Whacked!

I'll join the chorus of people blogging The Sopranos. I've been watching since season 1 when my roommate put me on to the show. I've been hooked all along. Yeah, there were times I thought it was falling off but then they'd come back and blow me away.

This season, I guess technically season 6B, has been terrific. They spent half the season building up who was going to take out Tony. He has the big fight with Bobby. Chris' slasher movie is played as a fantasy of Chris wanting to take down Tony. Paulie Walnuts drive Tony crazy and we see loggerheads between them. And, of course, there's Phil. With all those enemies how can Tony possibly live?

And the show continued to portray these characters for what they are. The creators showed us the trials and tribulations of their daily lives and you begin to build sympathy for them and then they go off and show that they are evil men. Chris gets drunk adn goes to his former AA sponsor for help. Chris is hurting. He's off the wagon and feels himself spiraling out of control again. You begin to feel for him and then a second later he murders his friend and walks away without a regret.

That's just cold!

Everyone at the office is complaining about the final sequence. And that was my initial reaction as well. But I'm changing my mind. It was absolutely brilliant!!! The suspense they built up. Tony nervously looking up everytime the diner door opened. Joy or fear with each person. The vaguely threatening people entering interspersed with his family. Even Meadow struggling to parallel her car brought on the anxiety. The most threatening guy heading into an old style bathroom ala The Gosfather. My heart was beating a mile a minute. And then.......

A black screen.

Awesome! That is the kind of TV that only HBO gets away with. Network shows would have required a final closing. Even Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was cut off in mid chorus at "Don't stop..."