The Sopranos Season 6 Episode 12

Waste of time, the entire season. No major character development, except for the ridiculous Johnny Cakes thing. I don't know who's to blame, the HBO suits who made them do this or the writers (wasn't the first line of the season something like "never underestimate the stupidity of the American public")? They need to get to the denouement, that's really all that is left. I don't know whether Tony dies or goes to jail, but the series won't be complete otherwise. There's going to be a time where Tony's in a corner he can't back out of, and everything comes full circle - I think it will be a relaxing moment for him actually since he now seems to be a prisoner of his identity. This season was almost like an alternate ending, where everyone is happily sitting around a campfire. That's not what we watch it for.

For the second time this season (the first with AJ's hair cut in one scene and then long in the next scene) the scenes are out of order. Why is it that Christopher sleeps with Julliana in one scene and then meets her at an AA meeting in the next? Not only that, how come nobody else acknowledges it?

I think that the writers and producers deliberately wrote a nothing ending so as to keep at bay all the fans that so eagerly awaited the first installment of this season.





I think it was a smart move for they\'re own very selfish reason. I just hope for the shows sake that they haven\'t turned off that small number fans that were hanging by a thread because I think that the story has potential to carry on for as long as it wants providing that they carry on being prepared to bite the bullet with it\'s casting and keep developing new characters.

Sure there was no huge cliff hanger, but the seeds were placed through out the episode forshadowing what is to come in the second half of that season. Things are heating up between the two families, something will happen with AJ and his girl, who knows what will go down with Chris he's dealing with a few different issues, plus is the natuaral target for Phil's rage. I thought it was a well written epsiode, and refreshingly subtle considering that current tv culture is over using the cliffhanger.

I too was expecting something eventful to happen but instead it was a holiday special with cursing. But hey, David Chase is allowed a so-so episode, especially when I know more Soprano's are coming to round out Season 6. I am sure the real ending for Part 2 of Season 6 will not leave us in a slump!

really a letdown for an end of season episode. I thought sopranos was ending with this season, guess not from what I've read here. that makes this a bit more forgivable. There are some good setups for next season for sure, but still, to not throw some excitement into the last episode is pretty lame. at least they brought in some new blood, as they really need it. the regular characters are starting to dull a bit. carmella was a very strong presence and the show definetly lacks something without her, that and tony's goombahs now that he's all 'enlightened', lol. it seems like that will be short lived next season though.

It is unfathomable how this incredibly well-written, character-driven highlight of this season gets the lowest ever rating by TV.com users. Did you not see the episode?





Oh yes, you did, but you just didn't get it. No, you didn't care because you don't get what this series is about. As the beautifully subtle and conflict-laden final scene of "Kaisha" demonstrates, it's about a family, or two actually - Tony's real family and his crime family. That's what The Sopranos has been about from the start, not the violence, and the whackings, but the complex relationships in each of these families.





We had Tony disappointed in Christopher who took the woman his boss wanted, and who cheats on his wife with another user. We had exactly this engaging revelation about her character (and Julianna Margulies needs to be back next season!). We had Phil Leotardo having a heart attack. We had AJ falling in love, we had a conspiracy to kill a member of the Soprano family, yes, we even had an explosion for all those viewers with short attention spans and the need for violent content on this show.





So what's not to like? It was a marvelous season-ender, a promising setup for next year and a great epilogue to a fine season.

I can't be wrong when I assume that many Sopranos fans were disappointed by this episode, considering it lacked the usual plot shockers characteristic of other season finales. Yet it's possible that David Chase's choice to downplay the episode is going to force viewers to return in 2007, desperate for the closure they were partially seeking by this episode. Some yays from Kaisha: 1) AJ and his older girlfriend--so cute! I hope they last! 2) Christopher and Julianna--dirty, wrong, and oh so hot! 3) Phil's heart attack--finally, kharma! 4) Finally using Dominic Chianese's acting genius this season!


Some angering moments: 1) Christopher (and Julianna) using (again). He's letting me down! 2) Not enough Paulie or Silvio!

With a series, where fans are made to wait, I find it funny - er, well not so funny, that this once shiny, new and innovative show could get so late and tired and so suddenly as it did in it's sixth season. Sure, it started out with a bang, but just like one of Tony Soprano's not-so-lucky victims - the show seems to be dying a slow and bitter death. Part of me is hoping that the lack luster finale to season six - or is it the end of the first half of the season - with all the hype the jury is still out on that one. All I can say - They have done beeter than this and, at this point for this viewer, they almost have to do better in order for me to flick my telly to HBO on a Sunday night at 9 pm. This spoken from one truly disappointed fan.

