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| “ | I will not tolerate cursing.
After sixteen years of uninterrupted potty mouth from you people, I get slammed? |
„ |
| ― Carmela Soprano, and Anthoy Soprano, Jr. |
Anthony John Soprano, Jr., also known as AJ, is the son of Tony and Carmela Soprano, and the brother to Meadow Soprano.
History
A.J. is a constant source of anxiety for his parents. A constant underachiever, and diagnosed as borderline ADD, he crashed his mother Carmela's car, smoked marijuana at his own confirmation, got drunk on stolen communion wine, vandalized his school swimming pool, and was finally expelled after cheating on a test. As a result, he was almost sent to military school, until it was discovered that he suffers from the same panic attacks that plagued his father and grandfather. Instead, he was sent to another private school.
Tony and Carmela's concern has turned to A.J.'s future; Tony has no desire to groom his son into a position within his organization. In the fifth season of the show, A.J. displayed an unexpected interest in pursuing a career in event planning, but he has since derided his parents' mentions of it.
In seasons 2â5, A.J. was portrayed as a fan of heavy metal, with product placements (shirts, coats, and posters) of bands like Pantera, Slipknot and Machine Head.
In "Full Leather Jacket", A.J. says that he wants to go to Harvard University or West Point for college. Tony dismisses the idea as unrealistic given A.J's academic performance.
In Season 6, A.J. admits to his parents that he has flunked out of college, a worrying parallel to Tony's own youth. A.J. acquired a large knife and went to the institution Uncle Junior was being held at in a futile effort to exact revenge for his father. He was arrested, but later released without charge thanks to his father's political connections. At this time he has been seen delving into the New York City club scene and experimenting with cocaine.
After several days of claiming to be searching for jobs on the Internet with no result, Tony intervened and arranged a construction job for his son, but A.J. was reluctant to accept because of the early hours and outdoor work. Tony became angry and smashed the windshield of A.J.'s SUV, and warned A.J. not to put him to the test. A.J. reluctantly went to work at the construction site and there he met Blanca Selgado, whom he began dating. Blanca, who was Dominican, and had a 3-year-old son named Hector, met with Carmella's disapproval. Tony however was more approving of the relationship satisfied that Blanca was Catholic like the Sopranos at least.
In 2007, A.J. proposes to Blanca at a fancy restaurant dinner by telling her that he will own a couple restaurants in a couple years. However, Blanca soon gives the ring back and breaks up with him, leaving A.J. severely depressed. He quits his job and mopes about until his father forces him to attend a frat party with the college-age relatives of his fellow mafioso. A.J. grudgingly attends but soon starts to enjoy himself. Several of the boys run a sports betting operation at the college and after a night of drinking, they beat and torture a welcher by pouring sulfuric acid on his foot. A.J. joins in to help forget his women problems. Later he joins his new friends again when one of them carelessly opens the door of his car, hitting a passerby on a bicycle. They make racial slurs towards to man, and blame the accident on him. His friends attack the man, AJ is not helping them, but he does throw the man's bike in front of a moving car where it is crushed. Following that AJ is seen at his psychiatrist telling him that he is once again depressed about the world due to that incident.
This depression would lead to a botched suicide attempt, wherein he tied a brick to his leg with a too-long length of rope and attempted to drown himself in the pool at the Soprano home. His father heard his cries for help and dove into the pool and rescued him. He was then placed in a facility to get psychiatric care. After he is released, he hangs around with an ex-girlfriend of his former friend Hernan. After he starts to despair aloud when Tony tells him that his uncle Bobby has been shot dead, Tony drags him out of his bed and tells him to pack as the family leaves home quickly to elude a possible attack by the Lupertazzi Crime Family. As of the final episode Tony gets A.J. another job as a producer at Carmine Lupertazzi's porn/movie studio and leases him a new BMW. He is last seen at Holsten's with his family in the final scene.
Relatives
Johnny Boy Soprano (paternal grandfather)
Livia Soprano (paternal grandmother)
Corrado John Soprano, Jr. (paternal great-uncle)
Janice Soprano (paternal aunt)
Barbara Giglione (paternal aunt)
Hugh De Angelis (maternal grandfather)
Mary De Angelis (maternal grandmother)
Christopher Moltisanti (cousin)
Bobby Baccalieri (uncle)
Harpo Soprano (cousin)
Bobby Baccalieri III (cousin)
Sophia Baccalieri (cousin)
Domenica Baccalieri (cousin)