The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.
This tv show contains 143 potentially triggering events.
NO spoiler - there are instances where a girlfriend/partner/sex worker is physically abused, and in a few instances, they return to the abuser, despite the horrible treatment.
ALSO why do so many people put character names. you are spoilering all over the fuckin’ place. can you not say “a man” “the sexworker” “the doctor” etc?
quit it - no one wants spoilers.
I am going to say no, while the show has MANY instances of women being brutalized or outright beaten to death by men it is never doing it for the spectacle and is never played off as anything but a horrible act.
SO my point being is that if you are sensitive towards violence against women then this will be a very hard show to watch as it happens multiple times in graphic and upsetting ways, but the said violence against women is never shown in a way to make men excited or have fun with.
MINOR SPOILERS!!!
Even when a character like Janice (who is a really bad person) experiences domestic violence it isn't played for laughs, its an out of nowhere violent act and played as such.
Due to being in the Mafia many characters gaslight others in order to keep doing their illegal business practices. Though many also gaslight for their own personal reasons and in relationships as well. This is spread across the series.
S04E09 - Horse is burn in a stable fire and euthanised (all off screen). The horse is shown dead under a tarp and dragged away by a tractor then isn't seen again.
Additional info - The horses companion, a goat, is fine and seen at the final scene at the stables.
Churchill, the S02E04 dog that is involved in the carjacking deserves to run away and find a great new family that isn't racist and disgusting like the family he was with. It's really in the dog's best interest.
Season 3 Episode 9 Paulie and Tony are watching a show about snakes and later in the episode Tony goes to the Zoo with Gloria and they walk into the reptile house. There is a huge snake behind them.
It is mentioned that a high school coach has sex with one of his students who is a minor. However is is not seen and the other characters become very upset by this and even plot to kill him.
kinda? idk what counts but during a suicide attempt in the last season one of the last episodes the person ties a cinder block around their ankle so it will hold them underwater
Season 3, episode 4. It happens 15 minutes in when a character goes into a parking garage. It’s pretty graphic and very difficult to watch, as you can imagine.
The person who states that a head seen being placed in a bowling bag is wrong. We only see a WIG get placed in the bag. And while this person is chopped up, they don’t show and of the severance of body parts. they show a hand and arm, and a man with a meat cleaver. when the man with the cleaver raises harm to chop the hand off, the camera pans upwards, and no cutting or severance is showed.
Graphic hanging scene in season 6 episode 1: guy is sitting home after having talked with the feds, he's looking at family pictures. He grabs a seashell and the scene cuts to him hanging himself.
In season 4 episode 3 they go to a protest where they've put up a fake lynching of Columbus.
In season 4 episode 6 Carmela mentions Gloria and how she hung herself from the chandelier while they're in bed.
In season 6 episode 10 Johnny's talking to his lawyer in prison and he goes "you wanna make me so depressed that I hang myself?"
In season 6 episode 14, there's a scene from the movie where a guy walks into a garage, and you can only see his legs hanging. He has not hung himself, but it could be a triggering image if you don't know the context.
Described but not shown. Christopher Moltisanti recounts how a badly scarred woman he points out in a pizza restaurant used to be beautiful before she had acid poured all over her, and how she needed a glass eye
Season 1 S1E1: In a chase scene with Tony and Christopher, you see Tony chasing a guy down with Christopher and Christopher bending over, presumably sick, though only the posture is visible (and nothing heard) S1E5: Mentions throughout of Meadow feeling n* from drinks but nothing seen or heard. After mentioning AJ would be sleeping over with a friend, Father Phil goes to the restroom and v*. Audio only. S1E7: The kids break in and drink wine. During basketball, one of the kids holds their stomach and runs off camera g* to v*. Audio only. S1E8: When digging up the body Georgie says he’s going to p* then runs off to do it. Audio only, you do see him in the background hunched over with nothing visual aside from posture. S1E12 After someone blocking an assassination attempt goes into a donut shop and walks back out, it abruptly cuts to a visual and audio scene of Junior v* from the backseat of a car.
