Wow.

So Tony has drained the pool (metaphor), and they've gone to the mattresses (literal).

The only problem now is trying to top that for the finale.

who was the guy in the beginning of the episode that Sylvio killed?

Great episode. Should be a great finale. The only thing that could have made this episode and the finale better is if Chris was still alive to back Tony up.

Just a minor observation, but towards the end in the scene when Tony and the crew at the safe house, when they flip on the lights, was that a cardboard cutout of Silvio standing in the corner?

Were my eyes deceiving me?

yeah i seen that also..prtetty funny...
can omeone pleasetell me who the guy was he killed in the beginning of the ep????????

Burt Gervasi, some background member of Soprano's crew who was strangled to death by Silvio. He's related to Carlo Gervasi, the guy who helped Silvio kill Fat Dom in the back of Satriele's in "Cold Stones," and then later kicked Dom's severed head down a drain in "Kaisha."

Syl killed Burt because Phil Leotardo got him to turn on the NJ family, and Burt then tried to "flip" Syl as well.

Which, considering that a couple of years earlier Paulie was trying to curry favor with Carmine (through Johnny Sack) he's already shown questionable loyalty to Tony in regard to the Lupertazzi family. Sort of makes me wonder why Phil didn't target Paulie -- who is Tony's underboss -- when he ordered the hits on Tony, Bobby, and Syl. At first I thought it was because he didn't consider Paulie to be a threat, but maybe the thing with Burt was there to give a little foreshadowing.

It was odd that they didn't seem too worried about Paulie when making the list of hits. Perhaps that's why.

And I can't believe Paulie, who IMO is second only to Tony as a signature character of the series, will not have a huge role in the finale. Something big has to have been saved for him.

It seemed a bit strange that Phil would be more concerned with Bobby than Paulie. Bobby's probably the least dangerous person Tony has. Paulie's dumb as a fucking stump, but he's the last person you'd want to dick around with.

The only reason I can think of that would make Phil want to target Bobby would be payback for his brother since most of Phil's beef seems to be of the personal nature. But it still wouldn't explain why he'd want to leave Tony's underboss, who also happens to be an ill-tempered sociopath, alive when all of the shit's going down.

Holy shit...I just got done watching it. I fucking jumped up when they were taking out Sil. Fuckers. Between this and the Yanks/Sox drama earlier tonight, my nerves are totally fucking shot.

The only slight wish for all of this...I wish it played out a tad bit slower.

Also, i'm wondering why Chris and Junior were in the opening credits tonight. At first, I was pissed since I thought it would spoil something...but they never showed up.

Alright...i'm off to pop some TylenolPM to help relax my nerves. ;)

Great episode, and not because of the wackings, cause you finally see some shit happening that has been building and building and building for 3 seasons now. It just goes to show that Chase could have stuck with his original 4 season story arc cause the last 3 seasons had too much filler in it. Stuff like Tony getting shot last season, has no bearing on what is happening now, it is ending with an all out war with NY, and all this Tony sees life in a new light was sort of a waste of time. I still believe seasons 4,5,6 could have been condensed to one season, and the quality of the Sopranos would be second to none.

one thing i hope for is phil gets wacked like crazy

Phil saw Bobby as the #3 guy in the NJ crew, behind Tony and Silvio.

And what Elliott did to Dr. Melfi was inexcusable. Not only did he violate the doctor-patient confidentiality, but he revealed the identity of one of her patients. That is beyond unethical. I did like the way she gave Tony the bum's rush out of the office.

Nitpicking, but did anyone notice the continuity error last night:

An exterior shot of the Bada Bing had an advertisement for the "Holyfield vs. Lewis" fight (which took place back in 1999). Obviously, the director/editor used stock footage of the Bing for the shot...either that, or they REALLY need to start updating their sign!

I noticed the same thing during that shot as well...

sracer,
your idea of AJ revenge whacking Phil makes a lot of sense to me considering that after Tony was shot AJ went to visit uncle Junior with the intention of killing him.

Did anyone else notice this from the preview of the last episode:

I was somewhat disappointed by the abruptness of it all. Some article comes out and she just quits w/"I can't help you." I guess after 7 years it was time (esp. since the show's ending--duh), but I was hoping for more between those two. But the door closed, and I guess that's that.

Its been a tremendous ride, and I can honestly say that I'm very sad to see the Sopranos end.
Granted we've had some bad times (Johnny Cakes), but overall its been a fulfilling relationship.
This was the most tense hour of TV I've seen in years. I was filled with dread the whole time, but I couldn't look away.
This week's theme... All alone.

- "White Shoes" = Death/Pain. Remember the orderly placing Johnny Sac's white slippers in the hospital?
Remember Paulie's rows of sweet shoes? In this episode, the guy Silvio killed in the beginning was wearing
white shoes; as were Bobby's assasins. Hey, Silvio was buffing his white shoes as well. If I went back and looked,
I'm sure I would have seen more (Doc Santoro was killed early this season... and he was wearing white shoes). Its a nice
touch, especially when you go far back to when Meadow was helping AJ understan a Walt Whitman poem; and that the "white
snow" symbolized death.

