 I don’t even know what to fucking say right now. I really don’t. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I just didn’t appreciate what David Chase was trying to accomplish. Or maybe my expectations were simply too high. I don’t know. People have been saying for years that “The Sopranos” peaked too early. I’m not sure if I agree with that or not, but I will say that this final season peaked too early. Last week’s episode was brilliant, maybe one of the finest hours of television you’ll ever see. Seemed the stage was set for a fantastic finale for a series so many of us have been following for so many years. Instead, we got this. Look, I wasn’t expecting a 65-minute bloodbath tonight. That’s not even what I was hoping for. But I sure as shit wanted some resolution, and I wanted some conflict. Instead, we get AJ telling his parents he wants to go into the Army so he can fulfill his dream of being a private helicopter pilot for Donald Trump, Meadow trying to parallel park her car for 20 freaking minutes, Carm starting the plans for her next spec house, Janice trying to swindle Junior by telling him he was her daughter, Paulie bitching about a stray cat, and Tony shuffling through a tabletop jukebox. What, the, fuck? Anyone who’s read this blog knows that I’ve been a patient fan of the show. People griped about the slow episodes and I said that Chase was building to something big. People called for more bloodshed and I said it was coming. Well, I guess those things did happen, but they happened last week, when Tony made a move on Phil and the NY family capped Bobby and Sil. What do we get this week? Onion rings and horrible Billy Baldwin screenplays. Well, Phil was whacked too, but I hope you’ll forgive me for mentioning that key bit of information in passing since that’s just about how Chase treated it tonight: one second Phil’s saying goodbye to his grandkids, the next he’s shot in the head, and the next he has a car roll over his head (which reminded me of a “Six Feet Under” episode, by the way). And just like that, the primary conflict of this entire season is gone. Done. It was like Christopher’s death all over again: I felt robbed. The thing is, I understand – or I think I understand, anyway – Chase’s intention with the final scene. The suspense builds as Tony walks into a crowded restaurant and starts skimming the jukebox, scanning past such cryptically placed tunes as “This Magic Moment” and “I’ve Gotta Be Me” before settling for Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Every time the bell over the door rings, Tony glances up to see who’s walking in. Who is he waiting for? Finally, Carm enters and takes a seat. They scan their menus. The bell jingles again and AJ walks in behind an ominous looking dude who sits at the counter and glances over at Tony’s table a few times. Surely, this guy has bad intentions. Meanwhile Meadow proves that she may be the only person on the entire planet who actually needs that new Lexus that parallel parks for you by failing in her first three attempts to guide her car into the biggest parking space you’ll ever find in front of a crowded restaurant. AJ bitches about his new job before reminding Tony that he once told him, “Try and remember the times that were good.” The suspicious man at the counter glances over at Tony again and then stands up. Tony looks up…and watches the guy head toward the bathroom. The waiter brings a plate of onion rings and all three Sopranos at the table pop one into their mouths as Steve Perry belts out, “Hold on to that feel-ay-eee-aying!” Meadow finally gets her head out of her ass and parks her car before dashing across the street – is she going to get hit by a bus? The bell over the door rings and Tony looks up expectantly. And that’s it. …Wait, that’s it? Okay, fine, this is how we’re to assume Tony will live out the rest of his days – constantly wondering if someone is out to get him, looking up every time a bell over a door jingles, worried that someone like Carlo (who apparently flipped this week after his son was picked up for selling ecstasy) is going to rat him out to the Feds, all while balancing his rather mundane family life. I get that. I appreciate it. But couldn’t we have been given more to sink our teeth into? Couldn’t something of significance – I mean, besides AJ’s car blowing up because of his freaking catalytic converter, of course – happen tonight? Instead, one of the few memories I’ll take from tonight’s episode is the way agent Harris put his neck on the line to help Tony out by giving him info on Phil’s whereabouts. The best part, of course, is when he finds out about Phil’s killing and excitedly says, “Damn, we’re going to win this thing!” Sweet. But sadly, that’s one of the very few highlights. We didn’t even get any real resolution with Paulie’s storyline, which I suppose could mean that he never betrayed Tony. Then again, maybe that means he did betray him and, like Tony, we’re never going to know about it. Or maybe it doesn’t mean shit. What do I know? Oh, and Sil is still alive, but does he survive? Again, who the hell knows? I wasn’t looking for Chase to put a pretty little bow on the series tonight. I wasn’t looking for The Shocker of the Century. I wasn’t even really looking for closure, as the women like to say. But I wanted something more than this. I wanted an ending befitting of one of the most entertaining shows in TV history. Instead, we got stray cats, The Donald and Steve Fucking Perry. Oh well; remember the times that were good, right? Filed under: TV and TV Dramas and TV Action and The Sopranos and External Entertainment and External TV Comments:
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That was ridiculous. Well said. At least you didn’t hatch one of the inevitable 199 thousand conspiracy theories. The screen went black. That’s all we know. Didn’t Holsters seem like it was crawling w/FEDS?
I completely agree, and I like your explanation of the ‘Silent’ ending. I also was expecting some kind of resolution or more entertaining ending. I felt like I was left hanging.
And what about that scene of the Fed listening to T.’s conversation? I thought for sure that the 2 unknown guys in the diner were undercover Feds, and T was going to get arrested. But instead it just went to a silent black. Maybe they were unsure of what to do?
I LOVED it. It took a bit to come to this conclusion, but I did. When it cut to black, I immediately thought the cable had gone out. Then the credits rolled, my wife and I looked at each other and the phone rang. It was her mom. While they talked about the episode, I just sat there and mulled it over. It took awhile, but I loved it. I don’t like things neatly wrapped up. The last five minutes was the most intense TV I have ever watched. My heart was pounding. This is what Tony has to live with the rest of his life??
I’ll admit, the episode as a whole wasn’t as strong as last weeks, but I got some good laughs with Paulie and the cat, some killing with Phil, and some Italian family time with the funeral and the last scene. Good stuff!
I was as shocked as everyone else by the ending, but i think you have to take it as a political message that Chase has been pushing for this season. Early in this last episode we hear Meadow talk of how she wants to help stop prejudice against blacks and italians. At the end of the epidode we see a suspicious looking italian walk to the bathroom (a la Godfather) and two black men walk in the door. We’re at first suspecting the italian guy to open fire, then we most likely get some feeling that there’s a possibility the black guys open fire. Nothing happens, thus making us realize our prejudices. That’s the only way i could rationalize it. Lame? Not really, just unexpected…a bloodpath in the restaurant to end this series would have been far too cliche.
I am speechless. I am without speech!!! I’m still mulling. I do understand the last 5 minutes and the fast heartbeat!! Mine was banging. This may be to show what Tony will have to live with for the rest of his life. I though also maybe Tony hired these guys as silent bodyguards. Who knows. The point is eveything is kind of the way it was on the first episode: just the Sopranos sitting around a table eating. But truthfully, it was like having an episode of premature ejaculation. It may take about a week to recover from this. But as they say: “this too shall pass.” Better check out a new series to watch.
