As a naturally sleepy person, staying up til 11.30pm on a Sunday night is quite the effort, but when it comes to The Sopranos I’m prepared to spend my Monday yawning a lot. For the first few episodes of this, the second part of the sixth and final season, I was quite disappointed. The show seemed uncharacteristically laboured and desperate to undermine each of Tony’s significant relationships (maybe to build to an unpredictable ending), but in the past few episodes it’s decided to get its groove back.

After the Grim Reaper decided to make a shock appearance claiming Chris last week, came another will-he-won’t-he-die scenario, this time with Tony’s son, the troubled and depressed A.J. The gloomy fella had been so lost since his fiancée Blanca ditched him, and that combined with his disillusionment with his new chums, led him to jump into the family’s swimming pool with a plastic bag over his head and a cinder block attached to his foot. Fortunately, he had misjudged the length of rope, and it was long enough for him to struggle above the surface and remove the bag. Unable to move with the weight of the cinder block, A.J. cried for help until Tony returned home to dive into the water and save his son. Phew!

The botched suicide attempt was incredibly harrowing to watch, as once safe from the chilly waters, A.J. wailed in pain into his bemused father’s lap. The scene was one of tremendous emotional power and (in contrast to the death of Chris) had a grave inevitability about it. Actor Robert Iler continued to impress as A.J., and it really is the father/son dynamic between the two Anthonys that is at the heart of all the best action.

This cry for help saw A.J. taken to a mental health ward, with his admittance leaving the rest of his beleaguered family in tears. A.J.’s decline also inflicted a massive blow to Tony’s relationship with Carmela, with his pampered wife claiming that their son did not get his depressive tendencies from her side of the family. This emotionally fraught confrontation added to Tony’s increasing feelings of responsibility and guilt (however much he might like to underplay such things to Dr. Melfi) and his resentment towards an unsupportive Carmela.

Tony’s rage and inner demons were given a terrifying excuse to run riot, when one of Phil’s men, Coco, made some sexual threats to his daughter Meadow, when on a date with her mystery man (later revealed to be Patrick Parisi.) News of this encounter saw Tony beating up Coco and almost killing him. With relations between Tony and Phil already fraught over the asbestos removal project, this attack on one of his men saw Phil dramatically snub any contact with a reconciliatory and apologetic Tony. What will this mean for the two families and how long will Tony allow such disrespect?

Elsewhere, Meadow revealed her decision to pursue a career in law rather than medicine and Dr. Melfi’s shrink Elliot informed her that talk therapy can further enable sociopaths rather than help treat them.

The episode (the antepenultimate one) ended with a world-weary Tony entering the hospital ward to visit his equally stressed son. The tone was one of sadness as Tony’s life continues to crumble around him. Will the final two installments bring any cheer into the mobster’s gloomy world or is he finally getting what he deserves after a lifetime of crime and violence? Only two more hours to go…