It is now safe to say that this last season of the Sopranos is the worst. There was a lot of speculation before the season began in March that things might not go out with a bang, if not a bada-bing: David Chase was reluctant to return, some principal cast members had other interests. But like Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in the final, flabby Godfather III, HBO dragged them back in. A big pile of money will do that.

The dilemma may prove resonant, especially to historians of the show: if there is an overarching theme this time out it is corruption, and part of my disppointment might simply stem from seeing Tony et al, having grown fat and complacent, go through the motions of violence and degradation with little discernible enthusiasm for the tasks at hand. Like the tired lap dancers at the Bing, most of the characters seem to be on autopilot, shooting and fucking and stealing because they don’t know anything better. (Actually, is there anything better?)

What gave the early seasons their tang though was the tension that existed between Tony’s waking life and the other reality he sensed in dreams and in therapy. That even as events, and family history, compelled him toward mob bossdom, he knew that part of him flew with the geese that migrated over his swimming pool every year. “My heart goes where the wild geese goes,” as he Holy Modal Rounders used to sing. “No one knows where the wild geese go.”

But in the real world of New Jersey mobsters, wild geese go to Florida — or die trying (see Episode I of this season). And yes, having Tony brought back from the dead, against much of what is left of his will, was a pretty clear statement of the creator’s own position: enough already. But as the following episodes have dragged on we see the continuting moral decay of characters who once seemed conflicted and shrug. Last night Christopher fell off the wagon again, in rather spectacular fashion: doing blow off the ass of some Hollywood hooker, all while dreaming of the swag room Ben Kingsley gave him a glimpse of. Artie lost his shit, not for the first time, falling for some new girl and beating up some soldier in Tony’s army (none too convincingly).

Some of it was good (I agreed with Christopher’s assessment of the hooker’s tits), some of it was bogus (how the hell did Lauren Bacall get snookered into that cameo?) but none of it was new. At this rate the show will have to work hard to make us care if the whole bunch of them gets whacked. At least that way they’d take off a few pounds.