The Sopranos Final Nine

[Mogwai]

The lesson here is stop anticipating the destination more than the journey itself.

Life will pass you by and before you notice everything goes black. It's over.

that's about right.

 

[blind_fury]

I'll never look at onion rings the same way.

They're no longer a tasty snack but an omen of impending doom.

 

[GoldGoblin]

This ending was the worst ending of a series ever.This show should of ended two seasons ago.

 

[Ghostvirus]

So Ambigous now means you have to write your own script to figure out the ending? LAME!:

 

[rdh007]

The lesson here is stop anticipating the destination more than the journey itself.

Life will pass you by and before you notice everything goes black. It's over.

I don't disagree that the journey is what's important. But this is television, it's a visual medium. You've got to show it or at least talk about it, or it never happened.

Ambiguous does not equal artsy.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

So I've been thinking a bit more about it.

I think if the show went on for another ten seconds viewers would have been more happy with the ending. The fact that the show went to black mid-cut seems to have ticked people off. After all, we are use to fade aways, wipes and whatever other techniques are used. If we saw Meadow enter and sit down then fade I think people would have felt more satisfied. But since it abruptly went to black, people felt cheated that there was no closure.

"Ambiguous does not equal artsy" is true but in this case I think it very much was. It was a creative decision to leave the viewer hanging. With the abrupt cut to black we are left wondering what's going to happen but like in life we don't know what's going to happen.

Think about it for a second... if the show didn't end like that all of us wouldn't be having a discussion about the ending. And if debating a creative decision doesn't make the topic art than I don't know what is...

 

[terry78]

'Sopranos' lesson: Life isn't clear-cut
No bada-bang-bang ending -- it was thoughtful, fitting

June 12, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
So now "Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey is inextricably linked to two of the top 100 events in the annals of Page 11: the White Sox World Series victory of 2005, and the last scene of the "The Sopranos."
I might as well schedule Steve Perry to sing it at my wedding and be done with it.

Fans of "The Sopranos" from Kelly Ripa to a guy named Johnny Salami have expressed outrage and disappointment over the non-ending ending of the greatest drama in the history of television.

"It was like a cheap one-night stand," said Ripa of the final moments -- an incredibly tense sequence in a diner in which it seemed Tony, Carmela, A.J. and/or Meadow would be whacked, only to have the screen go blank as Tony looks up to see Meadow entering the diner.


"David Chase should have put some bite into it," said the too-perfectly named Johnny Salami, a 43-year-old New Jersey fan quoted by Reuters.
"He left us hanging ... if you're from New Jersey, you want some closure."

Yes, because New Jersey is the Closure State.


Woke up this morning, all the love has gone
Judging from the Monday morning quarterbacking reports, a sizeable chunk of "Sopranos" lovers felt cheated, duped and insulted by the ambiguous ending.
"Sopranos Finale Crashes HBO Web Site in Outrage," read one headline.

"Someone should be whacked for Sopranos finale," was the banner in the Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Deadline Hollywood writer Nikki Finke was so apoplectic you would have thought "Sopranos" creator David Chase had run over her cat. Twice.

"The line to cancel HBO starts here," wrote Finke. "What a ridiculously disappointing end lacking in creativity. ...

"There's even buzz that the real ending will be available only on the series' final DVD. Either way, it was terrible. ...

"Chase clearly didn't give a damn about his fans. Instead, he crapped in their faces. This is why America hates Hollywood."

This is why America hates Hollywood? Someone give that woman a cold compress, two Advil and a pass good for six complimentary sessions with Dr. Melfi.

A lot of fans were looking for the big bang. Tony gets whacked, or Paulie rats out Tony, or Tony enters a witness protection program. Or maybe some "Gotcha!" twist, e.g., the rumor that salesman Kevin Finnerty was the real thing, and Tony Soprano was a coma-induced fantasy.

I'm glad Chase didn't go for a clean sweep-up or a cheap twist. The ending he gave us was borderline genius.


Going out without a bang
You can't end something like "The Fugitive" without giving us a confrontation with the one-armed man. In that same vein, the conclusion of a plot-driven mystery such as "Lost" has to answer some major questions at the finish line.
But even though "The Sopranos" has had some shocking twists and season finales over the years, it was never about cliffhangers or whodunits. It was a darkly funny and brutally frank dissection of one of the most tortured and complex families in American visual literature.

