Another Ralph as the Devil note: traditionally the Devil can't make you do something bad, but he can temp you into it. That's exactly what happened with Jackie Jr., Ralph didn't make him rob the card game but he planted the idea and Jackie went through with it.
No, traditional ancient mysteries believed Lucifer as an allegory of mankind foisting itself from the innocence of the bondage of ignorance wherein we lived in harmony with nature. "Lucifer, oh morning star (God's Sun); Jesus, oh morning star (God's Son)". And through knowledge(of good and evil) we too would become like God and no longer remain in the Garden of Eden(living with nature as animals). Demons, Lakes of Fire, Devil, Satan; all came from hysteria & imagination within Dante's Inferno & the Church's exuberance to use graven images to control the masses. There's more to it...but no Ralphie was not a source of illumination upon which a pilgrimage can be sought after to gain wisdom, intellect, and adept esoteric knowledge. So Ralphie is not "the Devil". 🤣
@@MrDeano-eu9rg I dont know how you could watch the opening to Many Saints and come away with the idea that its anything BUT Chris narrating from hell. Thats exactly what he says.
I love to love him. At least he's honest about himself being a degenerate mobster, and having a little fun along the way Also he's just fun to watch, way funnier than supposed-to-be-a-comic-relief Paulie
Also it’s worth noting that two of Ralph’s actions contributed greatly to the downfall of Tony and the Soprano/Dimeo family - the killing of Tracee (leading to the killing of Ralph, leading to dysentery in the ranks) and the Ginny Sack joke, hurting relations with New York
@@bgdojo What consequences came of killing Ralph? Sure the loss in money but I can't remember anything specific idk, I don't remember anyone really being on his side
Another fun detail about Ralph: Tony might feel guilty about killing him when he was on a road to redemption, as he dreams of Ralph with a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, something Melfi believe symbolizes change.
@@isaacmorales1419 It was confirmed by the showrunners that it was Ralphie who burned the stables down for the insurance money, though the actor for Ralph was never told who started the fire, so his reaction would have been genuine
i think it's pretty important though that the specific species is a death's head hawk moth, the same species used in silence of the lambs. while Ralph is sitting next to Carmella, with rosary beads hanging on the mirror, talking to her and adjusting the tune of the radio to the (good) news, the radio outputs gunfire, screaming, explosions and sirens, which seems more like hell.
Even if that was the case, there are things you can't do without karma catching up to you. He killed people either for pleasure or out of recklessness, he was careless about his sorroundings and about the peoples lives he ruined. MAybe he was about to turn his back on this past, but still. His sins were irredeemable at this point. And without his son's accident he would never changed on his own. The Trauma made him realize how bad he was. But even Jeffrey Dahmer felt guilt, or at least he said.
everything was a hustle with him. He wouldnt tell you he was going to make a deal & you were muscle without knowing it. I know for a fact he got his cousin killed dealing nose candy on another gangs spot. Just a cowboy, last I heard he was stabbed in prison.
Personally, I've always thought of Tony Soprano, not Ralph, as the devil, but the whole point of the show is to give us sympathy for him. As the story goes, no matter how hard he tries to be a good person, the evil that surrounds him will always pull him back to darkness, until he became so entrenched in it, that he stopped caring about being seen as the bad guy. He also gives very tempting offers to various characters in the show, only to have dire consequences behind them, and he has built an incredibly comfortable life because of these Luciferesque bargains.
Yes, there are many times that the show is telling us Tony is the devil. The strongest one that comes to mind is him in the casino at Las Vegas, getting good luck at the tables after he killed Christopher and was partying with Christopher's Las Vegas girlfriend. While he is winning, the camera pans to a slot machine with the devil on it.
I agree with you, but Ralph stands as an extremely strong candidate anyway. Tony also got all bloated and fat and lifeless by the end of the show (a frankly disgusting sight) indulged in mortal sin and corruption, a bit like Judge Holden in Blood Meridian who's also supposed to be the devil.
@@KARKATELCESARENVIADODESA-pv4yd Yep, and it hits especially hard after the whole coma and thinking about changing for the better during the hospital scenes.
Ralph started from the start as an evil bastard and didn't try hiding it unlike the others who fake their kindness. He didn’t wear a mask to hide his evil in other words, something that you see Tony and the others do so when he starts to repent it comes off as genuine.
Very good point. We know the devil is evil and recoil from that evil. Ralph is rather proud to be a complete bastard. He's not subtle and cunning like the devil, or in this case Tony, would be.
@@CJVS995i dont buy it. A man who neglects to call his son on his birthday cant possibly be that sad. Hes probably more sad at how the accident makes HIM look than anything else since hes a narcissist
I know David Chase put in a lot of subliminal reference to Ralph being a devil. But I just don't see how Ralph is any worse than Tony or Paulie or any of the rest of them.
I couldn't agree more, especially when you compare Ralph to Tony himself. I mean he's not a hypocrite about being a piece of shit and accepts whereas people like Tony try to justify themselves when they do equally heinous stuff. It's hard to tell if Ralph had true remorse about everything after his sons hospitalization but still.
With most characters, you see them as humans with some evil traits. With Ralph, you see him as pure evil in a human body. It's not until after his son is critically injured that you see that Ralph is human as well. I think the point of Ralph's tiny redemption arc is to show that he wasn't really different from the rest of the mobsters even though we may have seen him as being worse somehow. Remember, Tony threatened and probably would have had Gloria killed for basically the reason Ralph killed the stripper. They both preyed on the vulnerable, the only difference was that Tony had a soft spot for animals.
He's not literally the devil, he just throws the disgustingness of their way of life in their faces in a way that's impolite and hard for them all to deal with. He's the horrible shit that they have to live with as a result of their twisted code of conduct, twisted up in a repulsive human sausage that they can't just kill bc he's a made guy who hasn't broken any of their rules and makes them a lot of money. So no he's not more evil than they are, but his evil lets its balls hang more
Tony is also portrayed as the devil in season 6 when Christopher sees them all laughing at Paulies joke about his daughter. Tony’s hair looked like horns and everything.
We should also mention it’s interesting how David Chase confirmed Ralph burned Pie O My in life, but no one mentions that he could’ve caused Valentina to burn beyond the grave. Tony took his horse and his girl, instead of talking to Tony or moving on, he’d rather see both burn. A devil’s remedy, the fire.
