Life-changing events -- births, deaths, and weddings -- are what May sweeps season finales are all about. But this year -- well, let's just say that things have gotten out of hand. Call it the Sopranos Effect: Network series made nervous by the no-holds-barred riskiness of TV's critical darling have upped the antes, entangling major characters in last-episode cliffhanger plotlines that seem to offer no way out. Here are some thoughts on three momentous finales and what they might portend for next season.

By the way, "The Sopranos" ended its season with an elderly man singing a nice Italian ballad. Go figure.

The West Wing (May 16, NBC)

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The revelation that Josiah Bartlet ran for president knowing he suffers from multiple sclerosis, and that his inner circle withheld the news from the public, made some illuminating points about how effortlessly a caring public servant could tumble into a political and ethical abyss. Bartlet placed himself above the law, lied to people, with no malicious intent. And now, his enemies will make him pay. A Lewinsky allegory? Yes. But also a commentary on the impossibility of finding perfection in elected officials; aren't they human, after all?

If only creator/writer Aaron Sorkin had been content to merely put Bartlet through the personal and political wringer. But, no. He loaded up the final two episodes with soap opera plot twists and the sort of wincingly laughable dramatic clichés that would have flunked him out of screenwriting class.

Cliché No. 1: When you're planning to kill off a minor character, be sure to give them about 10 times more screen time than usual, so we can see it coming a mile away. In the penultimate episode of the season, why was Bartlet's loyal secretary Mrs. Landingham allowed to rattle on and on about buying a new car? It all became clear the minute Bartlet told her to drive her brand new jalopy back to the White House so he could kick the tires. I turned to my husband and said, "Put an X over her face. She's gone." And she was, killed by a drunk driver a block away from the White House.

Cliché No. 2: Always have a storm raging outside while a character is wrestling with inner turmoil. In the finale, a freak May tropical storm hit Washington while Bartlet was preparing to go public with his MS, deciding on whether to run for reelection, dealing with a hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and mourning Mrs. Landingham.

Cliché No. 3: When in doubt, flash back to a character's youth. The finale was interspersed with scenes of the teenaged Bartlet at prep school, trying unsuccessfully to stand up to his tyrannical father the headmaster. Nevertheless, he was set upon the road to greatness by the young but still wise and snappish Mrs. Landingham, who was his father's secretary and sort of a babe. I kept waiting for Mrs. Landingham to initiate young Jed into manhood, but unfortunately, all she did was needle him about having the courage of his convictions 'n' stuff. Sorkin was more inspired by "Dead Poets Society" than "The Graduate."

Cliché No. 4: After Mrs. Landingham's funeral in the National Cathedral (don't even get me started on that bizarre gangsta-bitch ensemble first lady Stockard Channing wore to this austere event), Bartlet asked the Secret Service to empty the place, so he could be alone. What followed was that well-worn Emmy nomination ploy, the "cursing God in church scene." (See Andy Sipowicz in the 2000 "NYPD Blue" season finale). Devout Catholic Bartlet (who almost became a priest) railed at God for being a "feckless thug" raining heartless punishment upon his faithful servants. Martin Sheen wins extra points for doing the scene in Latin.

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