"Sopranos" finale

email this story
read comments (60)
post a comment

Tony Soprano lives on in perpetual dread and uncertainty -- unpunctured, undead, and prevailing after a fashion. That, for better or worse, is what the final episode of The Sopranos left viewers with this evening.

And anyone who writes in complaining that I'm spoiling the party by writing this can go stuff it. A comprehensive sum-up piece by the AP's Frazier Moore went up at 11:50 pm eastern, Nikki Finke ran a negative reaction piece even earlier, and finale details are all over Monday morning's N.Y. Post.

So far, there seems to be disappointment out there that a hitman's bullet or at least some sort of bad-karma payback didn't befall bossman Soprano, although I'd suspected this might be how the last episode would end.

The coolest moment in the finale was the glorious death of Phil Leotardo -- not just shot in the head and chest, but his head accidentally squashed like a pumpkin by an accidentally rolling SUV. It was one of the two funniest bits, the other being that orange cat staring at a wall photo of the late Christopher Moltisanti, and Paulie Walnuts getting increasingly pissed at the animal for its odd behavior.

There's tension galore in the final sequence as Tony, Carmela, Meadow and A.J. gather for dinner at a blue-collar family restaurant. You can feel something bad coming...a hit, probably. Maybe all four family members (good God) getting it at the same time. Guys come in and you wonder if it's this one or that one who'll pull out a pistol with a silencer. The tension builds and builds, and then cut to black -- no catharsis, no grand finale.

It was, in fact, about as far away from an eye-opening, jaw-dropping finish as anyone could have concocted, and I imagine most people who saw it last night were a bit pissed about this, or at the very least underwhelmed. I myself was taken aback, but I thought about it for a few minutes and decided I respected Chase for having the brass to essentially tell the fans who wanted a "big finale" to go fuck themselves.

The N.Y. Post headlines are a scream -- 'SOPRANOS" FINALE WHACKS FANS....SHOW'S FINALE FIRES 'BLANKS'...DARK SCREEN CAPS DISAPPOINTING WRAP...PHIL'S GRISLY HIT IS THE LONE HIGHLIGHT.

N.Y. Times columnist Alessandra Stanley put it thusly: "Mr. Chase's last joke was on his audience, not his characters. Tony, Carmela and A. J. are gathered at a diner in a rare moment of family content that cried out for violent interruption. A shifty-looking man walks in and eyes them from the counter, then, in a move echoing a scene from The Godfather, ominously enters the men's room. Outside, Meadow is delayed, trying to parallel park, then begins walking toward the restaurant.

"Nothing happens. Credits. What?"

Vantage Point<< previous | next >>Up-in-the-air endings

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 10, 2007 at 10:09 PM

comment #1

DarthCorleone says ...

I guess I can go stuff it.

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 10, 2007 10:59 PM

comment #2

MiraJeffAICN says ...

I thought it was pretty brilliant. What a horrible way to have to go through life, looking over your shoulder like that. There was definitely something lacking though. It wasn't as emotionally profound as I expected it to be. Its aim was to depict a pattern. From Junior to Tony to A.J., hence the shot of A.J. coming down the stairs wearing a bathrobe. I understand the frustration some fans feel after waiting years for an epic sense of closure, but I feel like it was a perfectly fitting end to what is perhaps the finest one-hour television show ever produced. Funny how Judd Apatow is making a killing at the box office and then the most anticipated program in the history of the medium that turned its back on him goes ahead and basically cribs a page from The Cable Guy, which was bad the first time I saw it but has since grown on me over the course of many repeat viewings. Oh and Jeff, thanks for pointing out the song below Don't Stop Believin', which has now been permanently owned by The Sopranos. Very clever little joke there, Mr. Chase. Tonight has witnessed the end of an era. The Sopranos was the greatest and it will be sorely, sorely missed.

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at June 10, 2007 11:00 PM

comment #3

travis b says ...

i thought the cut to black was great and fitting for this series. but i also think there was a reason besides a "gotcha" to the audience. in episode 1 of this season, tony and bobby are talking about death and how it will come out of nowhere and instead of knowing that you've been killed, everything will turn black and that's it...i find that too coincidental a conversation, especially since so much emphasis was placed on it.

but, that's just my interpretation..the joy of it is that there's probably tons of different angles..

