"The Parker Brothers took time to think this all up. I think we should respect that."

WARNING: This posting contains spoiler information about the latest episode of the Sopranos. It also contains GV and AC but fortunately no BN.

Fitting that the latest season (half-season?) of the Sopranos opens with a flashback to the 2004 peace summit between Tony Soprano and Johnny Sack. It's almost as if the producers are admitting that nothing happened last season (half-season?), when we were treated to a dozen tired and plodding episodes that went around and around before leaving just how we started, minus one fat gay mobster.

So when Carmela asks Tony "Is this it?" to start the first scene of 2007, I can't help but wonder the same thing. Nearly 80 episodes spread over eight years, layered story lines that benefit from repeat viewings, deep dark character development, and now we're left with what? An hour of Porkchop, Carmela, Bobby, and Janice sitting around being morose.

There were a few nuggets that showed a little promise for this final season (half-season?):

• Tony's prophetic statement "Eighty percent of the time it ends in the can like Johnny Sack. Either that or the loading dock at Cozarelli's." I'd guess the former, given the feds' ever-growing case against Tony.
• The foreshadowing in Carmela's story about the little girl who drowned. Water has always represented the family to the Sopranos. Will one of them die this season?
• The coming of Bobby Baccala. Tony seems to put him on the track to become a captain, but after their fight you have to think he'll be set up to fail. You have to think the next time Tony drives him down a dirt path, only one of them is coming back.

But maybe the most interesting thing in Sunday's episode was Christopher's near-total absence. (Maybe they found out he's been moonlighting as a police detective on Law & Order.)

Last season's first episode started with a bang that put Tony in the hospital, then went nowhere. Maybe this week's quiet start means there's somewhere to go from here. Hope so; if not, I'm just biding my time until Big Love gets back.