The Sopranos - You Keep Me Hangin' On

The tension was building to a fever pitch. One by one the Soprano nuclear family gathered in the diner. One by one possible hit men came in while we all waited for Meadow to park her damn car. One last communion-like ingestion of onion rings by all and....black!

Like many, I feared that Comcast had screwed up and dropped the signal at the crucial moment, then, after five seconds, the credits began to roll. Silently, with none of the usual musical overlay.

I began to laugh my ass off. Chase had consumed the seemingly endless speculation from far and wide. He broke the fourth wall and said, screw it, you guys make up your own ending. It was perfect.

Along the way he showed us the total devastation of Uncle Junior, Janice's bottomless focus on getting other people's money, and we were left to imagine the squashing of Phil Leotardo's scull, seen only in the nearly comic take reaction of the bystanders. We also saw the FBI trying to influence the office pool on who would whack who, AJ's salvation from his depression and scattered dreams of saving the world and Meadow's future practicing law in her soon-to-be-husband's firm.

All in all a very satisfying finale featuring a great song by the Vanilla Fudge, one of the preeminent New York bar bands of Chase's and my youth. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" indeed.