# Soprano's fans... Check in to the Xavier hotel... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078 "2002-10-06T17:33:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/2bfe46/32.png) [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/1 "2002-10-06T17:33:18Z")
Three questions: 1. What is the relationship between Jackie Jr. and (his name escapes me for the moment) the guy who’s name I believe begins with an F (Frankie? You know, the one with an old-town accent) got his hair parted in the middle - I think he is husband to Jackie Jr.'s mother - Wait amminute! It’s Ralphie! What is Ralphie to Jackie Jr.? 2. How come Pussy got shot up by Tony&Co. and then kicked into the sea? 3. How did Jackie Sr. die, and was he the overboss of Tony Soprano? 4. Who’s the actress who plays Tony’s daughter Meadow? 5. Why is she so hot? 6. How can Christopher be Tony’s nephew? Which one of Tony’s two sisters is he the son of? 7. Are the Soprano’s Italian or Sicilian, and mob-wise what’s the difference? 8. Who did Christopher get shot up by (I know he did - I saw it… Tony was at his bedside… he was crying, saying “how could this have happened?”) Okay so that was eight questions. So shoot me (If a Soprano, then disregard this notice). ---
**Author:** ![Tertius01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tertius01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tertius01)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/2 "2002-10-06T17:55:17Z")
SPOILERS Obviously 1. What is the relationship between Jackie Jr. and (his name escapes me for the moment) the guy who’s name I believe begins with an F (Frankie? You know, the one with an old-town accent) got his hair parted in the middle - I think he is husband to Jackie Jr.'s mother - Wait amminute! It’s Ralphie! What is Ralphie to Jackie Jr.? Jackie Sr. died, Ralphie was boinking Jackie Jr.'s mom. Also Ralphie had mob ties so Jackie Jr. looked up to him, not much more than that. 2) How come Pussy got shot up by Tony&Co. and then kicked into the sea? Pussy was wearing a wire for the Feds. He got flipped after being busted for dealing heroin 1. How did Jackie Sr. die, and was he the overboss of Tony Soprano? He died of cancer in the first season. He was the acting boss of the North Jersey mob (the original boss was and still is in jail). 1. Who’s the actress who plays Tony’s daughter Meadow? Jamie Lynn Singer, she has a CD out too I think 1. Why is she so hot? I don’t know but there is a girl at my school that looks just like her. 1. How can Christopher be Tony’s nephew? Which one of Tony’s two sisters is he the son of? Christopher is Carmella’s nephew. 1. Are the Soprano’s Italian or Sicilian, and mob-wise what’s the difference? Sicilian (a subset of Italian). I think everyone in the mob is Sicilian. They make an issue in one episode about not liking Northern Italians. 1. Who did Christopher get shot up by (I know he did - I saw it… Tony was at his bedside… he was crying, saying “how could this have happened?”) I can’t quite remember the circumstances, but you should see the other guys. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/3 "2002-10-06T18:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Xavier \* > Three questions: Actually eight but that’s ok > [@](#): > > 1. What is the relationship between Jackie Jr. and (his name escapes me for the moment) the guy who’s name I believe begins with an F (Frankie? You know, the one with an old-town accent) got his hair parted in the middle - I think he is husband to Jackie Jr.'s mother - Wait amminute! It’s Ralphie! What is Ralphie to Jackie Jr.? Ralphie was dating Jackie Jr’s Mom. > [@](#): > > 1. How come Pussy got shot up by Tony&Co. and then kicked into the sea? They found out that he had been working for the FBI. Pussy was caught as a major herion dealer and was working for the Feds to get into the Witness Protection Program. > [@](#): > > 1. How did Jackie Sr. die, and was he the overboss of Tony Soprano? He died of cancer. He was Tony’s boss. Uncle Junior officially has the job now but Tony really runs things. > [@](#): > > 1. Who’s the actress who plays Tony’s daughter Meadow? [Jamie-Lynn Sigler](http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/cast/cast_sigler.shtml) > [@](#): > > 1. Why is she so hot? Genetics. > [@](#): > > 1. How can Christopher be Tony’s nephew? Which one of Tony’s two sisters is he the son of? He is Tony’s wife’s First Cousin but he is like a nephew to Tony. Tony was mentored by Christopher’s father. > [@](#): > > 1. Are the Soprano’s Italian or Sicilian, and mob-wise what’s the difference? Sicily is part of Italy. It’s an island in the south. Most mobster’s (at least the TV and movie ones) ancestors are from Sicily. > [@](#): > > 1. Who did Christopher get shot up by (I know he did - I saw it… Tony was at his bedside… he was crying, saying “how could this have happened?”) He was shot up by two punks who were trying to get in good with one of Tony’s enemies. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/4 "2002-10-06T18:03:42Z")
