The iconic gangster melodrama The Sopranos changed TV forever for many different reasons. Whether through the exploration of Tony Soprano’s psyche, detailing mafia conflicts or embodying familial drama, the series never ceased to engage audiences. From 1999-2007, The Sopranos posed interesting questions about the human condition, family, morality and criminality. However, none of this would have been possible without distinctly crafted characters and an incredible cast portraying them. Each character brings something different and important to the series and each character’s arc was equally integral to The Sopranos’ success.
Some characters had long and essential roles to play in the greater plot of the series. Characters alongside the main cast, including Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri, Christopher Moltisanti and Silvio Dante. Other characters had small roles that were no less important to telling the story or addressing interesting themes. Perhaps the most interesting element of The Sopranos is the approach to portraying the nuclear family. The Sopranos could often be at its best when it was just spending time with Tony and his immediate family. It always made characters like Carmela, A.J, Meadow, Livia and Uncle Junior much more interesting at times because of their greater effect on Tony Soprano. One character that debuted in the series in season 2 was Tony’s sister Janice. Very quickly, fans got to see the arc of her character, and her relationship with her brother grew exponentially.
Janice Struggles to Find Her Place Upon Returning to New Jersey
Fans will remember that Janice Soprano wasn’t around during the initial run of the series. It is famously known that creator David Chase wasn’t convinced that the series would even continue past the first season. When the second season was greenlit, there was room for the inclusion of Tony’s aloof sister Janice, who has been living all over the West Coast. A shock to other characters that she’s back in town, Janice makes her intentions known. In town to look after her ailing mother (especially after the falling out her mother had with Tony), Janice seems genuine at first. However, Tony makes it clear that Janice is always looking out for herself and that becomes the case again when it’s further revealed that Janice is looking to exploit her mother’s hidden savings. Janice and Tony do not get along and are often at odds with one another over various conflicts both small and large. First encroaching into family affairs, Janice also sinks her claws into the organized crime world of her community when she begins dating an old boyfriend named Richie Aprile.
Throughout the second season, Janice and Tony fight about various things, but perhaps nothing irritates Tony more than when Janice and Richie get engaged. At this point, Richie is becoming an increasing problem for Tony and even conspiring with Uncle Junior to potentially try and take Tony out again. Janice, being as manipulative as she is, supports Richie’s intentions to take over the organization from her brother. Everything changes for Janice when her temper (that famous “Soprano temper”) causes her to kill her own fiancé, Richie. Going to Tony for help, he cleans up the mess but also advises Janice to leave town once again. David Chase has also admitted that Janice was not actually going to return to the series, but the death of Nancy Marchand and, subsequently, Livia Soprano, opened the door for her character to return. Janice returns when her mother dies, but not necessarily to grieve her. Once again, Janice sets her sights on whatever hidden fortune might have been left behind by Livia.
Struggling to find her place in the world of her brother, Janice gets into multiple situations that her brother is forced to clean up. Between getting into a feud with a Russian gangster, a feud with a one-legged Russian caregiver and various feuds with her brother, Janice is certainly a presence in the series. Her various relationships never seem to disappoint from an entertainment standpoint. She dates a few odd outsiders that she flaunts around the family for a time, but always ultimately has her sights on a man from within the mafia community she was raised in. Her next gangster boyfriend is none other than Ralph Cifaretto, who happens to be another internal rival of her brother. Only this time the relationship doesn’t last as long as previous relationships due to Janice’s own personal reasons. By the time the fourth season comes around, Janice is forced to re-evaluate her approach to having a true position in her community and family. The way she goes about it is quite disturbing, in fact.