Posted by travis b at June 10, 2007 11:00 PM

comment #4

berkguru says ...

It was clear to me that Tony was killed Godfather-style at the very end. The whole scene was shot from his point of view and showed the terrible paranoia he suffered due to everything that had happened. His death was alluded to twice in the season - in episode 1 when he and Bobby talked about not seeing it happened when it would happen (which was repeated again in the 2nd to last episode) and then when Sil was at the restaurant and the assassination occurred before he even knew what had happened or could react. Just as Meadow walks in, pop.

Glad to see the Uncle Junior story resolved - pretty clear he was not "crazy like a fox" and truly was delusional.

Also interesting to see that AJ was just a malleable flaky 20-yr old - pretty strong indictment of today's youth.

I found Carmela to actually be the creepiest of all the characters with her denial about her family's true situation and her vapid materialism. Great ending to the best show in TV history.

Posted by berkguru at June 10, 2007 11:12 PM

comment #5

D.Z. says ...

So you're saying they ripped off the Seinfeld ending?

Posted by D.Z. at June 10, 2007 11:13 PM

comment #6

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Oh, and Nikki Finke, whose blog is always a great read, is incredibly out of line with the fury of her reaction. She's predicting mass-cancellations for subscriptions, and basically calling for Chase's head. While I freely admit that there was a weird edit or two, how can you sound off like that to a guy who just birthed what is unarguably at least one of the five greatest television shows ever made. I mean, how ungrateful can you get? She sounds as if she was personally owed a satisfying ending, like anyone who was satisfied by the finale needs a labotomy, I mean, relax. So The Sopranos finale didn't live up to your expectations? Big deal! Who cares? Is that why you watch a show for 7 years, because you know the last episode will be just the way you want it? What else was Chase supposed to do? I think it's kind of hypocritical for a journalist like Nikki to basically call out guys like Eli Roth one minute, and then call for blood the next minute and write about how let down they are when there isn't enough of it. Personally I thought the last scene was absolutely heart-stopping. It was so tense it was almost painful. There were so many what if's, it was driving me crazy, and then to see them sit down together as a family, happy, or at least pretending to be, after all that shit, it says a lot about the Soprano family. How they're survivors. They were eating a new restaurant too, so it was like new ground for them. A fresh start, or as fresh as a clan like theirs could get. With Phil gone, no one in NY has the balls to take Tony out. And as tonight reinforced, the only guy with the balls to meet Tony (who has Paulie back-up) all alone is Agent Dwight. So I think it's safe to assume that he lives and everyone continues on their current trajectories. I think A.J., with the help of a therapist, will be able to right his life, and if he's as smart as he thinks he is, he might be able to avoid becoming just like his father. Meadow will become the pride of the Soprano family, example A in Tony and Carm's defense that they're good parents. Carm is destined to grow old and continue to look the other way, so long as tragedy never personally touches her. She's a supporter, a loyal wife who knows better than to break-up her family, or leave The Family. And Tony? Who knows? How will this affect him long term? Will he eventually mellow out and learn to appreciate the time he has with his friends and family, or will he continue to be a manipulative, morally bankrupt asshole, a guy who says he looks out for his family but feels relief when his his nephew dies and can never resist the opportunity to pick on his son or project his own issues onto other people's tragedy in the vain hope of winning their sympathies. In Tony's world, everything revolves around him and how deserving he is of other people's pity. Tony is such a multi-faceted character with so many intricate layers, it has been a joy to watch Gandolfini create this stunning portrayal of a Mafia boss. When people talk about great performances like Brando in the Godfather or De Niro in Raging Bull, surely Gandolfini's name belongs in the conversation. The stars aligned for that actor and that character, not to mention David Chase. For those of you who go to bed tonight dreaming of a Sopranos movie, I wouldn't get your hopes up. Their story has ended, however abruptly, after what has been the best nine episodes of the series' fanastic six-season run. I feel privileged to have been a part of from the beginning. Thank you Chase, Gandolfini, and everyone else who had a hand in bringing us the Sopranos and welcoming us to The Family on Sunday nights. Can you even imagined how this show might've turned out if Anthony LaPaglia had been cast instead. Talk about a cultural injustice...

