Jersey Bounce: Five Fans Take a Stab At the Finale

-- Michael Cavna

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Tony Soprano, wanting to come out of hiding and get back to business, cautiously agrees to meet with rival mob boss Phil Leotardo.

Cut to Janice's house: Tony's wife, Carmela, emerges from a bathroom looking stricken. Son A.J. sees a positive pregnancy test in the bathroom trash and confronts his mother, who says she wishes she could tell Tony; A.J. resolves to deliver the news.

Cut to hospital: A.J. and Carmela accompany Gabriella to visit her husband, Silvio, the consigliere. A.J. lingers, wanting to know how to find Tony; Silvio, barely conscious, scrawls the address of a safe house.

As A.J. arrives at the house, Tony and his men are driving away. Following them, Paulie backs out of the driveway, and A.J. jumps into the passenger seat.

At the meeting between Tony and Phil, at a typical Jersey industrial area, Paulie orders A.J. to stay in the car. A.J. watches wide-eyed as Tony, Phil and their crews gather. He sees movement behind heavy equipment and realizes an ambush is in progress. He shouts to his father and all hell breaks loose.

Tony, wounded, seeks shelter behind a car. Phil moves in for the kill and, as he's about to fire, he himself is riddled with bullets by A.J., who has found his father's AR-10.

A.J. drops the rifle, kneels beside his father and delivers the news about Carmela's pregnancy. Tony takes a second to digest the news, then looks at the sun rising through the industrial haze and begins laughing uncontrollably.

-- Debra Leithauser

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The final scene: