Letters to the Editor
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Tony the Corrupter, and the perfect ending
I thought this episode was masterful. Tony corrupts his children:
1) AJ - Remember AJ jogging along the road, and Tony entices him into the car? Tony lightly mocks AJ's efforts, and gets him to take the easy way home. Later, of course, he and Carmella bribe him into a life where he will be firmly under their control. His clear, hard purpose to make a difference in the world has been corrupted into a venal, M3-driving climb up the entertainment world's ladder.
2) Meadow - By far the best line of the episode, and maybe even the series, was Meadow explaining her decision to become a lawyer: "I saw you taken out in handcuffs... if it could happen to Italians, think about newcomers to this country!" And it is true; the State can and does crush people. And with this moralizing, Meadow rationalizes her inevitable position as a wealthy attorney defending "white collar" criminals.
How can anyone who has followed this series be disappointed? But there is more...
3) Agent Harris - Far from taking down Tony, he's managed to adopt his values: "He's going to win!" Brilliant.
So, what more could anyone want? Oh right, there is Phil getting crushed, Paulie living his life according to his "liege's" wishes, mafiosos betraying their own for money, mafiosos flipping to save their children, a silent Bada Bing, that wonderfully impentratable new therapist, the cat spooking Paulie, a deflated Silvio, Janice dieting to get a new man, and my all-time favorite exchange: Tony - "Remember your brother, Johnny Boy? You ran North Jersey?" Uncle Jun - "We did? That's nice."
The movie of their lives goes on and on, but the series has come to a stop.