I love this supernatural discussion around Halloween time! I really want to see more and would love to see more topics like this, maybe one about the medium Paulie went to see.
He wasn’t the devil, a lot of his actions were him drugged out of his mind on coke or being in a standoff with Tony or someone in his crew. That was the point of the dream sequence when Tony saw the butterfly on his neck Ralphie had a genuine chance at redeeming himself if he lived, whereas Tony got infinitely more unlikeable & evil as the series progressed. Ralphie was a mirror to Tony & his own actions
It's the Stringer and Marlo effect. Stringer was evil, but had layers to him. To the point, where you ended up rooting for him at one point. Marlo was pure evil, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Ralph was like Stringer in that respect. You had sympathy towards him in the end. Tony was indeed a mirror to Ralph. However, he became far worse than he did in the end.
Ralph was annoying and insufferable from his first appearance. We as the audience share the same view of Ralph as Tony. He’s a good earner and does his work well, but we don’t want to see him one minute longer than we need. After he beats Tracee to death and the stable mysteriously burns down money goes out the window, Ralph was a bigger risk than he was worth. If Ralph was kept alive he would have kept going until the heat would have caught up with him and the family. Bodies are bad for business, a true mobster’s favorite color is green with a dead guy on it, not red on a dead guy.
Kino, this was by far one of the BEST videos I've ever seen on UA-cam about The Sopranos from ANY Sopranos content creator. Salúd, Kino. My twenty fvckin' years were worth it and you've definitely earned your stripes of soft drinks of choice.
Ralph was up there with Ritchie for being truly depraved. Whilst many of the others can play that face of being the Honourable old school guy sometimes. Ralph absolutely can’t. He is pure trash and has no shame for anything he does.
A nice detail from the show i think get overlooked is that Ralph said in one episode that if he didn't drop out of highschool (so i don't think the boat thing is canon, because of that line and the fact it would probably turn the audience against Ralph to early on) he wanted to be an architect. So i think Ralph great success with construction stems from his architectural passions, because he would know thoroughly the ins and outs of the game.
Or maybe the whole "dropped out of school" is a euphamism because who's gonna go around their whole life telling everyone, even casually "I could of been an Architect, if I didd't murder that girl in the canoe". Would you explain to everyone you come across the reason you never finished High School was due to antisocial homicidal tendancies?
I think that the purpose of Ralph's change is to show that Tony didn't feel empathy anymore. In the same period where he mourns a horse he also doesn't care for a person that has suffered a tragedy and looks like has started to change for the better. As he's killing him he accuses Ralph of killing an "innocent creature", while some suggest that may refer to the Tracee I don't agree because it doesn't make sense to use the word "creature" in such context. In addition, Tony generally resents anyone who manages to improve their life. Like how he couldn't support Chris when he tried to remain sober or how he couldn't let Janice be at peace after she started to successfully get a hold on her anger issues. Likewise seeing Ralph become slightly better would activate those same frustrations and he would hate him even more than he normally did.
@@RogueTheologyTony was being a self righteous ass. He got mad Ralphie called him fat & used Tracee/the horse as his justification. Ralphie even almost talked his way out of that entire fight right up until he made the vegetarian comment.
Interesting, either AJ or Carmella gets my vote for most detestable characters on the show. Carmellas blatant hypocrisy and AJ's entitlement really get under my skin. Id much rather spend time with Ralph over those two.
He had a bit of a redemption arc.. That being said, people saying Tony shouldn't have hit Ralph because he was a made man are silly. Ralph murdered Tony's employee then disrespected him to his face by lying about how she died. That alone could get even a made man whacked.
Agreed. I saw an old episode of MASH Joe Pantaliano did has a very young man last week. Stolen Identity or something . I've seen it a million times but seeing it reminded me that much of why we love and hate Ralph is in Joe's knockout performance.
Something has just occured to me. Has it ever shown Ralph actually ever doing coke? I ask this because is it possible that he might say he does to provide an excuse for other behaviour?
Everyone in this show acted so incredibly well. Ralph’s actor really sold me on the character, I didn’t watch the sopranos until a few years ago and was so surprised ralphie was the captain in the bad boys movies
Him trying the girl at a early age had nothing to do with with drug addiction if they would have included that it would have shown you how evil Ralph was
It was also the same episode he said he had to drop out to help his mama and he was supposed to be an architect and Tony gives a rude and condescending look.
Well, Ralph was the funniest character on the show. That prank call to Nucci Gaultieri, cruel as it is, is one of the funniest scenes on the whole show.
The worst is Bobby Baccala Sr. His smile when he executed Sallys innocent friend made me think that he joined the mob in order to live out his dark urges. EDIT: RIP Burt Young
Sally himself was one of the worst, if not the worst. Beating up Vito's brother in a coma for talking to his girlfriend. Even Bobby Sr referred to Sally, his own godson, as a "piece of shit".
11:44 i think that hits the nail, and ESPECIALLY in that scene where they laugh horribly at Christopher. Their faces snarled, cackling, mouths stretched wide like a grimace, theyre like hideous little trickster beings or gargoyles turned flesh. Cus thats what they all are, gargoyles, serveants of satan, theyre part of the pantheon of hell. Satans not the only demon. Theres Mammon, Moloch, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Belal, Belphegor, Legion, Beezlbub, Paimon, Astaroth - a vertiable smorgasborg of demons each with their own kingdoms, fiefs and domains in hell. In fact the structure of traditional demonological hierachies is extremely similar to mafia ones, with their captains and sub captains and foot soldiers, their higher and lesser demons and the hundreds of demons they have at their dispisal in legions. Even the mafia intitation service, setting fire to a picture of a saint and pricking the thumb to draw blood, feels infinitely more like a satanic black mass or occult ceremony than anything even slightly related to catholic mass. I think thats the point - the mafia is a satanic cult, in more ways than one. Each character can be seen to be embodying some kind of demonic archetype (sloth, greed, envy, rage, pride - you name it, theyve got it), with neither one character being the sole evil but a multplicty of evil. If anyones the Devil i think its Tony. Tony is the devil in the sense of a Miltonesque byronic hero. Like in paradise lost, hes very human; charismatic, charming, passionate, tragic - a fallen angel first and a demon second, persecuted for his bad history for all of history due to the far worse tyrant figure he tried and failed to rebel against (the parallels between tony and his mother are rather obvious). But ultimately, he is evil. Thats just a fact. Yet within the hierachy of hell he uniquely has moments of self realisation, self awareness, fairness, despair. Its almost as if being at the top, feeling the burden he carries of being the keeper of bad souls, the grief of being permanently locked out of the kingdom of heaven, has forced him into some kind of philosophical awareness.
