The Sopranos: The Final Season

[Lila64]

I caught some of the song titles from the jukebox upon rewatching the episode, and a lot of pausing:

Those Were The Days
Only The Strong Survive
Somewhere In The Night
Turn Turn Turn
I've Gotta Be Me
A Lonely Place
This Magic Moment
Since I Don't Have You
I'm Alive
Who Will You Run To
Magic Man (Live)
Don't Stop Believing
Any Way You Want It
Rock It, Billy

just thought I'd throw that out there

 

[Bono's Betty]

Just watched it

 

[Irvine511]

i also liked how the episode was filled nearly wall-to-wall with music -- and no show has ever used popular music better than The Sopranos -- and the show is justly famous for how it ends an episode with a nearly always shockingly apt choice of music.

but not this one.

i hear people's frustrations, and i would have also enjoyed something more conclusive, but this abrupt viewer-gets-whacked ending was truer to the show's own ethics.

also, there was a bit of of FY to the Sopranos fans who protest that the show isn't violent enough. that they want more bloodshed. kind of like, "you want more whackings? fine -- we've just whacked you."

frustrating, but appropriate.

could there have been a better ending? of course.

but this one works by not working; or, because it doesn't work, it weirdly does work.

 

[love2bmama]

Was that simply an elabourate mindfuck, or the most brilliant thing ever? \

yes

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I really think all the people crying foul is hilarious. I was yelling "I knew he was going to do something like this!" last night as soon as the screen went black.

So, we were whacked. Life goes on for us all.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Eh, whatever. I'm over it. I can't call it brilliant. The ideas were running thin all season. The ending was lazy imo. Bye-Bye.

 

[Irvine511]

[q]Some will win
Some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on[/q]

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I hope Grey's Anatomy, on the other hand, ends with the hospital blowing up.

even i'd watch that.

mcdreamy blown to mcbits

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

I am not convinced at all that the cut to black is supposed to represent the viewer getting whacked. I stand by my original reply, it was lackluster. I don't find it "arty" or brilliant. I wasn't demanding a bloodbath but it all being about nothing doesn't really have to be nothing. I mean, how many seasons of Seinfeld did they do?

 

[Chizip]

I am not convinced at all that the cut to black is supposed to represent the viewer getting whacked.

it has to mean sooooomething though. i mean it wasn't an editing mistake where they accidentally cut off the end and put in 5 seconds of blackness instead. this was done for a purpose. and what else could it represent besides death? death comes unexpectedly, with darkness and silence, which is exactly how the end was portrayed. its either Tony dying and the audience experiences it with him or its just the viewer dying because the show is now gone forever.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Speaking of Seinfeld, I remember when that finale aired people were pissed and/or disappointed over that ending, too.

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

I'm still thinking it might be Tony. I'd have to go back and watch the last bit again establish POV as the screen cuts to black. I sincerely hope this wasn't just a way to get a movie done.

 

[corianderstem]

I resent the notion that those that are disappointed in the way the finale ended are just disappointed because there wasn't any blood and gore. That's absurd.

Yes, you're right. I oversimplified and apologize if I ticked anyone off.

 

[Chizip]

what i liked about the final scene was it really let you feel what it was like to be a mobster. you felt the tension, the paranoia that Tony must feel all the time, having to always look over you shoulder never knowing when that might be it. then, all of a sudden, you feel what its like to die, just complete blackness out of nowhere. pretty powerful if you ask me.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I don't mind an ambiguous ending but this one just isn't very interesting. Not even worth trying to figure out imo. It tried too hard to be clever. I think it failed.

 

[corianderstem]

you felt the tension, the paranoia that Tony must feel all the time, having to always look over you shoulder never knowing when that might be it.

I had this thought last night as well. Just another day in the life of a mobster.

 

[Daddysgonnapay]

I have had overnight to digest this..and I am more at peace with the ending now...it was SO intense..that last scene...and so well shot...every time the door opened i was a nervous wreck....and the way the family filtered in behind a stranger etc...the blackness, I agree with the thought it was 1 of 2 things...either Tony got whacked, or they were just continuing on with their lives, and we can believe how it ends to each and every one of us...but still my husband and I just made this face at each other at the end

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

found this on a blog...

UPDATE: If you REALLY want some closure, here's a theory circulating on the HBO boards that has some validity:

"I tried to post this on the forum; however, my internet is lame here at work, anyway... posted at the HBO boards:

"So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?)."

 

[Mr. BAW]

When the finale began and Tony opened his eyes, I thought for sure,,"OMG, its a dream sequence and he really is Kevin Finnerty!"

