Incredible. Electrifying. I can't think of another way to describe this, the second to last ever episode of The Sopranos. There was no doubt that this series is reaching its conclusion with some cataclysmic events taking place.
All out war declared The episode opened with Silvio making a surprise visit to Burt Gervasi. Once inside Burt's house, Sil garotted Burt from behind as the family dog barked at Burt's thrashing feet. Back at Bada Bing, Sil tells Tony of this hit and explains that Burt was considering a switch to Phil's crew and had approached Sil to join him. I didn't know Burt very well, but clearly the guy was an idiot to think that Sil would turn on Tony.
With out-and-out war now pretty much on the table after the hits both sides have taken in retaliation against each other, Phil Leotardo sits down wih his two lieutenants - that awful leprechaun Butch (nothing 'butch' about him really) and Albie Cianflone - to make it known that he wants to deal with Tony's crew once and for all and orders a hit on the top 3 - Tony, Sil and Bobby - in quick succession to avoid retaliation, and he will do business with whoever is left.
At Satriale's Tony runs into Federal Agent Harris and Tony enquires about the two Arab Bing customers he snitched on to the Feds, but Harris is reticent. When Tony storms off in frustration, Harris runs after him to let him know that he has it on good authority that the New York crew is after him. Tony then discusses the situation with Sil and Bobby and they decide to take out the head of the family first - Phil.
Dr Melfi decides to get off the Tony pity bus While Tony is battling to secure his future, a dinner party with Dr Melfi, her friend and therapist Dr Elliott Kapferburg, and other medical professionals gets nasty after a woman at the table mentions to Melfi the study into sociopaths and talk therapy as explained to Melfi by Elliott in last week's episode
"The Second Coming". Melfi accuses Elliott of putting the woman up to casually bringing up this study again and the two friends' argument erupts further when Elliott brazenly erveals to the party guests that Tony Soprano is Melfi's patient.
Later, Melfi reads the study herself - called The Criminal Personality by Dr. Samuel Yochelson and Dr. Stanton Samenow - which states that criminals usually express affection for "pets" and "babies" during their counselling sessions to give the impression that they are absolvable in some way (an idea that the study refutes).
While in the waiting room at their next appointment, Tony tears out a steak recipe from one of the magazines, and pockets it. When Melfi calls him into her office, its clear that her entire demeanour has changed since reading the report. She is more stand-offish and offers sharp, bitter responses to Tony's complaints about the cost of AJ's rehabilitation and his disappointment that Meadow has decided to drop out of medical school. She even begins to finish some of his sentences for him, claiming that they had discussed these same issues many times before and that she can no longer be his doctor.
Its also apparent that she witnessed Tony tearing the recipe from the magazine as she scolds him for "disregarding anyone else who would like to read the magazine". She refers him to other therapists and a course of anti-depression medication. This, of course, surprises and angers Tony who thinks Melfi's angry because he had missed too many appointments since his shooting and for speaking of her divorce.
Tony guesses that this new dismissive attitude is because Melfi is menopausal and he berates her for abandoning him when he needs her most, flushing seven years of work down the toilet. He tells Melfi that he finds her decision immoral and storms out of her office. With Melfi watching him, Tony spitefully smoothes out the torn page and places it back into the magazine and walks off as Melfi slams her office door shut, finally putting an end to their relationship, it would seem.
Now, I have to comment on this story arc. I was at times fascinated and irritated by how its progressed. The parallel between Tony's real life and his life as Melfi's patient hit me like a ton of bricks as Melfi came to accept the report's conclusion that ultimately she has not been helping, but in fact, enabling Tony and his crimes over the past seven years.
It was a brilliant observation by the writers that its been these insights with Melfi that has allowed us, as subjective viewers of the show, to empathise and support Tony in his many battles over the years. But if the Yochelson and Samenow study (which exists in real life, by the way) is to be believed, any hopes that we - and Melfi - had that Tony would eventually come to absolve himself somehow, is ultimately fruitless and fanciful.
But on the other hand I was extremely disappointed with the way in which Melfi handled it all in the end. Her behaviour towards Tony after reading the report was highly unprofessional and, incredibly, I sided with Tony in his frustration that she would just dump him without citing any real reasons. I'm not a medical professional, but I do believe that what she did was not in accordance with medical practise and that her dismissal of Tony's problems (even though, yes, she and we had heard it all before) was unprofessional. I'd like to believe that this is not the end of their relationship and that they can find common ground again somehow.