Ralphie in season 4, showed that he really wasnt an evil sociopath. He reminds a lot of someone who never mattured after high school. He knows he is a POS, but he doesnt care enough to do anything about it... When his son almost died, he finally realized all of the evil he has done over the years. Right before his death, Ralph said multiple things to Tony about how his behavior is dissonant. The last thing someone with NPD wants to hear, is that their delusional/dissdent world view, isn't accurate... So Tony's reaction was very accurate.
He is a sociopath he beat a girl to death and burnt down a horse stable for the insurance money among other things he just loved his son and began forming a bond with Jackie jr before having him killed
About the kinky shit, when he was splitting with Rosalie, she did NOT look happy about their sex life. "Putting up with all your fucking ...shit" are not the words of a satisfied woman... That woman went through a lot, her grief was so painful...
The buttpiracy and sleeping around with widows and close associates are a lead-in to bullshit bringing things to an indefensible point with tony B and vito. Although neither would be tolerated, ig chase's overarching point is that this sort of deviance and disrespect, to associates and to women, to lie to peoples' faces about to push forth an agenda, is absolutely a killing blow in italian affairs.
Ralph is a bro, as long as you take his exuberance in stride. The diner scene with him and Vito shows this: Vito shows sympathy for Ralph's plight, and Ralph talks to him on an even level despite being his boss, and even when he goes to insult Tony for being fat he makes a point to say "No offense" to the morbidly obese Vito. Jackie Jr. was never going to be anything but a f*** up, and there was nothing Ralph could do to keep him out of trying to be a wannabe gangster, so instead Ralph tries to guide him despite not having a single obligation to invest an ounce of worry into the schmuck. And even with his sexual masochism, it's not directed outward but inward. He's flawed and certainly evil, but compared to how self serving and unlikeable most of the higher ups in the family are, Ralph was an absolute saint. I'd have rather been on his crew than Paulies or Silvios.
I clearly didn't pay half as much attention as I should have done when I first watched the Sopranos. There is a lot of supernatural stuff going on within it, which I only appreciated many years later.
it sucks but we also secretly love ralph especially with his son his situation because we all realize that ralphs flesh and sin always got in the way of his true desires which is very similar to what all of us regular people go through but just not as extreme in most cases
I think Janice's conversations with her church elder is the most convincing argument. Her elder, remorselessly convincing Janice to kick Ralphie out of her life, despite not even knowing the half of him or the details of their relationship.
Ralphie and Richie both, really the entire show's roster of characters, are filmed depictions of the feeling of Sonder: the realization that each individual person that's ever existed has lived their own lives, with their own relationships, dreams, and darknesses. Ralph is a total piece of dog shit, but he still recognized it at least and was also a product of the Mob Life in a way
Great song! One of my favorites. But Ralpie, more than likely under the Devis... spell? Hes not evil. Think about those who are actually evil and you might see my point.
4:32 i've always laughed at how small this gun is. Looks like a nerf gun. It's a movie prop but i don't know why they wouldn't use a real 22 for that shot bc it looks ridiculous lol....still a 10/10 show though.
A new video that's only 5 hours old as I type this? Nice! I like your videos man. Just finished watching Sopranos from start to finish for the umpteenth time, so coming across your videos was a real treat. I always like getting new insight from this show.
Ralph's character in my opinion just goes just show how warped Tonys morality has become where he gives Ralph a slap on the wrist for killing a stripper because he's a good earner but murders him over killing a horse. Ralph even seems to get closer to the crew after he kills the stripper hanging out with them more frequently.
Tracy was not innocent she had her kid taken away for putting cigarettes out on them. And Tony didn’t kill Ralph for her or the horse but because he called out his hypocrisy. Ralph wasn’t the worst he was the most honest they’re all scum and he showed them themselves that’s the whole point of the character.
I liked Ralph cause of him going out of his way to try and make people laugh and win them over (before the yayo) and the show made it clear he was one of the few that was actually smart and making money, and I think the best time of the show was when he was around
To me it was Livia's time in season 1. The show was never the same for me after that, happens to me with many shows tbh the first season is always the best I don't know why.
Ralph was the ONLY one that actuslly obeyed all the mob rules and was an earner. He never actualky admitted to killing PIE-OH-MY which would make him bad in my eyes. Ralphie was the closest thing to a saint the show had. As far as mob ethics go. Tracee burned her kid with cigarettes so Ralph killing her was a plus not a minus. Also hes one of the few non nepo babies. Also i just thought of this but maybe he killed tracee because of his abusive mother
I personally think Ralph's redemption right before his death would not have meant much, and he would enevitably go back to being monstrous. Tony has a similar moment after he comes out of his coma. He says "every day is a gift" and for a minute he seems to hang on to this but eventually goes back into old habits. There's no reason to think Ralph would have done any better especially since he (most likley) burned down a stable full of animals right after his son's accident.
Ralph’s killing of Tracie was the moment everything shifts for the show. At the end I just sat in silence for a few minutes. But it’s also when the show (like all great ones) became leas about its topic and about itself. It’s not navel gazing. It’s examining itself and it’s own purpose.
If Ralph is the devil, then I think the Bada Bing strip club is a representation of hell itself. It's one of the show's most visited locations, often where Tony and his crew make crucial decisions, always ending with someone getting whacked.
I’m not really sure if I’m in the minority on this , but I absolutely loved Ralph as a character. Even though I wish he was on the show longer; his arc was wrapped up exactly when it should have been. A testament to how great Joe Pantoliano’s performance was how Ralph could be incredibly likeable while also being a degenerate psychopath. You would even be forgiven for feeling sorry for Ralph when his son is sent to the hospital. He even had a couple of pretty bad ass moments as well, like telling Artie he couldn’t lend him money because he wouldn’t be able to hurt him if he didn’t pay up.
Not lending Artie money was so smart, and surprisingly kind of Ralph. If he did hurt (or worse) Artie over it, Tony would have used it as an excuse to take Ralph out a little sooner.
Ralph fit in well with the other Big Three monsters on the show: Richie Aprile and Phil Leotardo. Four if you count Uncle Junior. And I guess five if you count Livia! What a sinister bunch!
