For a show that is coming into its final episode next week, The Sopranos certainly seems like it’s in mid-season form right now. With the war between the New York and New Jersey families kicking into high gear, it’s hard to imagine that there are only 50 minutes or so of television time left for TV’s most loved mob story.
This week was a good episode, but I think a lot of the long-time Sopranos fans will be unhappy with Bobby dead and Sil pretty much brain dead. Killing one of those guys might have been a necessary evil given the fact that people have been waiting for the end of this series just to see what happens. Ok, so if Bobby, Sil, or Paulie had to go for that reason, then I can understand the need to satisfy the viewers’ thirsts and give them some blood.
However, if I was the writer (and I’m not), I would stay FAR away from killing Tony now. Not only has the man already endured a near-death experience (as we endured a completely ridiculous purgatory storyline), but with Bobby and Sil already out of the picture, killing Tony would be about the worst way possible to end this series. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those guys who says that Tony is the end-all-be-all of the series and absolutely must stay in it to give it legitimacy (even until its final episode). I’m not like that at all.
What I DO believe in is that Tony, Sil, Bobby, Paulie, Christopher, Carlo, and – to some degree – Vito and Big Pussy represent the New Jersey “family” in The Sopranos. With all of them gone besides Walnuts and Tony, killing off the leader of the family in the final episode would be akin to the writers saying, “Hey – you just spent the last eight years watching this show and getting to know Tony Soprano for nothing! Ha!”
I am a little concerned because sometimes writers feel the need to go for the big one and essentially kill what they’ve created. Here’s hoping that the writers of The Sopranos give the fans what they want – Tony alive at the end of the series, Anthony Jr. somehow not alive (I know that’s rough, but the kid is a bitch), Phil Leotardo taken down off of his high horse, Sil back and functional (not likely), and Meadow naked (sorry, had to throw it in).
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