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at June 10, 2007 11:31 PM

comment #7

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Travis and Berk, I never thought about that explanation. Certainly credible. But it almost seems too easy. I feel like if Chase was going to kill off Tony, he would've done so onscreen, not left it up to our imaginations. Of course, I think Tony will one day succumb to death at the hand of some anxious and stupid up-and-comer. Or he could just be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I doubt he'd slip into old age as quietly as Junior. But do I think The Bathroom Guy took a piss, washed his hands, and then came out firing at Tony in front of his family, no? Who ordered it, unless it was the old hit Phil put out on him that his little henchman said they'd nip in the bud. Speaking of, does that Phil's right=hand man take over that NY crew? Or would it be Carmine, who would've taken it over if he wasn't afraid of starting a war with Phil, so he just stepped aside and said he wanted no part of it. I mean, henchman isn't fit to be the head of a family. And also, what do you think happened to the two babies? Looked to me like they were going to roll into traffic and possibly die. Did they get the door of the minivan open? It all happened so fast and I was on Nyquil so...

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at June 10, 2007 11:37 PM

comment #8

Rick22 says ...

MiraJeff -- what a fantastic post. Couldn't have said it better. We should be grateful for everything David Chase, his writers, cast and crew have delivered for the last eight years. The ending was perfect -- unexpected and yet inevitable. The last scene will go down as one of the greatest endings in television history. And totally agree with you about Nikke Finke. Way out of line.

Posted by Rick22 at June 10, 2007 11:49 PM

comment #9

BurmaShave says ...

I thought it was brilliant. We knew that it was Meadow coming through that door, but Tony didn't, and he never will. I think ending the whole shebang detailing that paranoia that Tony will always feel as Boss was fitting.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 10, 2007 11:49 PM

comment #10

scooterzz says ...

i'm shocked at the positive response...imo one of the worst finales ever....(and i'm guessin' i'm not alone)...

Posted by scooterzz at June 10, 2007 11:58 PM

comment #11

Devin Faraci says ...

Did people really think that the last few season's worth of episodes were just building up for a massive finale? How could anyone who has been watching this show been disappointed by the ending? Shocked, I get, because who would have imagined that cut to black, but it had to be obvious that the status quo would mostly remain intact.

Posted by Devin Faraci at June 11, 2007 12:13 AM

comment #12

jeffmcm says ...

Another reason why this ending was brilliant was because it literally was a 'fuck you' (or at least a mild rebuke) to those who just wanted to see something violent and climactic happen, and Chase decided not to provide their fix (catharsis junkies, I'm going to call them). One of the points of the show from the beginning has been that life does not function like TV or the movies with neat, tidy conclusions, and Chase refused to bow to convention.

Meanwhile, I think it's funny that every time people have a reasonable complaint about something obnoxious Jeff Wells does, he bitches about it for weeks afterwards. Deep down he hates every one of us, just as he knows we pay his bills.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 11, 2007 12:19 AM

comment #13

Nate West says ...

Status quo would mostly remain intact?

"Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness [Uncle Junior] and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Tony's gone; the whole restaurant may be gone. Oblivion.

Posted by Nate West at June 11, 2007 12:31 AM

comment #14

Higgy Hackford says ...

go "stuff it?" how about if i write in to say that posts like this serve absolutely no purpose other than to reveal spoilers. it's one thing to reveal plot details in the course of discussing a movie or show. what you do is different: you reveal plot details for no purpose other than to reveal plot details. you've said nothing that deepens my understanding or appreciation of the series or even of sunday night's show. in fact, it's clear you have nothing to say about the episode. you just wanted to tell what happened.

that's what angers your readers. they hope for something insightful or thoughtful from you but all they get are the major plot points. people who watched the show don't need that. people who missed it but plan to catch it monday night don't want it. the only people who would welcome this post are the folks who don't give a shit what happened but are kinda curious. and they're gonna find out pretty quickly anyway.

so you deliberately piss off the people who care to provide information to people who don't care.

you're such an ass.

Posted by Higgy Hackford at June 11, 2007 12:44 AM

comment #15

Dan Revill says ...

Fucking hell Wells!

I've never watched an episode of The Sopranos, but I'm reading the first sentence on the page, and it's a fucking spoiler.

As someone who would like to watch the series in its entirety one day, I purposely avoided any and all spoilers about the show. Sure here and there I heard about bit players who were killed, because its in the ether of what my friends talk about. Still, by and large I don't know much about the series.