***If you don't enjoy the Sopranos, don't read my review***





David. Chase. Is. Brilliant. Unfortunately, 95% of "The Sopranos" audience is not. I keep harping onto others the point that this is NOT GOODFELLAS in the least bit. The sharing of cast members is the only similarities those two share. This episode was superbly written, and clearly went over the heads of viewers. It was NOT the Season Finale as mentioned, but the midpoint of the season. Sort of like the midterm exam before the finals. There. That should be an analogy people can understand...





"Depression, for some, is forced introversion."





As I expect, most people didn't catch this line or wrote it off while waiting for the next whack job. But this line was the most important of the episode, possibly the entire season. This line came up during a documentary Tony was watching while eating ice cream. It is part of the analytical psychological framework developed by Carl Jung. In a nutshell, Jung developed the concepts of introversion-extroversion correlating two classes of mental functions: thinking & feeling, or sensation & intuition. An ordinary mind, say for example Tony's, is geared toward one class while forsaking the other. Only in an instance of strong spiritual awakening (coma sequence) do we expand both classes and reformat our perception. In layman's, we become a whole person firing on all mental cylinders. That is the "new" Tony Soprano. In "Kaisha", Tony's extended introversion caused him to not have the affair with Juliana, only to re-question that decision once Christopher starting seeing her. Tony's decision has set off a possible disastrous chain of events. Christopher seeing Juliana is VERY reminiscent of Tony's initial desires toward Adriana.





It also has instilled within A.J. a newfound confidence in legitimate living. In the beginning of the season, it was evident that he would follow in his father's footsteps. Yet now, he is learning responsibility. He would have tried to pretend he was a hardass and tried to fight those kids outside Blanca's place. Yet, he used his brain for once and bribed them off. Sort of borrowing Tony's style, but not succumbing to anger and violence like Tony would have. This is Carmella rubbing off on A.J. But also we see some of Tony rubbing off on Meadow. Her conspicuous absence from Christmas is a part of a resentment for Carmella. A resentment of a mother, which Tony knows all too well and actually sympathizes with. That was part of the awkwardness and tension during that final scene with the looks Tony and Carmella were giving each other.





The Brooklyn storyline has also taken an interesting turn, with Tony attempting to create a bond between himself and Leotardo. Tony has abandoned the Sun Tzu concept for a more careful approach. Again, part of the "new" Tony Soprano. How Phil will react should be interesting, as his subordinates are thirsty for blood. I predict that Phil will also share the same experience that Tony had, thus causing his underlings to question his judgement and possibly overthrow him. Leadership is a quality harped on by Winter and Chase this season.





I also have to give myself a pat on the back and feed my ego as Tony mentioned in therapy how he is always attracted to dark-haired, intelligent, sophisticated women like Melfi and Gloria. (See my episode review for "Johnny Cakes"). Count it!





As for Christopher, time will tell whether he will once again blame Tony for his slipups with Heroin and women. He has already bailed him out once, will he do it again? The scene in the theater with Juliana getting high to the thematic, anti-climatic crescendo was a chilling glimpse into the future of Christopher and Tony. After the bonding episode in "The Ride", we see a completely different scenario now. In the end, the family unity we saw will be destroyed somehow by Juliana's influence on Christopher. The ONE affair Tony doesn't get involved in may actually destroy everything a-la"Irregular Around The Margins" Gotta appreciate that irony.





Seriously, the Sopranos has always been a good show, but if look beyond the killings, dark humor, and sexuality, it is the deepest dramatic experience from any modern medium in recent memory. David Chase and his team of writers use literary devices perfectly, interweaving theoretical, spiritual, and poetic influences into one glorious canvas, creating a illuminate work of art.





10 out of 10 for the episode.

I have never been more dissapointed in television. The creators are obviously more than capable of producing quality material so what happened? It makes you wonder if the writers know it is crap when they are writing it? If so, they should have taken another 2 years to get it right. Lets hope the 7th season can recreate the magic, if we aren't too turned off to watch it.

I think the writers, realizing that there were 8 more episodes, did very little to advance the story and wrap up the season. Lots of things hanging: Phil\'s heart attack, Christopher\'s falling off the wagon, AJ\'s new relationship, Carm\'s spec house, and what did ever happen with Meadow and Finn?? Will Junior ever be a major character again? Also, there is nothing worse than watching actors playing drug addicts slur their way through a scene. I can do without that. Finally, enough with the gay jokes, okay? Still, not an episode without merit. Tony continues to be one of the most complex and interesting characters in television history.

