The time has come, my last Sopranos blog. Here we go…
First off, I interpreted this whole “mini-season” as a downward spiral for Tony Soprano. He pushed away his closest alliances, he killed his heir, his top men were gunned down, his son attempted suicide and his therapist fired him. The whole time I felt like the writers of the show were really showing us what a monster Tony Soprano was – possibly in preparation for the death of Tony in the last episode.
At the end of episode 85, The Blue Comet, it felt like everything was going to come to an end. The song playing at the end of that episode sends chills down my spine. It makes you feel like you are in that cold room of that abandoned house in the heart of the New Jersey winter waiting to die.
From the start of the final episode, it feels as if death was in the air. There were a lot of cold night shots with snow falling. I kept trying to imagine how this episode would play out and I couldn’t really imagine it until it happened.
The opening shot of Tony waking up in bed was great, right off the bat David Chase was fucking with us. I really felt like we were entering a Sopranos dream sequence hearing the music and seeing the camera slowly zoom out from Tony’s face. However back to reality, he somehow managed to fall asleep in that bed and made it through to another day.
Next up Tony meets with Agent Harris. Another moment to mess with the viewers minds. Did you not think that Tony was going to flip or try to resort to asking the FBI for help? Well he was asking for help, but not in a “flipping” sort of way.
I really loved how this storyline about Agent Harris plays out. We found out more about this FBI agent in this episode than we had in any other. The funny thing is, the FBI are made out to be the bad guys in this show. It seems that Agent Harris is fantasizing about the mob life. His personal life is going to shit, he’s having an affair with another agent, he’s giving Tony information and he’s cheering for the New Jersey Mob. That’s really a twist. Great scene when he finds out that Phil Leotardo has been popped.
Bobby’s funeral is seen through the eyes of the FBI. I noticed that this whole season hasn’t had a funeral scene – I’m wondering if that was done because when they shoot a funeral scene outdoors there are plenty of onlookers who can gain information on who’s dying on the Sopranos before the episodes air?
One thing that bothered me was Janice’s whole state of mind after losing Bobby. I thought she’d be more of a mess at this point and a whole lot more pissed at Tony. Let’s not forget Janice and Tony’s last meeting in the Soprano back yard before Bobby was killed. Tony had some shitty things to say to her and Bobby.
Like Bobby’s niece stated, AJ was all over the place in this episode. After all the bullshit with AJ it seems like he’s well on his way down the path of eventually getting into Tony’s business. I think it’s inevitable. The movie business and night clubs. We’ll never know. However it was awesome to see an Xterra catch on fire and blow up. That scene for me personally was the closest thing to closure.
I loved the scenes of Paulie and the cat. The Sopranos always needed a pet. It’s always been kind of weird that Tony loves animals so much and yet he never owned one. The scene were Paulie picks up the broom to “whack” the cat and Tony walks in was priceless. For a second there I thought we’d have another Pie-Oh-My incident. So what I got from the cat was that it was staring at Christopher’s picture – an obvious dead man. After Paulie accepts Tony’s offer to run the Cifaretto crew the cat join’s Paulie in front of Satriales. Foreshadowing the end of Paulie? Again we’ll never know.
The second that Silvio’s life wasn’t resolved after being shot in Episode 85 – I had the feeling that we’d never know if he lives or dies. He’s left in a coma. I hope you pull out of it Sil, for Tony’s sake.
Phil Leotardo. Possibly my favorte moment of the finale, Phil waves goodbye to his twin grandchildren and exits the car. He is then shot in front of his wife. A terrific scene. Made even better when the car starts rolling forward (in classic Sopranos fashion), crushing Phil’s head and making onlockers puke. I was hysterical the second time I watched this scene. The reactions to the skull crushing were excellent.
The New York crew backs down. This was another point in the story that bothered me. They went and shot up Tony’s two top guys. At this point why would they turn back? I guess Phil’s leadership skills aren’t there. It seemed like, up to this point, Butchie was revelling in the destruction of the Soprano crew. Now all of a sudden he has a change of heart. I’m not really sure what persuaded them into the sit down with Tony, but it happened and they backed off…or so we think..again we won’t ever know.