Chase never allowed the characters to become too likable. The men were killers and sociopaths; the women knew that, even if they rarely acknowledged it. Consider that in a short period, Christopher and Bobby were killed, and Silvio was on his death bed -- but not even Carmela or Meadow were wallowing in grief. (Did you see how everyone salivated over the buffet after Bobby's funeral?)

When a series goes for a memorable, "ta-da!" ending, it usually feels flat and forced. Shows such as "St. Elsewhere," "Newhart," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Seinfeld," "The X-Files," "Roseanne" and "Friends" either tried to give us too many neatly wrapped endings or pulled the rug out from under us.

Would "The Sopranos" have been more satisfying with Meadow surviving a mass slaying because she couldn't parallel park, or Tony saving his family by taking a bullet in the diner? Come on.

The ending was beautiful. Surrounded by a s---storm, the Sopranos get together to eat. Carmela remains in her marriage, even though half the women in her life have buried their husbands. A.J. is a disaster. Meadow is earnest but a bit lost. With an indictment looming, Tony also has to regard nearly every customer in a diner as a potential threat. This is the life he has chosen.

This was the show we knew.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

'Sopranos' lesson: Life isn't clear-cut
No bada-bang-bang ending -- it was thoughtful, fitting

June 12, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
So now "Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey is inextricably linked to two of the top 100 events in the annals of Page 11: the White Sox World Series victory of 2005, and the last scene of the "The Sopranos."
I might as well schedule Steve Perry to sing it at my wedding and be done with it.

Fans of "The Sopranos" from Kelly Ripa to a guy named Johnny Salami have expressed outrage and disappointment over the non-ending ending of the greatest drama in the history of television.

"It was like a cheap one-night stand," said Ripa of the final moments -- an incredibly tense sequence in a diner in which it seemed Tony, Carmela, A.J. and/or Meadow would be whacked, only to have the screen go blank as Tony looks up to see Meadow entering the diner.


"David Chase should have put some bite into it," said the too-perfectly named Johnny Salami, a 43-year-old New Jersey fan quoted by Reuters.
"He left us hanging ... if you're from New Jersey, you want some closure."

Yes, because New Jersey is the Closure State.


Woke up this morning, all the love has gone
Judging from the Monday morning quarterbacking reports, a sizeable chunk of "Sopranos" lovers felt cheated, duped and insulted by the ambiguous ending.
"Sopranos Finale Crashes HBO Web Site in Outrage," read one headline.

"Someone should be whacked for Sopranos finale," was the banner in the Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Deadline Hollywood writer Nikki Finke was so apoplectic you would have thought "Sopranos" creator David Chase had run over her cat. Twice.

"The line to cancel HBO starts here," wrote Finke. "What a ridiculously disappointing end lacking in creativity. ...

"There's even buzz that the real ending will be available only on the series' final DVD. Either way, it was terrible. ...

"Chase clearly didn't give a damn about his fans. Instead, he crapped in their faces. This is why America hates Hollywood."

This is why America hates Hollywood? Someone give that woman a cold compress, two Advil and a pass good for six complimentary sessions with Dr. Melfi.

A lot of fans were looking for the big bang. Tony gets whacked, or Paulie rats out Tony, or Tony enters a witness protection program. Or maybe some "Gotcha!" twist, e.g., the rumor that salesman Kevin Finnerty was the real thing, and Tony Soprano was a coma-induced fantasy.

I'm glad Chase didn't go for a clean sweep-up or a cheap twist. The ending he gave us was borderline genius.


Going out without a bang
You can't end something like "The Fugitive" without giving us a confrontation with the one-armed man. In that same vein, the conclusion of a plot-driven mystery such as "Lost" has to answer some major questions at the finish line.
But even though "The Sopranos" has had some shocking twists and season finales over the years, it was never about cliffhangers or whodunits. It was a darkly funny and brutally frank dissection of one of the most tortured and complex families in American visual literature.

Chase never allowed the characters to become too likable. The men were killers and sociopaths; the women knew that, even if they rarely acknowledged it. Consider that in a short period, Christopher and Bobby were killed, and Silvio was on his death bed -- but not even Carmela or Meadow were wallowing in grief. (Did you see how everyone salivated over the buffet after Bobby's funeral?)

When a series goes for a memorable, "ta-da!" ending, it usually feels flat and forced. Shows such as "St. Elsewhere," "Newhart," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Seinfeld," "The X-Files," "Roseanne" and "Friends" either tried to give us too many neatly wrapped endings or pulled the rug out from under us.