Season 2 S2E3: Walking into the kitchen at the beginning to collect Meadow there’s a girl on the floor v* into a trashcan. Audio only, heard before you see her. Mute when he walks into the house if sound is triggering. Audio continues until scene changes to Tony in the car. When Janice gets the mail and walks inside the home later, it pans to v* on the walls and floor from the party. Safe to look when you hear the door shut as she leaves. Later on you see Meadow cleaning the mess (only soap on the floor) and g*/coughing as she does so. S2E13: All scenes are audio only. Tony clutches his stomach after a bad dream and rushes to the bathroom to v*. You do see him moving to bend over the toilet. Second time is waking up after the threat of being made to eat something. You see him rushing from the bed and hear v* offscreen. Third time is when Artie goes upstairs to talk with Tony. You see him rush from the bed to the bathroom and v*. He does crawl off the bed at one point to be sick again with them helping walk him. Though he coughs and sputters it ends before anythingi s heard. At Pussy’s place Tony grabs his stomach and rushes to the bathroom but there’s no audio. When Tony goes back up to the top of the boat where Sylvio is, he sees Sylvio clutching his stomach by the back of the boat. Mentions n* but nothing happens. If d* is a trigger be advised that every time he v* he also has gas and it’s a frequent sound effect during all the dreams.
Season 3 S3E5: Possible Trigger. Bobby Sr. has lung cancer and does deep, hacking coughs, occasionally with blood. Off and on throughout his scenes. S3E7: After Paulie tells Tony nothing will happen once Adriana and Chris are married, he holds his hands up in defeat and he and Tony walk offscreen. It immediately cuts to Junior being pulled back from over the toilet with a gasp. At the end of the scene Junior says batter up and is carried back offscreen to v* again. You hear audio as it shows Tony but nothing is seen.
Season 4 S4E2: After telling Adrianna she could be in trouble for bringing someone to family dinner with Tony, mute or look away for the next 15 seconds. She will say “oh my god” and immediately v* (very graphic audio and visual). V* remains on surfaces until the scene ends. Safe when the scene changes to the doorbell ringing and only missed dialogue is calling for a wastebasket. S4E6: There’s a scene transition from Artie to a far away shot of Chris and someone else (Eddie). As soon as it closes in and the music has started, Eddie leans forward from the front of the toilet and begins v* for the next seven seconds. Audio and visual. Safe visual when it shows Christopher looking in the mirror with some background coughing. S4E9: Tony gets into a fight in the kitchen. When it’s over, he g*, covers his face with his arm, g* again and v* brielfy (audio and visual) before going half offscreen to v* in a kitchen sink (you see his back half only). Safe when you hear the water running. S4E12: You get a few seconds of warning. Tony apologizes for the mess in the limousine (implied only) and Furio mentions how Brian v*. He’s helped to the helicopter and as he walks towards the camera he bends forward and v*. Full visual, very light audio. Safe when Tony calls him “old faithful.” Unsafe again when Tony yells something while urinating with Furio. Furio looks at the spinning rotor and then back to see Brian once again v* repeatedly by the copter. Again slight audio, full visual, about three seconds.
Season 5 S5E1: Slight choking during lunch at a golf club as someone suffers a stroke. Person is hit with a brick and collapses, seizing for a long time until they are ultimately killed. There are choking noises during the seizure that might be distressing. S5E4: After a friend says “where’s the patient” it cuts to someone passed out with v* visible on the toilet. S5E5: A running theme of this episode is Adriana developing and being diagnosed with IBS. Nothing explicit seen or heard but frequent mentions/scenes of her being distressed and people discussing her having d*. S5E9: A joke during work on the construction site doesn’t go over well, prompting Finn to look visibly n*. Cuts away before anything is shown, but cuts back to Felicia over him as he’s bent over, again visibly looking n*. There’s a final shot close up on them but again, nothing explicitly shown. S5E11: A scene at the therapists leads to a joke about the Honeymooners (One of these days Alice). Tony spits out a mouthful of water in amusement. Tony tries to shoot a coach in the dream and makes some potentially triggering sounds as the bullets melt.
