The Sopranos

[Dorvid Barnas]

Again though, he's assigned to terrorism now.

Maybe he isn't?  The only time we saw Harris talk about terrorism was with Tony, and they both had plenty to gain from lying to each other.
That could be a stretch, but either way I think Harris risked compromising himself for the good of the bureau, or to overcome his own feelings of impotence from his fruitless Mob-chasing days.  Or a mix of both.  But he still considers himself on the side of good, and that the end justifies the means. (Tony now trusts Agt. Harris and is on tape talking to NY)

[Jason]

Wasn't there seperate and competing investigations into the NY and NJ families. Maybe Harris was keeping Tony alive so that his past work would not have been in vain and his old team would be able to prosecute Tony.

[Emily]

damn you, david chase for not resolving any of this!

[Chris L]

Someone give Tony Sirico a sitcom fast.  Paulie is pretty much the only character I'm going to miss.

[Sploops]

Best use of Journey since Caddyshack.


"So? So let's dance!"

[B_Buster]

One thing I'm kind of perplexed by is Agent Harris' enthusiasm for helping Tony. What was that "We might win this thing!" outburst about?   

I thought it was sarcasm. Agent Harris's attitude was different in this episode. Less gung ho and more I don't give a.... Maybe as a result of the shift from the mob to terrorism, he became depressed and just didn't care anymore.

[Susannah]

I think I liked it, too.  I had a  Sopranos party for some friends--they seemed to like my lasagna better than the finale:




So much of the show over the past few seasons had been concerned with the banality of everyday life in comparison to the fabled gravity of Mafia life, so I think the ending fit in with that theme. 

Did anyone watch "John from Cincinnatti?" All I saw was a very wrinkled Luke Perry.

[Chris L]

Did anyone watch "John from Cincinnatti?" All I saw was a very wrinkled Luke Perry.

It's too early to tell what that show's deal is.  I was too busy absorbing the Sopranos to pay attention at first but I caught the west coast feed later that night. There were some seriously dicey aspects, but also enough flashes of great Milchian dialogue ("I don't know whether I'm on foot or horseback") that I'll stick it out.  Looks like Ed O'Neill will be great, at least.

[Chris L]

Interview w/ David Chase is up now on nj.com (http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/david_chase_speaks.html):

-After all the speculation that Agent Harris might turn Tony, instead we saw that Harris had turned, passing along info on Phil's whereabouts and cheering, "We're going to win this thing!" when learning of Phil's demise.

"This is based on an actual case of an FBI agent who got a little bit too partisan and excited during the Colombo wars of the '70s," says Chase of the story of Lindley DeVecchio, who supplied Harris' line.

-Speaking of Harris, Chase had no problem with never revealing what -- if anything -- terror suspects Muhammed and Ahmed were up to.

"This, to me, feels very real," he says. "The majority of these suspects, it's very hard for anybody to know what these people are doing. I don't even think Harris might know where they are. That was sort of the point of it: who knows if they are terrorists or if they're innocent pistachio salesmen? That's the fear that we are living with now."

[erika]

I think I liked it, too.  I had a  Sopranos party for some friends--they seemed to like my lasagna better than the finale:

Aw I made lasagna for the finale too! (I didn't use the fresh mozzarella like you did, though. yours looks good!)

[Laurie]

I made a nice mannicot'. I made so much mannicot'.

[Sarah]

You've all neglected to comment on the most important part of the episode:  Tony humming the opening bars of the Rocky theme when he happens upon A.J. jogging.  I could hear Philly Boy Roy cheering (I'm guessing the door to the store through the window of which he was viewing was open to let in a breeze so the sound reached him).

I didn't mind the ending.  Anything specific would have been a letdown; this was a bit of a letdown, too, but at least it didn't spell things out.  Certainly, I expected either that guy to come out of the bathroom with gun a-blazing or for the restaurant to blow up just as Meadow opened the door to enter, so the black screen at least had the virtue of being a surprise.  Plus the absence of music during the closing credits.

Great cat, too!

I think I may actually watch it again.

[Dan B]

The episode was so good.  I can't see it ending any other way than it did. 

If you rewatch look out for the kid with the afro when Phil gets run over.  My friend was in the Sopranos!

[Zookeeper Joe]

Interview w/ David Chase is up now on nj.com (http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/david_chase_speaks.html):

-After all the speculation that Agent Harris might turn Tony, instead we saw that Harris had turned, passing along info on Phil's whereabouts and cheering, "We're going to win this thing!" when learning of Phil's demise.

"This is based on an actual case of an FBI agent who got a little bit too partisan and excited during the Colombo wars of the '70s," says Chase of the story of Lindley DeVecchio, who supplied Harris' line.

-Speaking of Harris, Chase had no problem with never revealing what -- if anything -- terror suspects Muhammed and Ahmed were up to.

"This, to me, feels very real," he says. "The majority of these suspects, it's very hard for anybody to know what these people are doing. I don't even think Harris might know where they are. That was sort of the point of it: who knows if they are terrorists or if they're innocent pistachio salesmen? That's the fear that we are living with now."

In other words, pretty much exactly what Tom was saying here: "it’s NJ versus NYC, straight up" http://www.scharplingandwurster.com/?p=36

Agent Harris was a Jersey guy, rooting for the home team.

[johnfgillson]

One of my friends made this assumption:

Early in the season Bobby said to Tony: "You probably don't even hear it when it happens" and the sudden end relates to the abrupt end of Tony's consciousness.

That satisfies me even though it is probably a pretty general assumption.