How Will the Sopranos End?

We're less than a week from what could be considered one of the biggest television events of the season. The second half of the sixth season of the Sopranos begins April 8^th at 9pm. While the fanaticism for the Sopranos has waned somewhat over the years-particularly after the psychedelic, coma-induced head trip of the first part of season six-The Sopranos has held onto its mantle as one of the strongest dramas on television. Now, with the episode, "Soprano Home Movies," The Sopranos prepare to wind down for good. Only eight episodes stand between now and the end of the family Soprano.

With all of the enthusiasm for a series that has at turns been bold, enchanting, frustrating, and depressing, it only makes sense that the air is abuzz with guesses and predictions. Who will live? Who will die? Will Carmela ever figure out what happened to Adriana? Will Tony ever sleep with Melfi? Will Meadow ever stop being annoying? (I know, that last one's impossible.)

Before we begin making our wild guesses, let's catch back up with where left off. When we last saw the characters Soprano it was Christmas. Johnny Sack had pled guilty, shaking up relations between all of the families, ending with Phil Leotardo in the hospital after being caught in an explosion. Anthony Junior had fallen for Blanca, the secretary at the construction site he's now working for, and begun settling down, to Carmela's pleasure and chagrin (Blanca is, after all, 10 years older than AJ, Puerto Rican, and a single mother). For her part, Carmela, having just returned from Paris, was dealing with the suicide attempt of her friend, Liz LaCerva, and her concerns over Adriana's unresolved "disappearance."  Meadow answered my prayers and left New Jersey for California with Dentist-Boy (Finn, her boyfriend, who is completely freaked by everything Soprano). Christopher had gotten married to his pregnant girlfriend and taken up with Julianna, the realtor Tony had his eye on earlier in the season (and later in the season as well, although she turned him down in the last episode in favor of Christopher). In addition to taking up with each other, Christopher and Julianna both took back up with their first love, heroin. Tony, fresh off his own multi-episode stay in the hospital, ends the episode by visiting Phil in the hospital to try to call a truce after seemingly responding maturely to both AJ's new girlfriend and Christopher's admission of the Julianna affair.

So what next? All seems quiet on the Soprano front, but with 8 episodes to go, you know it can't last. I personally believe that Christopher has a huge target on him, but that may just be because he's my favorite character. Many have theorized that Meadow will come through at the end to take over the family when her father is incapacitated, an idea I like in theory but can't get behind because Meadow is rather like a spike being driven through my eye and puncturing my eardrum. I think Carmela has to learn about Ade's death, there's no other point to all the build up (or to Paris; I think Carm has been building up to a conscious realization about exactly what mafia life means, instead of just burrowing her head). But the real question is: will Tony make it out of the series alive?

What are your thoughts? We still have a week to go...