If you like watching shows and making connections between themes, storylines, whatever, then you might like Sopranos. The Sopranos also try to impress you with all the tricks a USC film student puts into editing his/her films. There are hundreds of connections and character facets in every episode from Phil coming out of the closet when Vito dies to turkey being mentioned a thousand times in a thousand different ways in the season finale. Tony tells Phil to stop crying which references that one wedding episode with Sack's. Yada yada yada.





I watch Sopranos for the violence, mobster drama, and 8th grade humor. I am a very disappointed viewer. This episode was BORING. There were a couple funny moments like when Chris protected his new goomar from Tony by telling Tony that she is black. Generally, the episode was not exciting. I expected so much from this episode because Sopranos sucked so badly this season. When Tony blew up Phil's place, I thought this episode was going to be everything that I want from a show. But nope. The episode just went downhill from there. No one died. No fights broke out. An old dude has a heart attack, but he'll probably come back. There probabaly won't be a war to end all wars between the two families anymore. I probably won't watch the final 8 episodes. I'll just wait to hear if they're any good, and then give them a try.

WOW, Phil\\\'s heart problems was the best thing in this episode!! They should change the name of the show from the Sopranos, to the fat boring people in new jersey!!!! Can someone name one cool thing that happened all season. AJ really need to grow a pair and do something, vito could have tried to kick some --- before taking a pool q, in it!!!

How can a show that starts off with decapitated heads & explosions end in such a dull way? Seriously, I kept expecting something exciting to happen & it just never happened. I was all tensed up for the last half hour waiting for something interesting & all I was rewarded with were muscle cramps.





This was basically a filler episode, a way for us to try to believe that at least a month has gone by, in a single episode we start at Thanksgiving (oddly enough I made a turkey myself yesterday) and end at Christmas. What follows is a brief list of the episode highlights:





AJ gets a new girlfriend. She's 10 years older, a single mom & appears to be Paulies ex. Carmella is not happy about this but it's Tony who is surprisinglt tolerant by saying "At least she's Catholic". After noticing AJ's jewellery gift to his new squeeze Tony tells him that he should have come to him as he 'knows a guy' to which a shockingly suddenly mature AJ quips "What? Like I don't have a job?".





Phil has a heart attack & it may not end up all roses for him. Just when we might start to see some serious scuffles between New York & Jersey, Phil gets rushed to the hospital. When Tony finally goes to visit him he opens up about what he experianced when he was shot & how it affected him. This has the potential to create a bond between the two or just serve to prove to Phil just how weak Tony now is in his eyes.





Christopher, Christopher, Christopher. This must have been the most finicky child on the planet. New wife, baby on the way & good old Chrissy is back to old tricks by using again & this time with the real estate agent that Tony almost slept with. Tony is now regretting his hasty decision to not get jiggy with it & is shot down when he tries to start up again. So not wanting to upset Tony, Chrissy spends the majority of his time lying about a made-up goomah until guilt (and the fear that he has been caught) creeps up on him & he confessess to Tony.





Poor dumb Carmella. With all the spare time on her hands she just keeps dwelling on Ade, which irks Tony to no end. In order to shut her up & stop her from looking into it any further he enlists the aid of Silvio to help get her spec house up & running again. Personally I have to wonder - just how dumb is she? When it comes to the obvious regarding what Tony 'N' Pals are up to, Carmella's I.Q. tends to plummit into the abyss.





On the plus side the Janice sightings were kept to a minimum so I barely had to scour my eyeballs with bleach at all.

Talk about anti-climatic, lol :|.





I'm thinking maybe David Chase wasn't sure if there was going to be 7th season at the time the 6th season was filmed over a year, which might explain why it ended on such an neutral note; its obvious from this finale there was still alot of uncertainty of a 7th season.

Overall this was a good, average episode of the Sopranos. The entire Vito plotline has caused the New York / New Jersey conflict to boil over. Since season 4 this has been hinted at, and the seeds were laid in season 3 with Johnny Sack being introducted.





My biggest problem with people saying this was a bad season finale is that it isn't a season finale. This is season 6, and we are at the half way point. There is no need to just blow things up for the sake of the audience right now. The Vito murder was the pinnacle of the first half of the season. This part of the season was intentionally slow paced. The lives of the Sopranos are abnormally normal. Things are good. This was the case at the beginning of episode 6*1 before he was shot and now Tony is returning to his old habits. He is tempting fate to deal him the same hand again. Next time though it isn't going to end so well. Each of the characters feels awkward with this normalcy. The final scene of Kaisha shows the family looking somewhat dissapointed beneath their feigned smiles. Things are ready to errupt.





