Article: TONY SOPRANO HEADS DOWN THE PSYCHO PATH AS THE SERIES'S UNEVEN FOURTH SEASON CONCLUDES, DARKNESS ENVELOPS THE MOB BOSS'S VIOLENT BEHAVIOR

It's a signature of "The Sopranos" to mark each season with a particularly gaudy psychopath, one over-the-top individual completely unable to control his or her rage, a murderous crank who represents the unromanticized side of mobster life.

Livia Soprano was the show's premiere nut job, a blackly comic monster who put the lie to the myth of maternal nurturance by conspiring to eliminate her son. Next up was Richie Aprile, the polyester wonder who had his "Manson lamps" aimed directly at Tony's job before they were put out. Ralph Cifaretto, even more hot-headed and irritable under his toupee than Richie, picked up the mantle last season, his fatal abuse of a stripper the bloodiest of his ...

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