The Sopranos: Series Finale

S P O I L E R S!!!

Whoa. Did you see that? I think we all had a collective, "What the fuck?" at the ending. Holy shit! Did my cable go out?! Did the DVR stop recording? Did I black out from all of that amaro? Damn it!

Nope. Just series creator (and this episodes director) David Chase going out without a bang. As he often does. I don't mean it sucked. It just literally...ended.

Not much in story lines was tied up. Tony wakes up in the safe house and everyone seems alright. No attack by the New York crew. AJ continues to whine and moan and be a big wuss, but seems to be making progress with his hot little model girlfriend. In a hilarious scene where he parks the SUV in the woods and it immediately catches fire. Just as they were about to have sex. Meadow is running around as if everything is okay. Carmela is worried and wants to get back home. Tony reassures her with, "I'm working on it." Janice is dealing with Bobby's death at the hands of the New York crew. She pays a visit to Uncle Junior who, after pretending to lose his mind, is actually losing his mind. Tony visits him later as well and Junior has a moment of clarity. Nice touch. Meanwhile, there's dissension with the New York crew as boss Phil is upset that Tony has not been whacked yet. He tells his right hand, Butchie, that he is in big trouble for not taking care of business as he asked. Word spreads, and they arrange a sit down with Butchie and Tony and others. But, no Phil. They all agree in so many words that Phil is to be taken down. Which, surprisingly does happen. Phil got whacked in a very simple way. But, the aftermath of it was pretty brutal. Wheel over the head. Ouch. Nice foreshadowing with Phil insisting the little babies say "bye" to him. After the air clears, everyone moves back home. But things aren't okay. Someone in Tony's crew has flipped for the Feds. Tony worries over being indicted.

And the final scene. Chase masterfully crafts this scene full of tension and unease. A simple family gathering at a favorite local place. Tony arrives first. Flips through the table jukebox and picks out Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". A calculated pick, of course. We're shown everyone in the restaurant. Any of them could be a possible killer. Every time the door opens, Tony looks up. Random people enter. Could they be a hitman? Carmela enters first. Small talk. Then, a menacing gentleman enters followed by AJ. More banter. Meanwhile, Meadow has arrived outside and is having trouble parallel parking. We go back and forth from her parking to shots inside. So beautifully shot by Chase. We get both the comedy of Meadow's bad parking job and to the tension inside. At least it's tense from our viewpoint. Is someone gonna whack the whole family? Will Meadow enter just as her family is gunned down? Journey continues to play. Meadow parks and runs across the street to enter. We go back to Tony's point of view as we hear the door open. And just as Steve Perry sings, "Don't Stop..", we see Tony looking at the door and we cut to black. Not fade to black. CUT! Now that's gangsta!

I know cable companies across the nation got a million calls thinking they're cable went out at a pivotal scene. Nope. Chase decided to go out with family. A nice family gathering. Some have already argued that it's cut off because Tony gets whacked by someone since "you never see it coming." I don't buy it. I think we're left to believe that life goes on for Tony. He's in trouble and possibly facing trial/jail time. Things will still happen, but we just wont see it any more. Ambiguous? Yes. And it's supposed to be. Satisfying? Probably not. People are going to be pissed off at this. But, at the same time....genius? Possibly so.

Remember when I said the Journey song wasn't randomly picked. Yeah, check these lyrics.

Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
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

The movie, or TV show, will never end. It will go on. But as I said, we wont be privy to it. And I don't think it was a cliffhanger either. As in they'll make a 2 hour movie next year to tie things up. It's done for us. But, the story will go on and on and on and on.

Who knew it would be Steve Perry who whacks Tony Soprano?   

Comments

[mike.]

Never got into the Sopranos myself. Saw two or three episodes way back when it started based on the buzz, and frankly couldn't see what the big deal was. I just never had that whole fascination with the mob/mafia/organized crime thing that seems to have my entire generation gripped (maybe it's an east coast/west coast thing?). And yes, as my Jersey-obsessed co-workers constantly tells me, I know that it's not just another typical mafia story (though I don't think I saw anything very "different" in the episodes that I saw, other than the soundtrack), but still, couldn't get into it.

That said, though, I caught the ending online and thought it was really cool! Even though I was obviously not as invested in the story and characters as someone who has faithfully watched and followed the show from beginning to end, even I could see how masterfully shot/edited/acted it was. As I watched it I kept thinking, Geez, if only Six Feet Under had had an ending like this! (Plus, i LOVE Journey, particularly that song.)

[Josie]

I couldn't get into The Sopranos, but I did watch the finale. I didn't like it but Russ loved it. Chase had to do the unexpected and that part of it worked. But for a show that was known for high drama it was a bit of a let down.

Ron Moore blogged about it on the SciFi website. He thought it was brilliant.