Why kill someone who is related to you? The reasons should be specific enough.
The Sopranos may be one of the few TV shows that used a very specific trick to get more fans to care about a “bad guy.” The main character, Tony Soprano, despite being portrayed in the series as a shady, despicable criminal, somehow makes fans really care about him.
The fandom is invested in his life probably because Tony has also been shown as a vulnerable person who deals with mental health issues and has deep feelings even though he tries to hide them.
But that’s not enough to make him the protagonist of the show. Many of the actions Tony takes in the show are very questionable. But if you keep in mind that he is in fact a mob boss, then all the puzzles come together.
One of the storylines that actually might make the fans be less fond of Tony was the one when he kills Chris, his nephew (although related to Tony through his wife, Carmela). Those two were actually very close in the show, and that move of Soprano’s was never on the table at the beginning of the series.
Still, no matter how close they were, Tony would inevitably choose to kill Chris in a moment of desperation. Overall, it seems that Tony has finally had enough of Chris’ struggles with drugs.
Of course there were other reasons, deeper than that. He actually chose to kill Chris for personal and professional reasons. Tony didn’t kill him as his uncle, he was just his boss in the matter of the deed.
It’s important to note that Tony didn’t actually plan to kill Chris, but he took the opportunity when it presented itself. While they were out driving together, they got into a car accident because of Chris’ careless style of driving. And Moltisanti was the one of the two who got more injuries.
Since Tony was actually responsible for his nephew’s fate, he could clearly make the right decision to help him. In fact, he wanted to, he even started to call 911. But then his sociopathic nature kicked in again. And Tony couldn’t resist.
Faced with such a choice, he would never choose to save the potential threat to his own life.