It was kind of funny to see Patsy at Tony’s house and their children talking of marriage. Another funny scene was Tony serving Patsy a drink. If you recall Pasty held a grudge against Tony for killing his twin brother. Instead of getting even, Patsy took a piss in Tony’s pool.
Finally Tony goes to see Junior. I was really hoping this moment would happen. Of course the fact that Junior is now totally gone doesn’t help. Tony finally gave in and visited the man who attempted to kill him at the beginning of this long season. This whole scene was really sad. Perhaps an ounce of Tony’s humanity was restored after he went to see Junior – there was a tear in Tony’s eye. After realizing there is nothing left of his Uncle, Tony walks away from him, without a goodbye.
We then enter the finale scene in the “ice cream shop”. Perhaps this final scene sums up the Sopranos in some way. These are people going about their everyday lives and we’ve been watching and waiting for something to happen to them all. When it seems like something might happen it doesn’t. The tension is there, the mood isn’t right, we’re paranoid and we’re worried for these people. For Tony, Carmela, AJ & Meadow they go about their normal lives. Meadow can’t parallel park for shit. Another Godfather reference with a man entering the bathroom. Perhaps all the Godfather references this season only symbolized one thing – Godfather references.
I had Journey’s song “Don’t Stop Believin’” stuck in my head last night. I’ve been wondering for a long time what the last song ever played on the Sopranos would be. If there’s one great thing I take from my experience in watching this show, it’s a new appreciation for the music used on it. It’s given me a whole new meaning to tons of songs I’ve heard before and it’s introduced me to a lot of music that I’ve never heard before and now love.
The second time I watched the ending as “Don’t Stop Believin’” starts playing and Carmela enters the shop I got chills down my spine for some reason. The first time I watched this I thought we were entering a dream sequence. You’ll notice when Tony enters he looks at the people sitting down and they cut to him sitting down. I thought he was looking at himself for a second and was seeing Kevin Finnerty or something. However it was just the way they edited the sequence that led me to this temporary conclusion.
Our final moments with the Sopranos are spent with them eating in a restaurant. Tony tells Carmela that Carlo is a rat. I think we’re more paranoid than Tony is at this point. There was some closure in this episode. New Jersey beat New York. Tony found loyalty in Paulie. AJ & Meadow seem to be headed down decent paths (although I’m sure they’ll change their minds again, even though we won’t be able to witness it). Tony gave in and visited Junior. Carmela is headead down the path of real estate. Carlo is a rat (?).
None of those items are really written in concrete. This episode is shrouded in mystery. It could’ve gone a million ways.
Right before Meadow enters the restaurant we see one last scene of Tony Soprano as he places his hand on the jukebox and we hear Steve Perry sing “Don’t Stop”. Cut to black, everyone freaks out that their cable has cut out or that their TV shut off (my Mom thought I shut off the TV, my sister Kate downloaded the episode and thought she got a shitty version), and then roll credits.
Some people argue that Tony Soprano died the moment it cut to black. No music at the end signifying the end of Tony. Recall Tony and Bobby’s conversation on the boat in the lake talking about whether you hear/feel it when your time has come. Again we’ll never know. I guess after the Russian & Furio came and went, we should’ve known we’d get an ending like this. Although I didn’t think it would be this abrupt, this is how it happened. Personally I’d rather know what happened at the end instead of creating my own ending. If I wanted to create my own ending in my head, I wouldn’t be watching the final episode.
I will admit the abrupt ending does bother me. However ending the show in that restaurant with the family all together and hearing Journey playing the background, something about that I like. The ending does remind me of the end of Quantum Leap – taking place in a restaurant type atmosphere and the quick cut to black with an audience interpretation. Now everyone wants to talk about a Sopranos movie or continuing this story, but the fact of the matter is that they could never do with a movie what they’ve done with this show. A movie would be a let down.
We are left wondering about a lot of things as has always been the case on this show. I’ve accepted that and I can accept this ending.
