I have faithfully watched from the get go and reruns as well on HBO.

Last season was so-so and I know that's likely a shock to some of the true devotees; this season is about the same - kinda' here kinda' there; was I shoced when Tony finished his nephew off - no, that's what Tony does, remember his cousin he blew off the porch, not to mention other numerous "friends" over the years....what else would or could we expect Tony to do.

The entire rapture in becoming involved in the series, has been in the casting. Great piece in Vanity Fair last month, more on Chase than the series, interesting back door stuff how he started, etc. Can we even look at James G or Edie F or the rest of the actors and not immediately think and know who their character on the series was! Whoever selected them for the roles did a superb job; ergo, that's why I believe all of us are so caught up in the series, The Sopranos has become its own culture or perhaps sub-culture.

Ain't life grand that we have this escape from the turmoil of daily life and the war overseas and know we can chill out for an hour Sunday night.

I cannot imagine Chase killing off Tony, whether by gun or by federal intervention. Tony reigns on, so he's having a few moments of regress here, he splits for Vegas to do what he does best - drink, gamble and whore around - that's good old Tony. Not to lend credence to what Tony does, but Tony does what he does, best!

I will steel myself for the remaining episodes cuz ya' just have to watch.

I used to say that the ending was right there, under our noses: a soprano sings, and a soprano is the highest male voice... so Tony Soprano will sing to the Feds, justifying his lack of the old time honor that he often claims to miss the way he justifies everything else in his life. Too simple? Perhaps. But morality tales usually are simple. Tony is too weak to last, and the circling sharks (his own men as well as the rival family) see his weakness. Who is left to stand up for him? Paulie is seething with indignation and hurt pride, seeing himself as deserving to be the boss. Silvio knows that it was a major slap at his honor and at Tony's family to order a hit on another captain while he was having dinner with him, and Tony let it slide. The soldiers (Little Paulie & his crew) are finding out that they can get away with breaking the rules at will. The whole "our thing" is crumbling around Tony.

At this point, any idea of Tony's redemption would be as much an unworthy cop-out as having A.J. wake up a "Saint Elsewhere" ending, realizing that it had all been a dream.

There was a very telling scene: The garbage truck dumps all the asbestos in the pond, while in the distance we hear the ducks . . . the ducks, Tony's symbolic family.

Among the wreckage: A.J. gets pinched for dealing all the anti-depressant medication his doctor has unwisely prescribed for him. Since when has A.J. had a thought deep enough to cause depression? His "it's all fucked up" act last week was contrived to get pills he can sell to his Next-Gen Thug friends.