could Finerty be a play on meadows fiance FIN ?

I have found these first three episodes to be fascinating, lots of symbolism, making for lots of interpretations by all. In Join the Club, I thought that when Tony had to take the stairs in the hotel when the elevator was out, this was a foreshadowing that he was going to descend into hell when he died (as is evident by him being diagnosed with Alzheimer's after falling to the bottom). In Mayham, Tony is tempted by Tony B to let it all go and join the party. Many interpreted the white light to be the eternal offer of heaven, however I believe Tony sensed that this was all a ruse, ie that this was not heaven, but he was being lured into hell itself. God would never send a representative like Tony B to welcome anyone to heaven and further the mistake by having Livia at the pearly gates. Tony now knows that he's going to hell. Let the fun begin.

I think the name Finerty has to do with Meadow's boyfriend Finn.

Vito has to get whacked this season! Even though him and Paulie were both irritated about having to give the money to Carmella I think Paulie is just cheap (hence the coupon clipping) while Vito, has grown a giant set of balls since losing his weight and wants to take charge.Did you see the look on his face when we found out Tony was gonna be okay? At least Paulie seemed glad. I wonder if he thinks he's more attractive to fin now that he's lost a few pounds and starts coming on even stronger! Sopranos caused quite a stirr a few seasons ago when it showed the graphic, brutal rape of Dr. Melphi. Could we a see the first Mafia man rape! UGH!!

The scene with Acting Boss, Sylvio trying to do his business while he conducts business on the throne was hilarious. Syl could not even escape the underlings in the mens room.

Tony was unwilling to give up the briefcase to go into the reunion. He had earlier said, My whole life is in that briefcase., referring to the brief case he lost. That was Tonys old life. Finnertys briefcase contained Tonys life that might have been, had he not dropped out of Rutgers and joined the family business.

The pitch session for the slasher/mafia movie was really funny. The men wanted the movie to be realistic, insisting that if body parts were put in different dumpsters, they would end up in different landfills and couldnt come back together. The solution: put them in different dumpsters but on the same route. I think they may have had some experience with this!

I too was a little upset with HBO showing scenes of an on the mend Tony giving orders from the hospital room. He seemed like he might really have brain damage in the final scenes of this episode. I didnt really see the plot taking that turn, but they should have kept us guessing anyway.

Carmela was on to Vito and Paulie with the timing of their generosity. Is she going to keep this to herself, or will she pass it along to Tony? I love the look on her face as they boarded the elevator.

Oh yeah, about where the title came from...Aside from the obvious that there was total mayhem in the soldiers' ranks without Tony to guide them, the title came from Paulie's mispronounced assertion to Vito and Sylvio that the Columbian heist was "Mayham".

Once again Paulie saves the episode, and the dialogue of the mobsters commening about horror movies, ghosts and zombies.

I agree with everyone that the woman was a younger
Livia.

Another funny thing was when Silvio was being wheeled
into the ambulance and Bobby not only blocks it with his car, but upon seeing Silvio being wheeled out asks, "how come you didn't call"? That was one the points of the episode. The contrast between
the totally self-absorbed world with Tony's real family and his Buddhist-inspired dream world.

Done with this series. Story line is boring. It isn't what it used to be. They should have quit last year. More like a soap opera than a night time series.
Lost interest, sorry.

The Sopranos never ceases to amaze me with it's depth and insight. In the entire dream sequence we see Tony take on another story based life. His identity is changed but he is still holding on to the world. However, unlike his waking world, this one might make the transition from ego based reality into death easier.
But as we see, when Tony is about to walk towards the "light", he is still unwilling to let go. And I believe it was this fear of letting go that brought him back. But interestingly enough, many people who come close to death and finally realize that they are not their life, not their tittle, not their wallets nor even their names, and come back changed.
Thing is, will Tony come back enlightened or will he latch on even tighter to his previous self?
And then we see those around him who are so ego based that even while Tony is on the verge of death they still come to him to engage in their own craziness. It is only his wife who maybe is able to look past everything and see the real Tony, perhaps for the first time. Which is why Dr. Melfi asks "are you afraid that will change when he wakes up?"

My TV goes on one hour every week. If it weren't for the Sopranos it wouldn't go on at all.