I Like to Watch

May 13, 2006 | Paulie is going off the rails. Tony and Christopher are acting like oversize teenagers in search of a good time. Carmela is feeling disenfranchised. AJ is lashing out. Meadow and Finn are struggling with the compromises of the straight life. After starting the season with a big bang -- Tony getting shot in the gut by Uncle Junior -- then retreating into familiar territory, "The Sopranos" suddenly feels darker and weightier by the second. It's as if the fates, who've kept the family safe from outright devastation for years now, are winding up to deliver a final, fatal blow to the heart of this deeply corrupt brood.

Critics of the series may occasionally speak out against the casual violence and disrespect for human life these self-involved miscreants demonstrate week after week, but that's always been the point of the show: to reveal the ugliest, most selfish, most careless corners of human behavior. As much as we've been trained, by decades of happy endings, to long for some growing and hugging and learning, we all know very well that, given the obvious disgust and disapproval that David Chase and the writers have had for these characters over the years, and given the limited ability of the characters to change or evolve out of their compromised existences and self-centered, unenlightened worldviews, there must be a big, gruesome reality check waiting for the entire odious clan.

After all, when has the hammer really come down in the past? Tony and his minions have narrowly escaped death and incarceration countless times, and Tony has somehow kept his most nefarious acts hidden from his wife and children. What happens when they find out about Adrianna, not to mention the long string of associates that "had to go" over the years? And what kinds of compromises will Tony be willing to make when the lives of his wife or his children are at stake? How weak can Tony appear before his underlings rise up and take him out? In a world this morally bereft, there are no real limits to how ugly and sad things might become, and it's hard to imagine that the writers will back off from a worst-case scenario ending. With just three more episodes this month and then six more in January of 2007 to complete the final season, it's a safe bet that this epic tale will come to a close with the senseless deaths and the tearing of hair befitting a Shakespearean tragedy.

Given the dire predictions we've received, most of you are bracing yourselves for a nasty blow. But will Tony fall from power, go to prison, or die a horrible death? Will one of his kids be caught in the crossfire? Who will take over the business if Tony is dethroned? Here are some of your best -- and most entertaining -- guesses on how "The Sopranos" will end.

I've always assumed that the series would end with Tony's death. It's really the only possible resolution: He can't go straight (there's the little matter of all those murders -- the only way to "resolve" that would be for him to turn himself in, which wouldn't be very satisfying), and he can't keep on the way he's going, so the only "solution" is death. During the episodes where he was in a coma, I wondered whether the whole last season would be about his death and the jockeying for position thereafter. Now that would be interesting! As it is, I agree with you, it's just a retread of what we've already seen.

Anyway, I'm still predicting that he'll die before the end of the series, possibly in the very last episode, though I'm hoping that we'll get to see a little bit about what happens to Carmela and the kids afterwardh. I am also hoping to see Christopher die a painful and humiliating death.

-- Janet Lafler

I'm convinced that this entire season is foreshadowing the death of Tony Soprano. He's going to do what you want him to do -- finally let that mangy old dog in from the cold -- and it will be his doom. In his world, a display of compassion is a sign of weakness, and his buddies and rivals already suspect him of going soft. His near-death gave them a taste of the opportunities that await, and they are all hungry for more. The final season will focus on what happens when Tony, the center of everyone's universe, dies. Will the gang members fight it out for control and who will come out on top, or will they be eliminated/absorbed by another gang? How will Carmela function when the money train slams to a halt? Will AJ spin completely out of control, join the gang, or both? Will Meadow walk away to a different life, or will she let herself get sucked back into the family? Tony's story is coming to a close, and the hard lesson is that he didn't learn a damn thing. The epilogue will close out the other major characters' stories, and it will be great.

-- Dave Swanson

Next page: Will Christopher's credit card fraud spell his demise?