And you fucking ruin it. Do you purposely like being a dick when it comes to spoilers?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the hell out of many of your posts and the subsequent comments that are generated, but your penchant for spoilers is fucking ridiculous. Would it hurt you to start off by saying, "SPOILER WARNING RE: SOPRANOS?"

Posted by Dan Revill at June 11, 2007 1:11 AM

comment #16

Devin Faraci says ...

Aladdin Sane, you're an idiot. You can't expect to go unspoiled into a TV show once it's over. That's just asinine, even in the days before the web. Some of you guys are real fucking cry babies.

Posted by Devin Faraci at June 11, 2007 1:25 AM

comment #17

Nate West says ...

*SPOILER*

Lucy and Ricky have a baby boy.

Posted by Nate West at June 11, 2007 1:29 AM

comment #18

dre says ...

Fucking brilliant and fitting ending to this great show. The second part of season 6 was really good. Long live the death of Phil Leotardo... and long live the clever use of Journey's Dont Stop Believing. Bravo to Chase and Co.

Posted by dre at June 11, 2007 1:35 AM

comment #19

dre says ...

In an age where most people watch shows on DVD or DVR, a simple spoiler warning isn't asking for much. Having said that, I thought Jeff made it obvious he was going to spoiler territory with the first line of the second paragraph. I don't see what the big deal is.

Posted by dre at June 11, 2007 1:37 AM

comment #20

EDouglas says ...

I think the spoiler thing is a serious issue, especially when things are getting posted immediately after the show ends. Some people aren't able to stay home every night watching TV and tape things or are watching other things (like the other Tonys) and I don't think it's that hard to put something in the top part of the blog post saying that it's about the Sopranos finale or what happened (or didn't) on the show last night.

I thought the ending was fine and the people who are crybabies are the ones that wanted Tony or his family to end up dead, brutally slaughtered in the end. I thought it was a great red herring to set things up as if something was going to happen and it made the viewer as paranoid as Tony had gotten. Phil's end was very fitting.. SQUASH!

Posted by EDouglas at June 11, 2007 2:40 AM

comment #21

EDouglas says ...

dre, he kind of spoiled it with the very first sentence because the fact that Tony *doesn't* die is a HUGE spoiler. Maybe somebody needs to post a spoiler for a movie that Jeff hasn't seen and really wants to see for him to finally understand what a jerky move that is.

Posted by EDouglas at June 11, 2007 2:41 AM

comment #22

EDouglas says ...

Sorry for the third post, but you should all go read Devin's assessment of the final episode because he's obviously smart enough to get it... Nikki Finke? I don't think she's smart enough to take the cap off a water bottle before she tries to drink from it.

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=thud&id=10657

Posted by EDouglas at June 11, 2007 2:50 AM

comment #23

GKLondon says ...

"Can go stuff it?"

Nice defense. Sounds like you've learned something from the Bush administration after all. How very "Red State" of you.

Posted by GKLondon at June 11, 2007 4:10 AM

comment #24

Rich S. says ...

"Spoil THAT, motherf*cker."

- D. Chase

Posted by Rich S. at June 11, 2007 4:44 AM

comment #25

Rich S. says ...

One question, though (and I'm not trying to be provocative). If they end up making a Sopranos feature film, and it's not a prequel of some sort, will the defenders of this resolution still think it's brilliant?

Posted by Rich S. at June 11, 2007 4:45 AM

comment #26

Balthazar says ...

Sorry Aladdin, I can't have sympathy.

If you've been this to site more than once (which I'm guessing you have) and you are TRULY interested in staying spoiler-free from the Sopranos, then the last thing in the WORLD you wanted to do want come to the site in first 24 hours after the airing of the finale. ... You KNEW JW would be talking about it.

Posted by Balthazar at June 11, 2007 4:51 AM

comment #27

Movie Watcher says ...

At first, I thought my dvr screwed up. Then the credits rolled, and I replayed the ending. It sets up the movie, if there is one. If not? Well, it shows how life for Tony and the family rolls on. I'm sure a lot of Sopranos fans are pissed off today, and if I was a bigger fan, I might be too. I liked the show, and the dvd's will be played over and over. I thought the journey song fit the scene, and AJ reminding Tony of what he said. The cat was weird; maybe Christopher reincarnated? Silvio is still alive; his recovery is guaranteed, otherwise why show him in the hospital? I wonded if Chase is working on the screenplay for the movie. What a funny scene when Phil's head was crushed and those guys standing around started puking!

