I’ve been wondering, as I’m sure most “Sopranos” fans have, how David Chase planned to bring his series to a close. The obvious choice would be to have Tony get whacked, but that seemed too easy to me. Now, I’m not so sure.
If the final season (plus the eight “bonus episodes,” whatever those are going to be) played out like your typical mob story, with Tony going down in the midst of some bloody power struggle with Johnny Sack or an internal conflict with someone from his own family, that could qualify as a copout. But it’s clear now that Tony’s brush with death has him examining his life in ways he never has before. He appears to be headed toward some sort of spiritual awakening, inspired by the Ojibwa saying that was pinned to the wall in his hospital room: “Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while a great wind carries me across the sky.” We’re all part of something much bigger, Tony’s neighbor in the hospital suggests, and it’s an idea that Tony seems to be warming up to. As they’re leaving the hospital, he tells Janice that he’s the luckiest guy in the world to still be alive and that every day from here on out is a gift. Later, rather than keep haggling with Phil and Johnny over the sale of Barone Sanitation, he agrees to their terms and in the process keeps Jason Barone, who found himself in the middle of a very nasty situation when his father passed away, out of trouble. “Truth be told,” Tony tells Phil, “there’s enough garbage for everybody.”
Tony seems to be finding answers to questions he never knew he had, which could very naturally lead to problems for T down the road. For starters, his guys aren’t going to be thrilled with the fact that Tony relented on the Barone situation, and if his new outlook on life continues to affect the decisions he makes, you can bet someone like Vito, who was visibly disappointed when Tony pulled out of his coma, will start thinking about a coup.
Of course, the other possibility here is, Tony may decide that he wants a change, that this isn’t the life he wants to lead anymore. Before the shooting, he never would’ve given in to Johnny on the Barone sale. “…there’s enough garbage for everybody”? Those aren’t the words of a ruthless crime boss. I think Tony’s gradually going to warm to the idea of retirement, of living out the rest of his life with Carmela and whatever grandkids Meadow and AJ end up giving him. That seed was planted very early this season when Gene Pontecorvo asked Tony if he could retire to Florida with his wife and kids, living off the $2 million he’d just inherited from his dead aunt. Tony denied his request and Gene, a childhood friend of Tony’s, wound up hanging himself. This week’s final scene, with Tony sitting next to the pool and watching the wind blow through the trees, tells me that he’s giving in to this notion that he’s part of something bigger, and he’ll soon come to the realization that he’s not happy doing what he’s doing. It’ll be a gradual change, with the rest of the season shaping up to be one massive internal power struggle which could very well lead to the “Tony gets whacked” finale. But Chase would be taking a very intriguing route to get there, with Tony’s spiritual transformation sparking the conflict rather than some tired dispute over money or territory.
So who would be the in-house candidates to off Tony? Vito’s way too obvious – I think he’s dead long before he gets a chance to do any real damage. It’s obvious that Sil would have very little interest in running the family after his disastrous run on top while Tony was in the hospital, and besides, I think he’s too loyal. Christopher would make a lot of sense, especially since he told Tony two episodes ago that he thought T owed him after the whole Adriana situation. Chris has always been a hothead and he’s already made it known just how much he hates Phil, which means he’ll be pissed that Tony caved on the Barone sale.
Then there’s Paulie. He’s about to cause some major trouble. After learning this week that his mother was actually his aunt and his aunt was his mother, Paulie snapped. I kept waiting for him to send his mom/aunt through a window (he tossed her $2,000 flat screen TV out the window instead), and he’s been unhappy with Tony for a while now – remember last season when Tony threw Paulie’s painting in a dumpster? Again, this week’s final scene was very telling: Paulie, consumed with jealousy after watching Mrs. Barone beg Tony to protect her son, takes a pipe to Jason’s knees, demands Jason pay him $4000 a month and warns him not to tell Tony anything. Then, while Tony sits next to his pool peacefully, watching the wind in the trees, Paulie walks back to his car, a stiff wind blowing in his face. That clearly places Tony and Paulie in opposition. Now, we’ll have to see how that plays out.
