Sopranos STILL Controversial

What's my favorite TV show? Besides watching news 24/7, HBO's The Sopranos has always been can't-miss TV for me. It features the stuff that great drama is made of: a main character with a fatal flaw, multi-dimensional supporting characters, a setting that takes on its own persona.

But mostly, it's about Tony. Part of me likes the guy; part of me wishes he would stop what he does. For me, it is his character - and the hope for redemption - that draws my attention.

Now I admit, that when the season finale aired in June and the screen showed Tony, Carmela, and A.J. at a diner eating onion rings, Meadow outside attempting to parallel park, and Journey's Don't Stop Believing blaring on the juke box and then, it cut to black, the words out of my mouth were, "What? It can't end like this." What about Sil, who's in a hospital bed? And what about the movement of the background characters in the diner? Do they gun down the Soprano family? And Uncle Jun? Is he still locked up? Does Janice become a player in the organization? And what about Barbara, the sister we rarely see? There are just too many unanswered questions!

But after thinking about the end of the series and analyzing the show, it's the perfect ending. Because even in the darkest hours of Tony's organized crime connections, his family and their time together were important to him.

Series creator David Chase has commented about the end of the series and how fans complained about the "cut to black" scene. In fact, a story was just in the news about it two days ago.

I do know that since that episode, Journey's song has climbed the charts once again as a favorite download. And fans of the series are hopeful that some day, the cast will reunite for a Sopranos movie so we can catch up with the family and their dysfunctional lives.