For a while I thought Tony would have to die to pay for his sins, but I guess the way his world has changed will form his own hell. David Chase and the writers of the show took their own path as usual. This wasn’t an ending that was predicted. The very end wasn’t much of an ending, but it sent us on our way in usual Sopranos fashion – in shock. Did the whole family get whacked? Were we just being paranoid? I’d like to believe they got whacked because everytime you see a shady character like the ones we saw in the restaurant scene at the end they did really turn out to be shady characters.
Farewell Tony and the gang – wherever you all ended up.
PS – Deyam I’m really gonna miss this show.
PPS – The summary of the ending from the HBO.com website:
“Tony is the first to arrive at Holsten’s for a family dinner. He sits in a booth and plays a song on the jukebox, watching the door. Carmela enters and joins him, asking about his meeting with Mink. He tells her Carlo’s gonna testify and she takes the news with a sigh. AJ arrives next, complaining about the more mundane tasks of his job but quotes old advice from his father: “Try to remember the times that were good.” Meanwhile, Meadow struggles to parallel park outside. Customers come and go – a shady looking guy who’s been sitting at the counter enters the restroom. Finally parking the car, Meadow runs inside to join her family, just in time for…”
I think the whole focus more recently on AJ and how he’s conflicted between doing good things in the name of humanity or being selfish and doing things for personal gain was a big buildup to this ending. I really do believe it’s meant to really make you believe that he’ll eventually turn into his father’s protege. You saw it with Tony for a while there where he seemed to get depressed about things and at one point have a larger world view than his own little world, but that all went away for him eventually and he reverted to what he always knew and stayed the same. I kind of like the ending because you do get some closure at least with Phil going, but you don’t need to see any of the Sopranos family getting fucked in any way because that’s not exactly how life works. Just because you’ve done bad things and deserve it doesn’t mean you’ll get “whacked” per se, to punish you for your sins. The punishment comes after you die. Death is inevitable for us all. And maybe Tony’s whole tripping in Vegas thing was meant to make you realize that for him there is something beyond the physical world and he’s realized it, and it’s there that he’ll be punished for his sins or whatever. Ack, that sounds to much like church but it’s just how I’m seeing things in regards to the show. I’m not here to argue any true existence of an afterlife. I think too that the suspense at the end was meant to make you realize that this is kind of how they have to live…with the fear that they could be in danger anywhere they go because of who they are, and that in itself is sort of a hellish existence to have to live.
the more i think about it, the more i think that the ONLY way they could have ended the show would’ve been on such an ambiguous note…the show was ALWAYS a question mark, story-wise–AND it demands a certain commitment and trust on the part of the fan to look a bit deeper—had they given us a definitive answer, nobody would have been happy….that doesn’t make me any HAPPIER with the ending, but in that context, i think i understand it…
does that make any sense?
and i LOVE phil’s head getting crushed, post-mortem…
Bravo to David Chase for making one of the most nerve racking endings in the history of television…I instantly laughed when everything went black..
I also thought that the ending left things open for a Sopranos movie although there are no real official rumors aside from a prequel….Maybe we’ll see something in a few years…we can all hope.
I didn’t laugh when it ended the way it did. I too, thought HBO had done something weird with the programming when the screen went to black. Pissed me the fuck off, until I saw the credits roll. Then, my system kinda went into shock, cause I realised that I had to come up with my own ending. I like what the one blogger said when she envisioned Meadow running into the restraunt, and bumping into the mysterious looking guy, as he came out of the bathroom to shoot Tony, causing him to misfire and hit the couple in the opposite booth. There IS a reason why the camera kept panning over to them!!! However, I remembered Tony and Bobby talking in the boat, and Bobby saying that you don’t experience anything when you get ‘whacked’ (or something to that affect). I just keep remembering that last scene with Tony looking up, (almost in surprise) and the screen going to black. This, to me, indicates that Tony died instantly, and in dying instantly, (you know they always seem to shoot people in the head, and you die instantly), he could no longer see anything, and he ‘goes to black’ in his death. Maybe we missed it, and we were supposed to be seeing things from Tony’s viewpoint. This was Tony fading to Black. Shot right infront of his family, with Meadow running in just in time to witness it. Maybe….
