"Sopranos" Folks at the Emmys (AP Photo)

Here's the word from HBO Video:

HBO's Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody-winning series The Sopranos returns with the final nine episodes on all three DVD formats from HBO Video on October 23, 2007. In The Sopranos: Season 6, Part II, the show comes to its conclusion with Tony Soprano facing new stresses, including life-altering decisions at home, pressure from the law, and doubts about allegiances on the job that leave not even his oldest and most trusted crew members above suspicion. The Sopranos: Season 6, Part II, available on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-Ray disc formats, is being released in time for the holiday season, making it the perfect gift for die-hard fans. …

"Making Cleaver," an exclusive sneak-peek at the behind-the-scenes making of the film that Christopher pitched in Hollywood
"Music of The Sopranos," a retrospective look at the final season and the music that helped shape it
Four audio commentaries from cast members – Episode 1: Steven Schirripa, Episode 3: Dominic Chianese, Episode 7: Robert Iler, Episode 8: Steven Van Zandt

Pricing: $99.98 DVD, $129.95 HD DVD/Blu-Ray

My friend Alan Sepinwall has a post-finale interview with David Chase; even if you've read excerpts, you can find the whole thing here

I wrote a few notes for tomorrow's Beacon Journal, which I am posting after the jump …

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TNT offers "Sopranos" stars in a "Law & Order" marathon, after the jump …

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Episodes, I mean. Although it's beginning to feel as if there's no need for a reunion movie …

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Some notes after the jump …

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Paulie's shoes, Junior's schemes, after the jump …

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For your consideration and argument, after you've seen tonight's episode, and after the jump …

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"Sopranos," "Amazing Race," "Friday Night Lights," after the jump …

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The semi-season finale of "The Sopranos" on Sunday was a frustrating hour. As much as I understood what the show was doing, I wasn't crazy about the way it went about its business.

To be sure, I came to it with an increased longing for satisfaction. I watched it at about 11:30 Sunday night because the bride and I had spent the earlier part of the evening at a Cleveland Indians game. A very bad Indians game. It's a good thing we filled out our All-Star ballots before the game was under way. But I'll come back to that.

Once we got home, I had the DVR playing back "The Sopranos." This was the last new episode for a bit. HBO has shown 13 in this cycle, with eight remaining for telecast in 2007. That in theory creates an extended final season, but Sunday's telecast felt like a season finale. The Soprano clan had gathered the way it tends to for season finales. And most of the big drama had happened in the episodes leading up to this one.

As I said, I know what the show was trying to do. These episodes have come back repeatedly to the issue of whether people can change or not, especially Tony, whose shooting earlier this season should have been a life-changing experience. In some ways, the show has demonstrated, Tony cannot change. He has tried to stop his infidelity, but just can't do it. He is drawn to women for mere lust (as was the case with his brief encounter with a Bing dancer) and for more complicated reasons (most recently embodied by the real-estate agent played by Julianna Margulies). But, in his meeting with a hospitalized Phil, Tony did indicate that he has changed, that he has no stomach for pointless feuds and macho posturing. There was a further indication of it when he took no action against Christopher upon learning that the real-estate agent and Christopher were canoodling; the old Tony considered women his possessions even if he was no longer involved with them, and he was still in pursuit of Julianna.

Change was also a factor in the different view we got of A.J., whose surliness at last diminished when he met a woman who gave him a comfort zone, an older woman who was domestic in a way that he had not seen with his club-hopping contemporaries. To see A.J. bond with her son was to remember that somewhere inside the younger Soprano was a sweet kid who had gotten lost in poses and attitude.

But as much as we saw those characters change, they were counterposed against the ghost of Vito (whose inability to change ended up killing him) and Christopher's dark shadow. As much as any character on "The Sopranos," Christopher has wanted to believe in change — to believe that he can change from a thug into a writer, or a producer, or a decent married man. But as much as he dreams of change, he cannot change his most basic self — an addict.

