My best friend and I are Sopranos addicts. He has a theory: Whenever they’re about to kill off a character, they make him look like a really stupid asshole. Remember how Big Pussy was acting just before he got it? Fancying himself an FBI agent? And now Tony Soprano is having even more anxiety attacks, had that long dream sequence in the 5/16 episode, etc., etc. My friend’s theory is this: What they’ve told us about planning a half-season for 2005 is bullshit to set us up for the big surprise: This is the last season, and they’re about to kill off Tony. Possibly Artie Buco will kill him out of jealousy over Charmaine. Possibly it’ll have to do with the impending war between Johnny Sacks and Little Carmine. What do you think?
No way will they kill off Tony before the end of the series. And even then, they might not whack him. David Chase is notorious for throwing off his fan’s expectations (even when all I expect is a good episode…haha) so he let Tony live. Perhaps he’ll turn state’s evidence, and spend the rest of his life as an anonymous duck farmer…
I’ll bet they keep Christopher around, though – he’ll probably be the central character of “Sopranos II”. 
No way will Tony Soprano turn state’s evidence! Remember that episode from the first or second season, when he was driving Meadow around scouting colleges? And he spotted a Mob informer who had gone into witness protection? He took the time to hunt the man down and kill him. The witness had not done any harm to Tony personally nor to any friend of his, and there was no way the man’s death could benefit him materially. Nevertheless, Tony, for the sake of a point of honor, risked his own life and freedom – and risked Meadow finding out what he actually does for a living (yeah, like she doesn’t know . . .) – in order to wreak the required vengeance on a stoolie. This is essential to Tony’s character. He is a very bad man, just like every other made guy; but, unlike some of them, he believes in some rules and standards. There are some lines Tony will never cross, and turning state’s evidence is one of them.
Amen.