Tony was shot. Remember the flashback to him and Bobby in the boat? They said that when it’s your time you don’t see it.
what are we gonna watch now??
I agree one hundred percent with Dan–the ending was unsatisfying but brilliant at the same time, one final midfuck by Chase to all the “I know how it’s going to end”-ers out there.
Instead of everyone claiming “I knew that would happen”, we got the ultimate dangling thread; were the Feds who listened to Tony’s phone call lining the restauranut, ready to pounce, or was the dude who walked into the toilet (another obvious Godfather homage) going to come out of the john and put a bullet in Tony’s skull?
We’ll never know, unless HBO persuades Chase to do a movie somewhere down the road, providied all parties agree to it.
Like Dan said, I literally felt sick to my stomach waiting for the shoe to drop while Journey was wailing away on the juke. In the time it took Mead to park the Lexus (great line about that, Jamey)I thought to myself “do I really want this show to end with Tony’s brains being splattered all over the table”?
I realized my answer was no, and I’m glad it was Chase’s answer, too.
I thought the episode was fairly predictable. Once you saw the FBI tip-off it was fairly obvious that Phil would get it and not T. Was the guy at the bar at the end the FBI agent with a wig?
I am thinking movie here. The franchise is intact. Give it three years and they will all be back including a just out of his coma Sil.
unreal………worst finale ever…..what a waste of time and money…. that chase loser really knows how to flush an entire lifes work down the toilet in 1 episode. cant believe what i just saw. what a horrible way to be remembered.
what a mess
(ex-soprano fan)
Reminded me of the guy I have been dating for three weeks…lots of build-up…lots of expectation…and me thinking ~ ‘thats it?’
I for one expected a blood bath. One way or the other this is how it needed to end.
I am so disappointed after watching this damn show for 8 years, that I am going to cancel my HBO subcription as soon as I am done typing.
David Chase can kiss my ass!!!!!!!!
Count me in the camp of those who said, “What the fuck…?” But also count me in the camp of those whose hearts were beating a mile a minute for the last five minutes. Ultimately, it’s an unsatisfying conclusion full of a million loose ends, and it’ll be loathed more than any series finale since “Seinfeld”…but you can’t say it doesn’t present a vision of the remainder of Tony’s existence, whether it lasts ’til the guy comes out of the bathroom or for another 40 years. Death could be at his elbow at any moment and always will be. That’s life at the top of the mob.
What it means to me…It means I call Warner cable on Monday and cancel HBO.Rome was a bust..the recent fights have been a third rate…and the movies are so bad or old they are no longer protected. I will buy a drink of scotch with money and have a much better time.
It didn’t end… it stopped. Maybe this, maybe that… we can speculate all night.
None of us should be surprised that Chase just said, ‘What…? You think I am gonna wrap it up with a bow. Fuck that…!’
Exactly, ah, eyeball.
I agree, “what the fuck” and yes, my heart was beating with expecation, pleading for Meadow to park the fucking car already. You can’t deny the ending leaves you wanting more, something more at the very least. But for those of you whining about canceling HBO, get real. Tell me the garbage that the networks put on the air is anywhere near as good as any of HBO’s original series.
the best part about this episode to include the series… IT’S OVER!! all the loose ends.. what the fuck?!! “This fucking animal is history today!” I’ve been saying for a long time HBO’s best program is The Wire. !!Fuck Sopranos!!!
For all of those threatening to cancel HBO, I have one word for you: “Entourage.”
If you’re not already watching this show, then, well, you have no idea what a network like HBO has to offer.
As for the episode itself, I thought it was good. Not great, mind you, but it actually did more wrapping up then you might expect.
I for one agree with all those that say it’s meant to give you the feeling of always looking over your shoulder. My heart was beating faster than it ever has…
the best part of the finale was when the crazy looking guy with the gimp says “Oh shit!!” after seeing Phil’s noggin get crushed then the one kid starts to barf!!BUAHAHAHAHAAAA!!
For all of you that were disappointed, kiss my ass! This is no different than all of the episodes we have been watching from day one. Why in the world would David Chase change what he is doing now? This show has always been about the mob boss who is really a regular guy just trying to make his way in the world. I’m surprised that so many people are simpled-minded enough that they need to have ‘closure’ of any sort. Please. Think about the real reasons you have watched the show all these years, is it really about the mob/violence stuff or the relationships? I think the ending was brillant and has left me thinking much more than I could have ever dreamed. This final episode will never satisfy those who have not been watching the subtleties from the beginning. One question–Tony walks in to the restaurant wearing one thing and then the camera focuses on him sitting down wearing something different. How’s that for a teaser..
Okay, I have had an hour to think about it… and I am gonna piss off a lot of people now… as many as Chase pissed off.
For anyone who has truly loved the show, the subleties, the incredibly credible characters… this was truly the only ending I would expect from David Chase. Anything else would have been a disappointment. If you haven’t opened a book since you had to in high school, if you require the intellectual pablum that passes for Hollywood film, then you fucking hated this finale and wanted only to see Tony’s brains all over the table.
what the f— was that? I waited all week for that david chase. very disapointing. journey song awsome. but that’s about it.
‘journey song awsome’
Sorry to pick on you Marsha, but I rest my case…
i was hoping that hbo would at least show a new entourage after that bullshit of an ending…..but noooo….
I enjoyed the blog and the finale. I was also on the edge of my seat waiting for T to get capped when the screen fell silent. In retrospect, killing T in the last episode would have been too simple (if he is not, in fact, dead). I certainly would not be reading blogs trying to figure out what the hell happened.
re: hbo…I assumed everyone cancelled after sopranos.
For the record, I did NOT want to see Tony killed in the end. That’s not what I was saying. But this is dramatic TV, damnit, so how about some drama? Sure, those five minutes in the restaurant were suspenseful as hell, but it was such a small payoff for such a slow episode.
And before you start insulting people and telling people to kiss your ass, you should try to get your facts straight, Josie: He wasn’t wearing a different shirt when he walked into the restaurant; he was wearing a jacket.
Isn’t this the best possible ending to set up the
possibility of the story continuuing? Those who
love the program can now speculate forever about The Movie or The Return. It was interesting storytelling and genius marketing–unsatisfying in the present so it can be deliciously tantalizing in the future.
I think they shot 6 endings, put ‘em in a hat and pulled it last night. Chase was probably bummed! “Ah damn. The worst one”
See, that’s the thing: I actually enjoyed the ending, but the rest of the episode was such a letdown that the whole thing just fell flat. There just wasn’t much substance in the first 60 minutes.
He was wearing the same clothes in both shots (when he entered the restaurant and when he sat down). He just took off his jacket.
No one’s mentioned it yet - anyone notice that the screen went black just after Steve Perry sang, “don’t stop”? Surely there’s some significance there.
The last scene was incredibly intense. How many times has Chase filmed a scene like that and it ended in some sort of bloodshed? He had us all on the edge of our seats and then…no payoff. It’s like the old saying, “leave ‘em wanting more.”
