The End is Nigh

It's a few hours before The Sopranos' series finale and my head is bursting at the seams. I think it will be a solid episode tonight but I just know that on Monday morning I'll be slightly dissatisfied because there's no way that David Chase will tie up all the loose ends that have been nagging me, namely:

* Carmela's suspicions about Adriana. Will Carm finally find out what really happened to her and flip out?

* A.J's descent into violent despair. He's been a weak successor to his father for seven seasons. Is tonight the night that A.J. grows up and lashes out?

* Whither Tony's alter-ego, Kevin Finnerty? Will it turn out that for all this time, Tony Soprano has just been a figment of Kevin's imagination?

* Meadow dating Patsy's son. Will this lead to Meadow becoming an easy target for Phil Leotardo's henchmen? Or does it signal a future of organized crime for Meadow Soprano?

* Dr. Melfi's sudden dumping of Tony. The series began with Tony waiting in Melfi's doctor's office-- surely Melfi has to return in some capacity in this final episode, right?

* Silvio's near-death. They could have easily have had Sil die in that car shootout, so there must be some reason for him to remain alive in the hospital for this final episode.

As for my previous post, I'm still predicting that Tony dies tonight. The producers won't want to keep him alive because they'll want to squash any chance of an awful Sopranos "reunion" show or movie years down the line. I don't think my bold prediction of Furio's return will pan out (although I did have some hope of it when Tony ordered some hitman help from Italy last week). I also think the Feds might be the ones pulling the trigger, and I completely left them out of my previous list of candidates. But here's what I now think will happen: The Feds recover Silvio's incriminating papers that were left in the backseat of the car after the shootout in the Bada Bing parking lot. Using that evidence, the Feds approach Carmela to try to turn her against her husband. She reluctantly agrees, but Tony finds out and confronts Carm one-on-one. This leads to a violent fight, Carmela ends up stabbing Tony to death, The End. Cue up a Rolling Stones song, fade to black.