Christopher Moltisanti

Spoiler alert--if you have not seen the latest episodes of season six of the Sopranos, you should know that the following post contains a serious spoiler.

I am mourning the passing of my favorite character in the Sopranos. My wife cried. I found it to be a perfectly poignant end to the conflict between Tony and Chrissie. Only three episodes left, and I seriously doubt that we have seen the last of Christopher (how many characters have come back in dreams, the after-life, etc.?).

Obviously, the show would not exist without David Chase and James Gandolfini is the most essential actor, but other than that, who is the most essential member of the Sopranos team? I believe it is the writer of two of the three best episodes of the whole series--Michael Imperioli is not only an Emmy award-winning Method actor of the highest order, he is a brilliant writer as well.

He first began writing for Sopranos with "From Where to Eternity," a ground-breaking episode in which Paulie is haunted by the ghosts of all his former kills and sees a psychic who can literally see and talk to the ghosts who are haunting Paulie. That was the freakiest episode to that point in the series.

"The Tell Tale Moozadell" I believe, is the third best episode so far (I have seen them all to this point, there are only three episodes I haven't seen yet--I hope, but doubt, that one of the next three will break into my top 3). You have Meadow hooking up with Jackie Jr, Anthony Junior getting in trouble with vandalism at his school, and Michael Imperioli giving Adrianna her club--three of the best sub-plots ever.

"Christopher" shows Imperioli settling in to his role as a Sopranos writer. It has all the benefits of a perfectly crafted episode written by a master of the trade. The story of the Italian community in opposition to the Native American community is amazingly frank and yes, it demonstrates empathy for a group of people whose identity conflicts markedly with, yet oddly mirrors, Imperioli's Italian heritage.

"Everybody Hurts" is the second best episode of the Sopranos series, right behind "College," which is undoubtedly the best episode ever (written by Jim Manos Junior and David Chase). Imperioli's bold effort shows his character Christopher in the throes of addiction, a talent that Michael has continued to develop as a Method actor. It also has Artie ending up foolishly owing Tony $50,000, which is one of the most heart-warming story lines of the whole darn adventure.

"Marco Polo" has Tony and Carmela reuniting from their separation in another solid episode. Not a bad list of credits writing for one of the most critically acclaimed television series ever. Michael's continued dedication to his roots in stage acting is also remarkable, as he has invested in Studio Dante, a theater company dedicated to live stage acting conceived by Michael and his wife Victoria.

R.I.P. Christopher Moltisanti.

I can't wait to see your next project Michael Imperioli--from Goodfellas to Sopranos, you've been where the best of the genre has been for a while now. So, where do we go next?