'The Sopranos' changed our view of TV and bad guys

After six seasons and 86 episodes, the powerful, intimidating, unapologetic mob boss Tony Soprano is about to go down in the final season of the landmark series that can be described by the same adjectives. How it will end -- with prison, a gruesome murder, the complete collapse of what remains of Tony's shaky empire or his less likely consolidation of power over his New York rival -- is anybody's guess. But one thing is certain.

As demonstrated since the beginning, nothing about the man or the series is predictable or traditional and absolutely anything could happen in Sunday's finale. Greg David, web editor for TVguide.ca, said "The Sopranos" has forever changed the television landscape.

"I think the show will be remembered for breaking ground on a few levels: language, obscenities, you didn't really hear a lot of swearing until The Sopranos came along. Violence -- "The Sopranos" upped the ante in regard to that and breaking ground with regards to having a lead character that was a good guy and a bad guy," Greg told CTV.ca.

In the first season, Tony (played by James Gandolfini) killed an enemy while visiting a college with his daughter Meadow (Jamie Lynn DiScala), setting the tone for a show that never shirked away from shining a bright light on the ugly, dark side of mob life. That scene warned viewers to prepare themselves for a rough ride and they got it through the show's lifespan, right up until this season when key characters started to die off. In one chilling scene that reveals just how far Tony has sunk, he asphyxiates Christopher -- one of his long-time associates, a "made guy" and his very own nephew.

But somehow, writer and series mastermind David Chase has managed to convince audiences to love the big man of deep contradictions who once told his psychiatrist: "I find I have to be the sad clown -- laughing on the outside, crying on the inside." "The Sopranos introduced the TV landscape to an unlikable character that people still like -- a morally grey character that did horrible things but was still a great family man and loved his kids and loved his wife and he wanted to make his marriage work. So kind of a normal guy, but here he is running this mob gang," Greg says.

With a weekly audience of 12 million at the show's peak, and a highest-ever draw of 13.5 million for a first-run airing of an episode in the series, it has put cable network HBO on the map and reset the bar for cable TV ratings. The success that Chase achieved is already being mimicked by shows like "Rescue Me," "Deadwood" and "The Shield," all looking to cash in on "The Sopranos" winning formula, Greg said.

"Any of the characters you're seeing on TV now, these grey guys that are part villain, part hero, everybody really gets off on these characters now and it's all because of Tony Soprano." That concept isn't going to go away anytime soon, Greg says. "What this has shown is that we like to relate to people that aren't perfect.

They're very relatable to us because we aren't perfect and that's going to be an ongoing trend." Even the look of the show broke new ground, with a cast of unknown but talented actors and high production values that have given it a cinematic feel and further helped set it apart from its peers. And the show's popularity hasn't sunk along with Tony's fortunes of late.

Chase has kept mum about how he plans to end the series. And stringent security precautions -- including the taping of three separate endings -- have been taken to ensure the secret doesn't get out until Sunday at 9 p.m.

ET on HBO, or in Canada, on The Movie Network. But Chase has stacked the odds against the New Jersey capo and most critics predict there's no happy ending in the works. After being shot by his uncle Junior at the beginning of this season, Tony has been abandoned by his longtime therapist; his loyal associate Silvio Dante has been shot and is struggling to survive; his brother-in-law and heir apparent Bobby is dead; and his New York rival is out for blood.

Still, as proven over six seasons of mob life, nothing is predictable with Tony Soprano and as long as he has a pulse, he can't be counted out. After six seasons and 86 episodes, the powerful, intimidating, unapologetic mob boss Tony Soprano is about to go down in the final season of the landmark series that can be described by the same adjectives.