MovieChat Forums > The Sopranos (1999) Discussion > I feel like Jackie Jr was retconned in l...

I feel like Jackie Jr was retconned in later seasons

posted 3 months ago by BobbyNiner (557)
12 replies | jump to latest

At the beginning he was potrayed as a made man, one of Richard April's men's then in the later seasons he came a poser the show clowned on. Anyone else notice this.

[–] CaptainCrozier (620) 3 months ago

It seemed like he was sort serving as Richie's aide-de-camp, if you will, at the meeting with Tony and Dick Barone re: the garbage collection and heroin drops and when Richie was meeting with Junior. Then in season 3, he was more of a poser as you say.

The biggest retcon was the retconning of his very existence--he's not at his own "fawtha"'s funeral in season 1!

[–] BobbyNiner (557) 3 months ago

probably in the background

[–] daveyh (641) 3 months ago

From what i remember of his appearance near the end of season 2, he came across as a bad wannabe gangster then, speaking above his station - hence Tony's " those who want respect show respect".
So in that sense i wouldn't say he was retconned. In series 3, Ralph takes over Richie Aprile as his mentor. With male role models like that, the guy never stood a chance!
I always saw his appearance with near the end of season 2 as a window into season 3. They certainly set it up well.
They did similar at the end of 3, with Adrianna being befriended by "Danielle" and Paulie being tempted to Johnny Sack's side, both brilliantly setting up season 4.
There's probably other examples that i can't think of right now

[–] BobbyNiner (557) 3 months ago

I disagree, in s2 Jackie is talking business like any made man talking about heroin routes and was clearly Richie's right hand man. Then season 3 and all of a sudden he's a college boy and he's hiding from Tony regarding anything mob related. this is a retcon.

[–] AnthonySocksss (1564) 2 months ago

It is weird that Jackie jr is at sit-downs in season 2, when in season 3 it’s retconned that Jackie jr was shielded from the mob life by his dad and is a wannabe gangster going to college. However, even in season 2 it’s shown no one respected him, and he was only tagging along thanks to his uncle Richie

[–] daveyh (641) a month ago

And maybe Richie let Jackie Jr tag along against Tony's wishes, causing yet more animosity between them.
The rules they set down regarding their kids can be quite contradictory anyway. The Sopranos always wanted to shield their own children from the mob life, yet during the last few episodes, Meadow's gonna marry an associates son and will likely join him in becoming a mob lawyer, and better still, Tony quite agressively encourages AJ to hang round with The Jasons, who in addition to being children of his fellow mobsters, Tony also knows that they're "majoring in cash" by collectong on their illegal sportsbook at college. Then in the finale his mob connections get AJ a job at Carmine Jr's very dubious sounding film company.

[–] millsey72 (10935) a month ago

That was because originally, a big plot line in season 3 was going to be a trial involving Tony with his mother testifying. However when Tonys mother died in real life, that plot element was scrapped at the last minute so they made a new plot where Jackie is basically another version of Mathew Bevalaqua and his friend in season 3. Hence the retcon

[–] BobbyNiner (557) a month ago

How would have Jackie Jr played into the trial?

[–] millsey72 (10935) a month ago

He wasn't. The whole trial plot got cancelled when the actress playing Livia died , so they wrote in the role with Jackie Jr, which was pretty much the same as Mathew Bevalaqua and his friend from season 2 to fill the void

[–] daveyh (641) a day ago

Very interesting. I didn't know that. Well there we are, after my lame examples in an earlier post, Livia's arrest with the airline tickets in the S2 finale was as definite a set up for the next series as it gets!
Makes me wonder what they were originally planning with Jackie Jr in series 3 then, because they were clearly setting something up with his appearance at that sit-down. My guess would be he'd be one of the villains of the series, hell bent on avenging his Uncle Richie's death (not knowing the real reason he died).

[–] millsey72 (10935) 20 hours ago

Yes, its laughable when Tony tells Jackie Jr that his uncle was a rat and now living in the witness protection program. If that were the case, the logical question to ask is why is Tony not in prison since Richie worked under Tony. Who did Richie rat on?

[–] SamNoyoun (6012) 15 days ago

You're not wrong, the character(and portrayal) were all over the place from season to season...