I’ve read a few books since high school and I still wanted some closure here. Once it ended, I felt cheated. But reflecting on the ending, I get it. (I think.) This is Tony’s existence. He will always sit facing the door in restaurants and he’ll always check and see who just entered the joint. If there’s a guy alone, sitting at the counter, looking over his shoulder, Tony will be suspicious. He will always be on edge. Such is his life.
The scene with Tony and Junior was terrific. Once T saw that Junior really didn’t recognize him, he started to tear up a little bit and I think he forgave him.
AJ’s storyline was wrapped up pretty well. After all this selfless talk about terrorism, getting off of Mideast oil and joining the army, as soon as someone offers him a cush job in the “movie industry,” he gets himself a BMW and screeches in and out of a high school parking lot to pick up his 17 year old sorta model girlfriend. He’s the same spoiled kid he’s always been. A leopard can’t change his spots. (The same goes for Janice.)
The cat represented Christopher. Chris always bothered Paulie and so did the cat. Either that or the cat was staring at Chris’ picture because Chris was a “rat.” Although that wouldn’t jive with the “new” grand jury testimony.
All in all, a good, but slow episode. I hit the play button several times in the last half hour wondering just how much time was left. I kept waiting for things to pick up and they never did. Not until that last scene. And then…nothing.
Chase, you are one brilliant bastard.
By the way, people, if you aren’t watching “The Wire,” then you are missing out. I’m considering cancelling HBO as well, but only after “The Wire” is done. “Entourage” is good, but it can’t carry the network. Not for me, anyway. HBO has some serious work to do.
re: Chris being a rat
You have a good point there John because when Tony tells Paulie “he’s probably just sensing an old dead rat in the wall” or something like that, Paulie says the freaky feline did the same thing when he moved the picture.
Looking back that seems like a not-do-subtle clue as to Chris’ status with the Feds, dead or not.
I thought the episode was brilliant for many of the aforementioned reasons. I dug up this quote from an interview between Chase and Jim Lehrer a few years back — it describes the episode perfectly! Chase is a true artist
DAVID CHASE: … The only thing that I guess I believe is that a lot of what I see on the air and in other places is giving answers, and I don’t think art should give answers. I think art should only pose questions. And art should not fill in blanks for people, or I think that’s what’s called propaganda. I think art should only raise questions, a lot of which may be even dissonant and you don’t even know you’re being asked a question, but that it creates some kind of tension inside you.
Listen this show has always been all over the place. (and I don’t mean that in a good way) It tries to cover all the bases but never hits a grand slam.
Chase’s idea of a high concept plot is to throw together a few random scenes that slightly hint at something that seems slightly intelligent, but ultimately goes no where.
Yea, lets talk about Yeats that seems intellectual. Then a scene of some guy getting “whacked”; then Tony filling his fat fucking face with some pork and sausage; and then some stripper tit at the “Da Bing”
Then everyone is happy.
The guys who just want some Blood and Tit- I can understand their desires, but these pseudo-intelectuals who after “thinking about it” go “Ohhhhh i get it…… I don’t need things to make sense- I don’t need it to be tied up in a bow”
you crack me up. There is nothing to “get” here.
Chase is a c- student who will start a plot and turn it in incomplete. That is what he showed tonight. He Didn’t say fuck you I am going to mess with your minds. He is the A.J. of the aristelian plot structure.
“I wanna open a club, I wanna go into the army, I wanna save gas, I wanna take the bus, my bmw gets 23 mpg, I read Yeats, Bob Dylan Playing live in england is cool”
…..Oh wait…I get it.
haha
You want to watch a show that challenges and then gives you big payoff for your time? Watch The Wire.
The Wire is the best show HBO has ever made.
I would love to rip into you, I really would, but you just do it yourself…
Enjoy Bruce Willis’ next blockbuster
Goodnight everyone… amazing wrap to an amazing show.
If you are a big Bruce Willis fan then that explains it then eyeball. Basically you are the perfect audience for the final episode. It just wasn’t my cup of coffee.
If I wanted to watch a challenging film laden with symbolism I would probably watch some Godard flick like Alphaville, or maybe something by Lynch like Blue Velvet, or Mulholland drive. Hell even a truffaut film would do.
Again Best HBO show….The Wire
I think you have totally missed the boat…TONY WAS KILLED! The last scene is Meadow walking in with a surprise look on her face (symbolizing her seeing the gun to her Father’s head)…fade to black! Tony was whacked (remember “Bobby, you don’t hear it coming”)!!!! I think it was brilliant. The rat wasn’t Paulie, but was Patsy! Patsy’s son would have known where they were dining. Also, did you see the look on Patsy’s face at the dinner when Tony brought him the drink? Why did Patsy survive the “Sil Shootout” without a scratch? Why was Patsy never at the safe house? Tony was able to survive the long period because Meadow always met Patsy Jr in the City as opposed to the Spec House. Finally, the New York Crew had already started collecting from Tony’s people, do you think they were going to let that practice stop?
In my humble opinion, Patsy was the rat who used his son for information and Tony got whacked!
Thoughts?
KevinFrombalt-
The problem is, what about the blacks? What about the feds? How do you know Tony got whacked by the guy coming out of the bathroom? Walking away with that kind of interpretation kinda makes it look like you got played.
Chase kills the Sopranos, but he can’t bear to show them being murdered and so he cuts to black. He leaves all the clues and demands that we be observant and think it through. While many will talk that there was no real resolution to the show viewers who watched closely know that Tony and his family all now sleep with the fishes. Here’s why. When Tony enters the restaurant for the final scene he is in a brown leather jacket, surveys the joint and who does he see in a booth? Himself, sitting alone. If you didn’t catch that shot, but have it on Tivo, check it out. What happens next, the family arriving, Meadow parking her car, the suspicious guy at the counter going to the bathroom ala “The Godfather” and the two hip-hop dudes arriving all of it spell doom, but we never get to see it. Why? Because Chase could never show us the murder of Tony and his family. It would be too traumatic for him and for us. So what was that scene about with Tony seeing himself in the booth? He’s dead and has come back to see how he could have been so wrong and not seen it coming. He even looks up to check the guy out on his way to the bathroom, but did nothing and obviously misjudged the situation. Now he comes back to the scene where his family is whacked to see how how he could have missed it. Why were they whacked? With Phil gone an peace breaking out who could have ordered this? Remember the conversation with Mink about the impending indictments and possibly having to testify? Carlo is the rat not Paulie. Also, remember from the second to last episode that the FBI agent told Tony that there is an informant inside Phil’s gang? The Feds were closing in and perhaps someone wanted to clean up the mess. Who? Carmine Jr.? Possibly. Or perhaps the boys from Brooklyn just lulled Tony into a false sense of security. Maybe a crazy Phil loyalist was getting payback. Whatever the case, viewers should review the restaurant scene very closely. The music might provide clues as well. Little Feat singing “All that you Dream” and Journey playing “Don’t Stop Believing” have some special meaning here as well we can be sure. But in the end none of us could really bear to see a family we shared so much with being shot to death in cold blood. Chase did the right thing. He just made us think hard to fill in the blanks. A masterful and appropriate finish to perhaps the greatest television drama ever. Salude!
