You're right, the heart attack thing was a really lame way to deal with that impending conflict. And I didn't think it was very believable that Christopher could fall off the wagon so badly and still keep it together to the point where no one else would notice.

I thought the season started out well enough, but it lost steam at the end. I was not thrilled at all with the "oooh all one happy family" ending. There is still hope that the last 6 (or is it 8) episodes next year will end with bravissimo, but at this point I am not counting on it.

I thought the "all one happy family" ending was a little more foreboding than that -- a sort of "how long can this picture of domestic peace possibly last?" sort of thing, given the war that seems to be brewing.

But I agree, the season has been flat. The number one problem, I think, is that there is no clear antagonist to drive forward the broader narrative thrust: no Livia or Junior plotting against Tony, no feds breathing down anyone's neck, just this general tension with the New York crew. The subplots just wind up going nowhere (Paulie has cancer and was raised by his aunt, Meadow and Finn are fighting, Artie is falling apart, etc.) or take over out of proportion to the series (namely, Gay Vito -- a character who was never particularly significant till this year). Previous plots that should be followed up on have disappeared (do the Feds just not care about Tony now that they got Johnny Sack?). Then there are the character developments that come out of nowhere (A.J., who's been a ne'er-do-well for YEARS, suddenly turns into perfect boyfriend and quasi-father figure over the course of three scenes). Once-complex characters have been reduced to their most obvious notes (Uncle Junior, Janice, even Carmela to an extent).

There's just a lack of focus that seems odd for this series, as well as what seems like outright laziness when it comes to narrative structure -- like random developments thrown in at random times will substitute for the extraordinarily careful, complex plotting and character development that made this series once so great.

I'll certainly watch the final 8 shows next year, but it's sad to see what was (otherwise) one of the finest TV series in history seem to head towards an ending not a bang, but a whimper.

gah! editing got all funny. I mean to say: "seem to be heading towards ending not with a bang, but with a whimper.

The season finale? Didn't the season just start like a month ago?

It was more like three months ago (2006-03-12). This season had one fewer than the standard 13 episodes of the past five seasons, however.

Umm. That was the season finale? That is extremely lame.