Would "The Sopranos" have been more satisfying with Meadow surviving a mass slaying because she couldn't parallel park, or Tony saving his family by taking a bullet in the diner? Come on.

The ending was beautiful. Surrounded by a s---storm, the Sopranos get together to eat. Carmela remains in her marriage, even though half the women in her life have buried their husbands. A.J. is a disaster. Meadow is earnest but a bit lost. With an indictment looming, Tony also has to regard nearly every customer in a diner as a potential threat. This is the life he has chosen.

This was the show we knew.

Richard Roeper is a typical Sopranos apolligist. If this entire episode was Tony taking a $#!t, Richard Roeper would have called it brilliant, just like all the other Sopranos apoligists out there. I didn't want a out of nowhere twist or everything tied in a neat package, just something, one of his guys scrared $#!tless by events of the past days/weeks goes to the FBI and spills their guts, Tony thinks the crisis is averted, but there's another looming that he's as yet unaware of. The series finale was felt just as empty as the Season 6, part 1 ending where nothing happened.

 

[AllThingsComic]

Excuse my french, but they jerked us off with that B.S. ending and left us with blueballs. That was a tacky way to treat the fans. And to try and use some artsy fartsy ending to make us think and draw our own conclusions is just a sad way to say they didn't have a cool ending, just like all the cheesy fillers in the season and seasons past. I'm sorry i'm not into deep philosophies when it comes to a show about the mob. I watch to see(optimum word, see) how it all plays out.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

Excuse my french, but they jerked us off with that B.S. ending and left us with blueballs. That was a tacky way to treat the fans. And to try and use some artsy fartsy ending to make us think and draw our own conclusions is just a sad way to say they didn't have a cool ending, just like all the cheesy fillers in the season and seasons past. I'm sorry i'm not into deep philosophies when it comes to a show about the mob. I watch to see(optimum word, see) how it all plays out.

Actually it was a cool ending. It seems to have pissed you off, so it did it's job.
The show never made itself out to be something it wasn't. The "left hanging" feeling has been a constant for the show's entire run. If it did give you an "ending" then THAT would not have been consistent with the history of the show.

And if you don't want to think then stop watching a lot of HBO's shows and turn on FOX. There's plenty of shows that will spell everything out for you.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

Oh and I'm not saying I loved the ending or thought that it was the greatest thing ever. All I'm saying is that it was a very fitting ending to the way that the show ran.

As for the 'arty fartsy' ending... You have to remember that TV can be an art form. Not everybody wants to make programs that are like 24 or CSI, some people want to tell interesting stories in interesting ways and not worry about pleasing the audience. Some of HBO's shows are probably the highest form of episodic television in this country. The creators are allowed to try new and different things without being constrained to normal network standards.

 

[AllThingsComic]

I'm not saying I didn't get it, I got that Tony looked in before he entered the restaurant and saw "himself"(audience). I got that it was Phils nephew sitting at the counter, then going to the bathroom, I got that the 2 black dudes that walked in were the same dudes that tried to carjack Tony and grazed his ear with a bullet. I got that the trucker that entered was the brother of the dude Chistopher killed with the DVD players and that the boyscouts were the ones that were in the hobbyshop when Bobby was killed. I got the message that you can't escape your past and that the sudden blackness was the same metaphor that Bobby was talking about on the boat. I just wanted closure from a show that once rained as my favorite show ever.

 

[blind_fury]

I don't disagree that the journey is what's important. But this is television, it's a visual medium. You've got to show it or at least talk about it, or it never happened.

Ambiguous does not equal artsy.

It's not that ambiguous.

Either Tony and his whole family were massacred or they went on with the same routine we've watched play out season after season after season.

I interpret the sudden cut to black as the moment Tony got his brains blown out. We don't see it because Tony never saw it coming. We are experiencing his death from his eyes and it's poignant. There is no show, no visual, no audio, no anything without Tony. The same way all our lives cut to black when our shows end. Blackness. People complaining about the ending missed the point of the show. It wasn't about the destination, it was about the journey. If it ended like Scarface or Goodfellas or Carlito's Way or Godfather 1/2/3 it would be so been there done that. And it wouldn't be true to the nature of the show which was to avoid glamorous gangster cliches.

Lets look at other ways it could've ended.

