Instead of rehashing the entire episode, I'm going to lay out what I think is going to happen next week during the final week of the season and series. Late last season I thought Meadow would get righteous and be part of a court case against Tony. Well, that didn't happen. I thought before this year started that AJ was going to die....and it almost happened, but didn't...at least not yet. I guessed correctly that Christopher wouldn't make it out of the season alive and was right about that, but after Bobby and potentially Sil got whacked this week, that wasn't really going out on a limb. I also predicted that Tony would end up in prison, which still may happen. What this goes to show you is that David Chase is so good - somebody that watches - no, dissects - each episode (sometimes twice) has no idea which direction the plot will go next. There are so many ways the series could end. I have two half-baked theories remaining. I'd like to get them both down and dated so I can say "Ha! I TOLD you so" if it happens, but I'm starting to wonder if that's anything to brag about with only one episode remaining. Theory Number 1: Paulie Walnuts has been playing both sides for several years. Several items support this theory. There was the Ginny Sak joke that made it back to Johnny courtesy of Paulie. Paulie even went to Johnny in NY and offered his services but was then offended when Sak had little idea of who he actually was. Paulie was crushed when nobody came to his mom's funeral and somewhat vowed revenge. He is always hurt by Tony who shows him little respect...remember the portrait incident with the horse. There was another time when Tony told Paulie not to touch the son of the late garbage tycoon after his mother's pleading and Paulie disobeyed him immediately and roughed him up and shook him down. Why? Did Paulie know he had an ace in the hole in NY? Now think about this...... when NY decided to take out Tony and his crew, the first name that came up for consideration was Paulie and that idea was immediately shot down. Only Tony, Sil and Bobby were to be hit. They said they would then deal with whomever was left. Paulie perhaps? Interesting. Didn't Paulie seem a little miffed when the order was given to hit Phil? Why? Was it just because he didn't want to start a war, or because he knew he was going to run things if Phil got to Tony first? Again, interesting. Maybe Paulie helped botch the hit on Phil? Here's the interesting theory - what if while Tony is sleeping in the safe house, Paulie climbs the stairs and puts a bullet in his head? It could happen. I don't think fans would cry foul either....some groundwork has been put down for this theory. I'm sure there are many more things that could be added to this list. The second theory has to do with Agent Harris. I have a feeling he hasn't made his last curtain call yet. What if Tony reflects on his life and he knows more about the Arabs than he originally let on? What if he goes to Harris and says he wants out? Could Harris get him a deal if he rolls over and gives up Phil or any other information? I don't think Tony is a rat, but he is desperate right now. He may choose prison over getting killed, but it just doesn't seem like him. Maybe he's been collecting evidence for just such a scenario to save himself and his family? I know that's a lot of question marks for one theory, but to generalize it - I think he could go to Harris for help. The crazy thing is, on any other tv show, the fact that Harris got transferred to Homeland Security and Tony gave him info about the two Arabs would be foreshadowing. There is no way that issue would not forward the plot along. However, on The Sopranos, look how many times it's happened in the past; the Russian getting away from Paulie and Christopher (well, maybe?), Melfi getting raped and countless other dead-ends. What does it all mean? If AJ isn't involved somehow in the finale, then why even drive him to suicide near the end of the run? We've seen a vindictive Janice before, maybe she will explode? It's still in the realm of possibility that Tony has had enough and he'll just swallow the mouth of the gun that Bobby bought him and pull the trigger. I know one thing, on Sunday night at 8:55 when I dish out my bowl of ice cream and turn out the lights to forget about everything in life for a while, it's going to be hard to face the fact that this show is ending. I've said it before and I'll say it again - taking time with your family out of the picture - once you hit a certain age in life the number of things that you really, truly enjoy start to decline. What really makes you happy? What do you look forward to? I look forward to my yearly football weekend in the fall with Still A Dog featuring guest appearances by Still A Dad, Big W and Cornbread if I can swing it. I look forward to watching every play of every Steeler game every year...no matter if they are 5-11 or 13-3. Bill Cowher re-ignited my passion for Steelers football as college and all the distractions there were ending for me. Here's to hoping Mike Tomlin can build on that and keep the fire burning. It's only going to take one Rooney to fall too far from the tree and then football for me may end up where baseball, basketball and hockey are right on my priority list (somewhere around 111, 137 and 82 respectively). I look forward to being alone in my own house so I can turn the music up to 9 and play along on my drums without getting yelled at. And finally, I enjoy the heck out of watching the finest show ever made for television - The Sopranos.
