PhillyTalk: Ask the Writers and Experts

The expert I talked to for my story said it was partly the producers' fault that this was happening because they let him into the final competition in the first place. They can change the rules in midstream, but if they do, then people will really lose faith with the show, even moreson than if he were to win.

There actually was a lawyer on Bill O'Reilly who argued that the organized vote for Sanjaya was an illegal restraint of business or some such. O'Reilly, for maybe the first time ever, was actually the sensible person in the discussion.

I can't believe how passionate people get about this show. Personally, I vote for Haley 20 times a week just because she's hot. It's just a TV show, IMHO.

I share your feelings about spoilers. I hate spoilers. I close my eyes and go, "La La La" during all the ridiculous "coming next week" promos. I skip the parts in movie reviews that describe the plot.

But I don't think it was really giving anything away to say that two guys get whacked. How many guys are on The Sopranos, after all? And, though I would be strongly averse to making it even more of a spoiler, how many guys are in the whole world? That's a lot of different people who might get whacked....

I think you will be surprised at what happens, and I think you will be unable even to guess, wildly, what it will be.

Last season, I said that some people get shot in the first couple of episodes, and I don't think it spoiled it for anybody. I didn't say one of them was Tony.

I thought last season, or the beginning of this one, or whatever it was last year, was great. I enjoy the flights of fancy and the examination of the inner workings of the characters.

I thought the detour into Vito's life, his inability to stay away from the adrenelaine of the mob, etc., was fascinating. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I thought those "love" scenes were so icky, and yet they showed a complexity in this fat thug that was amazing. And just to make sure we weren't getting too sentimental, we saw how cold-blooded he still was on his way back to Jersey.

And Carmella's trip to Paris....

I understand there is a big controversy about last year and that a lot of people, including some professional critics, didn't like it, but I think those sorts of detours are actually what make The Sopranos so good. You probably aren't going to like tonight's installment much, but the show looks like its heading back into some serious mob doings after tonight.