Soprano's 5th Season Finale (6/4) (Spoilers)

That was definitely not Svetlana.

 

This should put the whole "Edie Falco is so hot" nonsense to bed

 

Um...that photo was taken after she had finished treatment for breast cancer (during which she lost her hair). Give her a break.

 

Watched again early this morning. JG was very good in his scenes with Chrissy and with Melfi.

It is strange -- knowing that no one would get killed makes the viewing experience a lot different.

 

Watched this last night, finally, had been busy for a couple of days and caught a repeat on HBO.
I was surprised Chrissy didn't get whacked, but hey, there have been finales before where nobody bought the farm and the real drama happened on the next-to-last show (Adrianna, for one, was killed right before the finale).
I didn't love this finale, but it rammed home the whole theme of the season: strength.
Tony proved he had strength this season, by getting shot and pulling through and, by the end, becoming the same boss who was getting blowjobs from strippers and ordering buildings to blow up and standing up to New York.
Sil failed - remember his stretch as acting boss?
The stress got Phil, too.
Vito failed miserably - he couldn't handle everyday gay anonymity in Vermont, so he came back home to get whacked.
Chris is back on the heroin.
Paulie has prostate cancer.
Junior is crazy as hell, locked up and claiming Tony's shooting was connected to JFK.
And Bacala is a half-blind idiot.
Who stands strong through it all? Tony.
I have no idea where they're going with the final 8 episodes, but I'm going to watch.

 

It's been said before on the thread, but I enjoyed how the show kept people in suspense about Chrissy's fate. And I'm in agreement that Julianna Marguiles is actually one of the Feds. But then again, I thought Phil was going to get whacked so I could be totally wrong.

Still, I'm anticipating the final season.

 

Isn't it season 6 -- not 5?

 

I'm pretty sure that undercover agents don't have sex or shoot heroin with their surveillence subjects.

 

Didn't junior tell Bobby that the money was for him and Karen and the kids? Karen being his former wife who died a while ago? I thought I picked that up watching the rerun.

 

She could have her own addiction problems. Hmmm?

 

you're RIGHT! Damn, that's either weird, or sloppy, or both.

 

Despite the lack of blood, I really liked this season.

Tony's at a crossroad in his personal/family/business lives following the shooting. He's not as apt to whack someone--see Vito--as he once was. Think back to seasons past. Would Tony Soprano have shown true concern for a hospitalized Phil Leotardo?

It's a cliche, but this season set up the last eight episodes and the movie (they're filming at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens right now) very well. Right now, the main storylines are the burgeoning war between NY and NJ (Phil's lieutenant was upset that Phil did not order a murder in retaliation for Fat Dom's disappearance. Later in the episode, he physically challenged Tony, which will come back to bite him in his ass); Chrissy's eventual death, either by the hands of NY or drugs; Tony splitting from his crew; Uncle Jun's trial and subsequent conviction; Johnny Sack eventually rolling on his capos; A.J.'s newfound maturity and Tony's acceptance of that; Tony and Carmela dealing with their prejudiced beliefs about A.J.'s girlfriend; Paulie's nervous breakdown and subsequent death (he's getting sloppy business-wise and sooner or later, he's going to piss off the wrong guy).