REVIEW - SOPRANOS "NEW SEASON"

Apr 9, 2007, 0:55 GMT

NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- Sunday marks the beginning of the end for HBO`s 'The Sopranos,' as the seventh and final season of the New Jersey crime drama kicks off with a bang.

'I`m old, Carm,' says Tony Soprano at the start of the episode. He has recovered from being shot last season, but tells his wife, Carmela, that he feels changed: 'My body has suffered a trauma it will probably never recover from,' The New York Times reported.

In the episode, the Sopranos find the police at their door, prompting Carmela to exclaim, 'Is this it?'

It isn`t. It`s just a gun-possession charge that Tony`s lawyer easily takes care of in time for the Sopranos to drive to Tony`s sister`s house in upstate New York to celebrate his 47th birthday -- and to handle some business across the Canadian border.

With nine episodes left before the series ends, critics say it`s about time. Even before last season the series had started sagging in places, the Times said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International