Not just a drug addict, either. Christopher seems addicted to self-destruction; he knows his drug habit risks his future with Tony, and that taking up with one of Tony's women has, in the past, been as great a risk. At the end of Sunday's episode, it's not clear if Christopher has once again given up his habits. (We know he has gone to an NA meeting, but we don't know if it's a stopgap or a real step back to recovery.) But even if he has done that for the moment, odds are that Christopher will lapse into drugs once again, because that's what he does. And sooner or later, it's going to kill him.

And in between, we have Tony's rival Phil, put in a place where he needs to change, but still full of rage over past grievances. (And I loved the way Little Carmine unknowingly pushed exactly the wrong button with Phil — proving Carmine's inability to change into the wise leader he wishes to be.) Tony has brought him the message of change. Now we'll have to wait to see if Phil learns from it.

So there was a lot of thematic business in the episode. But it didn't play out well dramatically. For most of the hour, we were offered a mood of dread and danger — that Phil's guys were going to take out one of Tony's, that Christopher was going to make a fatal error, that Tony was going to revert, that Phil's illness might pass power into the hands of guys trigger-happy enough to firebomb Tony's home during the holidays. (At least, after all those threats, I wondered if that would be the episode's end.) And then? No power, no force, no shock. Just ideas, and a long wait to see where the story goes.

Unfortunately, I knew where the Indians had gone.C.C. Sabathia gave up two home runs in the first inning, the Angels were leading 7-0 by the end of the third. When we left, midway through the seventh, the score had ballooned to 11-0 and the lackluster Indians gave no hint they would mount a memorable rally. In fact, they let the score go to 14-0 before they scored a couple of meaningless runs, and we were home in time to see the final out on TV.

We still had fun at the ballpark, and the rain that threatened early in the game never became more than a few drops. Good seats. Good junk food. But the Indians disappointed, not so much because they lost, or because the pitching staff was way off, but because some of the players seemed to decide the game was over long before it really was.

When Jhonny Peralta declined to give maximum effort to prevent a base hit, an angry fan a few rows above us yelled, "Omar would have dived for it!" Not only that, Omar probably would have stopped the ball. As I said, we left early. But a lot of fans were gone before we were; it was a work night, after all, and the Indians weren't giving fans anything to chat about happily on the job the next day.

I expected to get more TV watched today but ended spending more time than I expected on a column for tomorrow about "American Idol" and on items for my TV mailbag. So it was "Sopranos" this morning and "Alias" tonight.

(Possible spoilers follow.)

I liked many things about "Alias," even if there were significant amounts of the plot that I did not quite understand, and there were a few more of those moments that make me think that nobody really dies on "Alias." Well, all right, one definitely died, and one appeared to be dead, and one who isn't dead is nonetheless facing justice of an eternal sort. I also liked the flashbacks through Sydney's life, which not only brought her life full circle but took the viewers back to the show's beginnings. And, because I'm a casual watcher of "Alias" and a devotee of "Lost," tonight was the first time I was struck by "Alias's" use of the faith-vs.-practically parallel. Maybe it had been there before (or at least evident to closer viewers), but tonight it was made obvious.

On the other hand — and with "Alias" I usually end up seeing the other hand — the ending did not close the door on the spy game forever. (Or, for that matter, on great and mystical forces waiting to be unleashed.) Indeed, its variation on the "life goes on" gambit in series finales included a world where someone with Sydney's skills is still needed. And there is that not-dead character to consider. So, in a couple of years if not sooner, when J.J. Abrams comes out with a wowser of an idea, and Jennifer Garner is ready for a bloody brawl or three, let's not be surprised to see "Alias: The Movie." And I might even pay to see it — if there's no Rambaldi.

(More possible spoilers)

As for "The Sopranos," more terrific stuff on Sunday. Parts of it we could see coming — Vito's doom was not a question of if — but of when, how and by whom. The answers to those questions were dramatically apt. And I really liked the way Phil's position in the whole thing proved not to be from his gangland culture but from the far older belief system of Catholicism (and from his own commitment to marriage).