Chase could have ended the first half of the season with Cold Stones, but opted to finish with a quiet episode dedicated to showing how beneath the normalcy things are falling apart. Things are changing. Christopher and Tony are being seperated once again. As Tony came between Adriana and Christopher in season 5, Christopher is now coming between Tony and his intended mistress. Artie is becoming tougher. Silvio is taking charge and acting on raw emotion. Carmela is returning to her status quo of falling for materialism in the place of dealing with Tony's filandering. Meadow is distancing herself from the family further. AJ is still breaking his father's balls by dating a black girl. For how mellow the episode was, many of these themes were touched upon. Most of all, the big "cliffhanger" everyone should be wondering about is whether someone important is still going to be whacked, and who is taking over if Phil doesn't make it.





The only thing troubling the episode was the editing which did seem odd at points, such as the montage near the end. The final scene at Christmas though redeemed this. The awkwardness and glances of underlying resentment and pain was chilling.





Overall not a great conclusion, but the story is just beginning so why bash a transitional episode? This will play ten times better on DVD, as will many of the earlier episodes. The same held true with season 4. Overall a good episode.





8.5/10

Decent episode, but not quite what you might hope for in a season finale. Not a cliff-hanger, not a conclusion, so what was it? A disappointing ending. On the other hand, AJ got laid by a foxy lady (whoopie!), Carmella got her house back, and Tony got a much-needed tip from the Feds. But Chris is back on the smack, and screwing around with the real-estate agent that spurned Tony, and Carm is shopping around for a private dick to find Adrianne. And what all of us have been expecting for years, a possible plot against Tony himself emerges... all right, maybe it wasn\'t that bad of an episode afterall.

What happened to this show? The first four seasons were phenomenal - there was major plot development in every episode, and at least five or six major shockers every season. There was a reason the Sopranos became a household name: this show redefined the gangster drama, examining the personal and family lives of mafioso types without sacrificing the hard-hitting (and occasionally gut-wrenching) violence audiences have come to expect.





After season four, everything inexplicably went downhill: Season 5 seemed pointless and lackluster, and that was followed by a seemingly interminable two-year wait. Season 6 started off with a bang, but then it just fizzled out. If fans had a hard time with the bizarre "dream episode" of season 5, that was nothing compared to the two-part Tony-In-A-Coma storyline. The remainder of the season just seemed to cast around for something to latch onto, and never really found it: there was the gay mobster thing, which was drawn out and gimmicky from the start; the Carm's house thing, which took almost twelve episodes to get past the inspection phase; the A.J.-Is-A-Manchild thing, which let's be honest, we all knew anyway; the Chris as a screenwriter thing, and a handful of other things. Meanwhile, the storylines that actually interested us - Johnny Sacrimoni's incarceration and trial, A.J.'s potential induction into the mob (WHY hasn't this happened yet?), Adriana's disappearance, the potential for a gangland war between Tony's and Phil Leotardo's crews - in other words, all the stuff that makes a show about the Mob interesting, and the kind of stuff that would have been explored in great detail in the first few season - was sacrificed in favour of the above-mentioned weak story arcs.





The finale could have brought everything together, and for a while, it even seemed like it would - but then, as the seconds counted down and the family gathered around the Christmas tree, it became obvious that more than a few threads were going to be left hanging for the 8-episode series denouement. Someone in Tony's crew was going to be targeted, maybe, by Brooklyn. Chris is back on junk. Carm seemed momentarily interested in tracking down Ade, but then, no, Tony's ploy to get her focused on her spec house succeeded. And most importantly, the guys in Tony's crew - the most interesting characters on the show - has virtually no screen time, which was the greatest injustice of all.





Season six felt poorly paced from the start. It never found its bearing, and while it was a mild improvement over season five, it ultimately felt like twelve hours of waiting for something to happen. Sad to say, that something never did.

I didnt see much happan and though some of the seasons conflicts were settled, the major conflicts werent and that upsets me because I now know I wasted my time on this season.





I only graded it a 2 because of the AJ story line. The episode showed that hes maturing from the f*** up he was before, though I know many would like to see him go down the same route as his father (and i cant lie, I do also).





This has to be the worst sopranos season finale yet. they make us wait 2 years for crap.