And the Emmy Goes To......

I waited all week in suspense as to what would happen on Sopranos this week. I couldn't wait to see it - would Tony die? Was he going to get up and suddenly bitch-slap Uncle Junior for shooting him after mistaking him for "Malanga"? I was sadly disappointed.

This week's episode didn't shed much light on the situation except to allow us to see Tony's disgusting abdominal abcess while he was lying comatose in his hospital bed. AJ turns out to be a complete and utter loser (like we didn't know that already), confessing to poor Carmella ("while your father is in a coma!!!!") that he basically failed out of school. I think his unkempt hair probably gave us the assumption of "loser" already, but that's neither here nor there. Meadow played the caring and concerned daughter, ambivalent between medical school and law school (both are torture, Meadow - marry a mob guy instead!), and apparently having some "issues" with dental-student Finn.

Meanwhile, as we witness all this drama at a NJ Level 1 trauma center, Tony is stuck in some sort of alternate universe where he dreams that he loses his wallet while at a conference and has to assume the name of someone else. Not surprisingly, even while in a coma, Tony is trying to cheat on Carmella. Some things never change.

And that brings me to the one aspect of the show that really impressed me - Edie Falco's performance at Tony's bedside. I have to say, I thought it was moving. She really pulled it off, and I think that at awards time, she will (or should) be recognized for it. She's really come a long way on this show as a mob-wife, and we started to see her coming into her own when her and Tony were calling it quits, but this is entering a whole new realm of acting for her. I can't help but notice, though, that she looks so much older than 43. Oh well. Good for her for growing old (old??) gracefully.

Previews for next week look exciting and more action-packed than this week's episode. Not that I need action for an episode to really rock my world per se, but I would like to see some advancement besides Janice making a bad situation worse at the hospital.