i'm not fond of people posting that they wish the series would have ended and so on. if you wish that, then stop watching and end it for yourself. it's like people read mj's blog and jumped on the elitist wagon. i mean, when has this series ever been known for it's high caliber acting? there are plenty of people down here in the USA that fucking love the shit out of the show, for better for worse. hell, most of the real critics panned this show until season 3 and 4. it wasn't till more recently that it's earned some rightful respect.
with the few references to the alliance and treaty, you can really get the feeling that jim is about to snap and start drinking. maybe combined with the power trip of his promotion will conjure up a gigantic impending shit storm. falling off the wagon at the SWA anyone?
sure the boys behavior is changing, they are getting older and growing as individuals. we've seen the goofy antics for 6 seasons. character growth is overdue, otherwise the show becomes incredibly predictable. we've seen lahey's behavior change dramatically from season to season so why can't bubbles, ricky and julian change as well? times are hard on everyone, even randy smokes hella more dope then he ever did before. we've seen mulitiple ultimatums from almost everyone too. Sam, Lahey, Randy, Phil... the finale is going to be nuts.