maintaining my loyalty. Or I die”. The latter happened in front of his family. So yeah my hot take, he should’ve been made as a member of the mafia…… but then again we wouldn’t have a show, with a talented cast.
If only he'd listened to Coach Molinaro...
Who are you, Judge Roy Bean?
@@daltonstephenson7669 Think about it, though, Ton’…
He was a married man!!!
Damn. Juniors ending is so depressing
It really is. And from the time he got arrested at the end of S1, he was never really a free man.
Tony biggest mistake not giving up Vito sooner
bruh I think if vito got away it wouldn't have made a difference
@@mega1552 It would satisfied everybody both Jersey , and New York , especially Phil , like Sil said TONY"s big weakness he dose not want to bow down
there are millions of dollars at stake
I think if Vito had been able to stay away from Jersey, the problem would've eventually fizzled out -- at least until someone decided to take their kid on a college tour through New Hampshire!
Brilliant take
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it! 😊
Not having the makings of a varsity athlete was his first mistake.
He's Knucklehead Smith😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Some people are so far behind the race, they actually believe they're leading...
#1. Everyone was wired for sound, including all of the captains. They would've had Chris, but he told Tony what was going on.
Tony was a terrible leader
I think Tony's other mistake was also murdering Ralph,
It is never made clear if Ralph murdered the horse pie oh my, and in the context it was in his redemption
(obviously it was a good plot twist)
The absolute worst was telling Johnny Sack that Angelo Garepe proposed a power sharing triumvirate.
Ugh, great point....fckin' Tony really put Angelo into a horrible position when Angelo just wanted to take his kid to the park and get icecream.
@ It’s the catalyst for all of Tony’s issues with New York aside from Vito’s stuff. And he never even realized it.
Killing spoons but leaving Patsy alive was probably the stupidest decision of the entire series. I think Patsy is the one that had him killed
He doesn’t always make the best calls? I’d say that’s putting it lightly… he sunk the whole ship! 😂
The best analysis bar none.
Thank you, my friend!! :-)
If Jackie Aprile Sr. Had lived and was cancer free I doubt the family would have been a dysfunctional as when Tony was boss.
Well done.
Love your stuff
Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying the content!
Not handling Tony B was a huge mistake
And then acting like he was doing the honorable thing that he would do for everyone else.
I had to run into these comments because I was talking back to the tv during the video and didn't wanna forget what I was saying out loud. Re: Ralph, Tony's poor people management skills brought that situation to a head. Again, his unwillingness to cater to anything but his own appetites is the root cause. tony is too self centered to manage other people. He can only manipulate and control them.
EXCELLENT point re: being too self-centered to manage other people. Just like he even said to Ralph, he put Gigi in so he could have someone watching over that crew so that he could control it without having to do the work of managing people who weren't "easy" to manage.
great video idea. Tony has natural leadership skills but in the fray he made a lot of short-sighted mistakes
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and yes, I agree with you - a lot of short-sightedness that only served to harm him, whether at that moment or later on.
Nice vid. I wanna ask you smth: If the series had continued past Made In America, do you think we would've seen Meadow slowly become part of This Thing Of Ours?
Thank you! It's funny, I actually started doing some fan fiction on that where Meadow became the boss. If any of the kids were gonna make it in this thing of ours, I definitely wouldn't count Meadow out!
Great!!!
I did the enjoy this video. I’ve liked it. This is my comment. And I’m subscribing to your channel.
OHHHHHHH, whadda'ya talking about? Ton' never made a bad decision. There were outstanding circumstances. Outta his hands.
Yelling at Carlo to sux sum dik because Vito was bringing in 3x what he was at construction. Carlo was the guy who believed being a "stand-up" guy should be the most important thing and Tony just cared about the dollars
Biggest mistake he made was not killing Coco and Butchie at their restaurant/club. He would have been well within his rights to do so as family is never to be involved. Would it have caused a big problem… of course, but in the end Tony could stand behind the rules of La Cosa Nostra. Plus, he would’ve gotten rid of Butchie who was a problem. Just my take.
Restaurant.
To be fair, Ralph was like Ritchie, someone that was never going to kiss the ring on Tony' ass. He was simply too much of a wiseass and a hole, and he had the same ego as Tony that meant the two never saw eye to eye.
Of course Tony killing Ralph and then trying to blame NY for it over Ralph pushing his buttons one last time was the outcome on top of choosing Gigi over Ralph that you point out maybe started the domino.
Tony B like Chrissy was another of Tony valuing blood above all else and it costing him big time. Because it puts the pair in the position to light the fuses and cause issues where they did. Where if Tony had been less prone to nepotism.
