NEW YORK (AP) - Tony Soprano carries on.
The much-awaited conclusion of HBO's "The Sopranos" arrived Sunday night in a frenzy of audience speculation. Would New Jersey mob boss Soprano live or be killed? Would his family die before his eyes? Would he go to jail? Be forced to enter witness protection? Would Brooklyn boss Phil Leotardo, who had ordered a hit on Tony, prevail?
In the end, the only ending that mattered was the one masterminded by "Sopranos" creator David Chase. And playing against viewer expectations, as always, Chase refused to stage a mass extermination, put the characters through any changes, or provide his viewers with comfortable closure. Or catharsis. After all, he declined to pass moral judgment on Tony - he reminded viewers all season what a thug Tony is, then gave him a pass.
But Chase was true to himself, and that's what made "The Sopranos" brilliant on Sunday night, and the 85 episodes that went before. The product of an artist with a bleak but illuminating vision, "The Sopranos" has always existed on its own terms. And it was seldom tidy.
The only neat development in the finale was that Leotardo was crushed. Otherwise it was perversely non-earthshaking - just one last visit with the characters we have followed so devoutly since 1999.
Here was the funeral for Bobby Bacala, Tony's soldier and brother-in-law, who was shot dead on Leotardo's orders last week. Here was Tony (series star James Gandolfini) paying a hospital visit to his gravely injured consigliere, Silvio Dante, also targeted by Leotardo.
Tony's ne'er-do-well son A.J. (Robert Iler) continued to wail about the misery in the world, and voiced a fleeting urge to join the Army and go fight in Afghanistan (Tony persuaded him to get involved in filmmaking, instead). Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) harped on her plans to be a lawyer.
Tony visits his senile Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) at the nursing home. "You and my dad, you two ran North Jersey," Tony prompts him.
"We did?" said Uncle Junior with no sign of recognition. "That's nice."
Despite suspicions to the contrary, neither Paulie Walnuts nor Patsy Parisi sold out Tony. And neither was whacked. Dr. Melfi, who kicked Tony out of therapy last week, made no last-minute appearance.
Sure, headaches lie ahead for Tony. The Feds are still after him. And Meadow's fiance, Patsy Jr., is a lawyer who may well be pursuing cases that intrude on Tony's business interests.
So what else is new?
The finale displayed the characters continuing, for better and worse, unaffected by the fact that the series is done. The implication was, they will go on as usual. We just won't be able to watch.
Of course, Leotardo (Frank Vincent) hit a dead end after Tony located him with the help of his favorite federal agent. The execution was a quick but classic "Sopranos" scene: Pulling up at a gas station with his wife, Leotardo made a grand show of telling his two young grandchildren in the back seat to "wave bye-bye" as he emerged from his SUV. The next moment he was on the pavement, shot in the head.
Then you heard the car roll over his head. Carunnnchh! Quick, clinical, even comical, this was the only violence during the hour.
Not that Chase (who wrote and directed this episode) didn't tease viewers with the threat of death in almost every scene.
This was never more true than in the final sequence. On the surface, it was nothing more momentous than Tony, his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), Meadow and A.J. meeting for dinner at a cozy family restaurant.
When he arrived, Tony dropped a coin in the jukebox and played the classic Journey power ballad "Don't Stop Believing." Meanwhile, every moment seemed to foreshadow disaster: Suspicious-looking people coming in the door or seated at a table nearby. Meadow on the street having trouble parallel parking her car, the tires squealing against the curb. With every passing second, the audience was primed for tragedy. It was a scene both warm and fuzzy yet full of dread, setting every viewer's heart racing for no clear reason.
But nothing would happen. It was just a family gathering for dinner at a restaurant.
Then, with a jingle of the bell on the front door, Tony looked up, apparently seeing Meadow make her delayed entrance. Or could he have seen something awful - something he certainly deserved - about to come down?
Probably not. Almost certainly a false alarm. But we'll never know. With that, "The Sopranos" cut to black, leaving us enriched after eight years. And flustered. And fated to always wonder what happened next.
The Sopranos has finally ended. Or, has it? In the world of movies and television, YOU can hardly ever say "never". I mean, really, just about all of the main characters of the Sopranos remain pretty much intact. Maybe not a series continuation, but, "how about a movie or "special"? Don't think that is out of the realm of possibilities.
I did enjoy the finale alot. Especially Phil getting whacked. He always seemed on the verge of self destruction and being a major pr--k. On the other hand, I thought the cat in the finale was really cool and a nice touch by David Chase.
Peace & Soulz,
Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe reggae8@aol.com
3 comments:
I watched this..in anticipation of the worst. David Chase filmed three endings to this show, and reportedly nobody knew which one was going to be shown until fifteen minutes before it went on the air. During the last scene, as Steve Perry sang "Don't Stop"...and that screen went black, half a billion people jumped up and went "WHAT?"...just like my wife and I did....which leads to one of two things...either it really is the way it ended, with everyone living, or it goes back to what Tony said several times..."When it finally happens, you'll never know it...never see it coming" (Probably an awful paraphrase). And they're all dead.. I have no idea...but this much I know....the rumors of a movie probably aren't true....James Gandolfini says "no more"....but through and through...even though that's not the way I would have expected it to go down....in a way..that's EXACTLY the way I'd have expected to end...circa David Chase...
I have never watched any of these programs. I have viewed the sample of the ending. These programs do nothing but add to the stereotypes imposed on the Italian people. Because of the Sopranos, most of us believe that there is nothing but crimes of passion that rule the world of this particular culture. We wonder why people are on antidepressents. We watch the news, crime stories, shows that teach humans how to be lousy human beings and focusing on the demise of human intelligence bringing down the species to the level of animals out in the wild. It teaches how easy it is to point a gun and blow someone away as easy as blowing out a candle. It teaches greed, hate, jealousy, envy, conspiracy, murder, controlling and abusive behavior. It desensitizes people from feeling outrage at these horrendous crimes. Is there not enough posititive things in life to focus on? Then we wonder why many are on antidepressents, going to shrinks, or ending up physically ill with all sorts of diseases ranging from heart and circulatory problems to cancer and other organ disfunctions. We forget the saying "You are what you eat!" We focus on how to be healthy, lose weight, avoid diabetes, keep our hearts working, so we TRY to eat right. What about the "food" we are feeding our starving souls? No wonder the crime rate is going up, more people are getting sicker and sicker every day, and no wonder our productivity is plummeting causing us to tremble at the sight of the failure of our healthcare system. How can we NOT connect to the fact that we are eating mental "junk" food in order to escape the pain of our own dysfuncitons and circumstances. What we need is a shot of good mental food. If we are the example to young people, then fear not, the worse is yet to come...and we can thank those who produce "Junk food for the mind" and disseminate all for the benefit of a buck! It's all about the money and we are contributing to these wasteful investments by the billions. We need to spend time thinking about the cost of all this negative viewing. We need to see how it affects our daily life. We would all be healthier if we could shut off our televisions and start doing the things we know deep down inside are for the betterment of the human race.
In response to Toothfairy's comment. Alot of what YOU say is true. However, in the grand scheme of things, "what we think about and thank about is what WE bring about". Obviously, YOU have to much negative thought working, which, is creating MORE negative. This incarnation is supposed to be a learning experience. NOt a judgemental voyage. By the way, you mentioned our kids, I do believe most of the youngsters coming up now, are either "indigos" or "crystals" which means they can decipher what things are about and quite easily make correct decisions. WE would all be healthier if we experienced as much as possible and expanded our mindz. Consistently raising OUR consciousness!
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