Posted by Movie Watcher at June 11, 2007 5:01 AM

comment #28

chicbn872 says ...

I can't believe I'm reading all this smack on David Chase. I don't this guy was interested in showing us an Eli Roth bloodbath. This show has always been about Tony and his family and then his other family.

Tony has lived through some serious stuff and that's what makes the Journey tune even better. Tony will keep on doing what he's doing and so will we. We just don't get to see his life anymore.

Posted by chicbn872 at June 11, 2007 6:14 AM

comment #29

Mr. Muckle says ...

Oh, this was a GREAT final episode. Just great, and Nikki Finke is a complete idiot, but we already knew that, didn't we?

The whole family eating at a downscale restaurant, just like regular folks, I had some moments there of real affection and nostalgia for all the good times.

And if you don't even know it when you get hit, everything just goes black, then we got a good idea of what getting hit is like. WE, the audience, got hit. Everything went black, and we will never get to see how the rest of the story comes out. BRILLIANT! Kudos to David Chase. This ending keeps the entire series in the realm of CLASSICS.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at June 11, 2007 6:24 AM

comment #30

Dave Polands Gut says ...

A brilliant series with a brilliant ending. Now we get the Sopranos Movie every 3 yrs like it should be.

Posted by Dave Polands Gut at June 11, 2007 6:26 AM

comment #31

NYCBusybody says ...

I think it was the perfect ending for what the show was; an attemped simulacrum of the actual vicissitudes of life, including the fact that there's never a middle or an end, because we never really know when the end will be. Things don't crest in life as they do in drama, no matter how much humans wish they could force storylines and tidy understandings onto their lives.

Which, of course, is why people go to drama in the first place. Art has always essentially served to enhance man's understanding of his often confusing surroundings, or to provide some sort of intellectual sense, order, and/or significance to the goings-on of daily life.

Therein lies my overall problem with the show, at least for the last 3 seasons or so. I understand what Chase was going for. I think he achieved his ends perfectly - capturing the ebb and flow of life, sometimes with payoffs, most of the time not, etc. - and the final scene is a perfect distillation of that idea. I just don't like the idea. I don't think the human mind needs that from drama - what does that tell us about life? We already know it's confusing and ramshackle and hard to understand. It all seems like a very simple, easy thing to do. There's nothing difficult or engaging about it - it's, in every sense of the word, a copout.

Posted by NYCBusybody at June 11, 2007 6:27 AM

comment #32

DavidF says ...

Y'know - I knew it would be a challenge to surf the net today and avoid stuff about Sopranos which I won't be able watch until tonight.

I should have known that Wells would LEAD with it. My eyeballs move fast enough that didn't see much of his writing but I get the idea.

I also love that now everyone hammers Wells for dishing spoilers so, like a child in a gradeschool class, he justifies it by pointing and saying, "He did it first!" It's too funny.

Spoilers are spoilers Jeff and it requires NO EFFORT WHATSOEVER to start your article saying, "I saw last night's Sopranos..." and then inserting a SPOILER ALERT or something else that bumps any such information past the header on the main page. No one is asking you to not write about these things, just to give people a choice about whether they want to read them or not.

Is this really too much to ask? Do you like your loyal readers thinking you're an asshole?

Posted by DavidF at June 11, 2007 7:02 AM

comment #33

roquentin says ...

Did anyone else think that the inclusion of Chase's daughter - the return of the now successful and functional Hunter - winked at the difference between himself and his alter ego? As if to say..."this isn't really my life"?

I thought the finale was conceptually great even as I found it narratively frustrating. And not for the last few seconds (I liked it, even the jarring cut). It's A.J.'s arc that irks me. As a stand-in for an immobilized and sated generation, it works perfectly. The scattered rage of his post-funeral arguments that he brashly decides to channel into joining the Army is undone (so easily) by the dangling carrot of his own prosperity. Great stuff. The way the PBS footage from a prior episode has, after A.J. has been bought, given way to Rove's and Bush's dancing. All A.J. can do is giggle.