@@yungpableezy69 Well, he was trying to kill Tony at one point, and was just an evil SOB. I guess they all were, but the Big Three that l mentioned were actively trying to destroy Tony, as were his uncle and -- mother!
I'm guessing you didn't see TMSoN: Uncle Junior was probably the best thing about it, and it revealed/confirmed who he is... ... That said, don't feel like you have to watch that movie.
Good video, another thing i got from Ralph almost getting a sort of Redemption is that Tony is massively envious of Ralph's sincere emotions, that despite him being a total Psycho he has a heart and feels his emotions passionately, this is what snaps in Tony and drives him to murder him. Pointedly even trying to 'fake' passion during the kill by making it about the no-good nag Pie-oh-my. IIRC it also calls back to conversations Tony has with Dr Melfi at the same time in the show, how he is utterly selfish and only cares about himself. Tony is jealous that Ralph, a degenerate monster still possesses empathy, in the end that is why he kills him. Maybe not the right take but i think it has substance.
Another Ralph as the Devil note: traditionally the Devil can't make you do something bad, but he can temp you into it. That's exactly what happened with Jackie Jr., Ralph didn't make him rob the card game but he planted the idea and Jackie went through with it.
Very observant.The sacred and the propane.
No, traditional ancient mysteries believed Lucifer as an allegory of mankind foisting itself from the innocence of the bondage of ignorance wherein we lived in harmony with nature. "Lucifer, oh morning star (God's Sun); Jesus, oh morning star (God's Son)".
And through knowledge(of good and evil) we too would become like God and no longer remain in the Garden of Eden(living with nature as animals).
Demons, Lakes of Fire, Devil, Satan; all came from hysteria & imagination within Dante's Inferno & the Church's exuberance to use graven images to control the masses.
There's more to it...but no Ralphie was not a source of illumination upon which a pilgrimage can be sought after to gain wisdom, intellect, and adept esoteric knowledge. So Ralphie is not "the Devil". 🤣
That relates to almost anybody
Hes not the devil and Christoher wasn't narrating from hell...that line was just a reference to the TV show.
@@MrDeano-eu9rg I dont know how you could watch the opening to Many Saints and come away with the idea that its anything BUT Chris narrating from hell. Thats exactly what he says.
Joe Pantoliano once said that Ralphie was a character that you didn't love to hate but hate to love.
I love to love him. At least he's honest about himself being a degenerate mobster, and having a little fun along the way
Also he's just fun to watch, way funnier than supposed-to-be-a-comic-relief Paulie
Was so mad he got killed off so early
Joey Pants.
@@Maw0Joey Pants has been one of the best cinema villains out there
True
Ralph prank calling Paulie Walnuts mom is the best scene 😂
👍👍 LMAO 😂😂
“Do you have a son, Peter Paul?” made me wanna see him in a full comedy movie
😁
CLASSIC
Yeah that's the only tyme I liked Paulie...
Also it’s worth noting that two of Ralph’s actions contributed greatly to the downfall of Tony and the Soprano/Dimeo family - the killing of Tracee (leading to the killing of Ralph, leading to dysentery in the ranks) and the Ginny Sack joke, hurting relations with New York
He didn't have to kill Ralph though, Tony knew the rules of being a made man, that downfall is on him
I think you mean dissent in the ranks, not a general lack of vitamin C in the Jersey crew
@@bgdojo What consequences came of killing Ralph? Sure the loss in money but I can't remember anything specific idk, I don't remember anyone really being on his side
@@minnumseerrundI was wondering if that was a little carmine joke.
@@mike902 it's a christopher one. He said it to Tony.
Tony and Silvio admired Tracee's figure as she walked away from them. Silvio comments, "She's a real thoroughbred', linking Tracee to Pie-O-My.
I thought about that about tge third rewatch just a couple days ago. And that dream sequence where he’s having sex w Charmaine
That's a good spot I didn't pick that up before
Ralph was a character that deserved to be clipped.
shut up, you goober.
He wasn't the devil.
He...was a hooreh
Another fun detail about Ralph: Tony might feel guilty about killing him when he was on a road to redemption, as he dreams of Ralph with a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, something Melfi believe symbolizes change.
holy crap i never thought abt it like that. i really don’t think he burnt the stable down.
@@isaacmorales1419for some reason I don't think he burnt it down either. Just the way he reacts
@@isaacmorales1419 It was confirmed by the showrunners that it was Ralphie who burned the stables down for the insurance money, though the actor for Ralph was never told who started the fire, so his reaction would have been genuine
i think it's pretty important though that the specific species is a death's head hawk moth, the same species used in silence of the lambs. while Ralph is sitting next to Carmella, with rosary beads hanging on the mirror, talking to her and adjusting the tune of the radio to the (good) news, the radio outputs gunfire, screaming, explosions and sirens, which seems more like hell.
Even if that was the case, there are things you can't do without karma catching up to you. He killed people either for pleasure or out of recklessness, he was careless about his sorroundings and about the peoples lives he ruined. MAybe he was about to turn his back on this past, but still. His sins were irredeemable at this point. And without his son's accident he would never changed on his own. The Trauma made him realize how bad he was. But even Jeffrey Dahmer felt guilt, or at least he said.
I grew up around a Ralph, I learned over time that anyone in his circle was in danger. either directly or indirectly.
Details plz!
Details plz!
everything was a hustle with him. He wouldnt tell you he was going to make a deal & you were muscle without knowing it. I know for a fact he got his cousin killed dealing nose candy on another gangs spot. Just a cowboy, last I heard he was stabbed in prison.
@Rivers198 yeah you have to distance yourself from people like that
Personally, I've always thought of Tony Soprano, not Ralph, as the devil, but the whole point of the show is to give us sympathy for him. As the story goes, no matter how hard he tries to be a good person, the evil that surrounds him will always pull him back to darkness, until he became so entrenched in it, that he stopped caring about being seen as the bad guy.
He also gives very tempting offers to various characters in the show, only to have dire consequences behind them, and he has built an incredibly comfortable life because of these Luciferesque bargains.
You're right, Tony got worse as the series went on especially in season 6
Yes, there are many times that the show is telling us Tony is the devil. The strongest one that comes to mind is him in the casino at Las Vegas, getting good luck at the tables after he killed Christopher and was partying with Christopher's Las Vegas girlfriend. While he is winning, the camera pans to a slot machine with the devil on it.
