Tom -- there's no doubt we'll have plenty o' questions to try and answer during our chat tomorrow (which begins at 2 p.m. everyone).
I think this episode is one that needs to be slept on -- and that's what I intend to go get started doing now...)

I've been reading away all night, and people seem to be going through something like the different stages of grief--at least the denial and anger parts for some, anyway! So I leave you with those until tomorrow: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Good thought about A.J. And plenty of room to develop a series about him and the N.J. mob.

You should have seen my living room when the Sopranos' finale cut to black. The tension was as thick as a homemade marinara sauce. My brother and I immediatley accused our mom of having sat on the remote, causing the TV to turn off. My dad was cursing Time Warner. Then, after about 5 seconds that seemed like an eternity, the credits rolled. We breathed a sigh of relief.

As far as my 18 yr old opinion goes, I thought the finale was great. Considering my family and I started watching The Sporanos during the 2nd half of the last season, we have 9 years to catch up on!

A.J. will never take over the family business, that was the point of his "ending". A.J. is incapable of actually doing things on his own. A.J. will always be, to a degree, a spoiled rich kid. His parents will always be there to coddle him, just as they lured him out of joining the military and offered to buy him a club after he gained experience in the cushy film job that they provided for him. A.J. is a sell-out, not a sociopath: just as he began to actually care about things outside of his own life, he decided to take the easy way out with the BMW included.

All the previous episodes of The Sopranos led to a perfect finale. It is not about Tony Soprano. It is about the Sopranos and the idea of the Italian Family (i.e. Mafia) and the traditions it represents. The previous years led to the final episodes. They gave us a chance to see the operations of the family. They gave us a brutal reality check but also showed these people were human.
The finale was truly Made in America. In plain sight was the theme that America has killed the Family, the traditions, and the loyalties of the past.

In no particular order here is why I believe this.
The Ford Blue Oval, an icon of America, was very prominent in the killing of Phil.
The tour in Little Italy where it is stated the area used to be very large and is now confined to a single street. Cut to the faces of Asians in Chinatown who took over the area. How many times do we see the trucker in the diner with the USA hat on and think he might kill Tony? Then, what to think of the symbolic scene of the Italian at the counter going into the crapper? (I know, lots of people think he is going to get a gun.)
Meadow says she wants to defend the downtrodden. Everyone is thinking Hispanics, blacks, etc. No, it is the Italians.
Tony strikes a deal with part of the New York crew who now has no loyalty to Phil.
Paulie doesn’t want to move up. He sees the peril and a no win situation.
Junior has forgotten the past. The history is fading away.
How many times has Tony eaten in an Italian restaurant in the series? I think it was every time he went out. The final scene closes in Holstein’s: A German American Ice Cream parlor. They eat there rather than Manicotti at home. How many times has Tony eaten meatballs or an Italian sub in the backroom of the Bing? In the last episode he eats an
all- American burger.
What about the ketchup not coming out of the bottle! There is no more blood to give. The killings and the Traditional Family way of life must end. Everyone is dead, in a coma, has forgotten the past, or not interested in the Family anymore.
How about the new Family being the government? The agent on the phone yelling at his wife is a flashback to the old Tony and his arguments with Carmela. Then he is in bed after a tryst and talking on the phone to Tony like Tony would do after his trysts.
How about the new Family being Hollywood, the American dream? A.J is whining about getting coffee and food for his boss. Is he the new Christopher coming up in the Hollywood Family? What was the reference to Hollywood and screenwriters in the Twighlight zone episode?
Let’s think about the David Chase twist on Chris’ movie called Cleaver. We were led to believe it included portions of Tony’s violent, woman driven life and it got exposed to everyone. Well maybe David was playing a game in that one of the most All American families was The Cleavers. So maybe Tony’s Family life and traditions were injured by an American TV tradition?
What about the revelation by Tony in Las Vegas that he understands. He understands the old Vegas of "Bugsy" Siegel and the mobster is dead. The old Vegas has been Made in America. By the way, Las Vegas means The Meadows in Spanish.
Did the song by the Doors in the next to last episode foreshadow the last scene? They sang When The Music’s Over which has a line: When the music's over
Turn out the lights
Then it goes on to say:
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
The face in the mirror won't stop
The girl in the window won't drop
A feast of friends
"Alive!" she cried
Waitin' for me
Outside!

Did Tony get killed? From the VERY FIRST episode when Tony said "You never know when you're gonna get whacked. When you get whacked everything turns black."... hence... the abrupt ending. It was episode 86...The Eight Feet By Six Feet Theory
A coffin is usually eight feet long and is buried six feet under. Once in your coffin you've been 'eight by sixed', which shortens to '86ed'. The Soda Fountain Theory

Workers at soda fountains had their own jargon which was based on numbers and it's the number eighty-six which they used when an item was out of stock.

I enjoyed Journey "dont stop believing" to close out the episode. I found this list http://collegecandy.com/buzz/3398 of all the music from the final episode. worth checking out

The negative feedback we have been hearing concerning the last episode is understandable. Most people would likely enjoy a final episode to a series to bring complete closure to the series.

Honestly, I have seen only a few episodes of the Sopranos. So I am no expert. However, I thought the final dinner scene at Holsten’s was tremendous.

A husband and wife and their two children out for a family diner. One-by-one each character enters the restaurant. First Tony, then Carmela then AJ. Meadow is outside ready to join her family. It is almost like the end of a Broadway show (the Tony Awards was airing at the same time). The actors, one-by-one, come out for a final (final?) bow.

The camera pans the restaurant there are typical family types around; a booth with a family with two Cub Scouts, a table with a young couple.

In my naïve thinking: why cannot the family be more like a typical family and leave behind the crime.

Meadow was outside parking the car. The parking spot seemed to be large enough, why cannot she get the car into the spot? Could be a family not fitting in metaphor?

We see the suspicious men in the restaurant. I’m not sure if I buy the comparison of the man going the restroom with Michael Corleone. Why would the man need to have a gun hidden in the restroom? He could have the gun already on him.

I was thinking at this point: why the heck is the family eating at this restaurant? The imposing danger we see, seems to go right over the families head. The man leaving the counter to go to the restroom only gets a glance from Tony. Can this family honestly believe they are safe when two of Tony’s men and Phil was shot?

The whole restaurant scene gave me a feeling that things were closing in on the family. There was no back door. The suspicious men were at the front of the restaurant.

The family is numb to the danger around them. Dead or alive, a sad story.