TVSquad

If you're in the camp that believes that Tony was whacked by the Members-Only jacketed man in the final blackout of The Sopranos, then you'll probably be pleased to know that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has taken a shot at the HBO drama, too.

During a recent speech at New Jersey's Rutgers University, Justice Alito opined that the Emmy-winning series besmirched not only Italians, but citizens of the Garden State, too. "You have a trifecta - gangsters, Italian-Americans, New Jersey - wedded in the popular American imagination," he said to a crowd of about 100. He was speaking about the stereotypes Italian-Americans have had to live with in the United States. Clearly, The Sopranos would be just the kind of depiction to draw his ire. After all, Uncle Junior and Paulie Walnuts are not characters to be emulated and admired, and creator David Chase never said they were.

After the shocker that closed off last week's episode, it's not too out of line that we're treated to a famous Sopranos dream sequence this week. I got a big kick out of the show description on my TV's program guide, saying that Tony experiences "mistaken identity while on a business trip." Surely, this "means" something overall, but it wasn't even that simple. I'm truly beginning to feel like every little thing that happens, every nuance, means something to the overall plot. The previews for next week show what will presumably be the beginning of some troubles for the Family, and we're getting teased with more about that every week.

Looking into the title, "Join the Club," might lead down the direction of people who end up working as rats for the feds. And with Christopher having the Feebs in his face about terrorists being funded in this country by drug dealers, etc., we got a little taste of foreshadowing when he bumps into the two Middle Eastern men in the Bing. He already knows what got his girl offed, so it'd be a really big deal if he started talking to the agents. As for the real family, I thought seeing Carm the way she looked was almost as intense as seeing the open wound on Tony's stomach. She's in a rough place right now, and somehow holding it all together with her slacker son making a confusing attempt at making things good with his dad.

Ok, if you haven't watched Sunday night's season premiere of The Sopranos, stop reading. There's plenty of other TV Squad goodness, so just skip on to something else. For those of you that are still with me now, you know that Tony is, at the very least, out of commission for a little while. This is going to lead to a power struggle of absolutely epic proportions. Now, most Mafia familys are set up with the Boss who's in charge, the Underboss, who's his second-in-command, and then the Consigliere, who actually fits somewhere between the two since he's a "personal advisor" to the boss. After those three, there's the Capos who each lead up their own crews of made men. If what I just said was making your head spin, trust me, it's not that bad.

It's been 21 months (!) since The Sopranos had any new episodes on HBO. They're finally returning tonight for the first part of their final season. So... who will be the first to get killed? Believe it or not, there are actually betting odds on that very topic. The numbers crunchers over at PinnacleSports.com think, of the 18 regular characters, it'll be either Uncle Junior or Christopher. Each have received 13% of all the money wagered. The odds of Uncle Junior biting it are 11/2, while the odds of Tony Soprano's nephew, Christopher, getting killed are 6/1. Tony's sister, Janice, has odds of 11/1. And, it could happen tonight. Newsweek says we'll see "a murder, a suicide, a maiming, a fatal heart attack and a shooting - all in the same episode."

So... care to wager a bet about will be the first to get whacked this season?