Yet another suckass episode, thats how I felt anyhow.

I thought it started ok but dragged in the second half.

I am calling it now: Christopher's kid will have health troubles. Down Syndrome or the like.

I keep waiting for something interesting to happen, and this week, notta much. Beginning was decent, and then scenes just seemed way too stretched out. I forgot how much i disliked tony's sister.

I did enjoy the scene where Chrissy watched his friend shoot heroine. He was basically drooling to get some before he snorted then shot up.

Other than that, not a great episode.

What, you mean 3 minutes of Christopher laying in the part was overkill?

Probably the most worthless episode of the year. Plenty of scenese felt like they were just killing time. Chris lying in the grass, petting a dog, feeding a dog.... and especially the flashback about the Adrianna situation. Yes, we all got what Chris was referencing, no need to show it to us in a painfully slow, worthless scene.

It appears there was no motivation for the show's return outside of finances.

I'm beginning to rue choosing Sopranos over Family Guy on my precious time schedule.

Is there another season left or are there three episodes in the whole series left?

3 episodes in this season, then 6 episodes in a mini-season next year.

Yep, that was a disappointing episode. At least it wasn't only a flashback episode which is what I feared when they did the flashback to Adrianna's death. When that happened, I was really afraid they were just going to keep flashing back. As it was, this episode almost made me miss the episodes with Tony in the hospital...

He was all over the dog, I thought he was going to start to do the dog...

I can't believe this brokeback Vito storyline is still running. Next week better be a good payoff for it. I dunno, maybe New York will whack him and cause a war. I wouldn't be suprised to see Chris get killed before the end of the season either, as some sort of twist to set up the final 6 episodes.

What makes you think that?

I don't necessarily think we will even get to see Christopher's kid, unless they advance the series quickly. Although if the kid is born deformed because of his drug use it wouldn't suprise me. Although he calmed down quite a bit when she got pregnant I thought?

He said, "My son will be my strength" when he turned down a drink at the Bada Bing after announcing he was married. It just seemed like it foreshadowed trouble with the kid. Having children has been a big part of Chris's character in past episodes.

Yeah, I probably read too much into it.

Johnnie Sacks, had to see that coming after the breakdown......but still......wow.

wake me when Deadwood is on.

so what happened?

HBO filmed season 3 and on Friday released all the actors from their Deadwood contracts. Which essentially means Deadwood is done after season 3, or most characters wont be around for season 4.

yeah they cant do any more seasons without the cast. but considering they only expected for 1 season, not bad.

Agreed.

I fear Rome will be in a similar situation in a season or two max.

Rome is one of my favorite shows. it'd be a shame if it only lasted 3 seasons. kinda makes you think twice about HBO series though - as great as they are they just don't have much in the way of longevity outside of Sopranos and Sex in the City.

The first season of Rome spanned like 7 years IRL. I think thats the problem(along with cost) of its longevity.

Big Love is actually interesting. I like it suprisingly.

The fact that this thread has gone off to discuss other HBO programs depicts the quality of the latest Sopranos episodes.

Watching Vito barely kiss a NH resident doesnt help the story line for you?

The latest in a line of suspect decisions by HBO. It almost seems like Isiah Thomas is running the place right now.

I have decided people have way too much time on their hands when it comes to TV shows and movies, especially on this board. The amount of picking that goes on is pretty funny to me. I guess I don't take TV that serious and that is why I don't understand....I am not sure.

Anyways, I enjoyed tonight's episode as I have enjoyed most of this season.

Hey, it's too bad we can think critically, right?

Overall I don't think it's such a bad thing. It spares you the shitty episodes. Six Feet Under and The Sopranos were/are both clearly limping to the finish line.

I just think it sucks when they unexpectedly pull the plug on something. I think it's fine if they know it's the last season of the show when heading into it.

I wonder about Deadwood. Is this 3rd season constructed so that it can serve as the end of the show? Or is it going to feel like they just pulled the plug like they did with Carnivale?

Rome isn't coming back until October 2007 apparently.

Makes sense; it's an "epic" show that takes time to film but it's still a crazy wait.

Ditto. Sack is done for good in NY. It doesn't matter if he's still alive when his sentance runs, after that, NO WAY is he heading up even a two bit operation. It was funny to see Chris' Maserati taken away. I knew that was going to happen.

