Originally posted by: purbeast0
what a worthless episode, and a worthless season. Here is a summary of the whole season ...
- Tony gets shot and is a coma for 3 episodes in la la land with some stupid dream sequences that had no point in the show.
- Vito is gay and gets offed for it.
Other than that, pretty much nothing happened. I am so damn disappointed that I waited 2 years for this season to come out and it was overall absolute garbage.
Ridiculous.
- Johnny plead guilty, which basically guaranteed he'll be nothing when he gets out.
- Vito situation obviously was a big deal. But, not only did it show that they were intolerant (big surprise), it also showed how much they love that life, and how hard (impossible?) it was for him to give it up.
- Christopher clearly will never banish his demons, and cannot take over the family. He also will never have enough... anything. He has all that he has, and he still robs Lauren Bacall (sp?).
- Paulie has cancer, and likely won't last too long, making his rise to power unlikely.
- Silvio can't - or won't - take the responsibility of being boss, so he won't take over.
- AJ is absolutely incapable of taking over after his father. You can say that was clear before this season, but it was not.
- Tony, after being in a coma and basically being in a position to realize the error of his ways, is completely back to the man he once was. Still has a gumar (sp?), etc. He will never change.
Yes, it's more of a setup for the ending, and not enough happened, that's clear. However, it was still a good season. Many people didn't like the dream sequences, but I think that it was important to really display how close Tony was to death and how the afterlife looks for him. He now has a chance to repent, but it's clear from this season that he's not going to do that. I also loved the line from Dr. Melfi (as best as I can remember it): "I find it interesting that you're getting mad at Carmella for doing exactly what you wished your mother had done for you."
So where does it leave us? For one, things are coming to an end quickly for the entire family. When Tony falls, NOBODY will take his place. Christopher is the most likely successor, but he won't have the respect of anyone because of his using and because of his age; he doesn't have enough respect if Tony isn't in the picture. Silvio would have been the most likely except he made it clear this season that he doesn't want that job. AJ can't do it - period.
I agree completely that David Chase could have gone about all of this while killing more people and making bigger splashes with the characters, but I still think that he's going for a great ending, and I can't wait for the last 8 episodes.