The Spoilers (SOPRANOS!)

Crap. I mean The Sopranos (SPOILERS!). You have to admit, those words have practically become synonymous the last few days. Still, don't want to spoil that for anyone who hasn't seen it. So don't read on.

You know what's so damn funny about all of this? There's nothing to spoil. The show simply ended with a blackout. But we all have to be so quiet which is going to make those who want to play catch-up on DVD even more confounded.

Everyone's got an opinion about the finale. And I'm going to weigh in with mine.

It was brilliant. Yep, I'm (apparently) in the minority. It is exactly in line with everything that has come before.

The Sopranos has never really been a fluid show. Things begin and end abruptly. Even it's editing is sometimes cruel. Like the movie Punch-Drunk Love, it seems to want to assault you. To make you feel like these characters do.

It also follows along with The Sopranos refusing to resort to cliffhangers (the refuge of hacks). Sure, a season would end with plots begun, but it never left us hanging about the fate of a character. Each season was a springboard to the next. So it's only fitting that the show should end that way. Plots were set up (an indictment, AJ's and Meadow's new careers, Paulie new business, etc.). Most people seem to believe that Tony was whacked in the diner. I'm not so sure. It left us exactly in the middle of the things the show was about: family and the mob.

Me, I like to think that nothing happened. Tony goes on. He's indicted. AJ never becomes part of the mob. Carmela continues in her way as does Meadow. Sil...Sil probably passes. And I will miss him.

And everyone stop whining about a movie. This was not a set-up to a movie. David Chase is not that cheap. This was the end of a series. If you'll recall, it was not Chase's idea to have The Sopranos go on as long as it did. He wanted out earlier. HBO asked that he keep the show going. He's interested in telling stories. This is the end of the story.

In the end, what an amazing series. Perhaps one of the greatest character studies. Tony, I will miss you.