Junior, I think a part of T's denial as you say of Juniors dementia was because of what happened with his mother, of not wanting to risk him being an issue at Green Groove, potentially giving things away either to the FEDS or someone else.
Not to mention pride and greed with how expensive the place is as well.
See, that’s why they should make you boss, because ya so fucken smart.
If you're so f^ckin smart, fix that TV!
Good points! Specifically re: the feds and Green Grove. I think Tony internalized a lot of the horrible things Livia said to him and was probably still trying to please her all those years later by treating Junior "better" and not putting him in assisted living.
Greatest intro ever 👍 You quoting Tony 😂🔥😂
Thank you!! Glad you enjoyed it! 😂🙏🏼
#1. Was getting rid of ralph. After he offed ralph. Tony had major money problems. He had to borrow from hesh to pay off gambling debts..ralph brought in more money than anyone.
I agree it was a bad decision. And it only made the rest of Tony’s crew trust him less. And re: Hesh, ironic how that went full circle - in the Pilot, a “degenerate gambler” owed Hesh 250k, and then look who owed Hesh 200k later on!
Great list! I would add making Christopher as his successor. Maybe killing Patsy's twin came back to bite him. We'll never really know.
Yes! Great point! I would not be surprised in the least.
Those plane tickets from the Scatino bust for Livia was not believable
Nice voice , I like this narrator
I’ve watched the show forwards and back, and employee of the month is my least watched for obvious reasons. I find if fascinating Tony’s convo with Ralph would be a domino in his downfall and how Melfie decides not to perpetuate his justification of mob activities, but ultimately is still a part of how he continues to not walk away from the lifestyle and unprocessed trauma that is making him more and more depressed as he’s attempting to pick up the pieces of the NY fallout that ultimately contributed to the fall of their - uh - glorified crew. Cases of too little too late.
Great points! And in terms of the dominoes falling in the show as a whole, if Dr. Melfi hadn't had such a traumatizing experience that episode, she may very well have continued to encourage Tony to see another therapist, and like you said, who knows what would have happened from there. Too little too late is right.
Personally I believe not killing Paulie was the worst decision he made
Paulie wasn’t a great Earner and always made trouble with other notably The whole Ralphie and Jennie or whatever her name is Joke
Extremely troublesome not to mention so greedy and traitorous with no loyalty
The audio reminds me recorded lectures in college not in bad way lol
It's AI
It’s not. ;) But shoulda stopped at Roy Rogers.
great video
Thank you!! 😊🙏🏼
Beating up Zellman was a bad decision by Tony because of that Irina called the house and told Carmella about Tony and her cousin
"The heart wants what the heart wants." "The heart wants the d*ck wants."
You should do a top 5 mistakes of Nucky Thompson aka that Animal from AC 🥃
His would be more conclusive cuz we at least know for sure what his ending was unlike Tony
That's an excellent idea! What a great show!!
Making a video of Tony's best decisions it would be a 30 second video.
Hahaha, perhaps I'll put it in a short then. ;)
I don't think Johnny kills Angelo without Tony lying about Angelo's fuckin UN idea that was actually Tony's.
Great point. Tony really screwed Angelo over...poor guy just wanted to watch his cable TV and take his grandson to the park.
You could argue actually that Tony was quite a bad boss throughout his tenure
All due respect…. You have no idea what it takes to be numba one.
A few slices of gababgool
Every situation affects every facet of every other f^ckin' thing. It's too much to deal with almost...
His worst decision was when he and crissy messed with the vipers
Anyway 4 dollars a pound
Two bad decisions tony made during the show;
1. Making a chrissy a made guy. Chrissy was not ready mentally or emotionally to be a capo. He was too irrational and immature to handle the pressure. In addition, he well know issues with drugs constantly put him as a liability and unrealiable in tony's eyes. Throughout the years on the show tony would always have to clean up chrissy's screwups.
2. Tony not digging enough to find out that paulie was divulging information and to johnny sack and getting rid of him caused the chaos between jersey and new york. Deep down i think tony knew that paulie was talking to johnny but i guess he gave their years of friendship the benefit of the doubt. Also the Paulie's lack of accountability was an ire for tony. A couple of examples for instance in seaon 3 in the infamous pine barrens paulie's screwup turn a simple a pickup into him and chrissy being stuck in the woods. In season 6 paulie not hiring the proper people for the feast which had janice and her baby on the ride. Tony had a chance to kill him on the boat but by done the damage had long been done already
What a terrible list. I can think of so many more things that were much more damning to him. Like the way he treats Paulie throughout the entire series and the way he sabotages Christopher with his addictions...
