The Sopranos, Tony Soprano
With Tony Soprano, it was always impossible to separate the good from the monstrous. So it was with his performance as a father. He loved his kids and gave them a luxurious home life, but that made them accomplices, in essence, once they were old enough to figure out how Dad earned his living. The elder Soprano blamed himself (specifically, his ''putrid genes'') for Anthony Jr.'s frequent bouts of anxiety and depression. Tony saved his son from suicide but called him crazy and stupid moments later. When the spoiled, directionless AJ finally had a noble impulse (to join the Army), Tony and Carmela quickly squelched it, buying him off with a new BMW, a cushy job as a production assistant on a mob-financed movie, and a promise to invest in a nightclub business. As for daughter Meadow, seeing her dad repeatedly taken away in handcuffs influenced her decision to become a lawyer; as the series ended, she was about to marry another mobster's son and take a job with a law firm that defended Mafia clients in court. Tony dreamed of a better life for his family, one uncorrupted by ''this Thing of Ours,'' but his kids both ended up working for the Family. — Gary Susman
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