On HBO’s The Sopranos, every character is fleshed out and contributes something of value to the gritty arcs and realistic storylines of the series. As Screen Rant recently illustrated, one of the most prominent and multidimensional characters is none other than Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano’s nephew and member of the Sopranos crew. Christopher suffers from a host of problems including substance abuse, a fragile ego, and a violent temper which affects almost all his relationships. His issues largely stem back to his childhood, when his father was murdered by a police officer. His mother’s inability to cope with such a loss led to her becoming an alcoholic, and later, Christopher would suffer the same fate.
Christopher’s tragic and heartbreaking circumstances make him someone the audience feels for, while his reactions to his problems and his impulsive behavior make him someone the audience loathes. After developing a heroin addiction, Christopher makes mistake after mistake — and if it wasn’t for his relation to Tony, any of those mistakes could have be his last. Here are some of the reasons why Christopher is the absolute worst.
Christopher’s temper leads to unjustified beatings and murders
In The Sopranos’ final season, a beef involving Paulie and a deep-seated shame of his past put Christopher in a position of weakness and exclusion from the Sopranos crew. When Christopher drunkenly arrives at screenwriter and fellow AA member J.T. Dolan’s house, he’s hoping to have a shoulder to cry on, and he proceeds to spill mafia secrets, saying, “I’m pouring my heart out to you.” J.T., who doesn’t want to hear anything that could put his life in jeopardy, tries to get him to stop, drawing a line in the sand by saying, “Chris. You’re in the mafia.” At this point, Christopher feels like no one cares about him and lashes out by abruptly pulling his gun and putting a bullet in J.T.’s head.
As shocking as that moment might be, a lot of wrong turns in earlier seasons bring Christopher to that point. One of his most unforgivable mistakes comes in season 4 when he accidently kills Cosette, his girlfriend Adriana’s dog. After shooting up, Christopher doesn’t realize Cosette is quietly laying down behind him on the couch. Once the drugs kick in, it’s over for Cosette. A strung-out Christopher sits on top of the dog, asphyxiating her until her death. Christopher, who won’t admit his wrongdoing, shifts blame to the dog, saying, “She must have crawled under there for warmth.”
Christopher’s inadvertent killing of Cosette is the last straw for Adriana. When he returns home after being carjacked and beaten during a routine pickup of heroin, Adriana approaches him with a pamphlet in hand for rehab. Unfortunately, Christopher’s first resort when confronted with a problem is usually some form of violent behavior. Feeling humiliated, His reaction is instant brutality, yelling at Adriana while beating her until she gets a black eye.
Christopher goes along with having his fiancé Adriana killed
In the season 5 episode “Long Term Parking,” one of the most chilling episodes of the series, viewers are given a very brutal dose of the implications one can find themselves in when connected to the mafia. Up to this point, viewers followed along with Adriana’s storyline of getting pinched and secretly working for the FBI, and it’s in this episode that we learn her fate. While Adriana opens up to Christopher about working with the feds, his eyes dart back and forth as his anger slowly boils to the surface — we can practically see the thoughts of murder in his head. Christopher chokes Adriana until she’s seconds away from death. As Adriana fades from the chokehold, Christopher cries, “I f***ing loved you.”
Viewers may also recall the moment in season 3 following a robbery gone wrong at one of the Sopranos’ famous poker games when Christopher is almost killed in a shootout. After he finds out Jackie Aprile Jr. was one of the robbers, Christopher wants him killed, but Tony refuses. Feeling betrayed and in a fit of rage, Christopher cries to Tony, “I loved you.” Christopher’s love is as fickle as his hate, both flicking on and off like a switch.
This all comes back in that moment while Adriana is in his clutches. Something causes him to let go, allowing her to breathe — for a while. Christopher seems to have a change of heart and agrees to run away with her. However, when Christopher realizes the possible lifestyle that awaits him, he goes along with Tony and his crew and has her killed.
