Not tonight, anyway. HBO has opted to run a movie instead. I assume that the shrunken television audience on Memorial Day Weekend accounts for the decision. In the case of the Sopranos, the next episode will be the final one of the season, which, if the past proves anything, will leave plenty of frustrating loose ends.

The Sopranos – What a Mess! (Spoiler Alert)

Having been away last Sunday, I caught the most recent episode of the Sopranos this weekend by watching HBO On Demand (a great thing), and, compared to the previous episode (the confusing dream sequence episode), this one was a gem.

Young Carmine, the embodiment of the stupidity of most “Wise Guys,” cracked me up when he opined that the ongoing New York, intra-gang violence has placed them in “a f***ing stagmire.” This thoughtful observation apparently motivated his decision to cede control to Johnny Sack, making Johnny Sack the undisputed Boss of the New York Mob, a decision, which surely will not sit well with the character played by Frankie (the Falsetto Four Season) Valli.

Tony Blundetto is in deep shit and is running for his life. Johnny Sack wants him “on a spit,” and has promised to “rain shit” down on Tony and his family if Tony Blundetto (“that little prick”) is not delivered to his doorstep. When Tony learned of Blundetto’s whereabouts, he arranged a meeting with Johnny Sack to ask if he (Tony) could take care of the Tony Blundetto problem himself. Johnny refused. Tony then asked if Johnny could promise that Blundetto’s death would be quick. Johnny also refused this request. Tony, after a few seconds of reflection, told Johnny Sack “Go f*ck yourself. … He’s my f**kin’ cousin.” This virtually ensures a New Jersey – New York Gang War. It should be interesting.

Tony’s own crew continues to sink deeper into ca-ca. In response to the FBI’s threat to turn Adriana over to the Long Branch Police Department in connection with its investigation of a murder that took place in her saloon, she revealed to Chris her past dealings with the FBI and tried to get him to go into the Witness Protection Program. After giving her an almost deadly beating, he told her that he had to go out for a while to “process” all the new information. Of course, that was the beginning of a setup, and from that moment on, it went very, very badly for Adriana, culminating with her getting plugged twice by Silvio on a secluded road (we actually have a few). (The moral of that story is, when questioned by police, shut up and demand a lawyer, something ol’ Adriana should have done from the get-go.)

Later, Tony hangs a beating on Chris for “snorting some ‘H’” to ease the pain of Adriana’s death.

In the middle of all this, Tony’s “well-done” girlfriend has threatened to kill herself, and Tony has promised Carmella that he would finance the purchase of a $600,000 lot (we have those too), so that Carmella can build a house for investment purposes.

The guy certainly has his problems.

Hey, at least Georgie the bartender, didn’t get another beating.

Deadwood – Getting Better All the Time.

Mr. Wu and his pigs played a large role in the most recent episode, in which two guys killed Mr. Wu’s opium courier and stole the dope, a portion of which was to be sold to Al Swearengen. Watching Swearengen “communicate” with Mr. Wu was absolutely classic, in that the only English word Mr. Wu seemed to know was “cocksucker.”

When Mr. Wu wanted both culprits killed, Al shared the following bit of wisdom with him:

“You can’t cut the throat of every cocksucker whose character it would improve.”

Wise man, that Al.