For over three seasons, Christopher Moltisanti has been involved in some pretty dark stuff, but nothing can match the utter bleakness of his state of body and mind as presented in The Strong, Silent Type, which stands out as the best episode of the fourth series alongside the previous Whoever Did This.
In the aftermath of Ralph's death, Tony must avoid suspicions, as killing a made guy for personal reasons isn't permitted, and therefore leads the "investigation" concerning the murder. Soon enough, another problem emerges: Chris's drug use has gotten to an almost unsustainable level, seeing as he accidentally killed Adriana's dog by sitting on it, and so the ones who love him stage an intervention with the help of a certain Dominic Palladino (Elias Koteas). Things don't go as planned, though, as the particularly tense relationship between Chrissy and Paulie turns violent and old grudges emerge with devastating consequences.
The first show of the season seemed to indicate Christopher had finally found some peace; now, nine episodes later, we see him at a point of his life so low few people would recover from it. The central intervention scene is fundamental in allowing Michael Imperioli to try new things with his role: as there's been enough of the cocky, ambitious hit-man, it's time to show a more tormented side, and he does so with a heartbreaking realism, anticipating his Emmy-winning efforts in Season Five and proving you don't need blood to make a great episode of The Sopranos: five minutes of psychological violence are just as effective.
In the aftermath of Ralph's death, Tony must avoid suspicions, as killing a made guy for personal reasons isn't permitted, and therefore leads the "investigation" concerning the murder. Soon enough, another problem emerges: Chris's drug use has gotten to an almost unsustainable level, seeing as he accidentally killed Adriana's dog by sitting on it, and so the ones who love him stage an intervention with the help of a certain Dominic Palladino (Elias Koteas). Things don't go as planned, though, as the particularly tense relationship between Chrissy and Paulie turns violent and old grudges emerge with devastating consequences.
The first show of the season seemed to indicate Christopher had finally found some peace; now, nine episodes later, we see him at a point of his life so low few people would recover from it. The central intervention scene is fundamental in allowing Michael Imperioli to try new things with his role: as there's been enough of the cocky, ambitious hit-man, it's time to show a more tormented side, and he does so with a heartbreaking realism, anticipating his Emmy-winning efforts in Season Five and proving you don't need blood to make a great episode of The Sopranos: five minutes of psychological violence are just as effective.
