Richie, we hardly knew ya... 

Wednesday, May 10th, 2000

John Weber

In television you have the good guys and the bad guys. Richie Aprile was definably a bad guy. He was not the kind of guy you want to meet in a dark or lit alley. To Sopranos Fan's he was mean, bad, obnoxious and most of all he made life tough for Tony. He conspired with Junior and others to have Tony killed and his arrogance and lack of respect shone forth in every scene. If that was not bad enough, he rekindled an old relationship with Janice which repulsed many viewers.

Was there anything else that could have been done to make us dislike him any more? Maybe, but you'd be hard pressed to come up with something.

As an actor and character on the show he fulfilled his purpose. He was put in season 2 for a reason and boy, did he ever come through. We hated him from the moment we saw him and in each scene he was in we were always hoping something bad was going to happen to him. The overwhelming consensus was that Furio was going to be the one to bring him down but we were wrong beyond our wildest imagination about this. I can still close my eyes and see Janice (I am woman, hear me roar) aiming the gun and pulling the trigger.

To Richie's rescue though were the 'real' mafia and organized crime fans of the show. About one out of every 100 emails I received indicated that Richie was what the real deal. Richie portrayed a real life mob guy that you'd find on the streets of Jersey. Everything about him was genuine and authentic..... the rest of the cast was all Hollywood.

Maybe that is true, but do we really care? We still couldn't stand him and we wanted to see him hurt. We got what we wanted and everyone was happy.... right?

We were and are watching The Sopranos for entertainment, not to get a documentary. If I want to see an in depth analysis or documentary on something I'll watch The History Channel, otherwise leave me alone to like or dislike who I want on Cable.

Richie Aprile was Jackie's brother. Jackie, if you remember, died in season 1 of cancer. He was already ill when we met him and most of his appearances were from a hospital bed. Jackie was touted as a great leader and a fair one. Everything was said to be running smoothly when Jackie was running the show. After he died it was time for someone to step up as the new boss. Most people thought that Tony was the logical choice but good old Uncle Junior had other ideas. Junior is Johnny-Boy's brother and therefore Tony's Uncle. We got the impression that he never saw the limelight because Johnny Boy was running things and after that he was shuffled to the side. Here now he had a chance to be at the top and the thought of having his little nephew as the leader was another slap in the face for him. You'll have to watch season 1 to see how all of this worked out but Junior did manage to be the new boss.. or so it appeared.

Richie made his entrance in episode three of season two. He just finished a 10-year stay in prison and now he's out and expect things to be as they were. He quickly finds out that life has changed and Tony Soprano is now on top. This never sat well for Richie and the rest of Season II was a cat and mouse game between the two.

David Proval fit his role very well. He grew up in Brooklyn, Brownsville-East New York and says he remembers the streets being filled with Richie Apriles. David made his first film in 1973 when he starred in Mean Streets along side of Robert De Niro. David is now 57 and has a wide range of acting roles up till his recent Sopranos fame. He has been in The Shawshank Redemption, The Brady Bunch Movie, Mob Queen and The Star Chamber to name a few. He just recently appeared in The West Wing, where he played a rabbi who giving a serom on capital punishment to his congregation. This is quite a radical change from the role he is now best known in.

David also read for the role of Tony Soprano before James G. did. Would the show have been the same with him? Definably not. While just about anyone on tv can be made likable or dislikable, he just doesn't have that charisma that James Gandalfini does. When he laughs, you don't laugh along with him. When he's upset, you don't feel sorry for him. This is a major part of makes The Sopranos work. We're all behind Tony and want to see him succeed. Tony isn't a Rambo and he's not supposed to be. He can be hurt like anyone else and he walks around the house in his shorts and an open bathrobe. He has family, emotional and business problems, much like the rest of us do. People can in some sense relate to Tony even though his world is completely foreign. Tony has told Dr. Melfi that he sees himself as soldier and no worse than the executives who dump toxic waste in the environment. He was born into this life of his just as others are born into a certain life. There are good cops and bad cops; good lawyers and bad lawyers. Tony doesn't see himself as a bad guy. He's just a guy trying to do the right thing in the life he was born into. This is the issue which Dr. Melfi keeps bringing up.... how do break out?