"Sopranos" finale

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I don't want Tony Soprano to die tomorrow night, and something is telling me he won't. Tomorow night's finale won't end "happily," but I don't see a bullet or two putting a cap on seven years of great drama. That would be too easy, too pat. A major letdown, in fact.

Sopranos creator David Chase has done too good a job of making James Gandolfini's New Jersey gangster not just human and occasionally vulnerable, but us. No matter what Chase may say to interviewers, he's on Tony's team through and through. One reason he writes Tony Soprano so well is because he's essentially writing about his own dark places, and I don't think Chase hates himself sufficiently to want to kill his own. If he does, I will feel saddened, let down...almost betrayed.

Here's a final-episode prediction poll piece by various Salon writers.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 9, 2007 at 11:24 AM

comment #1

vansmith says ...

even if tony comes from chase's own darkness he has to keep it legit based on what WOULD happen to a guy like tony. even Gotti died in Jail, there's only two ways for tony, death or prison, he'd never rat. if he gets away with all the stuff he's done too many people will call bullshit on it...

Posted by vansmith at June 9, 2007 12:29 PM

comment #2

Ian Sinclair says ...

I predict Phil will be shot by Benny when he stops for gas, AJ's car will blow up just as he's about to have sex with his new gf, Paulie will refuse out of superstition to accept the promotion Tony offers him and the climax will take place with all of the family in an ice-cream parlor.

Posted by Ian Sinclair at June 9, 2007 12:44 PM

comment #3

Ford_Fletcher says ...

There's another way than gun shot or prison. I would love to see Tony die of natural causes. Well...maybe not love, but I think the action should die down with New York and Tony thinks he's in the clear. Then he goes to be alone in his bedroom/living room and sees all the old pictures of characters past (Big Pussy, Christopher and Adriana, Silvio, Tony B., his mother, Bobby) and just has a massive panic attack that triggers a heart attack.

Maybe have it ambiguous with him lying back down on the floor looking up at the ceiling with his possibly last breath, like the end of the season opener. It would be a nice bookend, and it seems like they've been setting it up forever with Tony's weight gain/heavy breathing.

Posted by Ford_Fletcher at June 9, 2007 1:09 PM

comment #4

travis b says ...

it has to end with the ducks. full circle, the family has come home. the end.

Posted by travis b at June 9, 2007 1:24 PM

comment #5

vansmith says ...

what, he gets shot while wading in the pool and a duck joins him in the river of blood that is his own!! yes i like that!!!!

Posted by vansmith at June 9, 2007 1:47 PM

comment #6

lesterg says ...

I still want to know why no one was able to reach Silvio in the last episode...

Posted by lesterg at June 9, 2007 2:18 PM

comment #7

Josh Massey says ...

Kevin Finerty will return. I just have a feeling.

Posted by Josh Massey at June 9, 2007 2:18 PM

comment #8

BurmaShave says ...

Well no matter what happens, come on here Monday morning to find out.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 9, 2007 2:30 PM

comment #9

vansmith says ...

i think i got it, AJ kills tony..maybe by mistake..

Posted by vansmith at June 9, 2007 2:39 PM

comment #10

lipranzer says ...

I agree with Ford_Fletcher. I've said it before and I'll say it again; the strength of the series is it shows how while Tony is, ultimately, a gangster, he goes through much of the same shit that we do. To give him an operatic finale - getting killed by someone in a Wild West-type shootout - would be a betrayal of that ethos. If he dies of natural causes, or a freak accident of some kind, or, as suggested, something caused by a panic attack (particularly now that Melfi has discontinued his therapy), that would be more true to the spirit of the series. It would say, Yes, Tony is a mythic figure in TV - as well he should be - but on his own terms, he's just another gangster. So if Chase does kill him off, I hope he does it that way.

Posted by lipranzer at June 9, 2007 7:58 PM

comment #11

TL says ...

it has to end with the ducks. full circle, the family has come home. the end.

I thought that too, but then Tony drained the pool, which I took as a message that the ducks, literally and symbolically, ain't coming back.

Posted by TL at June 10, 2007 4:58 PM

comment #12

scooterzz says ...

well, that was rather anticlimatic wasn't it?

Posted by scooterzz at June 10, 2007 7:42 PM

comment #13

Joe Leydon says ...

I think this was Chase's way of saying: "Gotcha!"

Posted by Joe Leydon at June 10, 2007 8:14 PM

comment #14

scooterzz says ...

it felt more like: "Fuckya!"......

Posted by scooterzz at June 10, 2007 9:10 PM

comment #15

jeffmcm says ...

But in a good way. Not unlike the much-hated (but brilliant) final episode of Seinfeld.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 10, 2007 10:16 PM

comment #16

rodbg says ...

The Soprano's finale was a brilliant ending to an intelligent piece in the mobster genre.

In the end, Tony faced a life of looking over his shoulder ever second. That is the inevitable for every gangster.

Tony may die from a bullet, knife or bomb delivered by another gangster. He may die in prison. He may die in his bed 40 years from now.
In the meantime, he must look over everyone in fear that they are his killer or the law.

Posted by rodbg at June 11, 2007 7:26 PM

comment #17