I've had a few requests from readers of this blog to write about Sunday's final episode of HBO's "The Sopranos." So, for those who haven't heard all about it that they want to hear, here are my thoughts. I haven't written anything yet because, truthfully, I don't know how I feel about it. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting. Closure, I guess, is what I was expecting. And we got a little closure with the it's-about-time hit on that @#*&^%# Phil Leotardo (although I think a simple bullet would have sufficed; the tire running over his head was just a bit overkill, if you ask me). But everything else pretty much was left up in the air. Silvio will forever and ever remain in a coma, and that's the worst part to me. If they would just have brought Sil back or let him go on, I could deal with the abrupt ending that said either "Life goes on for Tony's family," or "Oh sh--! Somebody with a gun just came through the door." We'll never know which, unless David Chase changes his mind and brings the show back--which I truly don't expect.
I know this: that was probably the most intense 10 minutes of television (the ending) that I've ever seen. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin before they finally ended it. And I was angry at first. I wanted to shout out a great big Paulie Walnuts "Eow!" But now that I've had a few days to dwell on the whole thing, I'm thinking it was probably the best way of ending the series--by not ending it at all (except for leaving Sil in a coma--that was just mean). It certainly had the best ending music: "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, the second best group in musical history (after the Eagles), in my opinion. (Click on the link for a video of Journey singing "Don't Stop Believing.")
My favorite lines 1) Paulie, spoken at Bobby's funeral after stuffing himself with all that great Italian funeral food: "In the midst of death we are in life. Heh. Or was is the other way around?" 2) Janice tells Uncle Junior: "Bobby's dead." "Ambassor Hotel." says Junior.
My favorite scene: A yellow cat shows up at the safe house; Paulie doesn't like him, but Tony think's the cat's cool. When it's safe to leave the mattresses, Tony adopts the cat and takes him to the Bing. The cat sits and stares at a photo of Chrissy, now dead. Paulie wants to kill the cat. "It's freaking me out," he says. "There's a mouse in the wall," says Tony. Paulie tells him that he moved the picture and the cat follows it and continues to stare. "It's the abstract forms or something," says Tony. The cat lives. Some people think the cat is Christopher. I think it's Adrianna (Chrissy's girlfriend that was whacked a couple of seasons ago). And possibly, quite possible, the pussy cat could be Big Pussy, who was whacked about mid-series. After all, the names fit.
My all-time favorite Sopranos episode: Season 3, "The Pine Barrens." Some of the best comic acting you'll ever see. Features Christopher and Paulie lost in the snowy woods of South Jersey, chasing a Russian mobster they're trying to kill. (We never did find out what happened to that Russian.)
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On 06/14/2007, Carole said ...
I finally saw the last 10 minutes this morning at 5:00. I love the idea of the cat being Ade. My imagination went on vacation 3 or 4 years ago and hasn't returned. I love my creative friends who still have theirs. Susan, I believe Claudine Helmuth is the closest thing to an angel I've seen! I make little ladies and girls and things like that as my "talent/hobby", and she's the best! Just noticed her name on you site. But I digress, as usual. I was SO let down by the ending that I have been in a funk for days.I have been watching all my old dvds, looking for clues; again because I'm so NOT creative I miss things a lot. I was a complete idiot in Philosophy class at UA, because my answer was alwways, "Who cares?" to almost any question the prof posed. I don't care if I can't hear the d%$&*( tree is heard or not when it falls. Just please, God, don't let it fall on my house. I LOVE your site and find myself wishing I lived in Blackberry Creek and then remember that I do, sorta!
On 06/14/2007, Carole said ...
I finally saw the last 10 minutes this morning at 5:00. I love the idea of the cat being Ade. My imagination went on vacation 3 or 4 years ago and hasn't returned. I love my creative friends who still have theirs. Susan, I believe Claudine Helmuth is the closest thing to an angel I've seen! I make little ladies and girls and things like that as my "talent/hobby", and she's the best! Just noticed her name on you site. But I digress, as usual. I was SO let down by the ending that I have been in a funk for days.I have been watching all my old dvds, looking for clues; again because I'm so NOT creative I miss things a lot. I was a complete idiot in Philosophy class at UA, because my answer was alwways, "Who cares?" to almost any question the prof posed. I don't care if I can't hear the d%$&*( tree is heard or not when it falls. Just please, God, don't let it fall on my house. I LOVE your site and find myself wishing I lived in Blackberry Creek and then remember that I do, sorta!
On 06/14/2007, mom2fur said ...
I'm surprised that I sort of liked the ending, although it was a bit all over the place for me. I guess because there were a lot of threads to tie up. But the very ending was perfect. To me it showed an extraordinary family in a mundane, ordinary setting. What could be more 'normal' than sitting down to dinner in a diner with your wife and kids? But that black screen tells us nothing would ever be normal for a family like the Sopranos. At any moment, it can all end. It's like the lady and the tiger story. What was Tony looking at when the door opened? In fact, which door was it? The door with the lady, his daughter...or the bathroom door, with an enemy pointing a gun? (I'm thinking of that guy we kept seeing in the diner, who eventually walked into the bathroom. Thought for sure he'd pull out a gun!)
Tony Soprano, et al, lived in a world where any moment could be the last one. Tony couldn't know when it would happen...and I guess the writer decided we had no right to know, either.
On 06/14/2007, Pam said ...
I have never seen a single episode of the show and I was hoping to start watching it on DVD. So is it still worth starting on DVD with the way it ended? We did the same with "24" We started with Season 1 last fall and quite enoyed it on DVD.
On 06/15/2007, Rian said ...
I finally saw the final episode Wednesday night. In some ways I feel like I was left hanging, but it also feels like life goes on and that's that. I thought Chase did a classy thing by not offing Tony, and the Soprano family looked like it was on the mend.
I roared when Uncle Jr. said "Ambassador Hotel." Great line!
I didn't catch on to the Sopranos until season 3 or 4--lucky me, I get to watch the early seasons on DVD. If I ever have time...
On 06/17/2007, Kay said ...
I thought the black-out ending, plus the guy going into the bathroom (as happens in the Godfather) indicates that he will come back out with a gun and kill Tony. Isn't there a dialogue earlier sometime where Tony says something about when you die, there's just a blackout, nothing? It seems clear to me, without being obvious.
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