Dude, how can you say that there were no other funeral scenes in this last season? What about Chris’s and Phil’s mom?
I think the reason David Chase ended the show this way is purely Monetary!!! He’s got his mind on opportunities to make more money out of these actors and the show by making a movie. Remember, the makers of this show are ‘pretty much’ in the same business as Tony…(I got this from a friend who is a director at a TV station in Philly) and they are All About the Money!!! So, I don’t think this is end of our Sopranos viewing.
I’ve also heard that people in the NY area are cancelling their HBO because it didn’t end with a Bang, but, think about it, people would have been pissed off if they saw Tony, Carmella, or the one of the kids get whacked. We would have never been happy, no matter what they did. I think the makers of the show understood all of this, and they did it this way, in the true style of the show. I think this was very clever of David Chase, and you know, you, or I, and all of these other Soprano Bloggers will be the first in our cities to stand in the line, when The Movie comes out, (if ever they make one, I haven’t heard anything, but, I do know that this is one of the rumors). And it wouldn’t be the first time a network brought a show back on the air, if he (David Chase) decides to do that, as well. So, the opportunies are open.
I fucking Looooovvvvveeeedddd the way they killed Phil off, and then the car rolling over his head.
All in all, I thought they did a beautiful job with the last show. In typical fashion, they showed us why we love the Soprano family, and my heart broke for Tony when he was talking to Uncle June. To me, this also signified the ‘end of the family’ cause he didn’t remember any of the old days with he and Tony’s Dad, and the things they used to do. I could see Tony felt it too, (with the tear in his eye) and I also felt that Tony realized that this was eventually going to happen to him. I think it was God’s way (and I’m really not a religious person) of helping June live out his final days without a heart and mind full of guilt for his past. I’m not saying God will forgive all the evil June did during his life, but, at least, he doesn’t have to constantly think about it. Or Maybe, June is soo damn clever that he’s bullshitting everybody, and doesn’t want anyone to find his money. This isn’t the first time June has faked altheimers. I loved all the issues the last show dealt with, (like Tony trying to tie up all the loose ends the way he did) and I LMAO when the FBI guy yelled “We’re winning!”, when he found out about Phil getting killed. Like he was talking about a Football game or something!!! Sooo fucking cool.
The final show tied up some loose ends for us, except what happened to Tony and his family. It is so odd how we can get so wrapped up into a TV show, and love it so much, and hate (this much) to see it end. All I could think of as I watched the credits rolling is ‘Well, this is the end of a decade of my life’. It hit me rather hard when I had that thought, and it struck me as to how much I’m going to miss this show. And maybe I’m the eternal optimist, but, I really think that we have Not seen the end of Tony and the gang, because of the way they ended the show.
I meant the outdoor funerals. It seems for Chrissy and Paulie’s Mom they were just indoor viewings…Maybe I’m wrong, I just remember in the early seasons they’d have a lot of outdoor funerals with the FBI always showing up.
my instinctual guess as to what happened was that meadow was rushing in the diner and accidentally runs into the shady looking dude as he comes out of the bathroom and tries to shoot tony. their collision causes the dude to mis-shoot and accidentally hit either the guy or girl sitting in the booth on the other side of the restaurant (the couple they kept showing throughout the scene). the shooter freaks out and runs off. due to a bizarre twist of fate and meadow’s crappy parallel parking skills, tony’s life is spared.
great blog. great show. i’m sad now. all i have left to watch now is LOST, and that’s gone severely downhill.
oh, and i cried when silvio got shot, i have always had the biggest crush on him. i hope he pulls through
Dude, I was left in shock too. It was like “Did my cable go out?” Then Sambo looked online and found out that it was just the ending.
I don’t believe that they got whacked, I did however, feel the tension in the scene. The suspicious characters and what not. It was like a big setup.
I was listening to Preston and Steve on the way to work this morning, and they were talking about it. They said that the show received criticism and that most critics said they should just end the whole damn thing…. They said that the writers just gave the critics what they wanted, and rubbed it in, just to piss them off. I mean, it may of been a good slap in the face for the critics, but what about the people that watch the show faithfully and change their schedules and lives around to watch the show every week? I don’t think they did the fans justice.
