I think Tony will survive, but will lose what few remain precious to him: Meadow and (believe it or not) Carmela. AJ -- still alive and sniveling about this terrible thing that has happened to him -- will be all that remains, and at the end we'll see the faintest beginnings in Tony of "Why couldn't it have been you?"

Well, we got one, all right.

In all the wrong ways.

Just about every season has ended with the Sopranos gathered in some Hallmark moment, usually in a restaurant but also at home, congratulating themselves for their latest perfect triumphs in this unjust world that rewards evil over good.

In a few days I guess I'll see that this wasn't just a cynical way of keeping things open for a movie. Maybe the movie will end it all for sure -- unless someone whispers "sequel."

But goddamn it, I do NOT want to wait 10 years for the movie! Which is how long Chase is likely to take.

Meanwhile, AJ looks likely to head down his father's morally bankrupt path. Nice deja vu moment in the scene with AJ and his coolly unjudgmental female shrink - Dr. Melfi Jr.?

Also, has Adriana returned as the cat?

I must join the tiny minority who think Kitty needs to go home and change. She also needs to shut up about her marital problems. I think she's getting ready to inject herself into the dating scene again and has decided to turn her chest into a billboard.

Maybe the rest of the office is just afraid to bring it up.

If LW were a woman whose male co-worker wore a T-shirt proclaiming "Dick's Just Hangin'" many people here would probably be expressing our outrage at the insensitive lout.

Seems to me that if Tony were the one killed, the camera would not have been focused on him. The camera's eye was from the perspective of those who were facing Tony.

If anyone died, it was one of Tony's family. Revenge for taking Phil down in front of his family, something to cause him infinite pain.

Plus, with Tony dead what's left for the movie? Flashbacks?

Killing one or all of Tony's family gives us a movie full of pain and retribution.

Mr. 9/11 is off sputtering trademarked platitudes about leadership and courage, when he could have shown real leadership and courage by, at the very least, keeping a commitment. Isn't that one of the principles of leadership, keeping your word?

Another is fighting for what you believe in, even if it's clear you're in the minority.

I guess if it's not accompanied by marching-band music and you can't get sell it for $29.95 and put it on a T-shirt or a bumper sticker, who gives a shit?

. . . for the same reason I will never see the new movie version of "The Producers."

I also loved "Mad Men," although I have to wonder if it's really just a Republican fever dream.

And if Draper is concealing a wife and kiddies in the 'burbs, I hope to find out how he's managed to do so while rising to the heights of Mad Ave. I thought a Sweet Wifey and 2.4 Adorable Tykes were the keys to the kingdom for execs in the 50s.

I loved how Draper comes fresh off winning the tobacco account to a discussion of possibly repping Dick Nixon. Hey, what's next - the NRA?

>that awful 60's song, "Wives and Lovers" (which features the immortal advice-to-wives, "Day after day, there are girls at the office and the men will always be men, Don't stand him up, with your hair still in curlers, you may not see him again.") :)

deering, I remember being forced to listen to that song every schoolday while my mom made breakfast. Between that and Peggy Lee singing "Is That All There Is?" it's a wonder I ever got married.

From the USA Today article on which this piece was based:

Kristal notes that animal births usually involve the mother licking her vaginal area, thereby ingesting the fluid during delivery.

This is even better than Dawggone's solution, IMO.

I'm really getting tired of Salon looking down its nose at those who didn't watch a political program and titling the recap "What You Missed While Watching (insert dumbass time-wasting show for morons)."

. . . Walter Cronkite was still alive last time I checked, bluecanary. Not yet ready to roll in his grave. (Although Couric's commentary may have put him a little closer to it.)

Second, I blame Lohan and her ilk for spawning this species of snarky 20something entertainment "reporters" and D-list entertainers who clog the airways with their endless commentary on VH1 and MTV and Bravo and all the copycat "Best of/Worst of" cable shows, showing us how clever they are in finding new ways of making fun of Paris and Lindsay and whoever. They are so good at condemning these stars -- without whom they would have nothing whatsoever to say and no discernible means of support.

Clinton is not the president who preached virtuous morality while living his life and running his administration in just the opposite fashion.

Heather, I think you have your dicks confused.

>I think he was a great president, but it takes a special someone to write a letter rather than just letting a joke slide off.

Not a very good one, but Heather trying to show how un-liberally biased she is with a knee-jerk gotta-say-something-bad-about-Clinton without worrying if it was true. Clinton got those blow jobs in the Oval Office but never jammed morality down our throats (pun intended).