The Pen-Freaking-Ultimate Episode

Before I make a few little points about last night's tense, mind-blowing, excellent episode of "The Sopranos," I have to warn readers that there are SPOILERS in this entry, and they are SPOILERS you will definitely want to avoid until after you've watched.

My whole body was on edge during the show, which built quickly to full-on gang warfare after years of moving in that direction. "Ready for the rapture?" was the FBI agent's comment to Tony, and to us. As soon as I realized it was Phil and his evil-looking goons against the likes of Tony, Sil, Bobby, and Paulie, I knew the New Jersey guys were doomed. I loved the little bit of "Raging Bull" between Tony and Sil while they strategized in the restaurant; another nice passing homage to Martin Scorsese.

Tony is now without his best ally, the comatose Silvio, who'd earlier in the episode made a malapropism about his wife being "terminally" ill. There was a brief moment during the shooting when Silvio was crawling in the car that reminded me of the way Adriana crawled before he shot her (an important reminder, since I tend to romanticize Sil's loyalty). And Bobby was nixed in a great shooting scene that built slowly and eerily at the train store, the center of Bobby's innocence. I loved it that kids were screaming; they were delivering the sounds Bobby, the eternal child, couldn't.

The handling of Melfi's rejection of Tony was powerfully done, I thought. Her built-up contempt for him -- and for her own naivete -- was painful to watch. Elliot is a complete creep, and unethical, too, as he told Melfi's social circle about her client. Is he jealous of Melfi's encounters with a famous criminal? Dude's got issues. The entire series was framed by Tony's therapy sessions, and so I'm glad to see David Chase (who cowrote last night's episode) giving the therapy theme some importance in the end. I wouldn't be surprised to see Melfi back in some way next week, even as part of a coda.

Without Melfi, Sil, Bobby, and Christopher, and with his family safely elsewhere, Tony is left alone in a bed with a gun in some mysterious safe house. I don't believe he will off himself, although the camerawork teased us with that possibility as he climbed onto the bed. I'm more of the mind right now that Paulie, so two-faced, will kill Tony, or at least try to, in hopes he'll survive with Phil.

Or will Tony give up his life to save Carmela, or A.J., in one big act of self-sacrifice that will prove Elliot (and now Melfi) wrong? I'm not holding my breath... I can't wait for next week; and I'm dreading it, too. All good things must pass, I guess.

Editor's note: Did you see the episode? Talk about it on "The Sopranos" message board.