I love it on paper, but I don't buy a lot of it. I don't buy A.J. even thinking of joining the Army. I had a hard time swallowing him in tears constantly, even had a hard time with his "I'm having a hard time maintaining". It felt, like a lot this season, just a couple notes off. It was really insightful characterization of my generation, and yet it never felt as true and organic as The Sopranos used to, as lived in as those first few seasons.

And my guess? No Sopranos movie. Chase might buckle down the line (I think he did by expanding this season instead of letting it be a more tightly plotted 13 eps), but his point was not to set himself up. It was to let all those who had set themselves up (for the Godfather exit) choke on their expectations. To me at least, the perfectly pitched tension just highlighted what a great filmmaker this man is going to continue to be.

Posted by roquentin at June 11, 2007 7:13 AM

comment #34

vansmith says ...

i didnt see it, but i will and it wont make a difference that i already know what happens. sounds like an appropriate ending even though i thought AJ would kill Tony. i get the "just another day in the life of.." aspect that chase held onto, maybe there are no climaxes in real life...

Posted by vansmith at June 11, 2007 7:22 AM

comment #35

CambridgeCat says ...

I guess people who were disapointed in this ending were also mad that the Russian never came back, Tony never killed the guy who raped Melfi, whole seasons went by without a whacking, Meadow or AJ didn't take over the familt business, or any of the zillion other things I've read people expected over the years. How people could watch this show and expect any of these things to happen is a mystery to me.

I've always felt that the Sopranos has become such a cultural phenomenon that it's attracted a lot of people the show wasn't meant for. By that I mean people who want/expect conventional TV show beats from a show that defied/redefined convention. For me the show was a character study from day one and this is the ending I expected: it goes on as it always has, like life ... and the mafia. Had Chase gone for the big ending it would have rung really false to me, so I'm glad he didn't.

On the issue of spoilers, I don't see how it's so hard to respect them. Some people are waiting a week/month/years to see the show. All you have to do is lead with a sentance that mentions this piece talks Sopranos, and people who don;t want t know won't click it. (And for whoever said you can't have a show be out for years and not be spiled on it: I haven't seen any of Lost and may someday, so I have successfully avoided all conversation of it.) Leading with the spiler was clearly an intentional dick move, and i would have been pissed if I happened upon it without seeing the show. Make that an intentional and unecessary dick move.

Posted by CambridgeCat at June 11, 2007 7:39 AM

comment #36

thevisceral says ...

If you play the episode backward you can hear it saying, "Take the cannoli. Take the cannoli." You see, the whole universe is the cannoli. And then a turtle comes and eats it. And somewhere a child is laughing, laughing...

Posted by thevisceral at June 11, 2007 7:40 AM

comment #37

nyscreenwriter says ...

way to endear yourself to readers... insult them.

Posted by nyscreenwriter at June 11, 2007 7:56 AM

comment #38

NYCBusybody says ...

I didn't expect, nor desire, a "big" ending. Like I said above, this really was the perfect ending for the show - really, the ONLY ending possible, that would have been true to the show. I certainly didn't expect a bloodbath, or long-lost characters to resurface, or anything neat and tidy. My problem isn't with the finale episode. My problem is the the blah-ness of the finale is an indictment of how arbitrary and unimportant the show had become, dramatically.

That's the whole problem. I mean, with this ending, Chase is basically spelling out that this thing could have ended at any point, now, in the future, a few seasons ago, etc. That's the problem with "day in the life of..." or "slice of life" drama. It's a completely arbitrary ending. Nothing really changed. No real character arcs. Things will go on as they have.

So why didn't it end two seasons ago? It was a wonderful show that went on WAY past the point to really say anything new, and didn't have a story to really tell for a long time. Character study? What was "studied" about Tony Sopranos in the last two seasons that wasn't there in the first 3 or 4? Why were there 86 episodes? Why not 74? 47? 123?

Posted by NYCBusybody at June 11, 2007 8:00 AM

comment #39

rocco says ...

I'm swallowing my pride after swearing off Jeff Wells months ago (and I must say, ejecting this nexus of negativity has been one of the most calming and satiating decisions of my internet life) to catch some juicy Sopranos talk...not surprising to find he's just as surly and filled with just as much contempt for his readers as before...

Nevertheless...

...it seemed as though Tony walked into the diner and saw himself sitting there...I'll have to watch it again tonight to be sure, but it all seemed dissociative and very out-of-body...