Oh eyeball, you’re so much more intelligent and cultured than the rest of us poor schmucks. Thank you for sharing your wisdom for the greater good on this blog.
Dude, get over yourself. If you liked the episode, fine, but what good does it do to rip apart those of us who thought it fell flat? You just come across sounding like a pompous ass.
JP, I love the theory that the cat was staring at the photo of Chris because Chris was a rat. Even more interesting, after the scene between Paulie and Tony where Paulie told T he would take over Vito’s old crew, a cat walked up and laid down on the sidewalk next to Paulie. Could they both have been rats? Both were expected of just that on this blog by many people.
As for the grand jury testimony, who knows if Carlo was the only one involved there? The Feds had obviously been building their case for several years. Carlo may have just given them the final bit of evidence they needed.
Bill, nice theory, but that’s all it is: a theory. There are a million different ways to interpret what happened last night, and that’s just one. Are Tony and his family dead? Possibly. Is there any way of knowing for sure? Unless your name is David Chase, nope. I like a previous reader’s point that Chase was playing on our prejudices by having the suspicious Italian sitting at the counter and then head to the bathroom Godfather-style while the group of black dudes walks in. Alarm bells go off, but does that mean Tony was whacked?
We’ll never know.
What about the Blacks and others walking into the restaurant? That was Chase playing with us. He played with us the entire episode. Everywhere Tony went, everyone he saw was a threat. He wanted us to think that everyone walking in the restaurant could do him in. Tony sits outside talking to Janice…did it enter your mind that Janice or someone around could whack him? Of course! Uncle June scene…come on, we all thought this would be the perfect ending. Tony sitting outside with Paulie…did it enter your mind that someone would come by and kill him? Chase puposely panned to passing cars…he had people in the window walking by. He was playing with us, teasing us…making us think that it could happen at any moment!
Why do I think it was the guy in the bathroom? He threw “Godfather” references at us the entire episode (oranges, Phil laying on the ground ala Sonny, etc).
Other stuff: I loved the “Little Miss Sunshine” reference with the little girl jumping up and down “we won, we won” as Tony was hanging with Sil…yeah, we won, but at what cost.
I thought the cat represented Adrianna, but was Chase telling us that Christopher was a rat?
I LOVED the FBI agent. First, Chase showed him to be EXACTLY like the people he was tailing…arguing with the wife, having an affair, setting someone up to be killed playing both sides. Also, Chase also winked at us with the scene by the airport. By having it blustery, cold and snowy, while Tony was meeting with the agent…you thought Tony was thinking of flipping, but Chase was saying, “Cold day in hell” before Tony flips…
I loved the final episode…only if I am right. If Chase wants us to think that Tony survived, that the fade to black wasn’t Tony being killed, I would not be happy.
David Chase had us right where he wanted us. For all of the unsatisfied out there, has your heart ever beat so hard (or irregularly, in my case) when watching TV? I kept looking at the time and hoping the show would end before Tony or his family got whacked. He made us admit to ourselves that we cared about them. One more thing, to Chase, this whole thing is a comedy. Black, for sure, but still a comedy.
The last four episodes were the most disappointing of the entire series. I feel cheated, having watched this in-your-face series over the years, by the lack of creativity by writers that were once entertaining. Sopranos movie somewhere down the road? I’d rather look forward to Shrek IV.
This episode was one of the best in a long time. It had all the humor and realistic, interesting family dynamics that made the show great in the first place.
Seems to me that many posters only call the show good or bad based on how much violence is contained within. This is never what made the series great.
Paulie’s storyline was great. He was hilarious through the entire episode, and true to his character. Syl was the only ending that was sort of a cop-out in my opinion. It was like they wanted him hit for dramatic effect, but don’t want him dead in case there’s a movie in the future.
There was closure on AJ, on Meadow, on Carm, and on Tony. Watch it again if you don’t think so. Everyone has found a direction they will follow for the next few years. That’s closure enough.
All in all, it’s like we’ve come to know these guys from the neighborhood over the last eight years or so. What we got was one final visit, and all of us move on. Kind of like “the last time I saw Paulie, he was on a bench in front of the meat store…”
The final scene? They say Chase shot six endings. I think all of them were NEVER intended to be shown. I’m guessing all of them started with the scene we saw last night, and then played out in different ways. He always intended to cut it there.
In my opinion, he wants you to pick your own ending. He knows you’ve invested time into this show and these characters. Make it end the way you see fit. Although it was not satisfying at the time, it did make everyone think. I like it.
That said, I hope that HBO and Chase don’t pull the “see how it really ends on the DVD” trick. That would be a shame.
Great show, great episode to send it off.
LOVED IT.. eventually.
The title of the episode was Made in America. My thought is the operative word is MADE. T was a MADE man. So was Uncle Jun, who I believe T has come to terms with. Even if his only motive was the selfish one of making sure he stuck it to Janice about the money. I think we got 2 sneak peaks at AJ as a future MADE man (the repast dinner table where “the youth” sat together (”the yoot” as Paulie described). as well as the BMW scene when he picks up the girlfriend.) Oh, and WHAT did Tony call her (instead of her real name) when they talked AJ out of the Army? FUNNY!
David Chase is, as always, brilliant. He knew. He knew he will probably break a record with viewers tonight. He knew that he built up last week’s episode to such a point, there was no backing down. And if he did, we’d be let down and disappointed. Anyone else annoyed for a moment in the middle when the WHOLE Phil problem ended with just ONE little sit-down in a cold garage? POP. End of Phil, everybody is happy!? and I was more worried about those babies in the seats rolling into traffic than I was about Phil’s skull… I guess I am sick too.
Feds are actually ROOTING for Tony. INFORMING the Crime Boss. Making sure we see “Agent whats-his-face” as another slime ball shallow human, cheating on his wife, no doubt with his “Brooklyn Associate”…anyone else think she looked Italian??… and using their pillow-talk to warn T and give him a location on Leotardo…wow. Was that the same agent who went undercover to befriend Adrianna??? just a thought.
All problems are solved. AJ swings once again from civil rights activist, to Marine wanna-be to a B movie-gopher laughing at the news. People are happy, minus Sil and of course except T who is looking at an indictment. But “we can’t say we haven’t imagined that day”. T and Carmela realize Meadow can make serious $$ being a lawyer. Carmella is making a new investment property. **Note: Old spec house had BAD wood used by her own dad. This one has “toxic vapors”?? Poor Carmela will never do anything without needing to payoff someone to make it ok.** Paulie takes a cursed job, the Family’s business interests are secure. Even a hand-out from NY to cover Bobby’s loss. But no, too easy. Happy ending? No.