1. Ralphie was his mother’s boyfriend. 2. Big Pussy was flipped by the FBI for dealing heroin IIRC. 3. He died of cancer, and he was the boss of the Soprano family (including Tony.) 4. Jamie-Lynn Sigler 5. Not generally being attracted to girls, can’t help you. 6. He is actually Carmella’s first cousin once removed. 7. Not sure of this one. 8. Chris was shot by two kids who worked for him. They thought they’d move up in the world by doing a ‘favor’ for Richie. Richie didn’t want him dead, though, the kids were just a couple of morons. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/5 "2002-10-06T18:04:07Z")
**Tetrius01** beat me out on the simulpost but we basically agree on all but Question #6. Here is a [cite](http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/cast/character_imperioli.shtml) about Christopher’s relationship to Carmella. First cousin, once removed. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Tertius01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tertius01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tertius01)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/6 "2002-10-07T01:12:49Z")
I was working from memory. I am sure you are right on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/7 "2002-10-07T02:56:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tertius01 \* > **Sicilian (a subset of Italian). I think everyone in the mob is Sicilian. They make an issue in one episode about not liking Northern Italians.** “Northern Italians” doesn’t mean non-Sicilian Italians, it refers to the northern half of the boot. If you are refering the episode I’m thinking of (last week’s), it was Furio saying how the Northern Italians (e.g. people from Genoa) oppressed the Southern Italians (e.g. people from Naples). And the Sopranos aren’t Sicilian. Tony’s family comes from Avellino and Carm’s family is from Caserta. Both cities are in Campania in southern Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/8 "2002-10-07T03:27:48Z")
Actually, I should amend that. Carm’s paternal family comes from Caserta, but Carm’s mother is in fact from Sicily. There’s tension between Sicilians and Southern Italians as well, so she and Mama Soprano didn’t exactly hit it off. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/9 "2002-10-07T03:39:53Z")
Also, while the Soprano family themselves are from Naples(as is, obviously Furio) some members of the “family” are, in fact, Siciliano. In the episode where they go to italy, Paulie Walnuts says to the prostitute: “yep, I’m Napolitan(sp?), me and tony both. Some of the guys are Siciliano, hot-headed bastards, am I right?” ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/10 "2002-10-07T03:43:52Z")
Also, some additional info on Jackie Sr. He was made acting boss when the former boss of the family was sent to jail for life. I’m not sure if that offscreen character is still alive or not. One thing I’m not clear on, Was Johnny Boy Soprano(tony’s dad) ever boss of the family? I kind of assumed that he never rose that high, as if he did one would thing Uncle Junior would have been made boss upon Johnny’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/11 "2002-10-07T03:48:38Z")
Johnny Boy was never boss. In season one when Tony makes the “offer” to Junior to be boss he comments “The Sopranos have waited a long time to finally take the reins”. Johnny Boy was probably a capo because Tony says at one point to Melfi “He was tough, he ran his own crew” ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/12 "2002-10-07T03:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oblong \* > \*\*Johnny Boy was never boss. In season one when Tony makes the “offer” to Junior to be boss he comments “The Sopranos have waited a long time to finally take the reins”. Johnny Boy was probably a capo because Tony says at one point to Melfi “He was tough, he ran his own crew” \*\* ahh, that makes sense. Of course, it begs the question, what is the actual family name(at least prior to Tony and Corrado taking over) of the crime family that tony runs? The news reports on the show seem to only refer to it as the “north jersey mob”, I’m not sure it’s ever been mentioned. “Family” names tend to be handed down in the mob(eg. there hasn’t been an actual Genovese at the top of the Genovese family in NY in many years) so it wouldn’t neccesarily have been the Aprile family either. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopranos-fans-check-in-to-the-xavier-hotel/131078/13 "2002-10-07T04:39:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 5-HT \* > **ahh, that makes sense. Of course, it begs the question, what is the actual family name(at least prior to Tony and Corrado taking over) of the crime family that tony runs?** DiMeo. Jackie Sr. was “acting boss” to Dominico “Dom” DiMeo. He is still alive, AFAIK, although he’s Guest of the Government for the rest of his life.