...My initial interpretation was that Tony is dead, died at the end of last season...the diner was his family rejoining him in the afterlife one by one in the order in which they died as the years passed...

Symbolically, it would also tie in with Tony visiting Uncle Junior "in hell"...who knows...haven't really spent too much time thinking it through...

...although I would lean towards the abrupt blackness = murdered by trucker theory as a more plausible explanation.

Shame on the bashers for holding plot over Chase's masterful manipulation of our emotions...honestly, is there anyone who didn't sit up straight waiting for the hammer to drop in the last scene? Brilliant...

Posted by rocco at June 11, 2007 8:05 AM

comment #40

CambridgeCat says ...

You know who had an arc? Noah.

Posted by CambridgeCat at June 11, 2007 8:06 AM

comment #41

NYCBusybody says ...

That's really the greatest downfall of "The Sopranos". By the end, it wasn't bad, it wasn't boring, it wasn't pointless. It also wasn't anything close to brilliant, or insightful, or artistically invigorating. It was just there. On major fumes. What a sad ending for a show that started out with such promise and fervor.

Posted by NYCBusybody at June 11, 2007 8:09 AM

comment #42

CambridgeCat says ...

I don't know about anyone else but this season was one of the most powerfull experiences I've had as a viewer of moving fiction. When Chrissy died my wife and I, mouths agape, had to pause the show for a few minutes to digest it. These last few episodes had my heart beating out of my chest almost from start to finish. Great TV.

In terms of a natural storyarc the show could have ended with Season Three where Tony looks at Gloria Trillo and says "I didn't just meet you, I've known you my whole life." That wraps up his mother and his therapy. Still, saying the last few seasons were unecessary is akin to saying the show had to have a conventional ending. There were a million character arcs in this show and we kept learning about all the characters. I was compelled.

Posted by CambridgeCat at June 11, 2007 8:24 AM

comment #43

Ian Sinclair says ...

"You know who had an arc? Noah."

That would be an "ark." You are hereby sentenced to 150 days of EWAN ALMIGHTY screenings.

Posted by Ian Sinclair at June 11, 2007 8:28 AM

comment #44

CambridgeCat says ...

Depends if it's meant to spoken or not. When Pussy said it he was (obviously) playing on the double meaning.

Posted by CambridgeCat at June 11, 2007 8:32 AM

comment #45

Mr. Muckle says ...

"That would be an "ark." You are hereby sentenced to 150 days of EWAN ALMIGHTY screenings."

That would be "EVAN." You are hereby sentenced to watch CLICK on endless repeat on your DVD player.

Posted by Mr. Muckle at June 11, 2007 8:41 AM

comment #46

Craig Kennedy says ...

Delbomber, welcome back if only temporarily.

Sounds like a perfectly fitting ending to me, though if speculation is correct that they're just leaving the door open for movies, I'd be a little pissed off too.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at June 11, 2007 9:14 AM

comment #47

Joe Leydon says ...

Look: I have razzed Jeff in the back for posting genuine spoilers â€“ like, the endings of movies several months before they open â€“ but this is an entirely different situation. The long-awaited ending of a popular TV series is common knowledge within minutes of its broadcast (or, in this case, cablecast). Iâ€™m old enough to remember the final episode of â€œThe Fugitive,â€ OK? Way, way back before the Internet Age. And Iâ€™m not exaggerating: If the episode ended at 10 pm CST, then anybody who cared knew that Richard Kimble caught the one-armed man by 10:30 pm, 11 pm tops. It was announced during 10 pm newscasts, for pityâ€™s sake. Hell, Iâ€™ve even heard reports that police dispatchers made the announcement to cops on patrol in some cities, much the same way they might announce the results of a World Series game or a heavyweight boxing match.

So let me get this straight: In this Era of Instant Info, some of you actually thought you could remain blissfully ignorant until you got around to watching you taped or TiVoed episode tonight or tomorrow or next week? (I assume you planned not to read daily newspapers â€“ like, say, The Houston Chronicle, which spilled the beans in a front page story this morning â€“ or listen to sports talk radio shows.) And, better still, even as you allegedly sought to avoid spoilers, you logged on to the site of a well-known spoiler before you watched the episode? Jesus Christ, are you kidding? Or are you just looking for ways to bash Wells? And if the latter â€“ if you despise him that much -- why the hell are you here?

