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I don't wanna come back. I just want you.
― Adriana La Cerva[src]

Adriana La Cerva is a major character on The Sopranos. She is the girlfriend of Christopher Moltisanti and a classic mob moll, loving him and the various privileges coming from his position in the DiMeo family, while also possessing an interest in club and music management. She is portrayed by Drea de Matteo.

Biography[]

Background[]

Well, frankly, you scored so far over your head when you got her, what do you expect?
Tony Soprano to Christopher Moltisanti about Adriana[src]
Christopher Moltisanti Adriana La Cerva as a Couple

Adriana with her beloved boyfriend Christopher Moltisanti.

Adriana was born and lived her entire life in New Jersey, the daughter of Liz La Cerva and an absentee father who abandoned her when she was a child.[1] She was the niece of DiMeo family mobsters Jackie and Richie Aprile on her mother's side, and they were both very protective of her, which ensured that Adriana would be highly immersed in mob circles when she grew up.[2] An immensely kind but somewhat materialistic young woman, Adriana was looked at as one of the most desirable girls in her entourage, even rousing the senses of some FBI agents who were assigned to surveil her as part of their case against Tony Soprano years later.[3] Despite being engaged with various different men over the years — most notably Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, who she gave oral sex to in the bathroom after one of their acts, and indie pop musician Richie Santini[4][5] —, she ultimately became the girlfriend of Tony's "nephew" and young protégé Christopher Moltisanti around the mid-to-late 1990s, and they both initially shared a very passionate and loving relationship. Due to their matching personalities, however, the couple also became enablers for each other in their usage of drugs, particularly cocaine and heroin. Though they managed to somewhat control their addiction early on, they would later become dependent on their substance abuse, especially Christopher, who generated a rift between himself and Tony as a result.[6] Adriana later got a job as a restaurant hostess to sustain hers and Christopher's lifestyle as well as their low-income apartment.[7]

The mole[]

The FBI long targeted Adriana as a potential weakness in the family's organization. After the death of Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, in early 2001 the FBI looked to Adriana as a close relation to a rising star in the crime family and sent Special Agent Deborah Ciccerone to befriend her. Ciccerone succeeded at befriending Adriana, but they had to cut the mission short earlier than planned after Christopher made a pass at Ciccerone, causing Adriana to defend her boyfriend and accuse "Danielle" of trying to make a move. Nonetheless, the FBI learned of Christopher's heroin problem, which they knew would enrage Tony Soprano, and turned Adriana into an informant by threatening her with jail time for cocaine distribution at the nightclub she managed. (Ironically, when Christopher recently acquired the club and was not yet into heroin, he had gotten rid of all drug pushers, well aware of the DEA's interest in nightclubs).

Adriana- earlier seasons

Out of loyalty to Christopher, Adriana avoided giving up any serious information on the family and did her best to avoid the Soprano family house in order to have nothing to give back to the feds. Her deception caught up with her after the FBI learned of her involvement in covering up a murder at her club and threatened to press charges of being an accessory to murder against her unless she offered full cooperation, to include wearing a wire. She chose to reveal the truth to Christopher, hoping they could run away together and start new lives. Christopher was enraged, beating and almost strangling her to death, before breaking down crying. His loyalty to his crime family turned out to be greater than his love for her as he revealed Adriana's status as an informant to Tony Soprano. Tony had Silvio Dante, under the pretense that he was taking her to Christopher (who Adriana was told had attempted suicide), execute her that very day. As with Richie Aprile, Big Pussy Bonpensiero, and Ralph Cifaretto, not everyone is exactly sure what happened to her. Carmela, along with many others, believe Adriana moved away after breaking up with Christopher.

Post-Mortem[]

One night Carmela has a dream about Adriana helping her with the spec house project and she disappeared

At the Saint Elzear’s Carnival, Carmela runs into Adriana's mother, Liz La Cerva, who looks shabby and unkempt due to depression. Liz tells Carmela that she believes Christopher killed Adriana, and that the FBI came to her with questions about her. When Carmela tells Tony about their conversation, he explains there was no body, and reminds her that if the FBI really thought Christopher had killed her, they would have hauled him in.

While in Paris, Carmela dreams of seeing Adriana in a park walking her dog Cosette, but a policeman tells her Adriana is dead, and asks Carmela to make this clear to her friend. Carmela is intent on finding her, especially after Liz La Cerva lands in the hospital following an attempted suicide. However, Tony and Silvio pull some strings and Carmela is able to continue construction on her spec house, and the distraction keeps her from investigating the matter further.

After Christopher's murder in "Kennedy and Heidi", Carmela showed remorse over thinking he had killed Adriana, stating, "He could never let himself take her life. Why are we so quick to blame? What is the attraction in that?"

Trivia[]

There was initial speculation Adriana may not have been killed — the primary reasoning for this was her death was not seen, which was unusual in the course of the series; the camera tilted upward, away from Silvio and the crawling Adriana, before two gunshots are heard. De Matteo was also under contract to appear in the sixth season. However, in her audio commentary on the fifth season DVD, de Matteo confirmed Adriana is indeed deceased, and the show's frequent use of dream imagery instead provided for her return; she appeared in a dream of Carmela's in the sixth season premiere on March 12, 2006, "Members Only". Also in that episode, Carmela asks Tony about Adriana (he quickly changes the subject).

Appearance[]

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 6[]

References[]

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