You’ve got 55 BAZILLION viewers Mr. Chase. You tease us with shots to song titles on the jukebox like “I Gotta Be Me” “Only the Lonely” etc etc. And you slowly re-build all the suspense. What song do you pick…Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing…”It goes on and on and on and on…don’t stop believing” oh PERFECT… you build it all back up in less than 3 minutes. We’re waiting for the biggest ending of OUR LIVES. We’re on the EDGE of our seat. And what do you give us. No ending. None. Only our imagination. Was the dude just going to the bathroom, or was he a solider for NY? Meadow can’t parallel park… oh the suspense, the song, the happy family all together in a special sentimental place… don’t even FINISH the song…oh no that would be too clean and neat.
STOP… Shit? Did the DVR screw up? Did the power go out? AHHHHH No, David Chase simply said, OK, I’m getting off here. The BIGGEST ending in TV history , will be (drum roll please) ….NO ending. None. It was an unobtainable climax, so we’ll just stop. I still feel the whiplash in my neck. done. wow. ok. what just happened here? I’m pissed.
Ok, now let it digest a few hours. WOW. I am impressed now, I was pissed, now I’m impressed. Bravo Mr. Chase. Bravo. The biggest non-ending ever. wow.
Yes, there are a million ways to interpret the ending, and THAT IS THE PROBLEM. I guess I am so simple-minded that I simply hate the idea of having a non-ending that doesn’t really end anything.
I am of the firm belief that when you end a show, you END it. That means pretty much wrapping up everything and writing a conclusion. Not leaving it up to the fans to speculate for years to come.
I seriously feel like we are all part of some elaborate hoax - is there going to be a surprise movie? Another secret season? I know the answer to this is “NO”, but I just cannot believe it was all so open-ended.
My thoughts - Tony was killed. Goes to back to what he and Bobby were saying about not knowing it.
Disappointed. This whole season was a huge let down. David Chase should be ashamed of how much he lets us fans down.
I can’t help it… I am pompous, arrogant, opinionated, et al.
My point is that, like so many great works of literature, is that it didn’t end. Chase just stopped telling the story. The rest is exactly what we are doing now. I haven’t watched it again yet and I won’t for at least a few days. Is it true that Tony say himself in the diner…? If so, I missed that.
PS… are you kidding…? I would LOVE to see all six endings on the DVD…!!!
A quick point that is being missed. The show began with Tony starting with the therapist. The show ends with Tony’s therapist dropping him. The scene with both Sopranos and AJ’s therapist, where Tony starts talking about his mother just shows how far Tony got with her. The whole show has been about Tony and his therapist.
I loved it. It was brilliant.
The great quote Michael dug up from Chase sums it all up perfectly: “art should only pose questions, not answer them”
Judging by the varied responses to this ep, I’d say mission accomplished.
BTW, in an EW piece on the show this week, Chase is also described as never wanting the show to be what all popular shows become-lovable, adoring and comforting.
By showing us what happened at the end, thus giving us “closure”, that would have been way too comforting, and that’s not what it’s about for him
I, for one, was very satisfied with the final episode and, especially, the final scene: a perfect ending really.
All episode David Chase outdid himself by milking the audience’s expectation/fear that someone would try to whack Tony (or Meadow, AJ, Carmela . . . every time one of them got in a car, it just seemed like Chase was prepping you for it to blow . . . .), but the final scene in
> the diner (reminiscent of the Season One finale at Vesuvio) took the tension to another level - the guy on the barstool, Meadow trying to park, Tony eyeing everyone who walks in the place . . . but it turns out just to be a “regular” evening for the Soprano clan.
And that is the point: this “thing of ours” is not terribly different than other pursuits in life - ultimately, it seeks its own equilibrium. Those who upset the balance - Phil, Christopher, Big Pussy, Steve Buscemi - get eliminated. Even the Brooklyn guys realized that Phil was out of control and dangerously irrational (go back to the reaction shots in the second-to-last episode scene when Phil orders the hit on Tony). He had to go to preserve the equilibrium. It ended as it should - Tony surviving and life returning to “normal” after the obligatory cleansing spasm of violence.
The whole show was about Tony and his mother, not his therapist.
Tony didn’t see himself in the diner. They cut from him surveying the room to a shot of him sitting down, facing the door. It was just a quick cut, that’s all.
Artists love to use open endings to allow the viewers come up with their own endings. In a way, it makes it more satisfactory for everyone because each person can have the show end the way they want it to. Conversely, it’s kind of a cop-out because doing this takes the all the pressure off Chase to come up with a “good” or “great” ending. He can just ride off into the sunset riding his “artistic” horse, when the truth might be that he couldn’t think of a great way to end the show. (It’s more likely that he planned to do this all along.)
Another angle that I believe was mentioned somewhere in the comments above is that the ending certainly sets up favorably for a future movie.
I read a while back that Chase would be willing to revisit the family in a film version later on down the line if all parties were willing (it’s no secret that Gandolfini is thrilled shed the disturbing role); for the right amount of money and with enough “healing time”, you can bet this thing of ours will make it back to the small, or better yet the silver, screen in the future.
To kill off all the main characters would have been closure of the cruelest form to a Hollywood heavyweight like Chase: no future revenues.
And tell me all you haters out there wouldn’t shell out $10 bucks to see what really did happen?
Say what you will about the man, but he is a brilliant mogul.
Movie? Please don’t be delusinal. This is all hype. it is like who Killed JR., but they pulled the plug in the last 10 seconds.
What is left to say about this show other than did Tony die?
Yes he did, no he didn’t, yes he did,
what about the guy in the members only jaket,does that mean the last era of the italian mafia was in the 80’s?
How about those black guys. that is symbolic of racism. Did they take over crime in the ’80’s
Did meadow really pass her drivers license or did tony get her a fake one?
Does listening to Journey make me paranoid?
Where is the damn russian? is he the cat? is that why paulie doesn’t like him?
Go take some peyote listen to magic man backwards and consult your tea leaves. then you will know what happened the night your cable went bad.
regarding a 10 second movie , Sex in the city can’t even get a movie deal together though they have been trying.
this is what we are left with.
i agree with jojo. this last season was a flop. i don’t know why david chase is being lauded as brilliant, when, to me, he just couldn’t think of the perfect ending and said “what the hell…just fade to black.” i won’t watch a david chase series again. i feel used.
remmeber the last episode of “six feet under”? now that was brilliant.
re: Suckpranos
You’re post was about as well-executed as Meadow’s park job.
“10 second movie’?”– WTF are you talking about?
And if you don’t think the ending sets up a future flick (ah, why was Sil allowed to live?) then you’re not as big an entertainment fan you think you are
I loved the end they left eveyone to have their own conclusions….love it…..
The guy at the counter was Ukaranian getting revenge for the flubbed hit meant for Phil. After plugging Tony and family he was heard to have said “Leave the gun. Take the onion rings.”
