If ever the term "get a life" is appropriate, it's after reading Salon letter writers' endless, energetic, and detailed musings about the end of a friggin' television series. As an indicator of our national mindset, the way Americans relate to TV characters as if they were real (or even remotely relevant to our own lives) is just as disheartening as the country's shallow level of political discourse. Thanks so much to Salon for promoting our ongoing cultural lunacy.

As a loyal American, Tony Soprano gives over some banking type information to his FBI buddy, about some Ayrabs. Their relationship going forward is established as quid pro quo.

Here, Tony is also honoring AJ's awakening to terror along with his son's evidently related (noteworthy, praiseworthy) impulse to join the army.

I don't watch this show, but I keep up with the thread and watched the final 2 episodes. I found AJ to be a more sympathetic character than do most posters, so I felt disappointment when he demonstrates himself utterly capable of "integrating" his liberal politics into the mob life which he so clearly chooses.

In the end, it is the sick Mary Tyler Moore ending--we prayed unto Him, and the happy ending was given unto us--that will stay with us. He mocks everyone with a Hollywood ending. Sheesh!

As with most of the series, the music choice reveals the most. I LOVED that we went from Bob Dylan to Journey in so short a time span. Maybe we're all really AJ watching and letting and loving the randomly angry big boss that rules our lives. Occasionally, we get it and listen to Bob Dylan...but most of the time it's the mindless and shallow lyrics that get us in the end.

For the record, I thought this was the most brilliant final episode ever. I hate those fake wrap-ups like MASH and Cheers and Friends. Let's let the characters live on. I won't stop believin'.

back to the viewer. I guess that is what a social commentary does, generally. all of the objects we have focused judgement on are "shot down": the shrinks, the feds, the mobsters are all clusters of essentially self-interested people who we can comfortably watch as they struggle with basic questions of morality, ie "what is the right thing to do in this situation?"; their actions often failing our expectations of them. don't stop believing? but, what is there to believe in? the scenes that stick out, for me, in the culminating episodes are those depicting the horrified crowd or witness reaction to extreme violence. the staff, performers and audience at the Badda Bing who see the car/motorcycle accident, the guy in the electric train store trying to cover those traumatized kids with his body, the projectiling crowd at the gas station: as viewers, They are Us. and They have one clear, unambiguous, horrified reaction to extreme viloence. when it culminates in a moment. perhaps we are meant to draw in all of the mundane, seemingly-benign choices that lead to such an event: Episode One of this season brought us drink-by-drink from placid lake-side vacation to major family rift. in any case, Heather's article is the best I've read so-far on the last episode in a really interesting series. unless the do a movie in three years.

I was stunned and confused, but naturally I immediately began trying to justify it to my 25 yr. old son, who was pissed beyond belief. Even when I posited that the abrupt black screen meant Tony had been whacked, he still wouldn't get over it. (Did you notice the guy at the counter was "Nick LEOTARDO" in the credits?)

Within a short while, it hit me that the ending was brilliant, the only way to end such an abiguous show. And that Journey song! So Tony, whose taste in music has always been thus. (pay attention to when he himself chooses the music-predictable and goofy)

This morning, I'm laughing my ass off. David Chase has succeeded in turning millions of Sopranos fans into two warring factions.

Sopranos has never focused on Movement of the story. It has always been about character development.

F&%kin' Phil... that was sweet. Chase gave us that much.

Some scenes move the story forward; some scenes project the character's emotions onto the audience. The latter is the hardest to make. We now know how Tony lived every day - always in fear of what any other guy might do - but nothing happens and organized crime goes on. They dare the worst and wait. They sit at a table in the street, hang out in toy stores, take the family to storefront restaurants - and wait for the guy with the gun.

The analyst was right: she only made Tony a more confident sociopath, willing to take his entire family with him to certain death just to prove he could. We really did deserve that ending. We became the sociopaths. We are the ones who think there's a difference between the mafia and the foreign terrorists they fear. We are the ones upset there was no bloodshed at the end. If we want to argue the storyline, we missed the point. We are the story.

Yeah, and alot of people pretend to lake that, too.

I think it was a perfect ending and don't understand how so many fans are calling it a cop out. I was dreading watching it "live" and Tivo'd the finale. Then later I watched the previous epidsode before watching the finale. I didn't want an ending I might not like. That said, I was eleated with what David Chase gave me!

We got Tony visiting Junior and Tony and Junior getting one last jab at Janice, by not allowing her to profit from Bobby's death, give the money to his kids. This was sweet and unexpected.

I LOVED Paulie and the cat! Sorry folks, I know this was the final episode, but I wanted to smile and enjoy what was left of the original crew, and Paulie, with all his phobias, made me laugh. A cat that stares at Christopher's photo. Maybe this is Chase teasing all the "Ade is coming back" fans.

I've never liked AJ and could have lived without his "problems" taking up a good 15 minutes of the show, but, he is family.

I felt like Tony's ducks did come back to roost, but his ducks are his family and they were all coming to him at the diner, all arriving seperatly.

Does Tony get whacked in those last minutes of the epidsode? Probably, but I like knowing that I can tell myself he didn't and smile.

Bravo to David Chase. Am anxious to see the other 2 alternate endings when the dvd comes out.