‘The Sopranos’ star Lorraine Bracco reveals she was “upset” with Dr Melfi’s final scene

Dr Melfi had several integral scenes in which she tried to help Tony Soprano

Lorraine Bracco has revealed that she was unhappy with the way her character Dr Melfi’s arc ended in The Sopranos‘ penultimate episode.

The actress was discussing the conclusion in a recent episode of the Talking Sopranos podcast with co-stars Michael Imperioli (Christopher Moltisanti) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby Baccalieri) when she admitted that she didn’t agree with creator David Chase’s decision.

The 2007 episode in question, The Blue Comet, sees her therapist character Melfi put an end her sessions with Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) after years of counselling. Bracco said that she felt it was uncharacteristic of Melfi to have made that move.

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“I remember being upset [with] the direction that David [Chase] was bringing Melfi. I just felt like he wanted me to get rid of [Tony]. I felt that he did it in a very abrupt way. I don’t think that she should have done it that way,” Bracco said [quotes transcribed by Collider].

“I would have liked for it to have been more meaningful. I think she cared for Tony. Even though he was a fuck-up and he was never going to really straighten out. But I think she really cared for him. You don’t spend seven years with someone and [then] discard them. I felt bad about that.”

The Sopranos
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in ‘The Sopranos’ CREDIT: Alamy/HBO

For context, Melfi’s decision stems from a dinner party she attends with colleagues who discuss a recent study that found that sociopaths often take advantage of talk therapy.

Dr Melfi goes on to dig into the study, determining that Tony is behaving in such a way. Later, she ends her tenure as Tony’s therapist, the latter of whom blames the truncation on “female, menopausal changes”.

Bracco added in the podcast that she would have preferred having Tony react to her presenting the study to him. That would have “powerful” for Tony, Bracco argued.

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Dr Melfi was a central character to The Sopranos, with dozens of integral scenes dedicated to her practice trying to help Tony, a depressed New Jersey Mafia boss.

In other Sopranos news, writer Todd Kessler revealed recently that James Gandolfini took him out for dinner after he was fired from the HBO series.

He recalled Gandolfini, who died in 2013, telling him: “You hold your head high and know that you did great work.”

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