I saw that the Hextube marathon of The Sopranos just finished so I want to discuss with others! Overall, fantastic show, I love the idea that the mafia is a microcosm of white American society as a whole and how selfish and morally bankrupt it is. It's shockingly funny at times too, they really nail the black comedy aspect (the Columbus episode was hilarious from start to finish 
). All of the characters are phenomenal too, it's hard to choose favorites, but if I had to I'd probably say Adrianna, Carmella and Junior in that order (honorable mention to 
for being a goofy little freak)
Other random thoughts (spoilers for the ENTIRE show)
-As I've said before, reading The Will to Change alongside watching this show makes it clear just how well the writers understand white supremacist imperialist patriarchy, even if they wouldn't use that term to describe the society the show takes place in. And all the mobsters are well written and often endearing despite being undeniably evil pieces of shit.
-I had Christopher's death spoiled for me before watching the show but honestly I could tell the dude was gonna get got right from season 1. He's too hot-headed and overly ambitious, he was never gonna survive, but I did NOT expect the way it went down, that was fuckin brutal. And then Tony goes to Vegas, trips balls and LAUGHS about his death. I saw some people say "that was the moment I knew Tony was irredeemable", and like yeah that really drives the point home but also cmon it took you that long to make up your mind about that?
-The most heartbreaking part of the whole show was Adrianna's death. She's definitely not a complete innocent in the grand scheme of things, she financially and materially benefits from Chris' extortion and murder of others and is totally complicit in it. But the way she gets completely trapped between the mob and the FBI really makes you feel for her, she's among the more moral characters on the show and I desperately wanted to see her get away.
-I've seen redditors and their ilk say that they hated Livia which blows my mind. She's funny as fuck every time she's on screen, just a pathetically manipulative old narcissist, and I love watching her and Tony interact.
-I've also seen redditors say that they hate Meadow and AJ, the former for purely misogynistic reasons and the latter because he's "annoying". Like yeah they're kids, they're supposed to be immature and obnoxious at times, but they both grow into their own people and I like both of their arcs (moreso AJ's, Meadow gets a lot more complicit with the mob shit in the later seasons which made me sad)
-I'm still not totally sure how I feel about the ending. Ultimately when I imagine any other more "definitive" ending, it doesn't quite feel right. If I accept the theory that the cut to black is Tony getting shot, I think that's works brilliantly since he's the primary POV character and it hits harder than outright showing him getting whacked. I'm curious to hear other peoples' interpretations.
I'll probably think of more things to comment on as I contemplate the show more, but I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't. There's a reason it's so highly regarded and memed on. And of course I want to hear others' thoughts as well! There's a lot to unpack in this show and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of its themes and ideas.
It's such an amazing show.
Pretty sure David Chase confirmed that Tony died at the end. That's definitely how I see it too.
I also feel like people unfairly hate on AJ. Yeah, he was annoying and dumb at times but also dealing with a horrific family. He was clearly trying to disconnect from them and critique them at a point but didn't really have the tools to do it well, so he just comes off like an angsty guy. I think AJ was the only one in the family that genuinely tried to reject the mob lifestyle, going as far as even attempting suicide. Still ended up better than Meadow, in my opinion.
Does anyone think that Adrianna would've survived if she hadn't said anything to the FBI and immediately told Chris/Tony about it? I think she got used and trapped by both sides, and I'm not white-washing Chris or Tony, but I think they are used to the Feds coming after their people and would know that Adrianna didn't really know enough to have ratted them out so they wouldn't have just killed her. That's how I see it. But the atmosphere that they created and the way the Feds manipulated her, led her to that trap where she couldn't really trust to confide in anyone and eventually led to her death. Moral of the story: Never talk to the Feds. They don't care about your life either even if they say they do or can help you.
Tony was definitely an irredeemable piece of shit. However, I do read that coma period as Kevin Finnerty as a second chance for him to redeem himself. It's who he would've been if he didn't have his mob life and he could have died as Kevin Finnerty and had his afterlife but he failed by not accepting going through the door at the well-lit house. People read that as hell waiting for Tony, but I think it looks really welcoming and I read it as a peaceful afterlife waiting for Kevin, who he was at that moment. It's been a long time since I watched it so maybe I'm not explaining it well but I've always seen that as Tony's chance, then he wakes up, fucks Chris's ex in Vegas, and laughs off having killed him as a good idea. It's not that Tony seemed redeemable beforehand, but that he rejected the final opportunity to have a redemption as Kevin Finnerty and was now in his truly fucked, irredeemable arc.