Posted by Joe Leydon at June 11, 2007 9:15 AM

comment #48

CambridgeCat says ...

Did anyone else think the onion rings at the end were signifigant? The circle of life and all. Season one ended just like the series ended: with the Soprano (nuclear) family enjoying a quiet meal together. Season one ends with Tony saying "Sometimes, life is good," and it's that meal AJ references in the final scene when he says Tony talked about enjoying the good moments.

Posted by CambridgeCat at June 11, 2007 10:08 AM

comment #49

Dan Revill says ...

It isn't that hard to avoid conversations and website pages that deal with talking about TV shows. When you go to a site and the first sentence you read before even realizing what the pic is for is a semi spoiler, it's aggravating.
I'm not going to read every comment in this post either, for the same reason. I scanned to see who was replying to me directly, and left it at that.

Posted by Dan Revill at June 11, 2007 10:12 AM

comment #50

le corbeau says ...

I knew better than to even look at HE until now, because I knew Jeff would blatantly blow the spoiler at the top of the page.

Posted by le corbeau at June 11, 2007 10:20 AM

comment #51

Jesse Perry says ...

Everybody's yelling at Jeff, but Ian Sinclair gave away the ending the day before the episode aired: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2007/06/sopranos_finale.php

Does this mean he needs to be banned from the Internet for life?

Also, Nikki Finke whines about "a ridiculously disappointing end lacking in creativity" ... So, her idea of "creativitity" is to trot out the same cliches that we've seen a million times?

Posted by Jesse Perry at June 11, 2007 10:31 AM

comment #52

Jay T. says ...

The ending was brilliant - I don't give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks.

Posted by Jay T. at June 11, 2007 10:36 AM

comment #53

cm65 says ...

Whoa, dude! You're right! Ian Sinclair actually saw it at least a day before HBO showed it. How did you manage that, Ian Sinclair? Who ARE you?

Posted by cm65 at June 11, 2007 11:35 AM

comment #54

Joe Leydon says ...

"Sopranos" fans -- enjoy.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/jun/11/liberal_propaganda_watch_murderous_vehicles

Posted by Joe Leydon at June 11, 2007 12:55 PM

comment #55

DarthCorleone says ...

Look, fuckheads.

Having never gotten around to watching The Sopranos - as my ability to afford HBO has waxed and waned (mostly waned) - one day I fully intend to Netflix the entire series and enjoy it. I've simply heard too many great things about it not to do so. And I accept that I surf the web at my own risk and that sometimes spoilers are accidentally revealed.

But you expect me to not be at least slightly indignant when someone not only spoils the ending in the very first sentence of a post without warning but also very nicely tells me to "stuff it" if that upsets me at all?

Maybe the spoiling of this particular ending was inevitable, although I think not, especially when all it took to avoid it was a little courtesy and consideration.

Forget it. I'll go back to "stuffing it."

(Incidentally, I found it very amusing that the Evan Almighty post included a spoiler warning three paragraphs out, as if anyone would give a shit about the plot points of Evan Almighty. I take it that was an intentional jab at critics like me.)

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 11, 2007 1:09 PM

comment #56

DarthCorleone says ...

And saying that Frazier Moore, Nikki Finke, and the New York Post did it first is already a valid justification. I don't know who Nikki Finke is, I don't read the New York Post, and I hardly think that any AP story about The Sopranos wouldn't be clearly labeled in the title so that I could avoid it.

Whatever.

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 11, 2007 1:16 PM

comment #57

DarthCorleone says ...

Typo: "Hardly," not "already."

Posted by DarthCorleone at June 11, 2007 1:17 PM

comment #58

bfm says ...

Darth, Aladdin and other complainers

If you've never seen the Sopranos you are in for a treat someday. The series is not a conventional thriller and knowing how the ambiguous ending may or may not have played out will in no way diminish your eventual enjoyment - not to mention, after 60 hours of viewing you will probably not even remember what the outcome was. The Sopranos is jam-packed with surprises, red herrings, nail biting suspense coupled with everyday familial moments. I would be surprised if anyone could get through the next few days without stumbling on some discussion about how the series ended, but don't let the fact that you have read this thread make you think that the series is now spoiled for you - because it's not.

Posted by bfm at June 11, 2007 6:21 PM

comment #59