I didn't think Silvio was letting it go to his head at all. Hence, the asthma attacks and the trip to the hospital. He even said he didn't want the top spot, that he'd rather be behind the scenes. I think his wife was getting ahead of herself if anything.

Vito's gay. Season Five.

But you don't feel his demeanor changed, at least his capacity to tell all of them to shut the fuck up and just chill out until the dust settles? Yeah, he told Bobby & Vito "for the time being", but that seemed moreso out of indecisiveness than "wait and see where we are headed."

No shit, Sherlock.

But Finn can also out him, so why the hell would he be that conspicuous by pawing on him at the hospital? If it's an attempt at intimidation, it's pretty bad.

His demeanor changed, but not in an egocentric way. His indecisiveness is evidence that this didn't go to his head. He's unsure of himself because his decisions are final. He did, however, snap at Paulie when he asked him if he had problems taking orders from him. So, yeah it's changed, but it's because he's uncomfortable with responsibility that comes with the top spot.

I think he was hitting on him Holmes. Would Finn really out him? Why? To get himself killed? I don't think so.

I don't buy that take. Sorry. I figured that would be the response from someone, but Silvio always appeared to be level-headed enough to just put some shit on the back burner for a while during extenuating circumstances that don't necessitate immediate action.

It's not that I don't understand it; It's that I think it is stupid.

Besides, if Finn is living half way across the country and dumps Meadow, I'm not sure how well Vito could hunt him down.

It's a touchy situation. The boss laid up in the hospital like that. Maybe Vito felt he could show a little affection and cop a feel at the same time without setting off any alarms. It's fuckin' risky, for sure, but he's been doing some outlandish things lately.

I'm still not sure that Finn would be that willing use his knowledge to leverage Vito in any way. What does he have to gain? If I were Finn, I'd avoid Vito at all costs. I wouldn't want to give him any indication that I was even thinking about talking about what happened that day.

here's my take on tonight's episode.

vito & finn. vito wants the power of "if something were to happen to tony then i'd be the one to step up." he ALWAYS wanted that power. with finn, he holds that power over him because finn saw him blowing that security guard... he likes holding that over finn.

finn is slowly but surely becoming aware of who the family is, but just not yet. he will freak out.

silvio= uncomfortable with the power he's assuming.

tonight's episode was better than the last but man, i'm done with it already. gimme some action.

Yeah, I felt this way as well. Better than last week, but what a waste the last two weeks have been. Frustrated is the best way to describe my feelings at this point, years off between seasons and we're treated to what? A cliched metaphor about heaven and consciousness from Tony, plotholes and some character inconsistencies as Fu pointed out.

That being said, I think (hope, really) that things will start heating up straight away. They've set lots of different scenarios to play out.

And that conversation in the hospital bathroom between Silvio, Paulie & Vito? How careless was that? Are they trying to show how everyone is just an incompetent boob, without Tony to guide the ship? The feds should have bugs all over that hospital.

Hopefully the Memento meets-the last episode-of-Quantum Leap plotline is done for, and we can see some good killing.

Whoever said that without Tony there, and his strong hand, things/people get wacky is right -- I think if Syl WAS the Boss, it would be different, but acting boss is harder...

You guys act like you have never watched the Soprano's before or have just watched them on DVD. Seasons of this show take FOREVER to materialize. That's why the show is good IMHO, because its not all just violence, its about interpersonal relations between a lot of really fucked up people.

I thought last night was good. They carried the "Tony in a coma" plot just up to the point of tedious, finished it with that pretty intense near death scene, and showed once again what a cheap bunch of thugs that these people are.

Nah, I've watched since the very beginning. I'm generally a staunch defender of the show's quality, but the last two episodes have tried my patience a bit. After a tremendous season opener, we get the fucking stupid dream sequence for two straight episodes. And not original either, but the same hackneyed bits we've seen on countless television shows. That was a letdown. I wasn't expecting immediate resolution of Tony's shooting, but after such a long break between seasons, this wasn't the best opening of their last full season in my opinion.

I've actually enjoyed every season, not just because of the action and violence, but because of the characters' relationships. We got some of that last night, so it wasn't a total loss. I think the finale to S4 was incredible, no violence in it, just this hugely emotional tidal wave between Tony and Carmela that's been building since the beginning of the show.

REQUESTS FOR FUTURE EVENTS ON THE SOPRANOS

1. Meadow gets naked and does a softcore porn scene.
2. Janice and AJ die in a terrible car crash because they were complaining to each other.
3. Vito fucks father Phil, they get busted and Paulie wacks them both.
4. Christopher's movie becomes a blockbuster leading him to a new love interest who reintroduces him to heroin.
5. Tony goes on a killing spree murdering a bunch of the NY family.

Just a few suggestions.

i'd strike #4 because it's at odds with one of my requests for the season: christopher struggling with match.com.

i've been a rapid fan of sopranos since day one. i didn't mind the episode but was glad they wrapped up the tony in a coma plot. i started analyzing the dream sequence and i'm thinking that it was symbolizing tony in purgatory and his conflict between of struggling between good & evil. the tony b scene weirded me out for a second because i didn't understand wtf was going on but then yeah... i guess that's what they were aiming at.

fuckin vito & paulie & janice still annoy the hell out of me. good grief.

That's pretty funny, Z.

goodfellas meets the sopranos:

during carmella's session with dr. melfi i could not stop thinking about the fact that carmella was seeking help from karen.

when carmella starts talking about how she fell in love with tony in spite of, or because of what he does, it reminded me of when henry hands karen the gun after pistol whipping the neighbor boy and she says how some girls would have run but it turned her on.

pretty cool.

That just reminded me of this:

"Something's going on!...I look in your face and I know that you're lying...Get out of my life!...You're a lousy bastard...Go to your ready-made whores. That's all you're good for. Get out of my life. I can't stand you."

Your quote, in addition to the fact that I'm dating a huge slut right now, made me think of that quote.

i thought of the exact same thing. very nice reference right there.

My take on the coma sequences is this is what Tony imagines his life may have been like had he not been involved with the mob. I thought that was pretty obvious to everyone.

I'm pre-posting the episode cause I'm eager as a beaver.

I am going on record as saying I love Hal Holbrook.

Better thanks to no dream/coma sequences, but the Born Again Pastor and Paulie's ma ain't really his ma were pretty lame.

I also noticed the opening credits say Jamie Lynn Sigler, not DiScala, which I thought she was using these days.

I also found it a bit strange coincidence that they talked about the whole prayer & healing thing, especially since there was a study that came out this week or last week showing that the Prayerniks have a tendency to have complications.