It would be a good SEASON finale, but not for the entire series - too many unresolved issues.
re: J Rose
We will see Rosey, but no script, no Studio backing in place, not even an option? what color are your glasses.
Listen:
1. They had 86 hours already, I think I enjoyed about 40 of them. Now they just need 2 more?
2. A movie script is much different then a teleplay.
3. Sopranos only avg. 7.4- 8.9 million viewers. Grey anatomy gets 19 mil. viewers.
You put your money where you like,but the studios aren’t putting it into the Sopranos.
This is the end my friend
Was it just me or was that just a bad dream?
I posted a blog with the answer to the question just waht is in that Lincoln Log sandwich Tony ate while AJ was trying to take himself out in the pool. Please feel free to read it with the pictures and all of the evidence. You decide and feel free to leave a comment.
Gary
re: Suckpranos
I don’t think the thing would actually make it to the big screen, nor would I necessarily want it to.
I do think the show will be back in some form of HBO entity–movie, mini-series– a few years from now, when everyone has distanced themselves enough to want to ramp it up again. Why else leave the door open for the characters to continue?
In support of my theory, I took to the trusty Internet and dug up these tidbits regarding the subject:
HBO website bio of Chase:
While Chase continues to be among the most sought-after writers for television, it is his annoyance with network television’s rules that has brought him such success. Next, he may very well bring his vision to the cinema, the medium that first inspired his interest in both mobsters and human motivations
New York mag article interview w/ Chase, March 26 2007:
“…a movie still exists as a possibility, I suppose. But it becomes less and less of a possibility because of technical challenges. I mean, where would you come in on the story? Let’s suppose, at the end of this, there are characters who don’t make it. How would you do the movie without them?”
Ah, since it’s possible that quite a few character made it, I’d say it remains a distinct possibility.
As for where he would come in on the story, well I think he took care of that problem last night at 10:04 EST.
The song played in the beginning with Tony & in the van, You Keep me Hanging On, by the Vanilla Fudge, should have been played at the end!!
Howdy! I never watched this show, and now I never need to. Ta-daaaa. Thanks for blogging on it forever, though, James.
I think the last episode left me feeling empty. I bet they are getting ready to do a full feature film.
Re Rose:
so your saying that the sopranos are not over and they will be back in a season or so?
Actually, Suckpranos, a “Sex and the City” movie IS in the works. It’s going into production very soon.
That doesn’t, however, mean that I agree that either show deserves a feature film. It’s a horrible idea, in fact.
Just to set the record straight, I don’t believe that the series will be back in a year or two, nor do I believe it will be brought back to the cinema.
I do believe that within five years HBO will air some kind of special 90-minute episode/ movie that will pick up where the story left off, just like the many reunion-type shows that have aired since the dawn of television.
Would Chase give us closure in that reunion?
Probably not.
But it would be the most watched program in HBO history.
OK, for once and for all for those so disappointed that Tony lives or that it was a cheap way to end it: he’s dead…and if you watched he and Bobby talking in the canoe about how it is when your time is finally up you know “you never see it coming and it all goes black.” That’s it folks, the end, over, done, gone, finito. That simple. Go back to your lives now. Go on.
Jason, Thank you. that is all it took to get my girfriend out of my hair to wait in line for tickets.
I actually heard they are trying to get it green lighted but they aren’t there yet. I know it hasn’t been announced on IMDB.
I also heard Cynthia Nixon wasn’t into doing it. I have no idea how valid that is though. She was in Rabbit Hole at the Biltmore last year, she was great in that.
I have a hard time stomaching sex and the city though.
again best hbo show….The Wire
HERE IS THE MEANING OF THE ENDING OF THE SOPRANOS LAST EPISODE!!!!
At the end of the second to last episode, Tony Soprano had a flashback where he was asked by his brother “You think you hear it when it happens?”, and he was of course reffering to getting popped.
At the end of the last episode, it cuts out like it did becuse it’s suppost to be from Tony’s point of veiw looking up to see his daughter walk into the retaurant right as the “creepy” guy that was starring at him walks out of the bathroom and caps him. And there is the answer to the question “You think you hear it when it happens?”. Nope.
So there, Tony is dead and there will be no movie or new seasons.
All hail the magnificent Andrew White!
re: rose
HAHA
Mr. White,
Assuming that Tony was blasted in the skull, and I believe that’s how the ending was meant to be interpreted also, the abrupt nature of the closing scene would still leave a revisit as a possibility, even if it were to show T. sharing a hospital room with his comatose buddy, Sil.
Do you doubt that it would a blockbuster for HBO?
Simply put, in Hollywood money talks, and open endings leave room for more money to be made.
andrew white has the best idea. now i can go for that. tony sees meadow, gets shot and those are his last minutes of life…the black. thanks, andrew.
J. Rose-
I partially agree with you that another season/movie would be a blobkbuster except for that Im pretty sure my hyppothysis about what happend to Tony is correct and that the show wouldn’t have much potential without his character.
-A. White
I think it’s silly to say that this or that happened. Everyone can come to their own conclusion. That’s the whole point of the open ending, people.
you guys are forgetting the signifigance of both songs when t walks into the rest. “all that you dream” by little feat is playing! huh? just the lyrics in “don’t stop ..” tell the whole story! “some will win ,some will lose, some are born to sing the blues” yep! “well the movie never ends it goes on and on and on and on” yep! “payin anything to roll the dice just one more time” couldn’t have picked more symbolic tune,if chase is anything but genius i don’t know!
Just got finished re-watching the ep, and the clue even more significant than the use of Don’t Stop… is the “B” side of that tune…
…”Anyway You Want It”
‘Nuff said.
Whoever keeps mentioning Meadow’s “surprised look” and the fact that the last shot was from Tony’s POV is smoking crack.
Neither of those things happened. Meadow was simply running across the street trying to avoid cars. They never showed her entering the restaurant.
And as for Tony, well, the shot was of Tony, not from his point of view. And it was of him looking up. Were he getting shot, don’t you think we would have seen a gun pointed at his head?
The reason the episode just cut out is because Chase wanted to end on the words “Dont Stop.” I think it’s an anwswer to his critics and fans than anything else.
Last night, millions of people, by their own admission, were literally:
Leaning forward at the edge of their seats
Feeling their own accelerated heart beats
Shocked enough to think the cable was down
Upset enough to scream at the TV, and each other
Realizing the feeling of living in fear
And all this was occuring during a scene with practically zero dialog, zero action, and moving at a slow and controlled pace.
We could actually FEEL what it’s like to live in a constant state of fear over self-preservation. Chase took that emotion out of a marked man and put it into the hearts of millions of people - all at the same time - even if only for five minutes. He did this by getting us into the mind of the character, not by using explosions, gunfire and/or cars going 150 mph.
This moment defined interactive television and set a standard that will not easily be repeated.
David Chase is brilliant.
Tony was shot. It went black and quite like that because he was shot and the lights went out. you were watching the whole thing through Tony’s eyes. The ending you saw is the same ending you would see if someone cliped you in the head from behind. Thats it simple enough. Thats why you don’t see his families reaction. He is dead, lights out.