Season 6 S6E1: Opening scene: In the car Agent Harris starts coughing and they pull over. Car door opens and he leans out to v*, audio and visual. When Barbara calls Tony about needing to leave Junior, after Tony tells her “go, go” it cuts back to Barbara and Junior v* in the background. Audio until it cuts back to Tony, Junior has a handkerchief so no real visual. S6E2: Scene change from helicopter lights bearing down to someone on a hospital bed pulling their breathing tube out in confusion, making several g* noises as they do so. Can be triggering. S6E4: Talking to Paulie, Tony v*. Audio and visual. There’s little warning so when Paulie says he’s “just repeating what Phil told him,” mute and/or look away. You miss Tony saying that they better understand their obligation (he v* on himself almost immediately after saying obligation). S6E5: Episode ending with very slight spoilers. Tony fights with Perry and leaves him on the floor. You only miss him smiling so I’d strongly advise ending the episode after you see Perry on the floor. If you want details: When it cuts from Perry to Tony in the bathroom, he rushes to the front of the screen and v* graphically and with audio into the toilet. Wiki says it’s blood and while I partially agree, there’s more than blood so be warned. There’s an overhead audio as he continues, he moves back to the sink to wash up and smile at himself before moving back to the same front view as he runs back and v* all over again, the episode ending to the sounds of him continuing to v*. S6E8: Tony picks up AJ (you’ll know the scene) and AJ v* almost immediately after Tony says, “you gotta grow up, you’re not a kid anymore. You gotta grow up.” Audio and visual for the next twenty seconds. Look away after he says you’re not a kid anymore because it’s a very quick cut from his last line to v*. S6E9: Chris discusses business in the car with Corky. Audio cues work better for this one. The conversation lulls and music takes over: “Sometimes I think about Saturday’s child And all about the times when we were running wild I’ve been out searching for the dolphins in the sea” When the “I’ve been searching” line starts it will pan to the back of Chris’ car and then around to the driver’s side where he has his head hanging out, v* a moment later before the line finishes being sung. Visual and audio despite the music. Safe ten seconds later. S6E12: Julianna crawls away from the couch where she’d been cuddling with her lover and towards the camera to grab a small trash can and v* into it. Dark lighting so slight visual, light audio. Audio is over once the scene changes. S6E18: A wreck happens and when the passenger moves around to break the window and help the driver, the driver v*/coughs blood (only) a few times. The driver chokes and makes distressing noises with all the blood. There’s very little warning on the next instance. Tony takes peyote with a friend and continues on with the person. I give it 20 seconds before you need to mute and/or look away. As soon as light flashes indicating a scene change Tony is going into a bathroom and v* graphically and with audio. From the moment he takes the peyote and the bottle hits the table with a clunk you can safely skip the next minute and miss it. It’s safe again when he’s sitting back and looking up at the light. S6E21: A woman cries out in surprise and abandons her car (with two babies inside). The car starts to move on its own and runs over someone - almost immediately after, it cuts from a crowd to someone shouting, “oh shit!” and then back to the crowd where a person leans over and v* with audio and visual.
The show makes clear that the FBI agents are no less prone to deception, bullying, or just being jerks than the mobsters. Several cops have arrangements with mobsters to look the other way while they run illegal operations.
Christopher tells a story about a Transwoman who is burned with acid and disfigured bc she tried to "trick" someone into sleeping with her. Basically the "Gay Panic" defense.
18:45-19:04: There's a description of a violent transphobic attack on a trans woman from about the 18:45 mark to the 19:04 mark (where it cuts to Pussy reading the paper). The description outs this woman to other people at Christopher's table. (Some of these details were already mentioned in other comments, but I wanted to add the time stamp!)
Debatable; a recurring character who cheats on his wife with a man is characterized as gay (and outed) by other characters but is also shown to have a stable, apparently heteronormative marriage with children. The character himself would probably be referred to as bisexual by modern audiences but is never called such by the show.
Tony, the main character, consistently sees a therapist throughout the show. Several other characters will attend therapy occasionally, including his children. S6E19: A teenager is hospitalized for an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
Deceased characters are seen by living characters in their dreams or in flashes in real life. Some surreal dreams. There is also a pretty intense episode where a character is in purgatory and experiences an alternate version of their life.
It’s not explicit but one of the supporting characters’ children is likely anorexic. The same character’s wife is overweight and an episode focuses on her size and attempts to diet.
Not exactly, but there’s a very graphic description of an awful hate crime against a trans woman in a conversation in season 2. And no one in that scene seems to believe it’s as awful as it is. If I remember correctly, they all laugh about it.
Pretty much everyone in the story is a bad person, often in ways that align with racial stereotypes (black gangster rappers, Jewish fraudsters). In s1e13, also, a psychiatrist describes people with BPD as having no love or compassion and is presented as being in the right.
S6E11 a gay man is beaten to death, we see the start of the of the beating before the camera pans away later the man is described as being found beaten to death and sodomized with a pool cue
In addition to N words, with an -er specifically, the characters frequently use the Italian word for "black" as a racist slur against black people and the main character Tony has an arch about not wanting his daughter to date a black man.
Lot's of topless women throughout the series.
In season 5 or 6 Tony is in jail and a guy in the background pulls his pants down and hovers above a toilet with his manhood dangling
One character holds a gun to his partner's head during sex (she consents). Another character roleplays being abused by a pimp. Both of these are onscreen. It's also mentioned a few other times that one character is a masochist.
Off-screen and not described in detail, just that a minor character was driving and died in an accident, but her friends and husband are shown grieving. Her husband briefly imagines her dead body out loud (nothing is shown) and describes the traffic that the accident caused.