Dominic Palladino

Dominic Palladino is a supporting character on The Sopranos. He is a former burglar who got into an Alcoholics Anonymous program and now serves as a mediator for other addicts. He is portrayed by Elias Koteas.

Biography[]

Background[]

Dominic was a burglar and regularly broke into several different houses and businesses. He became quite adept at this skill, once breaking into a Stew Leonard's supermarket and stealing several pork loins. Around this time, he also developped a drinking problem, and after getting arrested and being sent to jail for different crimes, entered an Alcoholics Anonymous program which he claims "saved my life". Progress was quite difficult for him, however, and during his first intervention, a friend called Steven Patrano waited for 10 hours before Dominic would sober up. Despite briefly rebounding in 1997, by 2003, he had been sober for four years and was sought after as a mediator for several struggling addicts.^[1]

Season 4[]

Christopher's heroin problem has been spiralling out of control, and this results in several unfortunate incidents, such as when he apshyxiated Adriana's dog Cosette after sitting on her while he was high, or when he was robbed by some Hispanic street dealers, who stole his car and cellphone. After becoming enraged at Adriana when she suggests he enter a rehabilitation program, he strikes her severely in the face, and afterwards, Tony decides to call Dominic to help with Christopher's addiction. Tony, Carmela, his underlings and their families all go to meet with Dominic who lays out the situation and emphasizes they all only wish the best for Christopher; despite this, when introducing himself as a former alcoholic, Paulie deragatorily remarks "don't forget 'scumbag'", which Dominic tries ignoring. When everybody confirms they have never organized a real intervention before, Dominic precises it consists of a non-confrontational approach, and that they should be tolerating with Christopher while still exposing their various problems with him as a result of his substance abuse. Silvio points out that Dominic himself has been subject to more than one intervention. Dominic fully admits to this, saying he had to overcome drug addiction after overcoming alcoholism, to which causes Paulie to label him a "two-time loser".^[1]

When they all ultimately decide to organize the intervention at Christopher's Apartment, he, clearly intoxicated, is reticent to sit down, but Dominic encourages him to. He tells him they only gathered there for his own good, and that he hopes he will listen to what they all have to say. As Adriana is having trouble recounting an occasion when Christopher was abusive towards her, Dominic encourages her to be specific and stay unafraid. Those present continue to express their frustrations with Christopher to his growing irritation, as he makes ill-affected jabs at how none of them are better off than him. Then, Paulie's turn comes up, but instead of saying something he wrote down, he simply berates Christopher and calls him an embarrassment. Dominic reminds Paulie that the intent of the intervention was to admit to Christopher how his drug problem affected them, not to be judgmental. Paulie says "let him take his medicine". At that point, Christopher responds aggressively, calling out Paulie and Silvio over the former's handling of the Pine Barrens situation and the latter's philandering ways. Dominic tries calming the situation down, but Tony interjects, asking Christopher to clamp up. He responds to his assertion that he is "killing [himself] with drugs" by stating "the way you fucking eat, you're gonna have a heart attack by the time you're 50." Silvio and Paulie get up, demanding Christopher show respect to the boss, at which point Christopher's mother Joanne tells them to "smack some sense into him", to which his son responds by calling her a "whore". Christopher is then beaten to the ground by Paulie and Silvio, with Benny joining in and getting hit himself by Christopher, while Dominic and the ladies scream to stop. Ultimately, the intervention ended horrendously, resulting in Christopher being hospitalized briefly. Following his discharge, Christopher was sent to a rehab clinic in Pennsylvania.^[1]

Personality[]

Dominic was kind and understanding, having entered an AA program and learning from its lessons about empathy for others and comprehending their situation. He was polite and level-headed with others, even if they didn't show the same towards him, such as with Paulie, never getting angry at him despite his various insults. Aside from that, he also encouraged people to open up about their own feelings, especially in intervention settings, tenderly asking Adriana to say more about Christopher's physical abuse. It is unknown what Dominic was like in the past, but given his renowned career as a burglar and his alcohol problem around that time, it can be asserted that he was somewhat wild and undisciplined, even having to wait 10 hours in order to sober up at his first intervention.^[1]

Relationships[]

Friends[]

Steven Patrano[]

Steven was a personal friend of Dominic's who helped him along during his first AA intervention in the past. He apparently waited for 10 hours for Dominic to sober up, which demonstrates his devotion towards him.^[1]

DiMeo crime family[]

Tony Soprano[]

Tony contacted Dominic after Christopher's drug problem had become too severe to bear, and saw him as a means to cure Christopher of his addiction.^[1]

Paulie Gualtieri[]

Paulie seemed to know about Dominic's previous reputation as a burglar, and clearly held him in bad regard as a result, calling him a "scumbag" and "two-time loser" when first meeting him. He also held no interest in heeding Dominic's advice of writing down his problems with Christopher, instead criticizing and insulting him.^[1]

Quotes[]

Dominic: "We're all here? Good afternoon, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Dominic and I am an alcoholic and an addict."
Paulie: "Don't forget 'scumbag'."
Dominic: "As some of you obviously don't know, I've also been in recovery now going on four years. I joined AA in prison and frankly it saved my life. Okay, now, we're all here today because we all have one thing in common; not only do we share a certain background and culture, we also care about Chris and want to help him with his heroin addiction. Now, any one of you guys have been involved in an intervention before?"
—Dominic talking to Tony and the others about organizing an intervention for Christopher^[src]

References[]