posted April 07 2007 02:17 PM           

While I haven't watched the Sopranos for over 1.5 seasons now, it seems like too great an opportunity to play another such game.

So, everyone is invited. It pains me to do this in a paper-based format (well, Word doc format), but it only took me 10 minutes to set up thanks to the nice layout provided on the HBO website. There's probably a dead pool engine somewhere in the world...maybe next time.

Anyhow, if you want to play, do the following:

1. Download this word file: HBO Sopranos Dead Pool


2. From the 18 characters in the doc, type the world "dead" next to the ones who you will bite it by season's end.


3. Put your alias at the top of the document.


4. Post them here.

Since it is late in the week now, let's make the deadline Wednesday next week (the first week will be a gimme for everyone). I think that makes it 11 April. Of course, since there aren't any prizes, I don't really care if you somehow find a way to cheat.

posted April 07 2007 02:42 PM                

* Phil Leotardo
* Christophuh
* One of the guys in the red shirts...

posted April 08 2007 07:23 PM                

Duh! (smacks head) I think Junior for sure, too, but Keevan called it first.

posted April 10 2007 10:47 PM                

I don't think they'll kill off Tony or Carmela. Actually, I'm not so sure about Carmella, but I think there would be a major outcry if Tony were killed. (All the more reason to do it, but I don't think they will.)

Christofuh ... dang. He could die of an overdose. And he isn't what you call bright. 50/50 he kicks the bucket.

If Bobby Baccala dies it will be because Janice killed him.

posted May 13 2007 10:58 PM                

One down, one to go...

posted May 14 2007 01:00 AM                

It reminds me how much I'll miss this show in three weeks. I've already decided I'm cancelling HBO when Sopranos goes off the air. I don't watch it for anything but the sopranos now. and if there were any new series that were interesting, i can netflix the DVD's later...

posted May 14 2007 12:41 PM                

Some interesting parallels: Last time Tony was in a car wreck, it was with Adriana, with whom he'd been doing (guess what) coke. You gotta love the writers on this show.

posted June 03 2007 10:22 PM                

melfi firing tony was closure, but i guess a bit unanswered.

as soon as bobby was playing with his trains and they did the train montage, i knew he was screwed.

the thought of junior in a state institution...

and the feds actually warning tony about the impending order of doom from NY.

and tony going to bed with his gun...

posted June 07 2007 03:05 PM                

I always thought drugs would have something to do with C's demise but, as much sense as it makes now, never thought he would be killed because his drug habit made him a liability, and much less that he would be killed by the big T himself. It makes me wonder if he'd still be alive (well, at least not murdered -- death by overdose or stupidity cannot be ruled out) if not for the accident, even if his relapse had been known.

I feel bad about Bobby. If there was such a thing as innocence among Tony's men, I think he had it.

Silvio is still alive, even if just barely. I think it's still a tossup whether he will make it or not. I would have preferred they shot Paulie, though. He is the most likely to turn if the chips go down, I think, plus I liked Silvio.

posted June 07 2007 03:34 PM                

"I feel bad about Bobby. If there was such a thing as innocence among Tony's men, I think he had it."

Me too. Yes, I know he was a crook and a murderer, but he was one of the only guys on the show I wouldn't be afraid to run into in a dark alley.

And I don't even know why I care at this point, but I really don't want Paulie to be a traitor, either by ratting to the FBI or by selling out to NY. I know that if anyone in Tony's crew deserves a messy, violent death, it's him, and yet I'd like to see *someone* from the old guard still alive and standing by Tony at the end. Weird, huh?

As for the final episode, I have the feeling that Phil's going to die in the first five or ten minutes of the show, and the rest of the show is going to be about something entirely separate from the NJ/NY war. David Chase almost never gives the audience what they're expecting to see, so this should be interesting. Hopefully I won't be watching the entire episode peeping through my fingers like I did with "The Blue Comet."

posted June 07 2007 06:34 PM                

Something's definitely up with Paulie, tho. Didja notice all the emphasis on similar white shoes of the type Paulie wears all through last week's episode? I can't believe that would be a coincidence.