I thought the finale was brilliant.
I have the inside word (wont tell you from who) about the last scene where the family reunites in a restaurant actually.
All the visitors in the restaurant were Ghost.
The family in an unseen & unneeded scene was whacked, and were actually ghost themselves in purgatory.
Also as more patrons enter of different ethnic backgrounds etc… into the restaurant these were also new ghost arriving in purgatory.
Very “Sixth Sense”, the Soprano’s themselves didn’t even know they were ghost.
Todd
Oh….
…also they we’re not whacked at the same time, hence the later arrival of A.J. and then Meadow.
Todd
David Tremblay- great points, sums up the whole thing perfectly
Matt- read Mr. Paulson’s comment above, please
Todd Brooks- interesting theory, the dream/ purgatory hypothesis certainly has some merit
(another point to that is the songs repeat themselves in different places on the jukebox, plus two songs in the soundtrack referrence dreaming)
One other thing. Someone above mentioned the scene when Phil’s head gets run over and the reaction of the onlookers.
Two points:
1. Since when did the show focus on a crowd of gawkers staring as something gruesome like that was about to happen? It almost looked like a Sprite commercial they way they all gathered around.
2.Why have the head roll over? He was already dead from the bullet to the back of the skull. Wasn’t it an unnecessary allusion to shock-value violence?
That scene was definitely staged for effect, like Chase saying “hey, for all you bloood & guts lovers, here’s a really wild head splatter”, knowing some people would edge closer to the set and some would want to turn their heads and puke.
But in the end he was never going to give that kind of bloodthirty satisfaction to the viewers who clamored for it, although he allows us to make the assumption ourselves.
dldldl
Not one other person in this entire world, fucking harvard graduate or fucking scorcese himself could have written a better reply to what you wrote. Exactly. Everyone knows that fucking Vader is Luke’s dad, yet we watch star wars over and fucking over and over again because it was a fucking good story. This was a crock of absolute shit which i will end up watching over and over again, but it never satisfies. It’s like eating the best pussy of your life and then one day she disappears. You get left with a terrible case of blue balls that will never go away.
lllllll
He was killed….
>
>in fact, the ending was genius if you’ve paid attention to the show or are just a fan of well developed well thought out plots that all tie together and have the memory of a champ to remember it all
>
>the ending was simple, he got killed, but let me tell yall why and explain in detail… There was 3 people in the room total who had a reason to kill tony…..
>
>the two black guys, they were paid before to kill tony but he was only shot in the ear, this was in one of the earlier seasons,
>
>also in the earlier seasons, the trucker who was sitting at the bar stool, who the camera kept focusing in on, is Nikki leotardo, Phil Leotardos nephew, he was in one of the early season episodes where Phil and Tony have a sit down….
>
>heres where the genius comes in….
>
>When tonys walking in the diner,you see the camera focus on him, then it switches to his perspective, and you see him looking @ the booth hes gonna sit at…
>
>then the camera switches back to tonys face, then it once again switches to his perspective, and it shows him looking @ the door and looking @ the people come in….. Everytime the door opens the Chimes sound……. Carmela walks in, Chimes, AJ walks in Chimes, this when Meadows parallel parking, still trying to get inside the restaurant….
>
>at this point the camera switches back to the trucker who goes in the bathroom……
>
>Then it goes to a scene where meadow finally parks and starts running in the diner….
>
>the doors about to open, Tony looks up….
>
>and No Chimes………………….
>
>No Music…………
>
>Everything just goes black……………
>
>In one of the early episodes of the sopranos, tonys talking with bobby about what it must feel like to die..
>
>Bobby says “at the end, you probably dont hear anything, everything just goes black”
>
>part of that was revisited in the second to last episode during the last seconds of it, when tonys about to go to sleep and he flashes back to the memory of him and bobby on the boat… “You probably dont hear anything everything just goes black”
>
>so in the end, the Journey song was playing, the chimes on the door sounded but when meadow came in, the guy in the trucker hat came out and killed tony…
>
>its the reason you aint hear, or see shit when he died…. it was from his perspective…. and everything went black, then the credits rolled.
I just rewathced the ending again and you do hear chimes when Meadow comes in, so your theory is complete bullshit.
The line by agent Harris (”We’re gonna win this one”) is ripped off from Donnie Brasco, real-life agent Joe Pistone’s newest book,
“Unfinished Business”. New details about life as an undercover FBI agent in the NY mob. Pistone has the biggest balls of all. If you haven’t seen the pic, Donnie Brasco, with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, get it.. it will surely help fill your Sopranos fix. His newest book may be in pre-production for the big screen also. Maybe Donnie Brasco could be an HBO miniseries instead of a movie, then we can stay home on Sunday nights again and cook up some pasta. Way to go Joe…
I’ll admit I have been pretty flip in my previous comments, but it was all meant tongue in cheek.
In regards to Todd Brooks comment.
That had crossed my mind brefly. Even as I was watching it I was thinking why are they having a family Dinner in this place even if they are still kind of wanting to lay low and Carm is like is there anything good on the menu tonight.
They came in one at a time and the whole thing with the bell, I have to say that is where I am leaning on my interpratation as well.
Yeah if your that into it rewatch the other episodes and tell me its bullshit. maybe I was wrong bout the chimes but I dont rewatch episode..Like you said its a theory
I think the bests theories are 1) Tony was shot by the trucker as he walked out of the nathroom and everything turns black and silent (reffering back tot he previous episode where Bobby asks “You think you hear it where it happens?”) and 2) the pergatory one written by Todd Brooks, which is a really convincing thought.
A. White
Actually scratch my last post I watched the ending again Carm explains why everyone is coming seperately. So.. no poetic we come in alone and we go out alone sentiment, I am back to where I was… lame ending.
too bad that could have made up for an epoisode where on first watching last night I was looking at the clock going ‘when the hell do we start building up to something?’.
Jason Zingale actually you are full of shit. The chimes actually proves the theory that I wrote yesterday morning. When the chimes ring in the diner, the viewpoint becomes Tony. In the beginning, we have the vantage point of “the camera,” then the chimes ring and we immediatly switch to Tony’s view…this happens three times. Meadow opens the door, the chimes ring, and it immediatly goes black…meaning that we are immediately switching to Tony’s view point, which is that he is now dead, shot by someone (that is the mystery…was it Leotardo’s nephew, was it the black guys, who exactly was it).
Chase gave us clues all season, including replaying the conversation with Bobby in the previous episode. Do you think that’s a coincidence? Why did Patsy show such distain for Tony at his house and why did he survive without a scratch in the Sil shooting? Because he was the one that was informing Leotardo’s gang. Why would the killer know that Tony was at the diner? Because Meadow told her fiance’ (Patsy’s son) where they would be and this information got to Patsy which he promptly forwarded to Leotardo’s people. When in hiding, AJ’s girlfriend was at the house but Meadow was meeting her fiance in the City…Tony made a point of saying that AJ’s girlfriend was harmless, meaning she would have no reason to give their location, but Meadow’s fiance was not privilege to the information…CLUES PEOPLE WAKE UP.