I agree with you, but Ralph stands as an extremely strong candidate anyway. Tony also got all bloated and fat and lifeless by the end of the show (a frankly disgusting sight) indulged in mortal sin and corruption, a bit like Judge Holden in Blood Meridian who's also supposed to be the devil.
@@courtneyshannon2621 By far one of the most disgusting parts of the show.
@@KARKATELCESARENVIADODESA-pv4yd Yep, and it hits especially hard after the whole coma and thinking about changing for the better during the hospital scenes.
Damn, the amount of layers in this show is insane. Great work Kino, with this level of investigation you could be working at the FBI
I think he’s to smart for that
Ohhh. Are you saying what I think you're saying?
Well
You oughta know sweetie…..
Ralph started from the start as an evil bastard and didn't try hiding it unlike the others who fake their kindness. He didn’t wear a mask to hide his evil in other words, something that you see Tony and the others do so when he starts to repent it comes off as genuine.
Very good point. We know the devil is evil and recoil from that evil. Ralph is rather proud to be a complete bastard. He's not subtle and cunning like the devil, or in this case Tony, would be.
And yet the last episode he's in we see his only real human moment where he cares for his injured son in the hospital
Just because he shows who he is (which he didn't always) that doesn't mean he wasn't more cruel than most.
He was sadistic.
But very funny xd
Yeah I was gonna say ralph was just evil to everyone and not two faced like the other guys
@@CJVS995i dont buy it. A man who neglects to call his son on his birthday cant possibly be that sad. Hes probably more sad at how the accident makes HIM look than anything else since hes a narcissist
I know David Chase put in a lot of subliminal reference to Ralph being a devil. But I just don't see how Ralph is any worse than Tony or Paulie or any of the rest of them.
I couldn't agree more, especially when you compare Ralph to Tony himself. I mean he's not a hypocrite about being a piece of shit and accepts whereas people like Tony try to justify themselves when they do equally heinous stuff. It's hard to tell if Ralph had true remorse about everything after his sons hospitalization but still.
None of them were "good", hence the fact that they were all fucked one way or the other in the end
With most characters, you see them as humans with some evil traits. With Ralph, you see him as pure evil in a human body. It's not until after his son is critically injured that you see that Ralph is human as well. I think the point of Ralph's tiny redemption arc is to show that he wasn't really different from the rest of the mobsters even though we may have seen him as being worse somehow.
Remember, Tony threatened and probably would have had Gloria killed for basically the reason Ralph killed the stripper. They both preyed on the vulnerable, the only difference was that Tony had a soft spot for animals.
He's not literally the devil, he just throws the disgustingness of their way of life in their faces in a way that's impolite and hard for them all to deal with. He's the horrible shit that they have to live with as a result of their twisted code of conduct, twisted up in a repulsive human sausage that they can't just kill bc he's a made guy who hasn't broken any of their rules and makes them a lot of money. So no he's not more evil than they are, but his evil lets its balls hang more
Tony is also portrayed as the devil in season 6 when Christopher sees them all laughing at Paulies joke about his daughter. Tony’s hair looked like horns and everything.
We should also mention it’s interesting how David Chase confirmed Ralph burned Pie O My in life, but no one mentions that he could’ve caused Valentina to burn beyond the grave. Tony took his horse and his girl, instead of talking to Tony or moving on, he’d rather see both burn. A devil’s remedy, the fire.
Wow great point. I could picture Ralphy in hell, laughing and giggling at Valentina on fire.
Are you going to operate on me?
have we lost the plot.
@@StepUpMedia039 lemming.
I love this supernatural discussion around Halloween time! I really want to see more and would love to see more topics like this, maybe one about the medium Paulie went to see.
I actually talked about that in my "Are There Ghosts In The Show?" video
@@PureKino another great video Kino, tahnks!
@@PureKino Re-upload for Halloween?
@@Werdxp just watch it, what he gotta reupload it for
@@PureKinoGhostbusters! Another fucking money machine!
He wasn’t the devil, a lot of his actions were him drugged out of his mind on coke or being in a standoff with Tony or someone in his crew. That was the point of the dream sequence when Tony saw the butterfly on his neck
Ralphie had a genuine chance at redeeming himself if he lived, whereas Tony got infinitely more unlikeable & evil as the series progressed. Ralphie was a mirror to Tony & his own actions
It's the Stringer and Marlo effect. Stringer was evil, but had layers to him. To the point, where you ended up rooting for him at one point. Marlo was pure evil, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Ralph was like Stringer in that respect. You had sympathy towards him in the end. Tony was indeed a mirror to Ralph. However, he became far worse than he did in the end.
Obviously he wasnt literally the devil, its called a metaphor
@@gafibla I know that obviously but he still wasn’t unrepentant evil either which is the point
Ralph would have never redeemed himself...he was evil and amoral to his core.
@@gafiblaCharles Schwab over ‘ere
Ralph was annoying and insufferable from his first appearance. We as the audience share the same view of Ralph as Tony. He’s a good earner and does his work well, but we don’t want to see him one minute longer than we need. After he beats Tracee to death and the stable mysteriously burns down money goes out the window, Ralph was a bigger risk than he was worth. If Ralph was kept alive he would have kept going until the heat would have caught up with him and the family. Bodies are bad for business, a true mobster’s favorite color is green with a dead guy on it, not red on a dead guy.
My theory is Paulie burned it down to cause friction between Ralphie and Tony.
@@mrneutral8423 absolutely not. Paulie was by the book kind of guy, even when getting emotional.
Nah
Kino, this was by far one of the BEST videos I've ever seen on UA-cam about The Sopranos from ANY Sopranos content creator. Salúd, Kino. My twenty fvckin' years were worth it and you've definitely earned your stripes of soft drinks of choice.
why are you lying.
not as evil as the saints of newark being released
😂👍🏾
Ohhhh Rim Shot!
lol that shit was 🚮
i think it was possibly rushed, or id say maybe he didnt have all the creative freedom we think he did@@Fuccauf
it was never supposed to be about sopranos, but about newark. Like how Quake 2 has nothing to do with Quake 1 but whatta ya gonna do?
Ralph was up there with Ritchie for being truly depraved. Whilst many of the others can play that face of being the Honourable old school guy sometimes. Ralph absolutely can’t. He is pure trash and has no shame for anything he does.
To be fair, Ritchie always insisted in good grammar.