1) Tony ends up dying in a loud shoot out with people screaming then you zoom in on his lifeless eyes? Bad idea. Closure or no closure it's cliche and predictable, it kills the replay value of the series, and we've seen the aftermath of Tony getting shot and presumed dead.

2) Tony gets locked up and thrown in jail for life. Final shot has him talking with his wife through a prison glass window. This ending is lame because we saw it already with Johnny Sacks and Uncle Junior.


All the foreshadowing of the last two seasons wasn't preparing us for a huge twist ending. The foreshadowing was showing us the possible endings. Dying in prison (Johnny Sacks), becoming an old forgotten relic (Uncle Junior), getting betrayed by your own crew (Phil), getting shot/presumed dead (Tony in a coma), family/friends ratting you out(Adriana), children following father's footsteps or getting caught in the crossfire (Anthony hanging with hoodlums/Meadow being threatened by Phil's man), the family having a happy gathering living happily ever after (end of season 6 pt1).

All of these endings were explored and would've been redundant at this point. If you see the ending as the last thing Tony saw before he got his brains blown out, it works and is far more powerful than seeing it from a spectator's perspective. When life ends it's over. No audio. No visual. No reflection or introspection or closure. Only blackness, so enjoy the ride while you can. If you see the ending as the best of Tony's life (his family) contrasted with the worst (looking over your shoulder ever second of every day because you're in the mafia) it also works well. It forces you to see why it sucks to be Tony. Even if he avoids prison or assassination he has to think about it every moment of every day. A fate worse than death. If you see the ending as just a family eating onion rings you're going to remain terribly disappointed.

I feel Tony never made it out of the restaurant. But whether he did or didn't doesn't matter. I see all the possible outcomes and I can see they all suck for Tony. If the ending was well established (Tony dead or in prison) I might have actually thought Tony would've been better off alive or free. But I now know better.

The ending summed up the show perfectly IMO.

 

[Killgore]

The series should have ended with Tony sitting on the back porch by the pool. He's wearing his standard robe, tank top, boxers, slippers and forlorn expression.

And the ducks come back.






END on his expression slowly fading to a slight smile. CUT straight into the credits and theme song.

 

[TheDemon'sHead]

That's how I thought it was going to end as well. But again, it's that standard ending.

I just found this: http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/david_chase_speaks.html

It's the only interview with Chase post-final episode. And it does mention in the article that none of the patrons of the diner were ever in an episode of the Sopranos prior. Meaning that no one was there to kill him but instead they all resembled certain individuals from his past who would want to kill him. So boy scouts, Phil's nephew, DVD hijackers and the street kids were all thrown in there to throw you off and think, "Y'know what... one day, not today but one day, Tony's going to get his.

 

[blind_fury]

Ultimately the ending is cautionary in ways other mafia shows/movies haven't been.

Instead of suggesting that if you enter this lifestyle you may or may not end up murdered or in prison it points out you are guaranteed a life of restless paranoia regarding you and your families safety every second of every day even if you avoid prison or an early death. Crime doesn't pay.

 

[Killgore]

Ultimately the ending is cautionary in ways other mafia shows/movies haven't been.

Instead of suggesting that if you enter this lifestyle you may or may not end up in prison or jail it points out you are guaranteed a life of restless paranoia regarding you and your families safety every second of every day even if you avoid prison or an early death. Crime doesn't pay.

??????


Carlito's Way -- Go back to a life of crime after bing in the joint and karma will eventually catch up with you, even if it is in the form of John Leguizamo.

Scarface -- whack a bunch of guys, piss off the Columbians, snort a mountain of cocaine karma will eventually catch up with you, and will probably find you with a coke mustche.

Untouchables -- whack a bunch of people, piss off Kevin Costner and sell illegal hootch and karma will eventually catch up with you and you'll be ding hard time in Alcatraz for tax evasion

Departed -- karma catches up with you, even if it is in the form of Marky Mark.

every mob movie is about karma and retribution

 

[blind_fury]

??????


Carlito's Way -- Go back to a life of crime after bing in the joint and karma will eventually catch up with you, even if it is in the form of John Leguizamo.

Scarface -- whack a bunch of guys, piss off the Columbians, snort a mountain of cocaine karma will eventually catch up with you, and will probably find you with a coke mustche.

