The Sopranos: Adriana’s 10 Best Traits
Adriana La Cerva is one of the most good-hearted characters in The Sopranos. Even though she becomes an informant, her best traits shine through.
The Sopranos has no shortage of well-written characters and one is Adriana La Cerva, the vivacious love interest of the tragic DiMeo crime family capo, Christopher Moltisanti. Despite not making it to the final season, Adriana is one of the show’s all-time greats and actress Drea de Matteo’s Emmy win for the role is confirmation.
Adriana is not perfect. She can be overly trusting and blind to the machinations of others. The former is what gets her killed since she wrongfully believes her decision to become an informant will go unpunished. However, her positive traits stand out more and it’s easy to see that she is a decent human being who was only short-changed by fate.
She Is Courteous
Adriana is adored by most of the best mob wives in The Sopranos because she is well-mannered. She never turns down dinner invitations and always listens to advice, even when it’s unsolicited. She enjoys tagging along too. Whenever the older mob wives need someone to accompany them somewhere, Adriana will tag along.
Adriana’s courteous nature earns her the trust of everyone around her. This proves beneficial to her when she is arm-twisted into becoming an FBI informant. No one believes she can be a turncoat and this buys her time as she figures out what to do. This trait also benefits her when she runs her nightclub business since both her employees and customers appear to be fond of her. This also saves her from economic ruin.
She Is Fashion-Savvy
Adriana is undoubtedly one of the best-dressed characters in The Sopranos. She loves her animal print outfits, tight cotton dresses, stilettos, and jewelry. Even FBI agents are stunned by her overall look, as seen during one of the tennis games.
The belle has a unique style because she loves everything that she wears. Her refusal to accept an expensive pair of shoes that Christopher gifts her because they are a couple of millimeters off in size says a lot about her attention to detail. Credit also goes to Actress Drea DeMatteo, who told Esquire that she couldn’t even say her lines unless she had a pair of stilettos on.
She Is Ambitious
Adriana wants nothing but the best for herself. In season 1, she tries her best to get into the music industry, even getting Christopher to link her up with the rapper Massive Genius and the record label investor Hesh. When her musical career fails to take off, she pushes Christopher to set her up with an investment opportunity. As a result, the Crazy Horse nightclub is born.
The Crazy Horse nightclub proves to be Adriana’s downfall since it’s her decision to hide a murder there that makes the FBI come for her and present her with the options of jail time or snitching. However during her time running the establishment, she becomes a more solid character since she breaks free of Christopher’s shadow and becomes truly independent.
She Is Adaptable
Adriana doesn’t see it coming when one of the most heroic law enforcement agents in The Sopranos, Deborah Ciccerone, targets her to make her an informant. However, she accepts the change of circumstances and goes about her daily business as if everything were normal.
By adapting to her new status as an informant, Adriana distinguishes herself from other organized crime members in the series that have been forced to work for the government. Characters like Big Pussy and Jack Massarone act in a suspicious manner, forcing their colleagues to begin investigating them. Adriana, on the other hand, guards her involvement with the FBI. People only get to find out about her betrayal because she confesses.
She Is Honest
The soft-spoken character is always sincere, even though those that she opens up to react negatively. In the days leading to their nuptials, Adriana lets Christopher know that she might be unable to have her own biological children. And rather than letting him find out on his own, Adriana confesses to Christopher that she has been talking to the feds.
Honesty means a lot to Adriana and that’s why even during her time as one of the FBI informants in The Sopranos, she puts herself in a position where she doesn’t know things rather than not know them and lie. Her honesty doesn’t pay off though, because she eventually gets killed for it, but every fan can’t help but appreciate the fact that she was just trying to do the right thing.
She Is Hardworking
From her early days as a waitress at the Vesuvio, Adriana is portrayed as an industrious individual. She makes it clear to Christopher that she won’t be the kind of mob wife that just sits around and waits to be provided for. When she finally leaves the Vesuvio, she gets to run her own club.
It’s an admirable trait because every other mob wife on the show chooses to not go this route because they aren’t destitute and their gangster husbands are more than glad to be the providers. Angie, for example, only starts working after her husband Big Pussy gets whacked. Carmela, on the other hand, prefers to invest in a spec project and watch the money come in as she spends her time at home.
She Is Protective
Adriana is not only protective of her lover Christopher but also the DiMeo Crime family in general. When she unwillingly gets converted into a traitor, she refuses to not only give the FBI any meaningful information but also to put herself in any situation where she’ll overhear family secrets.
Having grown up in the mob, Adriana understands that her family and friends have to be protected at all costs. She knows that the DiMeo crime family is bigger than any one single person and that’s why she even pushes for an official wedding with Christopher. If she becomes an official spouse, she’d be exempted from testifying, thanks to marital privilege.
She Is Loving
Given their heated arguments, it’s debatable whether or not Adriana and Christopher are one of the best couples in The Sopranos, but there is no doubt that she loves him. She is very keen on getting married to him and instead of simply going on the run by herself, she urges him to come with him.
Throughout the series, fans get the feeling that Adriana could be better off with someone else. Her loving nature would be better appreciated if she was with a good-hearted mobster like Bobby Bacalla. However, part of the reason why she seems loving is that she accepts people’s flaws too. Christopher isn’t perfect but this doesn’t dissuade Adriana from staying true to him.
She Doesn’t Tolerate Disrespect
Adriana might be a calm individual, but she won’t be disrespected. She loses it when Paulie takes a pair of her beautiful stilettos to take to one of his girlfriends and cuts off contact with Deborah when she flirts with Christopher.
This trait is common among members of organized crime in the show. Having grown up around tough individuals, Adriana knows that one looks weak if they just let people walk all over them. Adriana might not be as fiery as Carmela, but she sure does know how to stand up for herself whenever the need arises.
She Is Supportive
Being married to mobsters takes a toll on all the mob wives, but Adriana remains supportive all the way. She is overjoyed when Christopher finally becomes a “made guy” and she also urges him to keep pursuing his movie career, even though he keeps procrastinating when it comes to making his dream a reality.
It’s due to Adriana’s support that Christopher gets the energy to make his movie Cleaver a reality. Her decision to not snitch on him is also tied to her being a supportive spouse. Adriana’s support is also not centered on one person. She cheers other mob wives whenever they open about personal wins during dinners and is also happy for Artie when he gets a new restaurant.
