Christopher Goes All Judas
By Max Allan Collins
Rumors of a theatrical film continue, and Tony needs to be alive for that to happen. A prequel just won’t cut it. On the big screen, the melodrama could really hit the fans. I can see Tony making a decision that speaks to his inner humanity but goes against the grain of the mob. And his surrogate son, Christopher, is assigned the inevitable hit. A tortured, reluctant Christopher must kill Tony, and Tony hesitates just long enough, responding to that glimmer of humanity we prize in him, to give Christopher time to commit the act that will put the younger man on the way to the top in one sense and to bottom out in another.

Perhaps the final scene has Christopher inviting a now twentyish A.J. into the family business, wanting to make it up to his late father figure by doing the right thing by his real son. But really, this is the last thing Tony would’ve wanted for A.J. And one day, A.J. will learn the truth and have to kill Christopher.

Next: A Dream So Real

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• Archive: “Features”
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