Indeed, the series was steeped in the place that Tony et al. occupy in history, not only in the Vito resolution but in Carmela's journey to France, and her encounter with an older, grander world than the one she occupies. But history is not for everyone. Tony still wrestles with the implications of his own past — is he like his father or his mother in dealing with A.J. — and Rosalie Aprile is content to forget the past, except as something to be marked in ceremony.

So good, and yet so deeply covered with a feeling of doom. I kept looking at scenes and feeling that they would end badly — as they often did. Vito paid for loving the gangster life — because he ran afoul of the standards of that life, and the men who felt they had to meet those standards. Tony and Phil both seem headed for a confrontation because they cannot forsake the life they've chosen, even if they might want to, and the restaurant fight was purely a result of everyone feeling they had to defend old-world honor and be old-world aggressors. They all should have learned from Vito.

Well, I got those other two bushes out, more easily than the first one, proving that even a little experience can ease the task. (By the way, after writing this morning's post, I went to church, where the sermon was called "Spring Pruning" and the pastor had many stories about his own fun with plants. Sometimes these things are in the air — especially when the air has bright sun and warmth passing through it, and being outside is mandatory.) We have accumulated groceries. The bride cleaned house and put a second coat of paint on the shed door, and washed her car, and made a lasagna. I ran the edger along the sidewalks, which wasn't bad, and swept up the cuttings, which is not among my favorite things. Younger son went to his job.

In other words, the day was full for everyone. And some TV was squeezed in. Well, a little bit of "The Sports Reporters" this morning. At lunchtime, we watched "Survivor" and caught up on all the strategizing and scheming.

I don't really have anything to add to the discussion I saw online after the telecast. Terry seems a lock for the final two, with a game that combines great individual effort with terrible team strategy. He reminds me of the "Saturday Night Live" parody of a Bush/Dukakis debate, where — after ramblings by Bush — Dukakis says, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." The folks on "Survivor" must feel that way every time Terry approaches them with a plan. Cirie, on the other hand, is really smart. We'll just have to see how smart. At this point, if I'm Terry, I want her in the final two since she has been so skilled at betraying nominal allies now sitting on the jury. But when has Terry ever managed to influence who joins him at anything?

Watched some of the Cavaliers-Detroit game during the afternoon. Might have watched more if it hadn't gone like this:

Passed through the house at one point, score's tied 14-14, looks good. Back to the yard, where the bride later informs me that Detroit is up 10. A short break around half time, to see Detroit was up 21. Another check later, when Detroit's lead was in the thirties and time was short. Not a lot of reason to sit by the set and expect a Cavs comeback — at least, not in that game.

Finally, evening brought a chance to really couch out in front of the TV. Rewatched "Alias" and it makes more sense to me — well, as much sense as "Alias" ever makes. As I've said before, I'm sick of Rambaldi but I keep hoping it's finally leading somewhere. Odd to have not only two deaths but two involving cut throats — an eerie symmetry underscoring the betrayal and obsession in each. And I like the way Jennifer Garner is playing Anna-as-Sydney, grabbing onto a facial expression as shorthand for Anna.

I thought a lot about faces during "The West Wing" (which I actually watched after "The Sopranos," but I'll order my notes here by the clock). I may be overthinking this, but when I look at "Sopranos" or "The Shield," or tonight's "West Wing," I see shows where the people involved know they're near the end and they want to go out great. Everyone on "WW" was on his and her game tonight, and I don't mean they were chasing Big Moments. They were just working — working together, playing off each other.

Think of the scene where Joshua Malina (Will) and Mary McCormack (Kate) talk about him running for Congress. Timothy Busfield (Danny) on the street. Busfield in the apartment with Allison Janney (CJ). Janney and Richard Schiff (Toby). And what about the way that Jimmy Smits (Santos) is morphing into Bartlet — like in that moment where Santos gives CJ a won't-take-no speech? I will really miss seeing these guys go at it.