Three more days! Thanks for the info on the Silvio thing, Red. It's always good to see you around here. I've been checking in on your blog occasionally, also...

posted June 07 2007 08:05 PM                

I'm rather surprised that Dr Melfi copped an attitude with Tony, though. I've always thought her manner was very professional and ethical, but she was actually baiting him.

posted June 08 2007 05:41 PM                

But I've been reading up on the definition of sociopath (and psychopath) and, I dunno, I don't think Tony qualifies. Yes, he is a criminal, he is a murderer. No doubt about that. But socio/psychopaths don't have feelings, they have no remorse, no conscience and, as bad as Tony is, I don't think this is true of him. It may actually make him a worse monster, if you think of it, to know that he does these things with the full knowledge that they are wrong, and that he feels remorse but squashes it. It seems to me that he was conflicted about killing Christopher and, in the case of his cousin, Tony Blundetto, he wouldn't have given a shit if Phil tortured and killed Tony B. and have taken the job on himself if he didn't care in some sick, twisted way.

Also, Samenow and Yochelson were treating prisoners who weren't really there voluntarily. Under these circumstances, are their findings all that surprising? On the other hand, Tony sought help. Granted, it was not so that he could stop being a criminal, but I think that there has been improvement in his case, even if it does not measure up to Samenow and Yochelson's standards.

posted June 08 2007 09:01 PM                

Some of their definitions of criminal personality do come awful close to descriptions or socio/psychopaths, though.

The most common definition of a sociopath:

Sociopaths are characterized by a disregard for social obligation and a lack of concern for the feelings of others. They display pathological egocentricity, shallow emotions, lack of insight, poor control of impulsiveness (including a low tolerance for frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression), irresponsibility, a lack of empathy for other human beings and of remorse, anxiety or guilt in relation to his/her antisocial behavior. They are usually callous, manipulative individuals, incapable of lasting friendship and of love. They shamelessly lie, cheat, steal, abuse, neglect their relatives and families, and endanger themselves and other people in a reckless manner. Hare characterizes them as "intraspecies predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they cold-bloodedly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."

More here:
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p960239.html
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/428/428lect16.htm

posted June 10 2007 11:35 PM                

Tony is dead. That's why the screen went black. The story ended when he did.

posted June 11 2007 03:33 PM                

Of course, none of the cast we are used to would be in the prequel, since people don't get hired to play themselves at a younger age. IMO, at least half of the reason we are involved with the Sopranos has to do with the actors themselves, the way they played their characters, and that a prequel -- unless it was incredibly well made with superb actors -- probably would tank.

posted June 12 2007 12:36 PM                

So, anyway, once night I dreamt that I bought a gun, and that the person who sold it to me gave me the aforementioned warning before they handed it over. I said not to worry, that it wouldn't come out unless it was an emergency. The scene switches to me and my kid walking along a sidewalk, when someone rushes up to me, opens my purse and says "I told you not to buy a gun" and shoots me in the head. Everything went black. I could hear or see nothing, but I could still think. And what I was thinking was "Oh, my god, Linda saw this. Who is going to take care of her now?" I woke up and rushed into my daughter's room. I never considered buying a gun again, and I can remember the dream as clearly as the night I had it, even 30 years later.

So ... after enough time to think about it, I'm still going with the "Tony is dead" angle. Not that my dream means I am right, but that I think there is a posibility that death=nothing (black) may be a part of the collective unconscious and, who knows, it might have been Chase's dream too.

If the scene had faded to black I don't think I'd have come to the same conclusion. It was the abruptness of the ending that did it.

I was one of those people who thought my cable had gone out at the worst possible moment and was still sitting there with my mouth open when the credits started to roll. Naughty, naughty Chase!