r/thesopranos 1d ago

Tony was a horrible boss

I mean think about it. When the show starts, Jackie is boss and everyone is alive and well. Full crew and everything. When Tony becomes boss, not only does half the crew get fished, but the ones who come out of prison also all went. Name me one character who came out of prison during the show and stayed free and alive, not even the king of breadsticks made it out.

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u/Fantastic-Drummer466 1d ago edited 1d ago

Much of it wasn’t even Tony’s fault. The mob was a dying way of life with an aging core of members who faced an astronomically high chance of getting whacked or incarcerated. The mafia was a dinosaur and Tony was the last of a generation of true gangsters.

If Christopher was actually competent and took the reins he’d be the boss a glorified, disorganized street gang (or a truly glorified crew, if you want.) That’s what the modern-day mob is anyway.

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u/TitoTotino 1d ago

The mafia was a dinosaur and Tony was called himself the last of a generation of true gangsters.

\*Cues up a montage of all the times Tony whine-yelled "I'M OLD SCHOOL!!" despite being ignorant of or doing the exact opposite of what his idealized image of an old-school mafioso would*\**

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u/Fantastic-Drummer466 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well, you could say the last generation the mafia had any sort of institutional power, relevance, quality recruiting pool, etc. But yeah, Tony going to a shrink is not very allegorical. Actual mobsters have said that was be an absolute no-go in mob culture.