I guess in the end, all you can say is that the show did its job, and entertained us for years. Why they left us hanging, we will never know.
Great review by the way, I really liked the way you broke down everything. It was a good read!
Hey-hey, thanks for asking me to subscribe. I like what you wrote on the subject, and I know exactly what you mean. It seems that all season (well, every since season 4, really, when David Chase decided we were all getting to like Tony too much) Tony’s been acting like more of a prick, and doing insane things (i.e. killing Christopher- although we all know how much of a liability Chris WOULD have been), which lead me to believe they were trying to cushion the blow somewhat for when Tony was popped. But, all in all, I, personally, couldn’t have asked for a better ending. Call me a hopeless optimist, but I like living in a world where Tony Soprano’s not dead OR incarcerated. I like thinking that The Soprano family ended the way it started- together. Is it because I spent all those hundreds of dollars on the season DVDs and would feel too weird going back and watching them knowing that it all ended with Tony busted or six feet under?…POSSIBLY. As for those shady people in the bar, I think they were just that- shady people. No more, no less. David Chase fucking with us as usual. But, you what’s kind of cool? If someone wants to think they were MORE than shady people, they can go ‘head and think that, too. Some could call that a cop-out ending, I call it a RELIEF.
As for Butchie…well, for as much of a PRICK as I thought he was (and I wanted him to DIE nearly as much as Philly)…he was DAMN SMART. And I stand by my opinion that if Sylvio (who I’ll love forever, mind you) was more like that, Tony wouldn’t have been in the situation he was in. The smart thing for New York to do would have been to take out Tony, which Butchie had pushed for for a LONG time- it would have been good for business. They DIDN’T take Tony out, though, he went into hiding, and Butchie realized that Tony had the upper hand (not to mention Phil, as far as I know, didn’t have permission to whack a boss- and that makes him a hypocrite for preaching all that old school/honor shit), which he most certainly did. I think Butchie realized that he’d profit more with Phil out of the picture than with Tony. But I dunno, that’s one way to look at it I guess. Either way, it’s all said and done, which leaves us with nothing to do but to talk about it like we all talk about The Godfather.
Oh, and one last thing- I too got chills from Journey’s song at the end. I love that song, and now it has new meaning for me. One set of lyrics to note from that song are these, “Oh, the movie never ends/It goes on and on and on and on.” Hey-hey, sounds good to me!
Posted by Joe on Monday, June 11, 2007 – 11:32 AM
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I spent the last 20 min in stitches.
eeeek.
I loved the end. Even if Tony was a criminal, Ive been rooting for him the whole time.
The scene where Phil got his head crushed.. wow. Classic. Hubby and I did a few.. OHMYGODS at each other.
I loved the end..
I liked the songs he paused on. Im trying to remember them but I CANT. The Journey song was a great choice. Its a grand and optimistic song. It triggers memories for people, from their glory days. It brings emotions to the surface, that most cant even pin point.
The quick cut to black was great..
It saved the show from a sitcom sappy ending, or from an over dramatic let down.
I’m sorry Charlie…I know how much you love this show but that ending was crap. If I wanted to figure out what happened for myself I would have written the damn show. To create such tension and build up like that only to deliver nothing seemed almost cruel. I didn’t need a shootout..I just needed a little more than what they gave us. Very dissapointing.
Posted by Jen on Monday, June 11, 2007 – 1:07 PM
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I disagree with you on the movie thing.(Chase has left a Hummer-sized hole for it! An enticing & inquiring sequel!!!)What we`ve just witness was history-making television! I don`t understand why everybody`s is in such a hissy fit over the ending,but then,why would anybody expect “nice” from The Sopranos?! I`ve always expected Phil Leatardo to take a dirt-nap,but not as nice & gruesome as this! Will Agent Harris join Tony`s crew? Will the family survive the diner hit? And will Tony escape inditement from the feds?! You draw your own conclusions as Mr. Chase wants you to do! Thank you David,for giving us damn good television,and for giving us “The Ultimate, Dark, Killing Joke!”