 

[corianderstem]

Man, talk about calling back to earlier episodes. That's pretty good.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

found this on a blog...

UPDATE: If you REALLY want some closure, here's a theory circulating on the HBO boards that has some validity:

"I tried to post this on the forum; however, my internet is lame here at work, anyway... posted at the HBO boards:

"So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?)."

Damn. Now if all of us had been good troopers and watched the previous five seasons all weekend leading up to the finale maybe there wouldn't have been so much bitching this morning.

Interesting, though.

 

[Lila64]

The writer for the Star Ledger, Alan Sepinwall (who wrote the article that corianderstem linked) is on the radio now with Jim Rome talking about the Sopranos. Rome said he wanted to see AJ's head crushed. He was sick of him being a hypocrite. Alan pointed out that there was closure on all the loose ends except Tony, and he wasn't surprised at the ending

 

[Irvine511]

and this is why the show is so amazing.

love it or hate it, you can't shake it.

 

[corianderstem]

My beloved TV Tattle website has a nice collection of reviews and reactions from both sides of the fence. A nice way to kill some time bonding with others online who feel the same way you do about it.

http://www.tvtattle.com/

 

[Irvine511]

found this on a blog...

UPDATE: If you REALLY want some closure, here's a theory circulating on the HBO boards that has some validity:

"I tried to post this on the forum; however, my internet is lame here at work, anyway... posted at the HBO boards:

"So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?)."

the black guys were from Season 1.

anyway, i'm not sure how much to put in the above analysis, but it does tie in nicely in a few different ways -- it could be that, in fantasy/TV world, they'd all close in on the family that has given them all so much pain, and destroy all four of them.

or, it could be, that those are characters who *could* be from Tony's past, but his lifestyle has taken him to the point where he's so paranoid, so suspicious, so on guard all the time, that he can't see real people any more, he can only see shadows of The Departed in the faces of everyone around him.

he's in hell. this is why he needed therapy to begin with.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I've been reading opinions and forums all day in reaction to this.

I have a feeling I'm going to be parked in front of my tv Wednesday nights now, I have been the last few watching reruns on A&E.

 

[Lila64]

^ I feel I need to go back & watch many years worth of episodes

There's an article on CNN's site - an interview with Gandolfini prior to the finale airing:

Actor reflects on last days as Tony Soprano

http://us.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/07/tv.jamesgandolfini.ap/index.html

 

[namkcuR]

This quote from one of the articles in corianderstem's link sums it up perfectly, imo:

Like so many series creators before him, Chase seemed so intent on confounding expectations that he created a finale that met none of them.

It definitely seems like he was more concerned about making sure everyone was shocked than he was about crafting a really well-written, satisfying ending. More about the shock value of such an abrupt wtf-style ending than the substance of what could have a much higher quality ending.

Another of the articles in corianderstem's link mentioned a few fan-conceived ending ideas that would have been better than what we got....Dr. Melfi turns Tony in, or Paulie cuts a deal with NY and takes Tony out, or Tony flees the country, the possibilities were literally endless.

There was even an idea that suggested that last week's episode would have been a much better series finale....it ended with Tony just lying in the bed with a gun across his chest not knowing if he was gonna wake up the next morning. That would still have an ambiguous ending if Chase wanted that so bad, but it would have been much better than just cutting to black, and the possibilities that we'd be arguing about after such an ending would be much more interesting than what we're arguing about now......which is, 'The cut to black was Tony being whacked(since you never see/hear it coming) vs WTF Chase copped out'.

You how in the EYNIW forum, how people sometimes say that U2 could release a CD of themselves farting and some people would still call it brilliant? That's the exact feeling I'm getting reading the posts from the few of you here that are using words like 'brilliant' and 'genius' to describe this ending.

 

[Pop Artist]

found this on a blog...

UPDATE: If you REALLY want some closure, here's a theory circulating on the HBO boards that has some validity:

"I tried to post this on the forum; however, my internet is lame here at work, anyway... posted at the HBO boards:

"So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?)."

It's been debunked...it's not him. Here's an article about last night's mystery guy:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06092007-1360360.html

 

[Lila64]

in response to namkcuR's post:


But to play devil's advocate (I think), why would you say Chase's ending was a cop out? You wanted to know what happened to everyone and whether they lived happily ever after or if the family got whacked, etc.? That was never gonna happen. He left it open to interpretation, no? You can think they got whacked (which would be pretty "final"), or life went on. The constant tension & living in fear. But that's for you to decide.

did that make sense?