Richie understood the plight of women
A nice detail from the show i think get overlooked is that Ralph said in one episode that if he didn't drop out of highschool (so i don't think the boat thing is canon, because of that line and the fact it would probably turn the audience against Ralph to early on) he wanted to be an architect. So i think Ralph great success with construction stems from his architectural passions, because he would know thoroughly the ins and outs of the game.
Or maybe the whole "dropped out of school" is a euphamism because who's gonna go around their whole life telling everyone, even casually "I could of been an Architect, if I didd't murder that girl in the canoe".
Would you explain to everyone you come across the reason you never finished High School was due to antisocial homicidal tendancies?
I'm gonna go get the popcorn, get the popcorn.
You hear what he said tone? He said he's gonna get the popcorn, get the popcorn hehe
Always with the scenarios...
Fucking parakeet
heard you the first time mate.
Ralphie wasn’t the Devil. He was just doing a lot of coke but he’s over that now.
Miami, that stuff is all over the place
Every commenter here has a GODAMN OPINION?
Fucking Lee Iacocca over here
He was always one of my favorite characters. No he's not the devil just a crazy fucker. The devil doesn't cry when his son is paralyzed
Thank you good point, this comment section is filled with retards.
Fun fact Cifaretto translates to Cypher, a character also played by Joe Pantoliano in The Matrix. 🌠
You’re on to something 👍
“I want to be rich. You know, someone important, like an actor.”
He’s that bastard? Man this guy has a knack for playing some truly despicable characters
Yes. So it's basically "Lucifer", so the hint was always on the top.
Robert Deniro plays "Lou Cypher", who is actually the devil, in Angel Heart
I think that the purpose of Ralph's change is to show that Tony didn't feel empathy anymore. In the same period where he mourns a horse he also doesn't care for a person that has suffered a tragedy and looks like has started to change for the better. As he's killing him he accuses Ralph of killing an "innocent creature", while some suggest that may refer to the Tracee I don't agree because it doesn't make sense to use the word "creature" in such context. In addition, Tony generally resents anyone who manages to improve their life. Like how he couldn't support Chris when he tried to remain sober or how he couldn't let Janice be at peace after she started to successfully get a hold on her anger issues. Likewise seeing Ralph become slightly better would activate those same frustrations and he would hate him even more than he normally did.
You’re right about how Tony was regarding Chris improving but you are wrong about Janice making any real changes
We’re all God’s creatures and Tony looks at the picture of Tracee the scene after
And Tony B going straight
@@andy4717Yeah. And if Vito had gone straight, it would've been Tony who whacked him instead of Phil.
@@RogueTheologyTony was being a self righteous ass. He got mad Ralphie called him fat & used Tracee/the horse as his justification. Ralphie even almost talked his way out of that entire fight right up until he made the vegetarian comment.
Always found Ralphie the most detestable character, but simultaneously respected his hustle.
Interesting, either AJ or Carmella gets my vote for most detestable characters on the show. Carmellas blatant hypocrisy and AJ's entitlement really get under my skin. Id much rather spend time with Ralph over those two.
He had a bit of a redemption arc.. That being said, people saying Tony shouldn't have hit Ralph because he was a made man are silly. Ralph murdered Tony's employee then disrespected him to his face by lying about how she died. That alone could get even a made man whacked.
Agreed. I saw an old episode of MASH Joe Pantaliano did has a very young man last week. Stolen Identity or something . I've seen it a million times but seeing it reminded me that much of why we love and hate Ralph is in Joe's knockout performance.
@@sole__doubt Rather spend time with a psycho over Carmella. Just say you’re gay bro
Was paulie a falling angel? Wings, forced to roam the planet for eternity while everybody he knows dies around him.
That's allegorical.
Satanic black magic. Sick shit.
The sacred and propane
Something has just occured to me.
Has it ever shown Ralph actually ever doing coke? I ask this because is it possible that he might say he does to provide an excuse for other behaviour?
He did do coke in the bathroom with Janice I think.
He did coke with Janice
Ah ok. Missed that scene
He was also doing coke with Tracy in his house before Silvio came to pick her up
Everyone in this show acted so incredibly well. Ralph’s actor really sold me on the character, I didn’t watch the sopranos until a few years ago and was so surprised ralphie was the captain in the bad boys movies
"Why was I born handsome instead of rich?" is such a great line wtffff
Him trying the girl at a early age had nothing to do with with drug addiction if they would have included that it would have shown you how evil Ralph was
It was also the same episode he said he had to drop out to help his mama and he was supposed to be an architect and Tony gives a rude and condescending look.
I came home one evening and there you were with another video.
The video is very enjoyable.
Excellent.
When ur best earner is ur worst nightmare
Pure kino, you have no business being so funny in all your videos. Top tier references
Lol "Your pretty face is going to hell" and its the same actor as Agent Harris
Well, Ralph was the funniest character on the show. That prank call to Nucci Gaultieri, cruel as it is, is one of the funniest scenes on the whole show.
I don’t know how to put this delicately…he was sucking a cub scouts dick
Oh madone I got blue cross blue shield!
Nah we all know Paulie is the funniest
Livia is the funniest
@@tonylipsmire5918💯
The worst is Bobby Baccala Sr. His smile when he executed Sallys innocent friend made me think that he joined the mob in order to live out his dark urges.
EDIT: RIP Burt Young
No loose ends
Sally himself was one of the worst, if not the worst. Beating up Vito's brother in a coma for talking to his girlfriend. Even Bobby Sr referred to Sally, his own godson, as a "piece of shit".
“No Mr. Baccala” lol
He wasn’t that innocent, he was actively hiding mustang sally knowing he’d fractured some guys skull with a golf club for nothing
Just some old guy.
11:44 i think that hits the nail, and ESPECIALLY in that scene where they laugh horribly at Christopher. Their faces snarled, cackling, mouths stretched wide like a grimace, theyre like hideous little trickster beings or gargoyles turned flesh. Cus thats what they all are, gargoyles, serveants of satan, theyre part of the pantheon of hell.
Satans not the only demon. Theres Mammon, Moloch, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Belal, Belphegor, Legion, Beezlbub, Paimon, Astaroth - a vertiable smorgasborg of demons each with their own kingdoms, fiefs and domains in hell. In fact the structure of traditional demonological hierachies is extremely similar to mafia ones, with their captains and sub captains and foot soldiers, their higher and lesser demons and the hundreds of demons they have at their dispisal in legions. Even the mafia intitation service, setting fire to a picture of a saint and pricking the thumb to draw blood, feels infinitely more like a satanic black mass or occult ceremony than anything even slightly related to catholic mass.