I kind of have to agree with this because I feel the entire episode hovered AJ foreshadowing Tonys death in the final moments of the show and bringing AJ into the Mob world.
I loved when they each took an onion ring and popped it in their mouths and basically had the same demeanor in doing so.
My step father had an interesting perspective about the cat. He thinks that the cat is Chris’s reincarnation. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it.
My real dad was very dissapointed in the final episode.
I thought it was great. I think if you havent kept up with this show since day one, you cant appreciate the method the writers used to end it.
Im very sad that this show has come to an end. This is the only thing my brother and I collectivly agreed on all the time.
oh well.
PS I really dig John Fron Cincinnatti
Posted by on Monday, June 11, 2007 – 3:36 PM
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well yeah i can be satisfied with this ending. i mean its not what i expected,but that is what makes a great show. chase knows how to get inside our head and make us create all of these different stories and emotions. i wanted a bunch of people to get shot up. didnt happen. but when i think a/b it realistically the show ends and life for some of them has to go on. so there is the thing where we dont know what happens to them. our imagination is left to run wild and draw whatever conclusion we want.
phils head getting crushed very classic and i loved the onlookers vomitting. what a great scene to send the show off.
i like how we got some closure with the family. right now aj and meadow seem secure and in a good place. yeah that can change and the thing is we can imagine whatever we want for them.
i liked how tony visited sil and held his hand. i like how he finally went to face junior and see he is gone to reality. all closure. all of it i can dig.
now lets cut to the final scene in the restaurant. all the tensions were there. the buildup. i honestly thought tony would get whacked right in front of his family. all the suspicious people and that song. oh that song. “dont stop believing”. we all know that there is some significance to each episode that refers to the song they have playing. now in this case it can go many ways. the suspicious guy to the restroom true sopranos fashion couldve shot tony from behind when the screen went to black. or “dont stop believing” playing was just sending out some hope. i heard that song in that movie “monster” w/ charlize theron. it played when she was rollerskating w/ her prospective lover christina ricci. and when they held eachother on the roller rink that was charlize feeling hope and love. so for the sopranos i think maybe yeah we were paranoid. the song played showing that everyone in that restuarant was “all american”. boy scouts, single men, families, a new couple. the lone guy with a USA hat one. all experiencing one thing. just living life as americans do. in a hash house diner, wearing casual clothes, listening to some juke box sounds and eating some grease. all american ways. and tony and the family doing it just brought them down to our level of just being “real” and not mob.
when the tv went to black i thought my recording was jacked and i was getting ready to cuss out the tv machine. i watched it again on the west hbo to make sure. all good. i think it quickly went to black b/c meadow entered the restaurant. boom that was it. she was there. tony waited for his whole family one by one to file in . she was the last. so its time to end. the whole family is there, in unison.
Ahhhh! I love this whole ending. From start to finish it was everything I needed to close this up. After all that conjecture, I really didn’t want to see Tony go down. He might, but his lawyer is pretty damn good. All they got is Carlo and a gun.
And again, Phil Leotardo. I’ve been waiting for that one for 2 seasons. That was the most satisfying smoosh I’ve ever heard.
Paulie and the cat. Perfect. I have a feeling him and that cat are going to get along just fine and maybe Paulie won’t be alone anymore so that made me feel kinda good.
Sil’s gonna wake up, paulie has a friend, Carmela’s got her new project, Meadow’s going to law school, AJ’s got some direction, Melfi is finally free, Phil’s dead, New York isn’t going to the matresses, and everyone is gonna be just fine.
And fuck Janice. The only thing good to come out of Bobby’s death is she got shit on one more time. I kind of enjoyed how she handled the news. No wailing, no jesus soul searching, ojibwe talk. All I can think is those poor poor kids.
The ending was so perfect. I was sitting on one asscheek the whole time. That was 10 minutes of David Chase completely fucking with us and I’m sure he laughed like a bastard every minute. When Tony was flipping through song choices, I saw a little bit of meaning in each title. Journey was the perfect little message to leave us with.
And what I loved the MOST was I was reminded of something that I had forgotten. The show is called The Sopranos. Not about the mafia, Rico acts, or gore soaked violence. The entire show is those 4 people sitting at that table and the world that revolves around them. Beautiful.
