agreed, I lost interest because of the whole ny vs jersey thing

a power struggle within jersey, like we saw in season 1, would have made more sense

if there was one character who could have challenged tony (as did richie and ralphie) both emotionally and "structurally" was tony b.

here's an interesting scenario:

- tony b. doesn't go on a killing spree on the leotardos
- he gets made (tony s. assured him about that)
- he rapidly earns his way up, making use of his former "rising star" skills
- as tony s. is hospitalized, he impresses the other higher ups (sil, paulie) with some successful "administrative" ideas
- after the vito thing, he gets appointed to that crew
- he becomes the wealthiest capo, carrying more weight within the family, ala ralphie
- his increased success, not to mention his superior "iq", start to create some frictions between him and tony s.
- he uses his newly-acquired power and past family ties with tony s. to get people interested in a possible coup d'etat

and we take it from there...

besides, NY could have still played a role in that scenario, supporting a specific warring faction over another.