The Sopranos Character Arc That Has Fans Raising Their Eyebrows

There's a reason The Sopranos still holds up as one of the greatest television shows ever. From its stellar performances to its existential exploration to its many hilarious moments, the series had so much going for it that, over 20 years after the show premiered, it remains a huge hit even with younger viewers.

The show also gave audiences so many intriguing characters, whether they were quirky, menacing, or straight-laced, show creator David Chase made all of them engaging. But one recurring character is worth remembering — not only for his unique ability to survive for the duration of the show but because of his complex story arc.

Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) was first introduced in season 2 after the murder of his twin brother, Philly (also Dan Grimaldi). Philly and Patsy were both members of Uncle Junior's crew, the former being a caporegime and the latter a soldier. Philly's hit was ordered by Tony (James Gandolfini) as a power grab (and because Philly was gossiping about Tony trying to suffocate his mother). In order for Tony to monitor a potentially vengeful Patsy, he made him a member of his own crew, where Patsy served as both a soldier and the accountant.

What makes Patsy's character arc so enthralling is that, throughout the show, he mourns his brother's death while working for the man who ordered the hit. In one episode, "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood," on Patsy's and his late brother's birthday, a depressed Patsy drunkenly trespasses onto Tony's property, aiming a gun at Tony while he's in his kitchen. He soon lowers the gun and instead chooses a much more subtle, less murdery way of getting revenge: He urinates into Tony's pool. Patsy eventually finds himself in Tony's good graces when his son, Patrick (Daniel Sauli), becomes engaged to Meadow Soprano (Jamie-Lynn Sigler).

Since The Sopranos finale in 2007, there have been numerous theories as to what exactly happened when, to the tune of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin,'" the screen suddenly goes black on Tony's face while he's dining in a restaurant, ending the entire show and leaving fans to make the final judgment: Does Tony deserve to die for his crimes? While Chase has stayed mostly opaque on the subject, many fans believe the series ended with Tony's death. So if Tony did die, then who did it? On Reddit, fans speculate it was Little Carmine, a relative of Eugene, or even Tony's son, Anthony Jr.

But some believe Patsy (pictured above) was behind the (alleged) murder. On a Reddit thread, the original poster posits that Patsy "had many reasons to have Tony killed. His brother Spoons was ordered whacked by Tony early on in season 2. His son is hooked up with Carlo's son and we see the conversation between Patsy and Tony about Jason getting in trouble." Though it's unlikely Patsy would want revenge at the same time his son marries Tony's daughter, ruining any chance of him rising within the family, Patsy did manage to escape Silvio's attempted assassination alive and stood as one of the few remaining survivors by the series finale.

We'll never know for sure whether Patsy wanted Tony killed, but he certainly has one of the more interesting stories of any character on the iconic show.