The Sopranos - Final Episodes (Spoilers!)

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think it was the final major ep on Uncle Junior, which is why he got so much time (kind of a farewell episode). He was starting to assert himself, but things got a bit crazy and now he's going with it, and got his ass kicked by his "partner in crime" for it. I don't think we hear all that much from him anymore in the series.

And at the same time it was a lot of background stuff on Paulie. It is interesting that Paulie's entire family is the mob and has been from an early age. He doesn't have anyone else to lean on.

[Lord Avalon]

Well, there's Paulie's "ma." Although they had a falling out when he found out the truth, but didn't he go back when he found out he had the big C? I guess since he beat it, he thinks he doesn't need her any more.

The show was a big trip down nostalgia lane.

[Jules]

Good to see Junior back in top form...
...for the first half-hour anyway.

Originally posted by Dis
can someone please give me the highlights of last season?

Phil and Vito both came out of the closet.

[Lord Avalon]

Sheesh, had to dig for this. Is there any chance of a TV forum?

I have to say, the first half of the final episodes has been pretty slow. Things better pick up in the final four.

Hmmm, AJ went from emotional wreck to getting a taste of the biz as he helped some guys he knew in high school (now in college running gambling) hold down a guy getting sulfuric acid dripped on his foot for nonpayment.

Is Chrissy going to the Feds, or just going oobatz?

from Peter King's MMQB
Sopranos Note of the Week: There have been some gratuitous, stunning, sudden whackings in the show's bloody history, but not many as quick and senseless as the one we saw Sunday night. No clues, but sheesh, we didn't really need that one, did we? This was the weakest of the five episodes so far, but interesting in how it set up A.J. for the last four shows. Personally, anytime Phil Leotardo and Uncle June are not on, it's a lost opportunity to see the real stars of the show. Who the heck is Meadow anymore, anyway? Strange, stupidly malleable character.

Yeah, WTF is the dealio with Meadow anyway?!

In the previous episode neither Phil nor Tony could talk sense into Little Vito, who had gone all goth after the death of his father. Seemed a lot of set up for a showdown between the two bosses, what with Phil not taking care of his relations, and Tony resenting that because Marie came to him (as Vito's boss) for $100K to move to Maine, and him on a losing streak.

Tony was even getting pissy at his old friend Hesh while a repaying 200K loan. I wondered if he had Hesh's wife whacked, but she just died of a stroke (so sayeth the episode guide). Poor Hesh. But probably nobody's going to get a happy ending.

[Solomwi]

I think they may be setting Chris up to have to play ball with the feds. His simmering disdain for Tony won't make that a heartbreaking decision, and a whacking that sloppy will probably lead them right to his door sooner, rather than later.

Sloppy whacking.

[Lord Avalon]

Well, he did wipe down the door handle. I don't think he touched anything in the place (though his prints could be there from previous visits). Was he too drunk to ditch the gun?

[Solomwi]

Probably, but the wiping down of the door handle just struck me as an afterthought, an effort by the director to show us Chris is paying lip service to covering his tracks, but that's about it. Chris is fairly well known as an acquaintance of J.T.'s, and his livelihood is, if not known, strongly suspected by the feds. Once J.T.'s body, which Chris did nothing to hide, turns up, he'll be near the top of their list of interested parties. Chris has been given to make rash decisions in moments of panic, so whether or not he gives into his growing hatred for Tony, he's liable to try to cut a deal once they start talking to him about the murder.

[Lord Avalon]

Also there's tension between him and Paulie, so something could happen there. Nice lawn job. (Though you'd think Paulie wouldn't want to mess up his nice car doing it.)

[Solomwi]

Nice lawn job, indeed. Paulie's enough of a hothead that I can see him not even thinking about his car. That was classic stuff. "He terrorized my wife, Tone!"

By the way, I think the stuff with Paulie just adds to the general estrangement Chris is sensing. Bacala's the one discussing business over beer with Tony at the cookout, and then he finds himself the butt of the joke toward the end, with the entire family laughing at him. He's got a long way back to the inner circle and may find the feds a more appealing route. Of course, that may lead him to join Adrianna in an upstate forest, too.

[Jules]

After this episode methinks Chrissy's headed straight for that big Irish pub down below, if you know what I mean.

Oh, but first he's gonna whack Paulie at 3 o'clock.

[notyoueither]

Which is a better end for Tony?

Behind bars or under the lawn?

I'll put $5 on them ending it with bars. Dead is too easy.

What they're doing with Paulie and Chrissy could lead to either.

They also lost it a bit in that episode. Paulie made a grave insult to Chris's daughter, after ransacking his lawn (home). Should have been a fight right then and there. These are not corporate brown-nosers. Chris' quick draw and shoot was in the wrong scene.

[Solomwi]

Honestly, I don't think either would do the series justice. The "life goes on, albeit as a steady stream of ****" ending would be the most fitting. There is a lot of dust being kicked up indicating an explosive end, so much that a lot of people will be disappointed if there isn't one, but even then, I think showing these swirling crises pass and Tony moving through them into a crappier life than before would fit the overall series better.

[Lord Avalon]

Sorry, I think Tony ending up behind bars would be most fitting. What could be crappier than that, plus some of his "family" getting whacked?

[notyoueither]

Ohh. Anthony Junior falls afoul of someone?

There is some build-up for that.

[Solomwi]

If done right, that could satisfy both our descriptions. Prison, though, might be a relief for Tony. Keeping him alive and "free" just means a daily dose of his failures as a boss, in the form of a weak, ineffective family (no way everybody makes it to the end), and as a parent, in the form of AJ, being thrown in his face and reminding him how miserable his entire existence is.

That would also fit with the theme this season of showing how pathetic/despicable these people really are. Paulie's a washed-up nobody. Junior's an invalid. Tony's a degenerate gambler on a really bad streak. Chris, after some hints of backbone, now seems destined to forever remain a junkie and spineless bully. Hell, Sil's becoming the only one worth caring what happens to.