- RIP Bobby. Well, we were swerved into thinking that his DNA ended up on that shirt that was ripped in the season opener;
and he would go to jail for murder. Instead, standing up to Tony, and completing his first hit, effectively signed his death
warrant for NY. The fact that he was the #3 in NJ is insane. Bobby's love of trains made him easy to find, and he went out in
a hail of bullets. Even though ALL of the characters on the show (including Melfi) were bad people in their own right, Bobby
wasn't meant for this game. Loved his final shot; and the fact he was wearing two wedding rings. BTW, had Christopher not
"died" a few episodes ago, would Phil have put a hit on him? All signs point to 'yes'.

- $2200 a day. So "rehab" is getting to play Halo 2 on your own Xbox 360/LCD TV? Just love the fact that you can't bring
in pizza cause of all the eating disorders, but a video game shooter is perfectly acceptable? Bad writing, or surprising hypocrisy?
I'll go with the latter.

- Agent Harris. Looks like we're not going to get this huge court case against Tony; although what are the odds of him turning states
evidence against Phil next week and going into the program? It was funny seeing Agent Harris befriend Tony, spending so much time
at Satriales (obviously he had bigger intentions beyond the terrorism); only to have a change of heart and tell Tony that the hit would
be going down; which ultimately lead to more murder.

- Mistaken identity. The mistress' father didn't even look like Phil, save for the hair. Also liked the chain of phone calls, each one
missing an important "fact" about the hit. Im just surprised Tony didn't go into hiding immediately. Since Bobby got clipped at the
Train Toy store, would it have made sense for Tony to get bumped off going to Melfis? Which leads me to...

- The intervention. What twisted world do we live in where you have group dinner with your psych? Elliot, although a minor character,
has been one of the best. Lets not talk about his oversized mesh water bottle, nor the fact that he almost ran Tony over in a parking
deck and complained to Melfi that this bearish man made him fear for his life... He revealed Melfi's patient for all her colleagues to
hear (a big no no). Lying in bed, reading the study; Melfi realizes that she has played into Tony's hands. One must remember that
her motivations for treating Tony transformed from genuine concern, to living vicariously through him. He has always been a bad man;
and it took some peer pressure, plus a printed study, to force her into saying goodbye. The last therapy scene was excellent, with
Melfi projecting like crazy onto a vunerable Tony. Tony leaving the recipie was a great touch. I'll miss these scenes.

- Denial. Tony didn't want Meadow to become a doctor because of the insurance and AIDS. They're so happy Meadow is dating
Patrick Parisi. That whole scene was perfect; and contrasting the newfound joy that Artie and Charmaigne have found to the
doom and denial that Tony and Carmela bury so deep down.

- Silvio. I was surprised that he's in a coma, as I thought he was faking "death" as the NYers confirmed the kill. The motorcyclist
getting run over was brutal, and served to show that Christopher was right... When you throw a pebble in the lake; even the fish
feel it. Oh, and Patsi running for his life while the strippers and bouncers watched on was sweet.

- Tony has run out of confidants. Holed up in a safe house, he no longer has his therapist, wife, family, Silvio, Bobby, or even Christopher
to confide in to. Laying in a broken down bed, clutching the assault rifle that Bobby bought him for his birthday, Tony watches the door
as a song from Godfather 3 plays. His trip to Costa Mesa last year as Kevin Finnerty must feel like heaven compared to this. And what
do you know, the only one who's left for Tony to lean on is Paulie... I love it.

- "Seven Souls"... Remember that bizarre montage at the begging of last season? The one with Bobby & the trains, Vito standing
in his old pants while a photographer took pictures? Here were the people who were profiled: Bobby (dead), Vito (dead), Eugene (dead),
Ray Curto (dead), Janice (husband and meal ticket is dead), AJ (almost killed himself), Meadow & Carmella... Could something happen
to Tony's wife and daughter in the finale?

- One final dinner with Silvio, Bobby, and Tony. I must say, that the recreation of "Raging Bull" at the table could be my favorite all time
Sopranos moment. Just perfect.

- I pray it doesn't end with a terrorist attack.

I really hope this doesn't end in similar fashion to Gangs of New York where the two guys are going at it with the entire city under attack. They then realize they are nothing compared to the big picture and I could see that happening here with Phil and Tony if there is a terrorist attack.

Was very disappointed with the Melfi ending, it was just too fast.

Seansons 4,5, and 6 were slower paced to me so this season almost seems too abrupt or fast when compared to that.

Any thoughts on Little Carmine?

i think the russians will play into this, with the wanderers making a final stand at the football game.... wait a minute, i am confusing things here :lol:

I haven't watched it over again to make sure, but was that David Chase at the beginning of the train shop scene? It looked like him.

I thought the same thing...and then I thought one of the guys with Tony, Paulie and the others in the safe house looked like Chase too.

Hey - what happened to the "He's playing both sides of the fence" dialogue that was in the preview for last night's episode? I don't think that line ever came up...think it's in the final show, or think (most likely) that Chase has filmed a TON of different scenarios and is only now figuring out how things are going to play out?

Speculation:

At least Bobby died in probably the happiest place he could have been.

Shannon,
"Playing both sides" was when Silvio told Tony about the guy whacked in the beginning of the episode.

I really liked Agent Harris tipping off Tony. Agent Harris seemed disillusioned with where he ended up, and I don't think telling Tony "led to more murder." It was almost like he felt like he owed it to him after all these years, and I thought it was cool.

I was if Tony was regretting killing Christopher? Though he would've been a huge target, he also could've helped fight back. Farming out the hit on Phil (the head of the NY family) to two totally inept Italians, plus the whole way it was bungled and pushed from Bobby to Patsi on down, was just plain odd.