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Long beforeGame of Thronestraumatized the world with the brutal, divisive, and merciless slashing of on-screen favorites every other episode, HBO began the trend withThe Sopranos. The darkly humorous series took a gritty storyline about mob life in New Jersey and turned it into a rendition of whack-a-mole with its characters.
With time, creator David Chase became infamous for the ruthless cruelty with which he disposed of his own beloved creations. Meanwhile, the show became the epicenter of much controversy and debate with its non-committal deaths, pitiless betrayals, and one very scandalous ending.
But it was one episode in Season 2 ofThe Sopranosthat started it all.
The SopranosBlows Up With a Season 2 Death
The SopranosallowedDavid Chase, creator of the HBO crime drama, to play God over his own domain. Judging without bias or prejudice and scheduling the executions of fan-favorite characters weeks beforehand, Chase liked the idea of his audience fearing his creation, always frazzled by the uncertainty of who would go next.
However, beforeThe Sopranosshook the fans out of their television entertainment slumber, one Season 2 episode of the HBO series set the trend that would later become contagious inGame of Thrones.
After news got out of the impending death of one primary cast member while filming Season 2, the cast ofThe Sopranostook immediate action by pleading their case to David Chase – to no avail. The character was revealed to be the Soprano gangster and a close friend of Tony Soprano, Salvatore Bonpensiero.
“I would beg”: The Sopranos Star Begged Showrunner David Chase to Let Her Abandon Her Fake Accent
Played byVincent Pastore, the character also known as Big Pussy became the first victim of Chase’s merciless pen and announced the arrival of a darker age of television where projects were judged by the measure of tragic realism.
The SopranosCast on the Death That Changed It All
In a 2024 retrospective interview with the cast ofThe SopranosforEmpiremagazine, actress Lorraine Bracco who played Tony Soprano’s psychiatrist on the show, recalled how Salvatore’s death rocked the whole cast. Despite the characters surviving under the purview of creator David Chase, Bracco recalled how the cast and crew begged him to retain Salvatore in the show.
In turn, David Chase struck a compromise with his cast. He claimed (viaScreen Rant):
The compromise was, we killed him but promised to bring him back for a few episodes (in flashbacks and dream sequences). That death had a big imprint on the show. It said to the audience: no-one’s safe.
Bonpensiero did return multiple times throughout the remainder ofThe Sopranosas Chase had promised, including one final stint inThe Many Saints of Newark, the prequel toThe Sopranos(although the character was played by another actor).
The Sopranos Actor Lorraine Bracco Absolutely Hated David Chase for His Most Controversial Decision: ‘That is not cool’
However, as Chase predicted, Sal’s death forever altered the landscape of television drama by turning the death of fan-favorite characters into a trend. In recent days, the trend was carried forth by shows likeGame of ThronesandSupernatural, where fans would always be caught up in the shocking and ever-unpredictable deaths of characters that fans grew to fall in love with.
The Sopranosis streaming on Max.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2408
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