Thanks for the blog invitation and the very good points made and well thought insights from above.
My take:
Tony Soprano did not get shot. If you watch the diner seen you will notice that he has that same jumpy look everytime that bell goes at the door. The Italian guy who went to the restroom had to take a leak. He may have been packing, but NOBODY outside of the Soprano 4 knew they were going to that restraunt, so the Michael Corleone hook was part of the tension at the end. As were the 2 Black men to remind us of the guys Uncle Junior sent back in season one.
Besides someone mentioned the detail of how Phil had no sanction to whack a Boss. Jersey or No Fucking Jersey. Tony did have more off a green light by that sitdown, and everyone walked away from that shaking hands. Butchie turned out to be smart.
For the most part Tony had a decent track record at turning some foes into allies. (Butchie, Agent Harris, and actually Bobby who was Junior’s driver. Although there was Ralphie, Ritchie, And Jackie jr )
When the screen went black I laughed. David Chase sure did. Everyone is talking about this all day long. Openings if they want to do a movie. The tension was there only because the clock was ticking.
The Sopranos always was about so much more than the traditional bodycount. As is the real life these shows are based on. It is all about the money. People die when they get in the way of other peoples money.
I crack up at many of the people who claim to be “Mafia Purists”. I’ve seen all of the movies and have read scores of books written just like many others have done. The bullshit about codes always applies to “everyone else” but the criminal who is in the situation. Fact is most either die or rat to the feds. Period !!!
Great summary of the finale. I am still friggin mad. Not at the plot of the last show, actually I do like the fact that Chase is basically saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same..”…it was that damned cut to black that pissed 99.9% of America off! Unneccesary bs from Chase. (and what really fries me, Chase is held up in France, not taking calls..hmmm)
Tony was wearing the SAME shirt as he did when he entered. Tony was not whacked. Chase said as much..he gave him a pass. Tony’s punishment is the fact that he has to live his life always looking, always watching..never having peace; that is a worse punishment in my opinion. No fancy interpretations needed. Life goes on and on and on and on..but for us, it ends..so be it.
The show will remain one of the best, if not the best drama ever written. Chase I feel got quite lazy in the last few seasons..but, all and all, I must give him kuddos for allowing us to feel safe enough with his vision..his character, if not only to whack us at the end. LOL
Bravo Sopranos..CIAO. I will always have my DvD’s and my favorite Pine Barrens to see me through..
Perhaps its a bit late, but here’s my theory, considering I just got a chance to rewatch the episode last night. Everyone is way overthinking this ending, and as this is David Chase not David Lynch, my take is that the most simplistic, logical ending (ie. the ending we were given) is the answer here. All the clues you need are in the song. Particularly one line: “But the movie never ends it goes on and on and on and on”. Simply put, our viewing window on the Sopranos lives has closed, albeit abruptly, but closed nonetheless. Tony wasn’t whacked by the guy in the members only jacket (if he was whacked at all), because there was no need for the Godfather-style hiding the gun in the bathroom. Why would a man who was going to kill someone in the middle of a busy restaurant sit down and order coffee first, so that the waitress and everyone at the counter could later identify him? And let’s all remember that Michael Corleone hid the gun in the bathroom because he got patted down when he walked into the restaurant for the sit down. So why not walk in, pop Tony, and walk out like every other hit we’ve seen on the Sopranos? The logic just isn’t there. Anyway, back to the song quote, what I think Chase was trying to say that everyone seemed to have missed is that the Sopranos lives like our own continue to go on, even though we’re not able to watch them go on anymore. The reason for the abrupt ending? Everyone was so worried about whether or not Tony was going to die in the last episode. And just like Chase said in the interview, about not being able to make a movie because then you would “know that Tony lives”, and I believe his whole point is that he doesn’t want us to know one way or the other. He wanted us to keep guessing into eternity what happened to Tony Soprano that night in the restaurant because it’s the ending you didn’t suspect and will never forget. The ending is that there is no ending………”It goes on and on and on and on”……..
