The Sopranos Got 1 Major Detail About the Mafia Wrong on Purpose (& It Made the Show Even Better)

Drama and conflict are essential to telling great stories, and the ways in which drama and conflict are used can change depending on the story, themes, target audiences and a myriad of other elements that define specific movies, shows, books, games and comics. Arguably the greatest television series ever made is The Sopranos. While many shows have built upon the early designs of what television could be since The Sopranos was released, the 1999 crime drama implemented the format of cinematic television for the first time. The Sopranos effectively gave birth to the cable television audiences know and love today and acted as a precursor for other network and streaming shows like it. The scenarios, characters and violence depicted were unheard of on television at the time. A series about the Italian Mafia was always going to benefit from a mature rating that only cable could provide at the time.

Naturally, The Sopranos became a fully-fledged crime epic that had audiences tuning in every week to see what would happen next. The world of The Sopranos calls for a lot of violence and death, and it seemed like no character was ever really safe from “getting axed.” Creator David Chase and his team of writers knew that they could craft an original world and unique depiction of organized crime for their television series. In a world where characters indulge in criminal activities and violence, there are always going to be murders. The Sopranos featured a lot of characters being killed at one point or another. While “mob hits” are a necessity in a story about the mafia, the series did what it does best, even in this regard: it dramatized things a bit.

The Sopranos Has One of the Higher Death Counts in TV History

Since The Sopranos ended in 2007, there have been more than a few shows that have depicted on-screen death and murder to a much larger degree than the 1999 mafia drama. However, for years, The Sopranos had the highest death count in TV history and still has one of the highest. With something close to 90 on-screen deaths and murders, The Sopranos was not shy about killing characters off.

As early as the pilot episode, deaths and murders were happening and seemed to happen in almost every other episode of the first season. One of the most iconic deaths was a mob hit by Christopher Moltisanti in the pilot when he shoots Emil Kolar in the back room of Satriale’s. That murder was the first on-screen death of the entire series. The first season went on to have a total of 15 deaths and of those 15, 11 of them were mob-related hits. Only two deaths were natural and one was only mentioned (as opposed to shown). That first season set the tone for what kind of violence was going to be depicted throughout the rest of the series.

Of all the seasons, the one with the most on-screen deaths was season five, which had a total of 18. The reason season 6’s supposed 29 deaths don’t count is because no true Sopranos fan would ever actually consider the sixth season to be the last season split up into two parts. Part two of that final season is really just season seven. In fact, many stars, writers and crew from the show also consider the last nine episodes to be season seven. Season six had 13 deaths, while season seven had 15.

The season with the least number of deaths is season four, which only had 10. Season four is often considered one of the more lackluster seasons and maybe there is a correlation to how much violence is depicted in it. Season five’s whopping 18 deaths came during a season where there were a lot of mob hits and rising tensions between the New Jersey and New York crime families. The final seasons portray the war between New Jersey and New York, but it really only plays out in the final few episodes after being built to for some time. Mob hits became common in The Sopranos, even if not entirely accurate to reality.

The Sopranos Had a Much Higher Body Count Than the Real Mafia

The Sopranos is loosely based on the real-life organized crime syndicate known as “La Cosa Nostra” or, more commonly, the Mafia. Many major cities in the United States had or still have a Mafia crime family running illegal operations in the criminal underworld. Many are aware of the Five Families of New York, which remains the most prominent example of real-life mafia entities in the United States. With one crime family controlling their own borough, the New York Mafia is the head of America’s Mafia “Commission.”

One of New York’s five families is fictionally portrayed in The Sopranos and appears to be the most consistent ally and enemy of The Soprano Family throughout the series. This one particular family was run by boss characters such as Carmine Lupertazzi Sr., John Sacramoni and Phil Leotardo. The Soprano Family is loosely based on the real-life New Jersey Mafia family known as the DeCavalcante Crime Family. In real life, there have been alliances and feuds between the various Mafia families in the country, and The Sopranos depicted this on multiple occasions.

However, one particular element of the real-life Mafia that is dramatized in The Sopranos is the number of mob hits there actually were in New Jersey and New York during the time period where the show takes place. In an Empire Magazine interview, creator David Chase alludes to this inaccuracy when discussing the show’s death count. Chasw said “Well, here’s the thing about all the killings on the show. If you look at the real mob, I think there were a grand total of nine Mob homicides from ’99 to 2007 in the New York metropolitan area. We were doing nine a season.”

If you look at the real mob, I think there were a grand total of nine Mob homicides from ’99 to 2007 in the New York metropolitan area. We were doing nine a season.

While being a little hyperbolic in his discussion, Chase is accurate that there were not nearly as many mob-related murders in New York and New Jersey at the time. There were in fact something close to nine murders a season in The Sopranos. Real-life mob feuds can see quite an uptick in violence and some of the more famous periods of real-life mob feuds include the 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. Specifically, prohibition-era Chicago, depression-era New York, 1950s New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Upstate New York, 1970s New York and 1980s New York. Many major conflicts included Capone’s takeover of the Chicago underworld, Luciano’s takeover of New York, the Appalachian crisis, the Colombo Wars and John Gotti’s takeover of the Gambino crime family. From 1999 to 2007, the Mafia wasn’t involved in major conflicts.

Dramatization of Violence Makes for Better Entertainment

While the real-life Mafia might not have been involved in a major New York and New Jersey feud, The Sopranos depicts this conflict as the defining gang war of the series. Furthermore, it seems that Tony Soprano and the fictional DiMeo crime family are involved in a major crisis with someone at some point throughout the series.

For the most part, The Sopranos portrays internal beefs and small conflicts that the audience becomes privy to. Things definitely heat up to the highest degree when New Jersey goes to war with New York. Factual inaccuracies can be good for the purpose of entertainment, and when a series revolves around the Mafia, it needs to portray multiple deaths and murders. The case can be made that for most dramatic depictions of the Mafia, the mob hits that are portrayed are not based on fact.

Throughout its seven-season run, The Sopranos did a great job crafting plot lines for Tony and the other characters, as well as specific situations for specific characters in the series. With its crime drama DNA, the series did an amazing job of keeping the audience engaged and entertained at every turn. Many of the characters are involved in conflicts that act as a direct result of the life they choose to live.

Christopher is a good example of a character surrounded by death that isn’t violence-related. His substance abuse depicts other forms of death in the series. Meanwhile, the family element of the series is important for the authenticity of depicting Italian-American dynamics. This element means a lot of older family members are shown dead in coffins at random times. Nothing in The Sopranos is done without delicate purpose and having the number of murders in the series was necessary for making the show the best that it could be.