Considering the time between seasons, it would be perfect! Weight Loss!! Start the last season filming James Gandolfini as he is now: overweight. Then, stop production and allow Gandolfini to go on a diet to lose all the weight and beyond, to get outright skinny to give the impression that he is sick. The start of the series had Jackie, the Boss,dying from cancer, and you can have the end of the series with Tony, the Boss, dying from cancer.

Other options for the weight loss include a flashback scene (ala Godfather II) with Gandolfini a skinnier man and a hairpiece to indicate youth, with Carmella in a 1970's doo, showing them as they were when their kids were kids in happier times - perhaps in the aftermath of Meadow or Anthony, Jr getting wacked.

It would be a memorable way to end a successful series - something radical like Tom Hanks (Cast Away) and Robert DeNiro (Raging Bull).

mm-kay

IMO, I would rather they did not do any gimmicks or twists or surprises. Just let the story arc follow it's progression.

What RandyC said. Just let it go, no need to get gimmicky, the writers can handle everything perfectly.

I agree with RandyC.

I was agreeing with WillieTheShakes

I agreed with rankyc when he agreed with williethesnakes.

My thoughts on ending the series...

EVERYBODY DIES!

And I mean everyone, not a single person is spared on the show... A f//king massacre!!!

Do you think Tony or Christopher will wind up in jail by series end?

I'm hoping they'll all go to jail and meet up with the gang from Seinfeld.

Screw all youse guys. I ain't agreeing with any of yous.

However, I would like to see this show end with a whimper. Pissing off all the "fans" that complain about "nothing happening".

i don't agree with you.

Nope, if "my Tony" catches the dread "Atkins" disease, he's right off my "anytime, anywhere, anything-he-wants" list.

I'll place a bet.

Someone dies at the end. Someone of importance.

You heard it here first.

I believe that Tony should die and the series ends with Chris taking over.

In retrospect,we'll then relize that the series was the rise of Chris all along.... to see how one progresses from a soldier to the boss.

He had, the "movie arc" that his character hoped he'd have (when he was writing screenplays).

Everybody else... kinda status quo all along... this is the chris story from soldier to boss

I'm hoping that Tony hears his shower running, runs to the bathroom, pulls back the curtain and sees Big P U S S Y there and then realizes everything was a dream.

We watched Tony go from soldier to Boss too. When the series started he was a captain - high ranking, but not a Boss.

One of the great things about The Sopranos is that they are not a crime family. I think Johnny Sac once called Tony and his boys a "glorified crew", which is exactly what they are.

I think the perfect ending would be for them to be muscled out, the way they muscled so many before. Some big New York crew comes in and puts the squeeze on the boys, big time. Overpowers Tony, who tries to come to some kind of agreement to save his ass but to no avail. Everyone dies or goes into hiding. You could even have Tony turn states evidence a la Goodfellas only to live out the rest of his years alone (Carmela wouldn't stay with him if he was broke), as a regular schmuck.

Problem is I don't think they have time for something like that to happen so the ending will probably suck.

or this scenario for the finalmoments....

As Tony lies in his backyard, Christopher's gun still smoking, Tony looks up for one last look...

...as his eyes slowly close for the last time, a family of ducks lands in the swimming pool

the end

I don'y know how you'd get it in Tony's shower though.

My sentinments exactly. Buttmunker, you couldn't come up with a more appropriate title for this thread? You made it sound like you had some spoilers when really you just launched into some of the worst, most maudlin fan-fic EVER.

I agree with you not agreeing with Rogue.

I would like to see the story end with Tony either dead or in jail. In the Program would be too much of shock for all who have watched it for all these years, although that's exactly where a lot of these mob tough guys end up. One ending I do not want to see is Tony continuing on as boss.

You do realize this thread is almost a year old, right?

wOw - time sure does fly.

Anyway, I'm just starting to watch Season Five (HBO Direct), and got to the episode where Tony & Adreanna got into a car accident, and the rumors started up about how she was giving Tony head. Christopher lost his head and went after Tony with a gun that had no more bullets, so Tony and the crew took Christopher out to a wheat field and Tony was gonna blow Christopher away...

Now, I assume it was just a bluff, or would Tony really have blown away his "nephew" who he claims to really love? If he had blown Christopher away, WOW! That would have been explosive television, to say the least! That would have been completely unpredictable.

That's what I'm hoping they do for the series finale - something unpredictable.

(And I would have to add that Christopher is my favorite character on this show.)

They've got a tightrope to walk. The series cries out to have Tony die, go to jail, or somehow lose everything. Something *not* status quo.

Except they're also talking about feature films afterwards-- which usually need to start from a familiar place.

I'm afraid this may be one of those cases where the TV show gets hurt for the sake of future movies. The TV show would have had a better ending if no movies were planned. As it is, I don't think we can expect anything too extraordinary.

Yes, a planned theatrical release would definitely hurt the series finale. Heck, it might even be a freaking cliffhanger so we can wait another three years for the movie.