Ralphie was a good earner, but that was because of the portfolio he got with construction. The contracts were so huge that it was very easy to make a good deal of money. Vito was the same kind of earner and so kept on protecting him until they found him... That's the entire problem of Tony. He is constantly thinking about the money and passing up more loyal guys with much more seniority over his favorites or top earners. That's Tony's biggest fault and problem. He is always talking about this code and honor, while at the same time he throws all of the codes and loyalty out of the window as soon as he sees big envelopes.
Not to mention that Ralphie was an extreme lose cannon... He killed his own pregnant gumar in front of the Bing... He almost started a war with Paulie with his stupid jokes. When Vito's brother is in the hospital, he can't stop but make stupid remarks. Ralphie was on a path of self destruction throughout the series. Just like Richie, he had it coming.
If he would've respected and valued Paulie, he would've kept his mouth shut and so there would be no beef between him and New York.
If he didn't kept on pushing Christopher into addiction, he wouldn't have had to kill his own nephew...
If he didn't protect Vito as much, there again would've been no beef with New York...
The entire beef he got with his uncle escalated because he kept making jokes about Junior eating pussy...
One thing that was, in my opinion rediculous, though it would turn out perfect. That was pulling old man Bacala out of retirement. Him of course dying in the process is like the perfect mobster hit...
The entire war with New York is purely Tony's own fault. And the majority of their scarole came from their shared businesses with New York.
Like Tony says to Richie. Those who give respect, get respect. And Tony disrespected his most loyal guys, which is the reason why they will flip and talk about him. If all your captains flip, rat, talk or die on you, then the leadership is the problem... By the end of the series, Paulie is the only one that isn't dead or ratting to the feds. Pat never became a rat, but he never became a captain either. But Pat Parisi is one of the prime suspects of who might have killed Tony... Pat knows, stayed loyal, did everything he had to. Just to be jumped over by Tony's favorite Christophhuuurrrr. Same goes for Chris, he is extremely loyal to Tony. He even gave up the love of his life and how did Tony thank him? By beating him up... Nice... That's Tony in a nutshell... He literally bites the hand that feeds him. And in the end, IF, Tony gets whacked at the end. Somebody of his own crew had to be involved.
In general I think Paulie gets too much shit from people as a talker. He only starts talking as soon as he feels passed and overstepped by others. And talking is his only vice, because talking or not. He is fiercely loyal. The only people that were by heart loyal to Tony were Paulie, Christopher and Syl. All the others would actually rat, die or try to kill him.
We should give Gigi a pass though, for what we saw of him, to me he came off as a good captain. He was well spoken & quick. He seemed to command respect. It's a bit sad that we never saw him in action in some kind of way, so we could judge Junior's remarks. It could also just be that Junior was criticizing Tony just for the Sake of it. If he might've picked Ralphie, he would say the opposite.
Don't worry I still subbed ^^, good luck!
I hated GiGi..besides killing the twin..he was an extremely dull & unmemorable character
Great takes, but your audio seems to be out of sync, its very noticeable every time you show a scene where someone talks.
Appreciate it! I'll work on that for sure!
Notice that right after Johnny Sack told Tony that he wanted Tony B. Delivered to him on a spit, Johnny Sack got arrested and he confessed to get a lighter sentence? Tony S. could have ignored Johnny Sack and protected Tony B. and everything would have worked out fine. Tony S. had a huge inferiority complex when it came to New York and he bent the knee to them when he didn’t have to.
Phil still would have been a problem
No way Jersey gets a pass on killing Joey Peeps, much less Billy, piled on top of the Coco incident.
How? Phil is the one that wanted him the most. Phil was angry tony finished him. Phil was going to torture him before killing him .
I think it would've still been nearly impossible to go on with Phil still being there. And I think most of the guys on the DiMeo side were pretty much fed up with Tony B, too, after all that went down. Not that they'd try to conspire against him themselves, but it's hard for me to see a place for Tony B. to exist in that world after killing both Joey Peeps and Billy Leotardo while Phil Leotardo is still alive.
@ Good point
I know that your poor editing is a conscious decision, but in the third segment it threw off the sequence of events so much thar it was too hard to understand.
I think Tony made so many bad decisions that I'm looking forward to watching your video about his good decisions to see when he thought outside of his box.
Anybody who makes Sorpanos videos has got to kick up 20% of the revenue to Borko, we don't want to ask twice.
You mean next time, there will be no next time?
I’m
Not listening to some goomar tell me about Tony’s mistakes
I don’t think Gigi was a bad decision.
They did get massacred; those decisions.
It's not like we didn't give those decisions sh*t to make up for it!
You know who made bad decisions? Was Mustang Sally, may he rest in peace. Whatsamata with a nice Oldsmobile? The kind Uncle Bobby might drive.
Yeah, it's sad when they go young like that...or in the case of The Terminator, when they go old. "But what was the cause of death?"