'"The Sopranos" was a dud for me, the first one this season. The best explanation I can give is that the show was so intent on showing us why Tony was bored, it made the show boring. The Christopher stuff felt flat. We know he's the victim of his own demons. The scenes at the street fair may have been touching on their own, but in the larger context they didn't really tell us anything. And the flashback to his betrayal of Adriana, while filling in a gap, didn't fill it in a way that brought us a new insight into what happened. And guess what, Pauly is cheap and selfish and mean, and Janice is selfish. Not great.

I'm hoping to post tomorrow about "Grey's Anatomy" and maybe "Saturday Night Live," which I recorded. But for now, I'll leave you with my hope that there was sunshine in your day, too.

I laughed — very hard — at "The Sopranos" on Sunday night. Wasn't alone, either, since this was a night in our regular "Sopranos" gatherings with co-workers, so the laughter was not mine alone. The Ben Kingsley stuff was funny enough. Mugging Lauren Bacall — one of those things where you think, oh, no, they wouldn't DARE, and then they did. I know at some point, probably even next week, that the show is going to get back to serious business. Still, as I've said before, the makers of the show know that every episode counts these days; they're obviously determined to leave people with the sense that this was a great show, one that could do anything, including comedy — and last night was gut-busting.

I didn't get around to "The West Wing" until this morning. An all right episode. Liked the way Josh went to Sam, since it invoked the scene where Josh brought Sam into the Bartlet campaign; unfortunately, these being smart characters, they then had to talk about how this was similar to that earlier moment, which took some of fun out of it. (Rob Lowe's oddly stylized performance also grated quickly.) The switcheroo at the end of the Bartlet/Santos conflict wasn't much fun either. And I hope the NBC promo was deliberately misleading with its hint that Santos might pick Vinick as his new VP; that's way too tidy for a show that was built in a lot of ways on messiness. As we were reminded every time Josh had to handle a pile of papers.

This was a weekend that began with frustration; I had called a guy Friday morning for a story I thought I would need to write and still hadn't heard back from him by the time my workday officially ended. There was some frustration near the end, too, when the office called about the passing of Linn "Barnaby" Sheldon, to ask if I wanted in on the story. By that point, we had company coming, and I had to pass. I did know Linn, a little, and will probably have some notes about him here later.

In between those points, though, were domestic pursuits — painting, yard work, cleaning house — involving all the folks in the House of Heldenfels, ending with a home that looked and felt better. There were also chances for TV in the gaps.

"Gilmore Girls" was very good for about half the episode, where we saw that Mrs. Kim has her own Mrs. Kim; a vivid reminder how deep the cast is, with Emily Kuroda doing a terrific job. Then, as the show got back to its arc — the Luke/Lorelai wedding or not — it struggled. Lorelai's drunk scene, while showing off the way Lauren Graham can play multiple dramatic notes effortlessly, felt too grimly, deliberately sad, especially when we remember that Lorelai has put herself into this situation. At the same time, though, with Amy Sherman-Palladino officially leaving "GG" at the end of this season, I have to wonder how the new creative team will maintain the show's tonal approach — and if, Aaron Sorkin-like, she is going to leave the show in a horrible little box that the new team will struggle to escape.

I very much enjoyed "Veronica Mars" although I have no idea what I really know about the bus crash. Liked the way that grasping Kendall is now connected to the Fitzpatricks, although I do wonder why no one came across this connection before. Of course, Neptune is a town where most people spend a lot of time NOT looking for the truth. The Duncan clue at the end baffled me, though. Are we really to think that Aaron was not a murderer. And if not, weren't his dealings with Veronica at the end of Season 1 just the tiniest bit extreme? Still, I liked the Wallace-Jackie scene where Wallace spoke so cruelly to her, since it reminded us of how skillful young people are at saying horrible things.  And always enjoy Tina Majorino's presence; her reactions to the unexpected prom date were delightful.