I think thats the point - the mafia is a satanic cult, in more ways than one. Each character can be seen to be embodying some kind of demonic archetype (sloth, greed, envy, rage, pride - you name it, theyve got it), with neither one character being the sole evil but a multplicty of evil.
If anyones the Devil i think its Tony. Tony is the devil in the sense of a Miltonesque byronic hero. Like in paradise lost, hes very human; charismatic, charming, passionate, tragic - a fallen angel first and a demon second, persecuted for his bad history for all of history due to the far worse tyrant figure he tried and failed to rebel against (the parallels between tony and his mother are rather obvious). But ultimately, he is evil. Thats just a fact. Yet within the hierachy of hell he uniquely has moments of self realisation, self awareness, fairness, despair. Its almost as if being at the top, feeling the burden he carries of being the keeper of bad souls, the grief of being permanently locked out of the kingdom of heaven, has forced him into some kind of philosophical awareness.
Joe Pantoliano steals every scene hes in imo
Ralphie in season 4, showed that he really wasnt an evil sociopath. He reminds a lot of someone who never mattured after high school. He knows he is a POS, but he doesnt care enough to do anything about it... When his son almost died, he finally realized all of the evil he has done over the years.
Right before his death, Ralph said multiple things to Tony about how his behavior is dissonant. The last thing someone with NPD wants to hear, is that their delusional/dissdent world view, isn't accurate... So Tony's reaction was very accurate.
What exactly do you mean by dissident? Like that Tony behaved in a way that caused others to not respect him as a boss?
@@adiedits8027
Meant 'dissonant' lol
I'll correct that.
He is a sociopath he beat a girl to death and burnt down a horse stable for the insurance money among other things he just loved his son and began forming a bond with Jackie jr before having him killed
I love the line "she was a beautiful, innocent creature! What did she ever do to you?". What could Pie-o-My have done? She was a horse?
Tony was probably referring both to the horse and to Tracie
I mean, it can kick, bite, kill. Probably didn't deserve to be burned alive.
Pie-O-my ordered the failed bow and arrow hit on Ralph's son
thanks for pointing that out you spazz .
About the kinky shit, when he was splitting with Rosalie, she did NOT look happy about their sex life. "Putting up with all your fucking ...shit" are not the words of a satisfied woman... That woman went through a lot, her grief was so painful...
She definitely said something about it
The buttpiracy and sleeping around with widows and close associates are a lead-in to bullshit bringing things to an indefensible point with tony B and vito. Although neither would be tolerated, ig chase's overarching point is that this sort of deviance and disrespect, to associates and to women, to lie to peoples' faces about to push forth an agenda, is absolutely a killing blow in italian affairs.
Whats funny is Rosalie seems more the type to me to secretly get off on domination than anyone
Good analysis! Best show ever written.
the “ralph was a piece of shit” had me dying cause how subtle it sounded 🤣🤣
Ralph looks like Fred from Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Ralph is a bro, as long as you take his exuberance in stride. The diner scene with him and Vito shows this: Vito shows sympathy for Ralph's plight, and Ralph talks to him on an even level despite being his boss, and even when he goes to insult Tony for being fat he makes a point to say "No offense" to the morbidly obese Vito. Jackie Jr. was never going to be anything but a f*** up, and there was nothing Ralph could do to keep him out of trying to be a wannabe gangster, so instead Ralph tries to guide him despite not having a single obligation to invest an ounce of worry into the schmuck. And even with his sexual masochism, it's not directed outward but inward.
He's flawed and certainly evil, but compared to how self serving and unlikeable most of the higher ups in the family are, Ralph was an absolute saint. I'd have rather been on his crew than Paulies or Silvios.
Your videos have the vibe of a rainy Sunday, meant in the best way possible
I love Ralphie. He's one of those characters that makes every scene he's in better. He's so slimy.
9:00 i dont know y the shot of the goat looking directly into the camera is so funny😂
As the joker once said "I'm not a monster I'm just ahead of the curve"
Man you are so spot on with each and every one of these videos its like you helped make the sorpanos
If he were named Lou Cifaretto I'd totally believe it. 👹
This video is a perfect example of why I love this channel. Absolutely superb
Ralph's entrance in the bing was one of the funniest moments of the show.
I think Tony asking "did he have penisary contact with her Volvo?" is right up there too
Awesome videos really enjoyed it. I been watching all your videos past year and half I believe and they are all really good content
Superb video. Very well thought out and presented. The allegory and the propane.
It's a complete ripoff a post on the subreddit
@@some______guy actually, could you send the link?
I clearly didn't pay half as much attention as I should have done when I first watched the Sopranos. There is a lot of supernatural stuff going on within it, which I only appreciated many years later.
satanic black magic
fuckin sick shit!
no there isn't you paid the exact right amount of attention.
it sucks but we also secretly love ralph especially with his son his situation because we all realize that ralphs flesh and sin always got in the way of his true desires which is very similar to what all of us regular people go through but just not as extreme in most cases
I think Janice's conversations with her church elder is the most convincing argument.
Her elder, remorselessly convincing Janice to kick Ralphie out of her life, despite not even knowing the half of him or the details of their relationship.
ralph was a bad person you have down syndrome. The church elder made the right call.
The way this guy says “however.” It’s “haaver”
Ralphie and Richie both, really the entire show's roster of characters, are filmed depictions of the feeling of Sonder: the realization that each individual person that's ever existed has lived their own lives, with their own relationships, dreams, and darknesses. Ralph is a total piece of dog shit, but he still recognized it at least and was also a product of the Mob Life in a way
Fantastic video. Thanks for this lil ditty! Guy was amazing in the goonies. And even better in sopranos
All those lines from Sympathy for the Devil are hard to ignore!
Great song! One of my favorites. But Ralpie, more than likely under the Devis... spell? Hes not evil. Think about those who are actually evil and you might see my point.
4:32 i've always laughed at how small this gun is. Looks like a nerf gun. It's a movie prop but i don't know why they wouldn't use a real 22 for that shot bc it looks ridiculous lol....still a 10/10 show though.
That Fila track suit Tony is wearing at 9:52-53 looks super comfortable, anyone got a link to buy one?
His cameo in Tony’s dream. With the moth. Very allegorical.
