dsweeney wrote: There isn't a parallel in the relationships of Johnny Boy/ Tony and Tony/ Christopher, IMO. In the first, Tony is the SON but in the second he is the FATHER. Tony sees Chris as a SON , not as a father-figure that he can lash out at in unconscious rage. Surely uncle Jun, for instance, is a more worthy candidate as a father-figure who brought Tony in to a life of crime and therefore be the object of his unconscious rage ?

Actually, there is a parallel - Tony is to Chris as Chris's father Dickie was to Tony. He even admitted that in therapy to Melfi. While I'm not sure I agree with Fly's suggestion that killing Chris was a gesture to kill his own father, I can see how she might get there. Chris earlier tells Tony that Dickie was just a junkie and then reminds Tony of that same thing as he asks for a taxi. A connection to fathers is made right there.

I'm sorry but it's not a parallel situation, at least from my perspective on this. In the Tony/Chris relationship Tony is the "father-figure". In the Tony/ Dickie Moltisanti relationship Tony is the "son". Tony looked up to Dickie as a father figure. He looks "down", so to speak, on Chris as his "son". There is a different dynamic entirely in the two relationships. Likewise with the Tony/ Johnny Boy and Tony/Chris relationships.

This is why I can't square Fly's analysis of hatred for his father as a ( unconscious ) motive for Tony killing Christopher. His renewed drug use and the danger to Tony that entails plus the realisation that Chris despises him are motives enough. As someone already mentioned Chris knows far too much about Tony's business, the murder of Ralph being top of the list.

dsweeney, you are imposing the requirement that Tony must bear the same relationship to Chris as he does to his father for the killing to be symbolically significant. That's not the case. The symbolism is drawn from a host of other factors.

I have enumerated them in large chunks in other posts, including much earlier in this thread, but I can see now that to give this thesis the treatment it deserves, I should do a dedicated thread and organize all the thoughts in one post. I will get started on it ASAP, as I really do think this is the key to getting the most out of season 6.

Well no Fly, I'm not saying that. The killing of Christopher may well have some symbolism attached to it, by all means, just not that of Tony unconsciously killing his father. The only way I can run with your idea Fly is if that by killing Christopher, his "son", at some level Tony wishes his father had killed the gangster side of HIM. Tony that is.
The killing of Christopher is, as I said elsewhere, the absolute nadir for Tony. He has now killed both his "cousins", the guys he spent his summers down on "uncle" Pat's farm with. Two of his closest childhood buddies. For me, if the killing of Chris has any symbolic meaning, it is that of Tony severing all ties with his past, his innocence, WITH HIS FATHER. I can make the connection with your theory in that context, for sure. But an unconscious desire to kill his father as a motive for killing Chris ? I just can't go there I'm afraid. Food for thought though.