So, last night was the big season finale of The Sopranos, and to many a fan's disappointment, no one major got whacked last night. Carmine got off the hook twice, Johnny Sack is alive, albeit on thin ice, Paulie's seems to be ingratiating himself to the rest of the crew successfully, Chris is clean and sober, and Uncle Jun is a free man. About the only major thing that happened was the separation of Tony and Carmela.

Well guess what kids? That is a major thing, and it was just enough to make the entire episode pack a punch you never saw coming.

Did you ever think Tony would end up kicked out of his own home? Did you ever think Carmela would finally lose it over his flings on the side? Of course, the answer is no to both questions, because A) Tony is overloaded with old-fashioned Italian male chauvinism and pride, and B) Carmela has been more than aware of Tony's philandering for quite some time. Because of her constant tolerance, we as fans never thought she'd reach a breaking point like last night.

Apparently we were wrong.

To the naysayers who claim that last night's finale was boring and uneventful, I have two things to say to you. First off, season finales of any sort never live up to the hype. They are designed entirely to hook not only the core audience of a program, but also the casual fans who may like the show, but rarely get the chance to see it. So no matter how good The Sopranos is, it's not going to be able to live up to any sort of hype. That, my friends, needs to be kept in mind when the show reaches its end and we're served up a series finale (which, according to most sources, will be next season).

Secondly, last night's show tied up the loose ends that needed to be tied up, and opened up several new problems for next season. This is the other purpose of the season finale: to leave the viewers hungry, wanting more, waiting desperately for the next season to start up. It's like when Lois & Clark revealed that Lois knew Clark was Superman at the very end of the show, and then made you wait a whole season to figure out how she knew and where it was gonna lead. The only difference is, The Sopranos has strong, competent writers.

In this case, the major plotlines for next season look to focus on Tony being out of the house and separated. Ultimately, this is gonna fuck him up in the head, and possibly lead to some irrational decisions in his day job. Odds are he'll go back to therapy, but when has he ever been hit this close to home? His one sanctuary, the one refuge from his daily dealings (aside from the occasional federal visit), is no longer present in his life. You'd think being away from his immediate family would make it easier to focus on business, but in this case it's more likely to lead to suppressed anger, and we all know how far that gets him. If he's gone stugots, no one's safe, which brings us to...

The Revised Bookie's Odds on Next in Line to get Whacked:

Johnny Sack (Odds: 2-1)
He is not on anyone's good side right now, and chances are he'll be Tony's primary adversary next season.

Furio (Odds: 3-1)
Tony's smart, he'll put two and two together and figure out why Furio left. Might even remember that the guy tried pushing him into a helicopter rotor. If he comes back from Italy, he's done for. And if he doesn't, Tony just might pay him a visit.

Adrianna (Odds: 5-1)
She's getting a little too comfy with the feds, making her prime for a good erasing.

And there you have it. Those are the big three on the list right now, with other more negligible characters likely to get it down the line. Season 4 has been up and down for the most part, but all of the storylines that were set up have gone somewhere, and the few seams that need stitching are teasers for next year, which is likely to be the gang's swan song. Too bad, really, although you can't really blame them. With a show of this nature, there's only so far you can go and so many creative twists you can come up with before it gets stale and predictable. Better to go out on top than drag it out.

Speaking of which, stay tuned for the brutally honest opinions on Friends later this week.

Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.