After 21 months on ice, HBO's "The Sopranos" ("Members Only" episode) finally returned last night.  While I was frankly expecting more, it was still good TV with an interesting theme--fantasy and death.

The major and minor characters all seem to be looking for escape from the mobbed up life.  Some of them, like Uncle Junior, have involuntarily escaped the brutality through insanity.  Carmela has escaped through the fantasy of a loving relationship with Tony, a new car, and being a housing contractor.  One of Tony's minion wants to escape now that he has inherited $2 million and fantasizes about a new life for him and his family in Florida.  Bobby is playing with trains like a kid.  And Tony is still trying to escape himself, his upbringing, and his responsibilities by continuing to seek therapy with Dr. Melfi.

Only crazy Uncle Junior and the minion escape--June through his paranoia and the minion through hanging himself when Tony and Silvio finally rebuff his attempt to retire.  Tony might be making an involuntary escape through death, after being shot by his deluded uncle.  

Despite the relative peace among the mob families, the relative prosperity of Tony and his crew, the superficial calm of Tony and Carmela's relationship, all is not well in Sopranoland--it is still brutal and ultimately--hopeless.