Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
So millions are dying to know what’s going to happen to Tony Soprano and his crew tonight, the finale of the incredible, and incredbily popular, HBO series “The Sopranos.” After a couple of cannolis and a shot of sambuca, we’re thinking Tony lives.
We’re at a point where everything in Tony’s live has gone sour. He’s facing all out war with Phil Leotardo. His man Bobby is dead. His son has tried to commit suicide. His marriage is a sham. That’s pretty much everything, save his daughter Meadow, and we think she’s in store for something tonight.
So everything’s already been taken away from Tony. We think he ends up in a witness protection program with the help of some of his fed friends, walking out of his desert trailer to pick up the morning paper. Could he kill himself? We don’t think so. His near-death experience and his peote trip seem to have given him some awareness of what lies beyond.
We’ve always liked Tony, though we’re hard-pressed to explain why. He’s dealing with inner demons, with pain, like all of us, which makes him a sympathetic character. That he adds to that pain by being a sociopathic killer with a gambling addiction and a penchant for prostitutes passed off as girlfriends doesn’t really bother us. Don’t we all do things to deaden the pain? Tony just goes to the extreme, because he’s the boss.
But Tony’s no Godfather. The art of the negotiation (the back-scratching favors) and the strict code of conduct (the honor among thieves) that once held the mafia world together has disintegrated for Tony, and he doesn’t know where to turn for help.
So the family disintegrates. The business falls apart. And all that’s left is a husk of a man destined to live out his days wondering where it all went wrong.
