Luck always runs out

SOPRANOS SPOILERS BELOW, presumably.

The first episode of the new season brought tragedy to a member of the Soprano family. Poor Bobby, as punishment for his beating the pulp out of Tony, was sent on a hit. Seems like everyone's in for some tragedy (and they're obviously not all going to be as simple as death) as the series winds down. Not that it isn't well deserved. It's been warned of since the beginning, in fact.

Johnny Sack became this week's tragic figure, though he did suffer a bit differently than Bobby. He certainly wasn't as "lucky" as Tony proclaimed himself and Phil to be. Johnny's sad fate came in waves and was probably at its most painful when his brother-in-law answered the question: "How will I be remembered?"

For the second of the eight final episodes, HBO tonight dropped what in earlier seasons would have been an eventful, long-overdue bit of action. But from how things progressed, it doesn't look like fans will be going very long before another beating or shooting or cleaving as it were.

For the naysayers... always saying nay... you got your brilliantly shot, brutal murder and a nice beating for good measure. But the most important thing I noticed this week I almost don't care anymore (certainly not about AJ, Meadow and Carmella -- and please remove that always-angry-looking Dr. Melfi from my TV set).

Time was when I and everyone else would hang on the events of a new Sopranos and I'd be in three or four different conversations about the new edition within 24 hours of watching it. Now? Well, there's still reason to watch -- Phil's starting a war, presumably -- but I'm not bouncing off the walls waiting for next week's episode. I'm not like Sil just nodding at everything put in front of me.

Tired as I was when I got home tonight, though, I still made time to watch. Even before Drive, which I'm dying to see.

(Oh, incidentally, am I the only one who thought disgraced doc turned orderly Sydney Pollack was a fed? Probably. I know no one else missed the goof factor of the child-filled Leotardo family gathering that played out quite a bit like any Soprano family business dinner.)