A new video that's only 5 hours old as I type this? Nice! I like your videos man. Just finished watching Sopranos from start to finish for the umpteenth time, so coming across your videos was a real treat. I always like getting new insight from this show.
I don't think Tony Cared about Tracy as much as he was reminded of His own daughter Meadow
5:30 Wrong, being a made man just means no one can hit you without the Boss' permission, so Tony can slap whoever he wants
Ralph's character in my opinion just goes just show how warped Tonys morality has become where he gives Ralph a slap on the wrist for killing a stripper because he's a good earner but murders him over killing a horse.
Ralph even seems to get closer to the crew after he kills the stripper hanging out with them more frequently.
He murdered him for killing the girl as much as he did for killing the horse
Ralph is a different type of evil in the sorpranos but man him and Richie are characters I love
Ralph’s redemption wasn’t about Ralph it was about tony not being able to stand that Ralph had changed for the better.
He killed a horse for the insurance money
Terrible take lol
Tracy was not innocent she had her kid taken away for putting cigarettes out on them. And Tony didn’t kill Ralph for her or the horse but because he called out his hypocrisy. Ralph wasn’t the worst he was the most honest they’re all scum and he showed them themselves that’s the whole point of the character.
Ralph did for fun what his colleagues did for a purpose.
Great video as always .
I liked Ralph cause of him going out of his way to try and make people laugh and win them over (before the yayo) and the show made it clear he was one of the few that was actually smart and making money, and I think the best time of the show was when he was around
He should have never started with that shit
To me it was Livia's time in season 1. The show was never the same for me after that, happens to me with many shows tbh the first season is always the best I don't know why.
No mention of the prank call to Paulies’ Mom? 😂
"Please allow me to introduce myself 😈."
Thanks!
Thanks for the support!
The fact Ralph thinks hes handsome is the most offensive thing too me 😂😂
Ralph was the ONLY one that actuslly obeyed all the mob rules and was an earner. He never actualky admitted to killing PIE-OH-MY which would make him bad in my eyes. Ralphie was the closest thing to a saint the show had. As far as mob ethics go. Tracee burned her kid with cigarettes so Ralph killing her was a plus not a minus. Also hes one of the few non nepo babies. Also i just thought of this but maybe he killed tracee because of his abusive mother
Paulie was the most evil character.
I personally think Ralph's redemption right before his death would not have meant much, and he would enevitably go back to being monstrous. Tony has a similar moment after he comes out of his coma. He says "every day is a gift" and for a minute he seems to hang on to this but eventually goes back into old habits. There's no reason to think Ralph would have done any better especially since he (most likley) burned down a stable full of animals right after his son's accident.
Ralph’s killing of Tracie was the moment everything shifts for the show. At the end I just sat in silence for a few minutes.
But it’s also when the show (like all great ones) became leas about its topic and about itself. It’s not navel gazing. It’s examining itself and it’s own purpose.
another banger great work kino!
The theological element is a subtle, yet constant presence, in the Sopranos. Along with at least one other. Thank you for tackling one aspect of it.
Nice work Kino, I really enjoyed the details in this one👍
Yes he was! Ever since that first episode when he beat that poor woman to death so savagely 😢that scene stayed with me for a while.
This might be my favorite Kino video
If Ralph is the devil, then I think the Bada Bing strip club is a representation of hell itself. It's one of the show's most visited locations, often where Tony and his crew make crucial decisions, always ending with someone getting whacked.
No.
Great video, Kino!
He had an arch
So did noah!
Sydney harbour bridge had an arch
Dude, love your vision. Great material
Ralph was the most charismatic and flamboyant character in the whole show.
Not charismatic at all. Everyone couldn’t stand him. They just tolerated him because he was a good earner.
@@Redwhiteblue-gr5em he was full of witty satire, always doing something to light the room up.
@@australian2 gee I must of missed those episodes
That's a funny way of spelling "Silvio"
Bro said charismatic😂
I love your dedication to your videos !
Can't wait to watch this video, and I'm gonna turn my hearing aid up so I don't miss anything!
I’m not really sure if I’m in the minority on this , but I absolutely loved Ralph as a character.
Even though I wish he was on the show longer; his arc was wrapped up exactly when it should have been. A testament to how great Joe Pantoliano’s performance was how Ralph could be incredibly likeable while also being a degenerate psychopath. You would even be forgiven for feeling sorry for Ralph when his son is sent to the hospital.
He even had a couple of pretty bad ass moments as well, like telling Artie he couldn’t lend him money because he wouldn’t be able to hurt him if he didn’t pay up.
Not lending Artie money was so smart, and surprisingly kind of Ralph. If he did hurt (or worse) Artie over it, Tony would have used it as an excuse to take Ralph out a little sooner.
Ralph fit in well with the other Big Three monsters on the show: Richie Aprile and Phil Leotardo. Four if you count Uncle Junior. And I guess five if you count Livia! What a sinister bunch!
why would junior be considered that bad? not that hes not a murderer and more but seemed to have some semblance of a code
@@yungpableezy69 Well, he was trying to kill Tony at one point, and was just an evil SOB. I guess they all were, but the Big Three that l mentioned were actively trying to destroy Tony, as were his uncle and -- mother!
I'm guessing you didn't see TMSoN: Uncle Junior was probably the best thing about it, and it revealed/confirmed who he is...
... That said, don't feel like you have to watch that movie.
Livia was the worst.
The handsome contest comment at the end literally made me lose it!!!😂
Nice video as always, Kino!!
I was so happy when Tony took him out. But I was even more happy when Tony himself got taken out as well.
No body no murder bud, Tony himself says
@@Ijpg456was definitely Gene’s son though. Even wearing his dads jacket
Tony soprano made the show why would u be happy
@@roshawnseeny2531 You still was rooting for the guy after he killed Chris even? he lost most of the audience by that point
@@Werdxp I could care less if he died or not he was a fictional character
Good video, another thing i got from Ralph almost getting a sort of Redemption is that Tony is massively envious of Ralph's sincere emotions, that despite him being a total Psycho he has a heart and feels his emotions passionately, this is what snaps in Tony and drives him to murder him. Pointedly even trying to 'fake' passion during the kill by making it about the no-good nag Pie-oh-my. IIRC it also calls back to conversations Tony has with Dr Melfi at the same time in the show, how he is utterly selfish and only cares about himself. Tony is jealous that Ralph, a degenerate monster still possesses empathy, in the end that is why he kills him. Maybe not the right take but i think it has substance.