I always thought the pilot was a little vague where Tony was in the food chain. Tony talked about his father not reaching Tony's accomplishments, but he's also making a collection with Chris. I figured he and Junior were at least equals when Junior ranted "You may run North Jersey, but you don't run your uncle..."

Of course the pilot was shot a year before the rest of the first season, so there was a good opportunity to tweak some details. For example, in Silvio's first scene, he made it seem he wasn't too aware of the Tony/Artie/Vesuvio connection. But in later episodes, not only do their daughters attend the same school, the three of them grew up together.