Sopranos - Was: First Couple-Three...

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

        David Morris:
        You are, I believe, the first to bring up the 
        Sopranos finale on the P-list. 

Well, you can take back this smoking catalytic convertor, never thought
they'd do much use anyway, drivin' along with all that bad Dinosaur 
Karma clogging up the highways, bringing back major climate shift and 
other annoyances. 

        DM:
        I liked the 
        ending, unlike a lot of fans of the show.  
        I only watched occasionally.  

I'm a near religious devotee, was thinkin' 'bout doin' up my hair with 
Whitewalls, Paulie Walnuts style.

        DM:
        I loved the 
        way that psychotherapy, which really 
        initiated the roller coaster of this series, 
        becomes very suspect as to its worth by 
        the end, especially as it is pursued by 
        the oh-so-troubled son.  

        . . . .Dr Hilarius, her shrink or psychotherapist. But 
        he sounded like Pierce doing a Gestapo officer.
        COL 49, 7

. . . .which brings up the question, when did "shrink" jokes first appear, 
who dispersed them, which ones were good? Because the helplessness 
of Oed's Shrink is a big part of the story, of the fashion in which Oedipa 
has to drop veil after veil in her quest for the "Trystero". Dr. Jennifer Melfi 
becomes aware that she is Tony's enabler, so when she finally drops him 
we know she's sane and can take care of herself. But that was the 
Rubicon that had to be crossed. The Sopranos also played off the 
satirical potential of all these shrink/mobster lineups/oppositions. There 
is also a larger portrait of underground commerce during the Bush 
Administration. This is underscored by the images in the plasma TVs in 
the background, of Karl Rove doing Hip-Hop and Bush doing some variant 
form of the Watusi, all of these plasma TVs seen in The Sopranos having 
"fallen off a truck".

        DM:
        And unlike so 
        many reviewers who wrote that the ending 
        had nothing happen, I think it is pretty 
        clear that the three family members in 
        the restaurant got whacked.

I think is pretty clear that Gengis Cohen got the stamps. Of course,
had to read AtD to figure that out.

        Richard Romeo:
        a couple of characters on the Sopranos use the term 
        believe it or not recently and a very much Lot 49 type 
        endsing to the series to boot.

Yes, seemingly on the cusp of Revelation, nicht wahr?