Though its Phil v. Tony now, especially with the Vito situation, which looks like Tony will try to protect him, while Sil tries to protect Tony by dealing with Vito (at least from the previews). Phil ain't going to be happy if Vito is in Jersey for 2 seconds and doesn't get wacked.

Oh, as for Deadwood, I'm upset by it, but I can see why it'd happen. First, Olyphant has seen his stock rise exponentially by Deadwood, and he seems to be itching to have a big time movie career. Secondly, and probably more important, Deadwood costs a LOT of cash. A LOT! They are trying to get all the historical details right and that'll make it go through the roof (and they aren't sharing the bill with, say, the BBC). Apparently, the guy who plays Dan Dority said on the HBO boards at some point that the HBO CEO is trying to cut costs to keep his job.

Also, for a series based on history, I'd imagine it may get a bit harder to make it interesting once law and order come to Deadwood and all those conflicts get resolved as the US moves west.

I suppose I enjoyed this episode. Since this season has sucked ass so far, this one really didn't have to do much to be good, but it was good some sort of movement with the Vito and Sacks storyline. Also, the scene with Meadow and Tony I thought was pretty freaking hilarious.

Rome was designed by the British as a mini-series not a seasonal series. It spans many years in the first season and cant span many more unless the actors are changed.

my prediction is Phil will wack Vito which will make Tony furious, just like when Tony wacked his cousin Blundetto preventing Phil from getting revenge. that will start a war.

Meh.

I just wish fat ass Vito would get shot already. I'm sick of him and his peasant food.

Brokeback Vito.

I can't believe they are still doing the Brokeback Vito thing this week. Stupid storyline could have resolved itself in 2 episodes, instead of this season long arc. I thought the stuff with tony and Meadow was pretty funny. The sack resolution will hopefully push this towards its conclusion.

Sounds like they've been building to that. It seems like the final episodes of this season will set up a gang war encompassing all of next (the last) season.

Interestingly enough, though, it appears from an interview Chase did, that every major secondary character (doesn't that sound like a contradiction in terms ;)) will have their one episode this season before they have to end this thing. Last night's ep was about Janice. You had one on Christopher, A.J., Silvio and Artie. I wonder who next week will focus on?

I've seen every episode of this show from the pilot. Up until the last 4-5 episodes, I don't ever remember looking at the clock while I'm watching and wondering how the hell it isn't 10:00 yet. These episodes BORE me, plain and simple. What makes it worse is that I have too much invested already to just stop watching, or catch up on it later in the week, because I'd rather be bored and see what (doesn't) happen than hear about it on Monday from someone else.

And before the typical Sopranos-apologist jumps in with the "you just want to see people get whacked"...not true. I could care less if there's any violence in the show. The family issues (both real and business) have completely dropped in quality.

And yet I'm still a sucker.

Just an FYI...that was the popular belief early in season 5, as well. Still waiting.

I wonder if Phil will have Johnny Sack snuffed in jail, and possibly make it look like Tony did it. That one little scene of the NY guys together looked odd, and then couple that with the part of Phil talking badly about Johnny after he broke down at the wedding. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

To me this season of the Sopranos isn't great, but I actually like it better than seasons 4 and 5 which seemed to basically duplicate a lot of elements from the third season. Basically the main arc has centered around Tony being conflicted about whether to kill someone every year from season 2 on. (In order: Pussy, Richie Aprile, Ralph, and Steve Buscemi.) That may end up being the case with Vito again this year, but at least it didn't completely follow the 3,4 and 5 formula of introducing a character and then having him cause problems that just escalate until Tony has to kill him.

As far as Deadwood, the creator has always said they couldn't possibly do more than 4 seasons as the real Deadwood was burned to the ground 4 years after the year the show started. From that perspective, getting 3 isn't too bad, and David Milch is already working on another show for HBO, so I'm guessing he knew this was coming. It sucks that it will be ending, though.

Edit: Actually now that I think about it, Janice killed Richie Aprile. Maybe I don't remember it as well as I'd thought. It seemed to fall into a pattern after a while, though.

Great episode - the Vito storyline will be the springboard for the major blowout that will span the last four episodes.

I think.

bye bye vito

Okay episode, the stuff with Carmela was such obvious total filler though so brought it down a bit.

I want more Meadow, less everyone else please.

Anyone else love the fact that Phil was hiding in the closet while waiting for Vito to come back to the motel? LOL!

Unimpressed once again. I know they say the camera adds 15 lbs. but I can't help but notice that Vito seems to have put back on quite a bit of weight.