The most poorly planned hit, ever 
Paulie and Patsy Parisi are given the task of hiring the hitmen to take out Phil Leotardo and they call on the worst possible person to do this, Corky Caporale - the deadbeat junkie who used to score with Christopher. Corky brings in two hitmen from Italy and give them an address and a photograph of their target, Phil. The incompetent Italians bungle up the hit by killing Phil's Ukranian goomar and her father (who does bear an uncanny resemblance to Phil). They let Corky know its been done and question why Phil would speak Ukranian to his goomar. Since Corky is strung out and in an adult video store, he dismisses this information and lets Patsy know its been done. Patsy too thinks nothing of the Ukranian connection.
But the Jersey crew's celebrations are short-lived once Sil and Paulie learn that the wrong person was killed. As Tony cleans the pool since AJ has returned home from the psych hospital, Janice visits to ask him for money to help pay for Uncle Junior's care since he's run out of money and will be moved to a state facility. Tony brushes her off as Sil arrives to tell him of the screw-up. It becomes clear then that Phil had gone into hiding days as soon as he ordered the hits and he tells Sil to let everyone in the crew know that they need to watch their backs.
Bobby and Sil take a few for the team
As his cellphone rings in his car, presumably a call from Sil to alert him of the security situation, Bobby heads into a store that specialises in those vintage model train sets he covets so much. As Bobby and the salesman discuss a Blue Comet model train, two men in caps enter the store and pump up to a dozen bullets into Bobby's body. As Bobby falls, he crash lands into a train set as two little boys who were also in the store at the time, scream their lungs out and the hitmen calmly walk out of the store.
Back at Bada Bing, Sil and Patsy are collecting important papers as they make a move to go into hiding. On their way out of the parking lot, they are cut off by another car. In it are two of Phil's hitmen who begin shooting at Sil and Patsy. Sil eventually finds his gun in a bag (why didn't he have it ready?!) and he and Patsy return fire. But Sil is hit three times in the shoulder and abdomen while Patsy manages to escape.
The shootout brings all the Bada Bing dancers and customers out to watch the commotion but they scramble back inside as Phil's unhurt hitmen make their hurried escape. But as they do so, they knock over a motorcyclist who is then run over again by a passing vehicle.
Exodus Tony rushes home. Rosie Aprile is there with Carmela to look at photographs they took during their trip to Paris. In the kitchen, Tony tells Carm that Bobby is dead and that she and the family need to find safety while he and the rest of his crew go into hiding. Carmela is shocked and frightened but Tony assures her that, according to "mafia code", the wife and kids will not be hurt.
Tony goes to AJ's room to tell him the news but AJ reacts by bursting into tears and talking of his depression. Unfortunately for AJ, this is absolutely the wrong way to react to the situation and an angry Tony roughly pulls AJ out of bed, sending his lamps and stereo equipment crashing to the floor, before pushing him into his closet and ordering him to pack some clothes. He shows disgust when he sees that AJ and a friend had been reading on terrorism and the Iraq war before he arrived.
Carmela and Meadow go to see how Janice is doing since news of Bobby's death broke. They find her with her two step-children sitting in the lounge, devastated. As Tony locks up the house before he goes into hiding, Paulie informs him that Sil is alive but unconscious, and the doctors have little hope that he will recover.
The end is nigh Tony, Paulie and a few other members of his crew then arrive at the safe house and agree to stay and protect Tony. As the rest of the crew order dinner, Tony retreats to an upstairs bedroom and removes a rifle from a black refuse bag. The rifle turns out to be the AR-10 assault rifle that Bobby gave Tony for his 47th birthday in
"Soprano Home Movies". Tony has a brief flashback of this episode where Bobby tells him that "its so quiet you don't now when it'll hit you" - clearly presaging his fate in the train store.
Tony then reclines onto the bed with the AR-10 rifle lying protectively across his chest and the episode ends. It must be noted that throughout this scene in the safe house bedroom, a fantastically ominous, bass-heavy song was playing. It was loud and glorious and perfectly suited to this scene. It's by a British band called Tindersticks and its called "Running Wild". Go out and get it if you can!
So then, next week is the series finale and, as always, there's just no telling where things will lead. I'd hate to hazard a guess and will happily give myself over to the myriad of emotions and repercussions at the conclusion of this saga. I'm actually afraid to see it all end....