Would the New York gang willfully let Tony get control again after they already started collecting from his people (remember the scene with the light envelopes)? NO!
Reasonable minds may differ, but I think Chase gave us enough to draw the proper conclusion…Tony got whacked in the diner!
If anything, Chase would do a prequel covering Uncle June and Tony’s Father.
I’m so sick of arguing about this, but I’ll say it again:
The very last shot of the episode isn’t FROM Tony’s POV, it’s OF Tony.
Nevertheless, I think this is exactly what David Chase wanted. A bunch of rabid fans arguing over the ending when, in reality, he left it wide open for the viewer to decide how he wants it to end.
You want Tony to be dead? Then fine, he’s dead.
Others want him to be alive? Then that’s fine too.
Jason, I think you have totally missed the point…Yes, the last shot is of Tony, but the last sound (other then Journey) is the ding of the bell, which signifies the switch from the “camera’s eye” to “Tony’s eye” and that’s when the screen goes black. Therefore the last shot…the black screen…is from Tony’s point of view as the bullet ends his life. Is this too hard for you to understand?
Um, no…
The door bell ding’s AND THEN they show Tony (with the music still playing), AND THEN the screen cuts to black.
Maybe you should watch it again before claiming how irrefutably right you are.
The man with the scouts in the booth, was that the same people from the train store? If so, I don’t get it, just keep me hanging on & I won’t stop believing.
From a recent interview with Chase for the Star Ledger in Newark:
…Chase admits that he wanted to leave it up to fans to interpret themselves. “I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. People get the impression that you’re trying to (mess) with them, and it’s not true. You’re trying to entertain them. Anybody who wants to watch it, it’s all there.”
I wanted to jump back in here and clear up another apparent misconception about the whole “fade to black” aspect of the ending.
I went and re-watched the first ep from this season as well as the flashback in the second-to-last one, where Bobby and T. are on the boat talking about getting whacked.
Bobby says to Tony “You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?” to which Tony replies “ask your friend in there on the wall”, referring to the stuffed moosehead in the cabin.
At no point, not in the original episode nor the flashback last week, did either of them say anything like “it all goes black.”
Perhaps that was something that was mentioned in another conversation somewhere along the line, but the phrase was not uttered by those two at the time everyone (ahem, Brooklyn Dave) claims it was.
BTW, great find on the recent Chase quote, Jason.
Continue.
“It’s all there” by Chase means Tony is dead. Was just on the site tony is dead dot com and it has pretty good theories.
www.tonyisdead.com
No. “It’s all there” means that the show is there for people to watch. It’s up to them if they want to watch it, and then make their own interpretations as they see fit.
I still belive the answer lies in the flip side of the Journey song Tony chose:
“Anyway You Want It”
If that isn’t Chase trying to send a big giant message to everyone to interpret the ending however they like, then I don’t know what is!
Plus, even that website is sticking to the point that we see the final shot from Tony’s POV, which, as Jason has pointed out repeatedly, IS CLEARLY NOT THE CASE.
Are people resorting to just making shit up to make it seem like their version of the ending is the “right” one or what?!
Hi, I hated the ending to the SOPRONOS. I think he left it like that to cause an uproar and get people talking about it. Chase knew it would cause lots of backlash, which is WHY He and his Lovely Wife left the USA for Europe when the final show aired.
I would be they ended it that way, so they can do a MOVIE in 2 yrs. Does any one really think HBO will give up this CASH COW called the SOPRONOS just because they are BURNT OUT. Give them a 2 year hiatus and they will be glad to be back at work at the Bada BING. Maybe by then SILVIO will be out of his COMA and TJ will be out of his Depression State. The only 2 left are TONY & Paulie Walnuts, who I love. I also love Silvio, but he is not talking much these days. SOPORONS ROCK ON!!! It was an awesome ride. Hopefully, the WAVE will come again in a few years. Thank for listening. Karen M., Rehoboth, MA
“Anyway You Want It”
Great point, J. Rose!
I’m pretty sure the camera was focused on Carm when Perry sang “just a small town girl, living in a lonely world” and the camera was on T when Perry sang “just a city boy.” They both took the “midnight train going an-y-where.”
In the “Music of the Sopranos,” Chase talked about how he originally only wanted to use music that Tony and Carm listened to when they met, but Stevie Van Zandt convinced him not to because it would all be stuff like Loverboy, Journey, REO, etc, and Van Zandt wanted the show to feature more “cool” music.
Chase was able to work some Journey in at the end.
Every time the chimes sound an angel gets their wings
Well, with every day that goes by, I’m more and more sure that The Sopranos’ ending was a masterpiece … Here’s my latest The Sopranos and the Closure-Junkies
Here is my question..
Does anyone think the ending truly had a definite conclusion and Chase will reveal this to us in an interview, or do you think it was really left as an open ending to allow us to think of the ending as we choose and to cause controversy??
re: Andrew White’s question.
Answer: scroll up 11 comments to Jason Z’s post of an interview Chase gave to the Newark Star Ledger and you’ll find the answer to your question.
I think it’s safe to say he most definitely will not be explaining how or why he did what he did in an interview.
The ending was very shitty, but the episode sucked so bad from start to finish. Thirty minutes devoted to FUCKIN A.J.!!! He is the biggest waste of film ever to appear on HBO. Don’t tell me that envisioning an ending is the way to end a brillant series. If that was the case then just imagine the entire episode. Chase sold out so he can make a half-ass movie 3 years down the road. Anyone who claims that the screen fading to black was Chase’s genius at its best, it fucking kidding themselves. He pussed out, plain and simple. We should have expected an ending like that considering half of the season was devoted to brokeback Johnny Cakes.
re: Jonathan
Here, here
You’re blog was an excellent indication of what the Sopranos series turned out to be, a total waste of time and bullshit. However, for those who watched that aren’t loyal fans of the show, the concept was pretty clever. But in all fairness, the show should have ended with a bang.
Check out an exclusive alternative ending I found.
re: Jackie
Your attempt at trying to get people to link to something you posted after trashing this site and its commentors was a total waste of time and bullshit.
Remember Carmella’s conversation with Tony about the latest snitch? Carmella suddenly changed everybody’s dinner plans. (`I thought we were having manacot” AJ said). Carmella lied to Tony. `The consensus is (I didn’t quite make out the name of the restaurant).’ she said. There was no consensus. Carmella decided.
Tony was assasinated, no question. (As the earlier poster mentioned, Bobby and Tony talked about what it would be like; just black.) But who knew where he would be? Only Meadow, AJ, and Carmella.
If Tony was indicted because of the snitch’s information, it would be under the RICO act and all his assets would be seized. Carmella knew this and wasn’t willing to have it happen to her.
The surpise ending, folks, is that it was Carmella that ordered the hit on Tony.
Think about it.