Jackie Aprile Jr.

Jackie Aprile Jr.
First appearance	"The Knight in White Satin Armor" (episode 2.12)
Last appearance	"Army of One" (episode 3.13)
Created by	David Chase
Portrayed by	Jason Cerbone
Information
Full name	Giacomo Michael Aprile Jr.
Nickname(s)	Jackie Jr. Little Lord Fuckpants The Fresh Prince of New Jersey
Aliases	Mr. X
Occupation	College student
Title	Associate of the Aprile crew in the DiMeo crime family
Family	Jackie Aprile Sr. (father; deceased) Rosalie Aprile (mother) Kelli Aprile (sister)
Significant other(s)	Meadow Soprano (ex-girlfriend)
Relatives	Richie Aprile (uncle; deceased) Adriana La Cerva (cousin; deceased) Vito Spatafore (cousin; deceased) Bryan Spatafore (cousin) Richie Aprile Jr. (cousin)
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Giacomo Michael "Jackie" Aprile Jr. (commonly referred to as Jackie Jr.), played by Jason Cerbone, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. In the episode "...To Save Us All From Satan's Power", Cerbone's younger brother Matt played a younger Jackie Jr. in a flashback sequence.

Plot details

Jackie Aprile Jr. was born into North Jersey mafia family. His father, Jackie Aprile Sr., was once the acting boss of the DiMeo crime family, and his uncle Richie Aprile was a capo first under Ercoli "Eckley" DiMeo, and then later under Tony Soprano. However Jackie Jr. himself was kept away from the family business by Jackie Sr. and his father's best friend, Tony Soprano. He only began getting involved with the criminal aspects of his family in 2000—season 2 of The Sopranos—after the death of his father and the release of his uncle from prison. Despite attempts to succeed at Rutgers, Jackie Jr. drifted towards a life of crime as he began helping his uncle Richie run the Aprile crew.^[1][2]

His mother Rosalie Aprile began a romantic relationship with Soprano capo Ralph Cifaretto. Ralph was more of a mentor in Jackie's attempt to follow in his father's footsteps and was actively involved with his life or development as a young man. It was Richie's and then Ralph's bad influence, Jackie Jr.'s own faults, and finally Tony's insistence that Jackie Jr. not become involved in organized crime that were the contributing factors that propelled Jackie Jr. into a brief, and rather humiliating career in organized crime.^[3][4][5][6]

Working alongside his friend Dino Zerilli, he began small by selling ecstasy to college kids. They often hung out at the Ooh Fa pizza restaurant which brought them into contact with Christopher Moltisanti. He was a linebacker for his football team at Boonton High School and was All-State by the end of his semester.^{[7][8][9][10]} Jackie planned the robbery of a Jewel concert at Rutgers and drove the getaway car for Christopher and Benny Fazio. While waiting in the car Jackie urinates in his pants.^[11][12] Later Jackie tried to use his 'influence' with Christopher to help a drug dealer associate from college named Matush sell ecstasy at the Crazy Horse club, owned by Christopher and Furio Giunta and fronted by Adriana La Cerva. Matush had been thrown out of the club by Giunta once already and Jackie met with him at a "sit-down" and agreed to take his case up with Chris; Chris refused to grant any favors but Jackie told Matush it would be alright to work outside the club anyway - resulting in a severe beating for Matush.^[13][14]

Jackie Jr. began dating Meadow Soprano and as a result, he copied the Mafia tradition of leading two lives. Jackie tried to maintain the appearance of a respectable college student dating Meadow while drifting further into the Mafia life. Tony's interest was further increased because he had been a close friend of Jackie's father and had promised that he would keep Jackie, Jr. away from organized crime. Tony began to see through Jackie's facade when he caught him at the casino on Bloomfield Ave and then later at a strip club (a rival to the Bada Bing). Tony was furious because he had tried so hard to keep Jackie straight, beating him up in the bathroom of the club after catching him there getting a lap dance.^[15][16] Tony began seeing much of himself and his treatment of Carmela in Jackie's relationship with Meadow.

Things came to a head after Jackie Jr. flunked out of Rutgers University. Jackie was subsequently dumped by Meadow after she found him cheating on her. Resentful of two generations of the Sopranos—the Royal Family, as Ralph mockingly called them—Jackie began working directly for Ralph, forming his own minor crew in the process.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Upon hearing Ralph tell the story of when Jackie Aprile Sr. and Tony took down a card game held by Feech La Manna, Jackie became inspired to follow in his father's footsteps. Using his dim-witted crew of Carlo Renzi, Dino Zerilli and Matush, Jackie attempted to hold up a card game run by Aprile soldier Eugene Pontecorvo. The young, would-be stick-up men got high and Jackie almost decided not to go through with it. Once inside things went horribly awry - Jackie killed "Sunshine" the dealer, Renzi was killed at the scene by Christopher, made man Furio Giunta was shot in the leg and Matush fled in the getaway car on hearing the gunshots. Jackie Jr. barely escaped with his life by performing a quick carjacking. He drove straight past Dino Zerilli leaving him to perish at the hands of Moltisanti and Albert Barese.^[21][22]