"Veronica" addendum. One reader sent these notes along: "Remember Kendall went to Logan's to "sell" him real estate?  She took hair out of Duncan's drain in the shower and they planted the evidence.  All he has to do is have reasonable doubt with one jury member.  OJ Simpson, Robert Blake, if you are famous and rich, sometimes you get off.  Veronica speculated that Arron killed Lily with an ashtray.  Rumor has it that the actress that plays Lily will be in the last episode so I am thinking another flashback at what happened that night. As for him trying to kill Veronica, more interesting storyline if Arron is out of jail.  Remember, Logan mom's body has not been found.  Here's hoping the new CW gives Veronica another season with it being available to most of the country and not getting moved for a game of some kind of sports."

Thanks for the info. But that shower scene has bugged me because it was so unclear about what was going on — and I remain dubious about Kendall's ability to extract a hair and know whose it would be, especially considering the traffic through that place. Let us now resume the original post…

The bride and I also took in the two-hour return of "Alias." I am not a fan of the show, which always feels exciting for about an hour and then just exhausting. The return was entertaining, and I have a mild curiosity about where it's going, but I can't get too crazed. Seeing Jennifer Garner playing pregnant with her thinner, post-pregnancy face was intermittently amusing. And the closing scene was a giggle simply because one of my TV mantras is that no one ever really dies on "Alias."

And now let's all charge into the new week. I'm really looking forward to "When Andrea Met Kellie…"

I did not expect to go this long between posts, but the days filled themselves up — chasing down a cat to take to the vet, putting a fence back up around a flower bed, Easter morning at church, grocery shopping, giving the grill its spring inaugural. Today at work I was hip-deep in a non-TV project, now finished.

Watching was done, too. Friday night, we kicked back with "Serenity," the big-screen continuation of "Firefly." Sunday night was devoted to '"The West Wing" and "The Sopranos," and in between there I caught up on "Veronica Mars" and "Gilmore Girls." I keep thinking the viewing menu included something else, but right now I can't remember what it was.

Notes on all that viewing:

– I laughed more at "The Sopranos" than at any other recent episode as the guys exhibited their homophobia in so many different ways. For Paulie, of course, it was all about him. Tony's stumbling explanation of how guys get a free pass for any homosexual acts in prison was priceless. And I really like the way they're treating Christopher's NA sponsor, the latest in a line of characters who are not hoods but still want to hang out with some.

At the same time, though, the guys' reaction to Vito's secret life reminded us how unenlightened they are about many things; even young guys like Christopher can't handle the idea of men with men. Even though Tony was less dismayed than the others (and nice to see that his change brought us back to his post-shooting introspection), even he felt social pressure from the others — until that pressure was a challenge to his authority.

As for Vito, I'd like to think that he has found a place where he can be himself and is out of harm's way; the implication in Tony's attitude was certainly that Vito is fine as long as Vito doesn't come back. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as out of harm's way on this show, as we saw early on in the "College" episode.

– "The West Wing" offered some civics lessons, as Santos is learning that even a transition period comes with hard lessons, and old friends are not necessarily the best new allies. And it held out some fun hints of what could be if the show wasn't ending now, by beginning to fill some staff positions. But overall the hour dragged, and I expected more for Bartlet's farewell to Leo than false bonhomie bucking up everyone else.

– "Gilmore Girls." Emily is right. It's time for Lorelai to step into the middle of the Luke/April situation. It's sure not easy emotionally for Lorelai to keep herself apart. And it appears that just about everyone else on the show has had more conversation with April than Lorelai has.

As for ongoing plots. the Rory and Jess thing was a waste of air time (even if it gave the promo makers something to hang the episode on). And Rory is just a bore to watch (partly because Alexis Bledel is bringing little to the part), her attraction to Jess no more convincing than her ambivalence about Logan. Not a great episode overall. Luke's accompanying the field trip kept seeming to go somewhere, only it had nowhere to go. And for all the kerfluffle about Lorelai's parents being in town, why has it not occurred to her that they might be house-shopping for Luke & Lorelai — a very Emily wedding present, yes?

– "Veronica Mars." Not bad, and it feels as if we're getting closer to something on the big mystery. Some interesting visuals on the dream sequence. Lot of empty air, though.

