Why One of ‘The Sopranos’ Most Painful Deaths Happened Offscreen: “I’ve Never Seen a Set So Quiet”
On May 23, 2004, The Sopranos fans were forced to witness one of the most painful deaths in television history – one that they still talk about to this day, even though it happened offscreen.
In the episode ‘Long Term Parking,’ the fifth season finale of the iconic mafia series, the beloved Adriana La Cerva met her end at the hands of Tony Soprano’s loyal adviser, Silvio Dante. Adriana, played by Drea De Matteo, cooperated with the FBI, and although she hadn’t told them anything of substance about the Sopranos’ operations, she was still considered a “rat.”
It’s the ultimate sin in the mafia world, and it meant her days were numbered – but fans never stopped believing that she could somehow escape her date with Death.
However, when it came time to write the heartbreaking moment in which Adriana died, writer Terrence Winter had her crawl out of frame before being shot by Silvio. Interestingly, he told Entertainment Weekly that he didn’t consciously choose to have her die off-screen – he wrote it that way almost unconsciously. He explained: “I’ve written some very graphic violence for the show and for some reason… I wrote her crawling out of camera. People were like, ‘Why don’t you show that?’ I realized I didn’t want to see that.”
“I didn’t think about that at all when I was writing the script,” Winter insisted. “But I felt like it was the right thing to do, cinematically and in terms of the film. I think it really worked, but I guess I didn’t want to see Adriana/Drea get shot.”
This explanation may leave some fans wondering why Winter was so concerned about seeing a fictional character die. But it does offer a unique insight into how these “real” characters became the people who wrote them over a long period of time. Winter explained that it speaks to “how much we loved this character and this actress.”
Showrunner David Chase wholeheartedly agrees with Winter, telling EW, “This is the only time in the entire history of the show where we’ve killed someone and we haven’t shown their point of view.” For him, however, the fact that Adriana’s ultimate fate was left to the audience’s imagination somehow made it all the more upsetting, even though it was specifically crafted to avoid showing anything too dire. “I don’t think any of us wanted to see Drea in that state,” he confessed.
Director Tim Van Patten said the atmosphere among the cast and crew became extremely quiet after De Matteo’s final scene. “There was such a sense of reverence on set,” he mused. “I’ve never seen a set that quiet. It really felt like a death in the family.”
But why did the cast and crew, as well as the show’s devoted fan base, connect with Adriana so much? Winter has a theory, and it’s a very plausible one. He believes Adriana is beloved because she’s unlike the other characters on the show. Although she was in a relationship with a gangster, she was not really part of their world. She was a normal person and felt guilty for being involved. The writer explained, “She definitely did not deserve that fate. So her death was more painful than any gangster who lived by the sword and died by the sword.”
Ultimately, the experience was incredibly emotional and sweet for De Matteo. Even though the cast and crew tried to show how much they cared for her by bringing a champagne cart to the set, giving her a bouquet of flowers, and filling her trailer with balloons, she still felt bittersweet. She felt the creative decision to show Soprano and his crew at their ugliest was brave and a big risk for the show, but it was heartbreaking that Adriana had to endure this ugliness. She asserted, “Adriana wants the best for everyone; she only operates where the light is.”
