DATE: April 18, 2007 Every episode of the SOPRANOS is getting us a step closer to the inevitable end.
And, man, it's not pretty.
A lot of people are facing their own old age and demise.
Johnny Sack is already gone after a not-so-dignified bout with cancer in jail.
In one scene, after a close up of his head that went bald due to radiotherapy, the director mercilessly cut to a pool ball hit hard by a cue stick.
What does that mean? That even the most merciless crime boss of New York is nothing more than a pool ball before the cue stick of fate and time? Tony is really getting introspective and he looks like a dog beaten on the head by a rolled-up wet newspaper in each episode.
Some, like Little Carmine, gave up the fight to be Number 1, without any fuss or shame because they want to live into the old age with their wives and family - to Tony's disgust.
Tony wants someone to pick up the pieces in New York but there is nobody yet to fill Johnny Sack's shoes.
So what does that say about his own legacy? Who will lead the NJ crew into the future if and when he is gone? Where is the beef? And, where is the love? It's all darkness and everybody's looking over his shoulder...
Paulie, Christopher...
They know that the END is coming.
But nobody knows what's coming NEXT as the FBI's dragnet gets too tight for comfort.
It's getting very PERSONAL for the Soprano crew and their enemies alike...
The story had never been this wide open to double-crossings, betrayals and a heartbroken Tony Soprano.