Whenever I rent the final season of THE SOPRANOS on DVD this is always the episode I turn to first. I think of it as the perfect farewell to the series. Both sides of the plot complement each other perfectly. While Tony and Paulie go on a long road trip, it becomes clear that their long-time friendship won't last forever, and that the glory days of the mob are already behind them. Meanwhile, Uncle Junior is in the mental home, trying desperately to hold onto his dignity and his identity as his memory begins to fade. In the process he makes friends with a troubled young Asian inmate named Carter Chong.
Tony wants to get rid of his memories -- to get rid of Paulie. Uncle Jun desperately wants to hold on to his memories -- and recreate the past in the present with the help of a young man who has no past and no future. It's all unbelievably sad, or it would be sad if every scene weren't so action packed and funny. The way Junior sets up the card game. The way he puts the Rutgers professor back in his place. The way Carter Chong learns to be a man by watching Junior fight a losing battle to hold onto his manhood, his dignity, and in the end his very identity.
This episode is where they get rid of all the dead wood. No Dr. Melfi. No Meadow. No A.J.!!!! This one is the real thing. It's one part Huckleberry Finn, one part One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. And it's brilliant!