Hiding out in the Boonton Projects, Jackie called Tony and begged for his life saying that he was just doing what Tony did. Tony told Jackie to figure out the difference, suggesting that because people were shot and one killed there might be consequences. Largely because of his feelings toward Jackie Sr., Tony suggested to Ralph that Jackie should be given a pass for the failed robbery. Ralph, however, was not inclined to let Tony know of his role as a catalyst for the attempted robbery. Tony, a friend of Jackie's father, already distrusted Ralph. Furthermore, such knowledge could potentially alter Tony's complicity in any action Ralph might take. At a meeting between Tony and Ralph about what to do about Jackie, Tony stated that the important thing is that action is taken "in a timely fashion." Ralph of course had to maintain stability and more importantly, his stature. So he gave Aprile crew soldier (and Jackie's cousin) Vito Spatafore the order to take out Jackie. Outside the Boonton Projects, Vito shot Jackie Jr. in the back of the head, leaving Jackie's body face down in the snow.^[23][24]

While most in the DiMeo crime family discouraged Jackie Jr.'s life in crime they also saw his leadership potential. Jackie Jr. encountered obstacles in his quest for following his father by Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti. Tony had promised Jackie's father that he would keep him out of a life of crime while Christopher saw Jackie Jr. as a rival as Tony's protégé because his father was acting boss, his uncle was a captain thus making Jackie Jr. in Christopher's words "the heir apparent". Christopher also taunted Jackie about him becoming a made man when Chris knew that Jackie Jr. wanted it more than Chris.

Rosalie, Meadow and the rest of the family were told that Jackie was killed by "black drug dealers from the ghetto". The death of Jackie Jr. had an enormous effect on Meadow Soprano and she began having mixed feelings for her father and his "business." As a result, Meadow was often depressed and told her parents that she knew Jackie was killed by members of organized crime and not by drug dealers.^[23][24] At his funeral Jackie's sister Kelli Aprile said that it was Jackie's life dream to follow in their father's footsteps and join the Mafia. She and Meadow both said they knew that Jackie was killed by mobsters not black drug dealers.

Jackie was also the first person to discover that Ralph had a secret bizarre sex life. He told his friend and partner-in-crime Dino Zerilli that he thought Ralph was "a secret fag or something". Tony would discover Ralph's secret sex life involved eccentric sexual fetishes and masochistic inclinations from Valentina La Paz.

Murders committed by Aprile

• Sunshine: - Shot during an armed robbery of a poker game. (2001)

References

1. Allen Coulter (director); Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess (writers) (2000-04-02). "Knight in White Satin Armor". The Sopranos. Season 2. Episode 12. HBO.
2. "Episode guide - Episode 25 - "Knight in White Satin Armor"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
3. Tim Van Patten (director); David Chase (writer) (2001-03-04). "Proshai, Livushka". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 2. HBO.
4. "Episode guide - Episode 28 - "Proshai, Livushka"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
5. Henry J. Bronchtein (director); Todd A. Kessler (writer) (2001-03-11). "Fortunate Son". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 3. HBO.
6. "Episode guide - Episode 29 - "Fortunate Son"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
7. John Patterson (director); Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess (writers) (2001-03-18). "Employee of the Month". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 4. HBO.
8. "Episode guide - Episode 30 - "Employee of the Month"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
9. Jack Bender (director); Terence Winter (writer) (2001-03-25). "Another Toothpick". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 5. HBO.
10. "Episode guide - Episode 31 - "Another Toothpick"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
11. Allen Coulter (director); David Chase, Terence Winter, Todd A. Kessler, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess (story), Terence Winter and Salvatore J Stabile (teleplay) (2001-04-01). "University". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 6. HBO.
12. "Episode guide - Episode 32 - "University"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
13. Allen Coulter (director); Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess and Todd A. Kessler (writers) (2001-04-15). "He Is Risen (The Sopranos)". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 8. HBO.
14. "Episode guide - Episode 34 - "He Is Risen"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
15. Dan Attias (director); Michael Imperioli (writer) (2001-04-22). "The Telltale Moozadell". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 9. HBO.
16. "Episode guide - Episode 35 - "The Telltale Moozadell"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
17. Jack Bender (director); Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess (writers) (2001-04-29). "…To Save Us All From Satan's Power". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 10. HBO.
18. "Episode guide - Episode 36 - "…To Save Us All From Satan's Power"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
19. Steve Buscemi (director); Tim Van Patten and Terence Winter (story), Terence Winter (teleplay) (2001-05-06). "Pine Barrens". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 11. HBO.
20. "Episode guide - Episode 37 - "Pine Barrens"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
21. Tim Van Patten (director); David Chase (story), Frank Renzulli (teleplay) (2001-05-13). "Amour Fou". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 12. HBO.
22. "Episode guide - Episode 38 - "Amour Fou"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
23. John Patterson (director); David Chase and Lawrence Konner (writers) (2001-05-20). "Army of One". The Sopranos. Season 3. Episode 13. HBO.
24. "Episode guide - Episode 39 - "Army of One"". HBO. Retrieved 2007-11-11.