`Sopranos' ends quietly but hints at storms to come
Pity the men on ``The Sopranos." The show's final season has been one long bad-luck streak for them, from Tony's coma and Johnny Sack's disgrace to Paulie's cancer and Junior's senility. One by one, they've been weakened -- physically, mentally, and professionally. On last night's midseason finale, it was Phil Leotardo's turn for a hard twist of fate, as the acting boss of the New York family underwent a life-threatening heart attack. Leotardo, who was all contempt when Sack shed a public tear, laid close to tears himself in a Brooklyn hospital bed.
The episode, the last until the series returns in January for its final eight, was mostly setup for what is to come. It wasn't a particularly eventful hour, frustrating any hopes fans might have had for significant plot progress. In some ways, it felt as though the writers were bent on stalling all major developments until next year. They just wouldn't move things -- particularly the New York-New Jersey feud -- forward a step. After all, we've already been waiting a long time for the gang war to climax.
Clearly, Phil's illness and possible death may harm Tony when the show returns, since Phil's underlings have no old-school respect and are eager to kill the Sopranos boss. As a federal agent warned Tony last night, ``You're not very popular in Brooklyn right now." We'll just have to wait another six months to find out.
In many other ways, though, last night's ``Sopranos" was great television. The episode, which was dedicated to ``Sopranos" director John T. Patterson, who died in February 2005, was brimming with the show's usual psychologically astute moments. When Carmela started digging into the mystery of Adriana again, after Ade's mother tried to commit suicide, Tony suddenly decided to help get his wife's development project going. Soon, Carmela was consumed with her work, and not Adriana. Once again, Carmela got bought off. AJ, meanwhile, did some of his own buying off, giving his new bicycle to a trio of hoods so they'd stop bothering his new girlfriend Blanca.
There was more obvious comedy last night, too, such as when Phil's wife called him a ``nervous nellie" or when Tony called Julianna Skiff an "Ashkenosy," referring to her Jewish background. And yet there was pathos aplenty. I am still awed by the way this show can change tones on a dime. Once again, we saw the sorry truth we already know about Christopher: He doesn't have his addiction under control. His new goomah is none other than Julianna, whom he met in Alcoholics Anonymous, and together they fall into a drug-induced stupor.
The final scene, ironic and yet heartfelt, was similar to finales from years past. Once again, the Soprano clan sat together at a family event, this time Christmas, enjoying a moment of peace. Meanwhile, as we know too well, bodies are decomposing, resentments are festering, and storms are brewing. 