– "Serenity."  Of the three folks under this roof, I am the one least enamored of "Firefly," so I may not be a great judge of "Serenity." While it wasn't completely lacking in entertainment, it never elevated beyond being a so-so action picture. Of course, on a Friday night when we were all eager to kick back, I appreciated the way the movie made few demands on me.

In spite of the ambition in yesterday's post, the day got away from me. I had a story about SportsTime Ohio that ended up consuming part of the day and evening; it was after 8 p.m. before I had the information I needed to write. And while I was working on that, I was trying to track the two local contestants on "Deal or No Deal" to get something about them in today's paper. Since I was on the phone during the end of one player's journey, I ended up e-mailing an NBC publicist for the results, then wrote a brief item about it.

By which time it was well after 9, so the night's viewing was "Everwood" (on recorded delay) with the bride. I got through part of "Veronica Mars" after that, but it was late by then and sleep was demanded. Finished "Veronica" this morning.

So, some thoughts on recent viewing:

"Veronica Mars": Decent episode, although it was pretty clear that Thumper was in the stadium bathroom before the show revealed it. (At least, I think he was in the stadium. Some tricky editing there.) I continue to like the way Tina Majorino has become part of the show; she knows how to do both intelligence and vulnerability. And Steve Guttenberg is fun to watch, although I wonder if the writers are, in essence, playing to his weakness — making Woody transparently suspicious-looking because anything subtler is not going  happen with Guttenberg. Very much liked the way Jackie handled Wallace. And was there anything more loaded with tension than the scene of Veronica and Logan dancing? Talk about issues…

But probably the best thing about the episode is that I don't have to wait a week to watch another new one, since "Veronica" moves its new telecasts to Tuesday beginning tonight.

"The Sopranos": Sunday's episode was the first one this season I had to watch in regular time, since HBO sent out the first four for review before the season started. And I was watching it with friends as part of a regular "Sopranos" gathering, with the two previous weeks' episodes viewed before we got to the new one. My one beef: that Tony's spiritual awakening in the hospital seems to be over. I know, for some things he has no attention span, but the near-death experience after the shooting should have set him off on a more extended journey. But maybe I'm asking too much of Tony.

Vito in the leather bar was weirdly hilarious — loved the cap — and I'm really wondering how that will play out. The Johnny Sack scenes were touching; as calculating and cold as Johnny can be, we keep getting reminded that his love for Ginny (and, by extension, their family) is absolute — far deeper than what Tony feels for Carmela. So, of course, it had to become an issue of weakness.

Also liked the event-planner dialogue with AJ, a nice reference to the previous season and to AJ's overall aimlessness.

As for the bodyguard story, well, didn't you sense soon after seeing this guy that someone was going to pound him? (I suspected Christopher would get the chance to show the difference between bodybuilding and street fighting.) The show's deftness was in the way Tony ended up doing it.

"Everwood": I'm on and off in terms of watching the show, although I like it for the most part when I do. (I did cring on Monday night at the way mastectomies' aftermath were treated as loathsome scarring.) At its best, it reminds me a little of "Veronica Mars." The characters are allowed to be smart and articulate, but not in the fake-grownup way of "Dawson's Creek." And their emotions feel genuine. I also like that it's not a teen show, even though many of the characters are young.

Yesterday I was talking to Glenn Gordon Caron, the writer-producer behind "Moonlighting" and now "Medium," and he was explaining how "Medium" is really a show about married, settled grownups — something that can be a challenge for young TV writers to handle. He's right, too; "Medium" repeatedly sets up opportunities for melodrama, then dials it down to a reasoned discussion. "Everwood" often does the same thing, testing the characters but not making them cartoons. But that may also explain why The WB never seemed as enthusiastic about "Everwood" as it did about lighter and simpler shows.

"Gilmore Girls": Not sure about this one, especially with the return (again) of Jess in tonight's episode. Didn't buy for a minute Rory's getting back together with Logan — and was disappointed that Paris was shuffled off again in short order.  Am wondering when Lorelai is going to get off the pot and deal with Luke about his daughter. It's long past time.