MADDON'!

James Lileks, on "The Sopranos," in his latest Bleat:

There are three ways "The Sopranos" can end. Either it concludes open-ended, with Tony continuing on in a greater or lesser role. Not completely satisfying, but it might work -- the audience is drawn to Tony as much as they are repelled, and part of us roots for him against our better judgment. Two: the last season has a trial. Bad idea. Mob trials don't make for compelling dramas, and they're always anticlimactic. Either there's jury tampering and the mob guy gets off, or he's convicted and we have to endure those boring stretches inside the prison with the obligatory scene of two people sitting on opposite sides of a sheet of glass, talking on the phone.

Or he dies. I think that's what they'll do. I think the fall of Tony Soprano would make for a season even better than this one, and this one is exceptional.

I agree. What really makes the series hum in its fifth season is the ever-present sense of impending disaster. It may not be this episode or that, but something really bad is always about to happen. Series-long fans have been on emotional roller-coaster rides regarding a few major characters -- the unfortunate-but-necessary putting down of the ambitious but inept Jackie Jr.; Big Pussy killed for turning state's evidence, and his memorable last words "Please fellas, not the face"; Ralphie killing the prostitute, Tracee, and his deserved killing and beheading; and then perhaps most surprisingly, the perhaps not shocking but still surprising collapse of Tony and Carmela's marriage last season. [What about Janice shooting Richie Aprile? -ed. Nobody liked Richie Aprile. No charisma.]

The pattern above is that bad things will happen to the main characters -- Sopranos family members, mostly -- but they don't get killed. Or at least they haven't been.

Already Adriana has been talking to the feds for almost a season and a half, and if Christopher is supposed to be Tony's successor, one or both of them will be dead, in prison or in the witness protection program by the end of the series. With the latest episode, one can see how Tony might now find out. Killing Adriana might keep him out of prison, but it would destroy his relationship with Christopher. And what of A.J.? Doesn't seem like he'll be going to college right now -- will he meet the same fate as Jackie Jr.? Will Carmela walk away from the awful comprimise she's lived for most of her life?

All told, there is no way for this show to end happily, and nor should it. I say the more carnage the better. David Chase's contention that there will never be a "Sopranos" feature film would seem to reinforce the assumption that the whole thing will be blown apart by the end of Season 6. The anticipation of all this makes for some damn compelling TV. I just hope the way it plays out won't be a letdown.

P.S. There's a fairly interesting thread about this over at Television Without Pity. I'd say the consensus is most everybody ends up "dead dead dead" and those who don't are left with pathetic, miserable lives. I'm counting on it.

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posted by WWB at 6:59 PM |