The Sopranos, “Long Term Parking” (2004)

David Chase and company killed a lot of people over six seasons of The Sopranos, but few deaths landed with the resonance of Adriana La Cerva (Drea De Matteo). It’s not because Adriana was an innocent in this world—she was the fiancée of hotheaded mobster Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and her eyes were wide open as to how he made his money—but because her end came after two years of a private hell. Identified as a potential FBI source in the season-three finale, Adriana kept being drawn deeper and deeper into the world of an informant, and wasn’t smart or tough enough to deal with the pressure. When the feds finally pushed her to wear a wire, she tearfully confessed to Christopher, creating the most devastating fight in a relationship that saw its fair share. It’s a claustrophobic kind of agony to watch: You want there to be an out for Adriana in this situation, but it’s clear the FBI won’t give it to her, and despite some flickering chance that love might win out, it becomes clear Christopher won’t give it to her either. The final sequence where consigliere Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) drives Adriana out of town ostensibly to meet an injured Christopher is The Sopranos at its best, an inexorable journey to the grave where it’s an open question of exactly when she realizes that’s where she’s headed. This was a show that could chop off heads and put them in bowling bags, and yet it’s the view of New Jersey autumn leaves as a shot is fired offscreen that’s the hardest thing to handle. [Les Chappell]