Good article in the New York Daily News today about The Sopranos by David Bianculli, who I find to be pretty spot on most of the time with his reveiws.

A big gamble on 'Sopranos' ending

By DAVID BIANCULLI
DAILY NEWS TELEVISION CRITIC

Tuesday, May 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

Sunday's episode of "The Sopranos" betrayed the characters, and everything the HBO series usually works so hard to present.

On a show whose greatest strength is its subtlety, and what its characters take great pains not to reveal, this latest episode spelled things out like a grammar-school primer.

So let me spell something out, just as obviously.

Only five episodes remain until "The Sopranos" is as dead as Vito, Adriana and Big Pussy. Fans of the show have waited years, literally, for series creator David Chase to dole out an ending to the story of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.

And when you can count on one hand the hours that are left, you ought to be able to count on them being great. Or, at least, good.

Sunday's episode, repeated tonight at 10 on HBO, was not. Not even close. It didn't propel the story forward, unless you count a bit more jockeying between Tony and newly crowned New York boss Phil Leotardo, or the sudden unhappiness of Tony's son, A.J. - stories that may somehow intersect, if either Tony or Phil decide for some reason to target the other.

What it did do was give Tony a suddenly out-of-control gambling problem, something never established in all these years on "The Sopranos." His sudden large losses led, in turn, to Tony's confrontation with Carmela and his nasty alienation of Hesh. Anger seemed to come from nowhere, and return there just as quickly.

Even less justified was Dr. Melfi's scolding of Tony out of the blue, and the entire story involving Vito's rebellious son, whose public defecation scene had much more shock value than redeeming value.

Nothing was so shocking, though, as the weary, distrustful way Tony described some of his loyal lieutenants to Hesh, just before turning on Hesh, too.

"I look at my key guys," Tony confided, speaking of Paulie, Christopher and Bobby, and overlooking Silvio entirely. "What's No.1 on their agenda, you know? They're all f-ing murderers, for God's sake."

Well, Tony knew that. Tony's a murderer himself, an obvious irony. Too obvious, in fact. Tony's strength is that he thinks a lot more than he says.

What made the previous week's boat trip between Paulie and Tony so powerful was that we knew what each man was thinking, but nothing was stated.

At this point in the journey, we neither need nor want signposts. We want to get somewhere, and fast. If we see Vito's kid one more time, that'll be a clear sign of danger ahead.

I thought the episode was horrible.

I wondered where this sudden gambling problem came from.

Vito's son could have been taken care of a lot quicker that it was

Why does an apparently healthy young woman suddenly die with no explanation?

etc, etc

Tony's gambling is a metaphor. The life he leads as a Mafioso is a gamble. His statement that his guys are murderers is an acknowlegment of the life he has chosen, the types of people he has chosen to surround him, and his vulnerability to the variables encountered in life (the death of Hesh's wife is a perfect example. Sometimes people do just die for no apparent reason) and to them in particular. As so many have opined before on this Board, this series is simply about a guy, but in an organized crime context - nothing more.

I understand the metaphor, but my problem is with him suddenly developing a gambling addiction overnight

While we are never fully sure of a problem in seasons' past, we do see Tony gambling. Like I said, I think that it was a natural progression for Tony to have a gambling addiction. He has been so lucky for so long (as in not getting busted or killed) that he HAS to be cocky and high on himself. Tony even said it himself..."I survived a f***in gutshot wound. I'm one up on life." IMO, I think he should learn when he's been too lucky for something bad not to happen....

And it seems every episode this season focuses SO much on Tony either getting killed or in jail that it is almost TOO OBVIOUS to happen...

I agree with that article that Tony calling his men murderers was totally out of line. Even when he was telling Sil, "Why me? Cuz Im the boss of the family?" Tony should know better- what if someone was wearing a wire or the place was bugged?

And that's exactly why I think that Tony went on this gambling binge. He felt that because he survived the shooting, and then slipped by the feds when they dug up the guy that he made his bones on, and the guy who turned rat told the feds that someone else did the killing, he felt lucky and invincible with an "I can't lose" kind of attitude.

Why did Tony tell Melfi that Hesh was bugging him about the money? Not only wasn't it true, he didn't have to tell her.

While I won't call the episode "horrible", I thought about the same things you mentioned. Especially the young woman dying in Hesh's bed for no apparent reason.

I have to agree, Lou. Kinda suspicious that she was a pretty healthy, young woman. Women that age don't usually just die in their sleep. Maybe Patsy snuck in and put a poison pill in her drink? I don't know, but the timing of it seemed off to me. The episode wasn't horrible, but if left a lot of things to be desired. GO RANGERS!

I think that's Tony twisting it in his own mind to justify his bitter feelings about the debt.

Definitely. It's always "poor me" in Tony's mind.

I just remembered something. Remember a few years ago in a flashback scene ? Johnny Boy Soprano chops off old man Satriale's finger, then he tells Tony to never gamble, it's bad or something to that effect. I wonder if, psychologically, it ties into his recent gambling somehow. Maybe he's about to have a breakthrough in therapy.

The episode and that scene could be further developed later, making it seem more realistic. Maybe Carlo did it to get in good with Tony. Tony did seem pretty mad at him.

It would make sense that Carlo would do it, Tony really did dress him down in the car and Carlo looked kinda surprised. Was it just me or did Bobby suggest killing Hesh? Maybe Bobby found killing people to be an enjoyable experience...

I don't think Bobby was suggesting that Tony kill Hesh, just that he tell him to go fuck himself, something to the effect of "fuck you old man, yeah I got your money, what are YOU gonna do about it."

According to Frank Vincent, in today's Daily News, the last few episodes are supposed to be very dark. This coming from the guy who buried Joe Pesci alive in CASINO. I can't wait!!

He owed Pesci for the beatings that Pesci gave him in Raging Bull and Goodfellas.

And he got buried in a trunk in Goodfellas.

Remember how Al Neri murdered the prostitute in GFII to set the senator up. Just a thought.

I'm lost...who was Carlo again??

Carlo is the capo that replaced Vito in construction. He has apparantly brought in about one third of what Vito did. He is seen in the backseat of a car Tony is riding in while Tony scolds him about not earning enough: "Maybe you should go suck a c*** instead of watchin TV Land or whatever the f*** else you do. Cuz when Vito was in charge of construction, he brought in 3 times as much as you."
One of the funniest lines of the show.

I always thought the murder of Vito was extreme. I mean, what did he do? Nothing! He was gay, minding his own business. He didn't whack another made guy, he didn't mouth off to the wrong asshole, no. He was seen in leathers and having a good old time with the good ol boys, and they killed him for it.

The mob guys will cheat on their wives with 100 women (at one time, if they could manage it), yet you can't be with another man. They need to catch up to the 21st century. I'm surprised they use cell phones and computers. Barbarians.

I'm not sure if your screenname adds anything to your argument but the Mob sure as hell isn't PC.

Butt Munker!!

(That's a quote within a quote, by the way.)

But I agree with it completely. It annoyed me in the same way Tony suddenly has a cocaine addiction in season 5 when he and Ade almost screw each other - and it also from nowhere begins the same episode with Tony having some sort of tumor scare.

It's the result of a) Chase wanting each episode to be like a self-contained mini movie (he's said this from early on, its basis can be found in season 1's fifth episode, "College", and each season has become more and more fragmented and episodic), and b) having different writers and directors working on the same characters.

So, what, now we're supposed to see that Tony is a gambling addict, and believe that it's been there all along? I think it's verrrrrry cheap writing, at best. Though the scene in which Carmela throws the furniture at him (because he says some really nasty things) brought, as ever, the best out of Edie Falco.