Janice Starts Dating Bobby Baccalieri After a Devastating Situation
In the world of the mafia, it is quite common for people to stay with who and what they know. This is the case many times in the New Jersey Soprano crime community fans experience throughout the series. This means that characters believe in the hierarchy of their community and climb the ladder of it. For the men, it’s about rising in the ranks of the mafia itself. From soldier to made man to capo, it is often described as what matters to the gangster characters of the series. For the women, it’s about hitching their wagon to one of these men, and depending on their status, the women can in turn have a higher status within the community. For Janice, she has to start from scratch when she dedicates herself to a bit of a project in season four. As disturbing as it might be, Janice decides to pursue her next gangster boyfriend in the midst of him suffering a terrible tragedy. The fan-favorite character, Bobby “Baccala”, loses his wife Karen in a terrible car accident. Janice sees this as an opportunity to be Bobby’s next partner, and as disturbing as her mindset might be, she puts in a lot of work to achieve it.
Janice becomes impatient with the natural grieving process of Bobby and begins manipulating him and his children in order to force Bobby to move past his tragedy. Janice scares Bobby’s kids with a Ouija Board prank in order to force Bobby into believing that his constant hanging on the past is causing trauma to his kids. Poor Bobby never really realizes the extent of her manipulation and eventually ends up dating her. Bobby is merely a made man when he and Janice start dating, but naturally, dating the boss’s sister is expected to have immense benefits for him. However, Tony treats Bobby the opposite way to spite his sister Janice. In season five, there are a number of feuds between Tony and Janice over Bobby’s status in the organization. These feuds often have to do with Bobby continuing to be responsible for Uncle Junior, especially as his mental state deteriorates. It definitely took Tony some time to start giving Bobby more responsibilities that could lead to a promotion.
Eventually, Bobby rises all the way to the top of the Soprano Crime Family until he is basically Tony’s number three behind Silvio, but that takes time, and a lot of manipulation from Janice didn’t hurt. Throughout seasons five and six, Tony and Janice often feuded and Tony could never bear to see Janice too happy. There’s even an occurrence where Janice’s marriage with Bobby is in jeopardy when her temper leads to a fight with a mother at Sofia’s soccer game. Even after Janice gets her anger under control, Tony purposefully brings it out of her again for his own amusement. The two siblings never get along, but Tony still does things for Janice and Bobby when he feels obligated. When John Sacramoni is imprisoned, Tony gets John’s house in a deal and gifts it to Janice and Bobby. Early in season six, Janice and Bobby are revealed to have a child of their own named Domenica. Bobby’s promotion to captain also leads to an increase in income for Janice and her family, which means more perks. Janice and Bobby even purchase their own lake house and use it for vacations. When Tony and Carmela go to the lake house for a visit, there is a bit of family drama that stems from the sibling rivalry. Janice becomes a true mob wife for most of the series after marrying Bobby.
One of the Biggest Deaths of the Series Directly Impacts Janice
By the time the final episodes of The Sopranos rolled around, Janice and Bobby were as integral to the main plot as any characters. After Uncle Junior shoots Tony and sends him into a near-death situation, Janice and Bobby are the only characters left who still take care of Uncle Junior to some degree. They are presumably the only ones who visit Uncle Junior during his incarceration. Although it’s much more likely that it is only Bobby who pays him a visit from time to time. Janice works her way up the ranks of her community by pursuing Bobby and then molding him into the gangster he eventually becomes. However, Janice also inadvertently causes Bobby’s death by making him a high-status guy in Tony’s crew.
When the New York and New Jersey crime families go to war with each other, New York deems Bobby as a top-tier guy in Jersey and puts a target on his back. In the second to last episode of the series, Bobby is killed by New York gangsters. Losing her husband, Janice finds herself in a predicament where she is back to square one. She seemed to grieve her husband, as a part of her probably loved him a lot. However, Janice is as much a hustler as anyone in her community and makes a point of mentioning how she will probably need to snatch up another husband. While Tony hears this and takes it as a joke, there’s a good chance it’s actually what Janice is thinking at the time. Ultimately, Janice ends up in a similar position to when audiences first meet her but with a bit more money and definitely more children to take care of. It’s safe to assume she’ll be marrying another gangster as quickly as she can.