Untouchables -- whack a bunch of people, piss off Kevin Costner and sell illegal hootch and karma will eventually catch up with you and you'll be ding hard time in Alcatraz for tax evasion

Departed -- karma catches up with you, even if it is in the form of Marky Mark.

every mob movie is about karma and retribution

But most of the karma came as a result of the gangster getting sloppy.

Carlito admitted he shouldn't have disrespected a young upstart.

Tony Montana starting using his own product. Same with Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

when the the gangster dies or gets locked up, it's because he was arrogant and got sloppy. Tony Sopranos didn't make any major mistakes. But he still couldn't enjoy onion rings with his family without worrying about getting them all killed. Mistakes or no mistakes, crime doesn't pay.

 

[Ghostvirus]

"I don't think about (a movie) much," he says. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it.

Call it artsy or whatever. This is the real reason why the show ended this way. Because someday Chase is going to be strapped for cash, & Boom! He has this to fall back on.

 

[Dark Donnie]

I don't know where people are coming up with these theories

 

[terry78]

I swear on my granddaddy's grave someone actually said the cat was some kind of supernatural cat causing all that stuff to go down and that it's been orchestrating everything since the beginning. I am not even lying.

 

[Golgo-13]

I swear on my granddaddy's grave someone actually said the cat was some kind of supernatural cat causing all that stuff to go down and that it's been orchestrating everything since the beginning. I am not even lying.

I heard that the cat represented the one who knew who the 'rat' was. Remember Tony said something about a 'rat' being dead behind the wall, or something...Which was why it kept staring at Christophers pic, then followed Paulie.

 

[GoldGoblin]

Why did Meadow have to take five minutes to park her car,did they think that was good writing especially for the last few minutes of a series finale.

 

[Eros]

The whole Meadow scene was rather pointless IMO, as was the last scenes in the dinner.

 

[CrypticOne]

It's not that ambiguous.

Either Tony and his whole family were massacred or they went on with the same routine we've watched play out season after season after season.

I interpret the sudden cut to black as the moment Tony got his brains blown out. We don't see it because Tony never saw it coming. We are experiencing his death from his eyes and it's poignant. There is no show, no visual, no audio, no anything without Tony. The same way all our lives cut to black when our shows end. Blackness. People complaining about the ending missed the point of the show. It wasn't about the destination, it was about the journey. If it ended like Scarface or Goodfellas or Carlito's Way or Godfather 1/2/3 it would be so been there done that. And it wouldn't be true to the nature of the show which was to avoid glamorous gangster cliches.

Lets look at other ways it could've ended.

1) Tony ends up dying in a loud shoot out with people screaming then you zoom in on his lifeless eyes? Bad idea. Closure or no closure it's cliche and predictable, it kills the replay value of the series, and we've seen the aftermath of Tony getting shot and presumed dead.

2) Tony gets locked up and thrown in jail for life. Final shot has him talking with his wife through a prison glass window. This ending is lame because we saw it already with Johnny Sacks and Uncle Junior.


All the foreshadowing of the last two seasons wasn't preparing us for a huge twist ending. The foreshadowing was showing us the possible endings. Dying in prison (Johnny Sacks), becoming an old forgotten relic (Uncle Junior), getting betrayed by your own crew (Phil), getting shot/presumed dead (Tony in a coma), family/friends ratting you out(Adriana), children following father's footsteps or getting caught in the crossfire (Anthony hanging with hoodlums/Meadow being threatened by Phil's man), the family having a happy gathering living happily ever after (end of season 6 pt1).

All of these endings were explored and would've been redundant at this point. If you see the ending as the last thing Tony saw before he got his brains blown out, it works and is far more powerful than seeing it from a spectator's perspective. When life ends it's over. No audio. No visual. No reflection or introspection or closure. Only blackness, so enjoy the ride while you can. If you see the ending as the best of Tony's life (his family) contrasted with the worst (looking over your shoulder ever second of every day because you're in the mafia) it also works well. It forces you to see why it sucks to be Tony. Even if he avoids prison or assassination he has to think about it every moment of every day. A fate worse than death. If you see the ending as just a family eating onion rings you're going to remain terribly disappointed.

I feel Tony never made it out of the restaurant. But whether he did or didn't doesn't matter. I see all the possible outcomes and I can see they all suck for Tony. If the ending was well established (Tony dead or in prison) I might have actually thought Tony would've been better off alive or free. But I now know better.

The ending summed up the show perfectly IMO.

Good post, I totally agree with you, 100%.