The Sopranos

[WindwardOahuRN]

Can we discuss it or should we wait until everyone has seen it so as not to spoil it for anyone? :eek:

[blueyecicle]

I missed it lastnight!! So just wait for me until tonight!! :D
I am going to catch it tonight, on HBO.

Nah, I kid, I won't come in here until I see it!

[zff]

When I was watching it, I was a little pissed at the way it ended. Looking back on it, however, I'd say it was a decent close. I think it could have easily been better, though. I had pretty high expectations and was hoping for a last episode better than the previous one (where Bobby and Silvio got shot).

(minor spoiler)Either I wanted to see some action (like seeing Tony use that AR10), or some sense of closure -- preferably both. We got little of either, but I still kind of liked it. The only thing I didn't really like was the very abrupt last scene.

(major spoiler)I guess a reasonable conclusion is that Tony was shot in the head by the guy who went to the men's room. That would explain why the ending was so abrupt. It's as abrupt as an unexpected and instantly fatal gunshot to the head would be. We don't get to see what happens after his death because that's the cruel nature of an unexpected death. Loose ends are left untied. Stories are left untold. Projects are left unfinished. As badly as you may want to know what happens, death is just merciless that way.

If that's the story, then it's an ending worthy of the show. In fact, I would love for that to be the case more than to see a Sopranos movie. I've always appreciated the fact that The Sopranos has always been brutal with its characters, its cast and its audience. Longtime friends like Pussy get clipped with little remorse. Cast members infamously read their scripts nervously wondering if they'd get written off the show. Writers set the audience up to feel sympathetic toward a character like Adrianna then ruthlessly end the story arc. So if the story is what I said above in the spoiler, then I say the end was absolutely brilliant.

(major spoiler)The way the show actually ended feels like a bit of a sell out. Although a fatal shot to the head is a reasonable conclusion, they left it open enough that a movie or some other kind of ongoing story was possible. It's the same way movies nowadays always seem to need to leave the plot open to a possible sequel. I suppose that's just the nature of the business, but to leave the story open-ended in that way feels a little cheap.

I get the feeling there was supposed to be a gunshot at the end of that last scene, but HBO told Chase to cut that last one second out so they'd have the option to produce a movie. I can sort of go along with the theory that your brain wouldn't have been able to process the sound of a gunshot before it was blown apart, but Tony should've seen some kind of startled look on Carm or AJ's face just before everything went to black. In any case, they could've easily wrote something like that in and brought the story to a bold close, but it feels like they sold out instead. At least that's how it feels to me.

While it does bother me a little, I can appreciate the concerns of the entertainment business. They're in it to make money, and I don't really think the way they ended the story took very much away from it. It's just not what I personally wanted most to see.

I liked the episode overall and thought it was a decent end to the series. The best last episode of any show I've seen, however, was for Six Feet Under.


(major spoiler)Oh, and what did Agent Harris mean when he said "We're gonna win this thing!" (after hearing Phil got clipped)?

[Kaukura]

Why dont' you just title the thread "SPOILERS". ? That way those who have not seen it wont come in.

[Leo Lakio]

What do you think of this writer's (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/319324_tv11.html) spin on the ending's meaning?

[blueyecicle]

What do you think of this writer's (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/319324_tv11.html) spin on the ending's meaning?

Wow that ending quote lead me to believe the writer is a little....bitter shall we say??

I am going to watch it again. I watched it tonight but the ending took me so by surprise I thought my TV broke!

[buzz1941]

For some reason, I figured it out immediately — Chase letting us project our own "ending" — and laughed delightedly.

[pzarquon]

I've yet to see a single episode of The Sopranos (the first disc of Season 1 is just in from Netflix), but it's been impossible to avoid discussion of the finale. Jason Genegabus at the Star-Bulletin posted an extensively forwarded e-mail that purports to make some sense of that final diner scene (http://www.starbulletin.com/blogs/sonecessary/the-sopranos-season-finale/). Sounds like the kind of little details that a brilliant series would rely on to wrap up, but because I don't know the show, I have no idea how likely this theory is.

Just look at all the debate out there (http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?q=sopranos%20diner). Liked it or hated it, it looks like the finale was a success insofar as it's got people talking.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

For some reason, I figured it out immediately — Chase letting us project our own "ending" — and laughed delightedly.

Chase filmed the opening sequence of the movie, is what he did.

[LikaNui]

I've yet to see a single episode of The Sopranos
Same here, Ryan.
Anyone else willing to 'fess up with us?

:o

[Kaukura]

I watched the whole several series on Netflix in a several months time frame. (2 disks per week). I loved the show, but (IMO) you can clearly see how it was much darker in the first few seasons vs. it's later seasons. When you watch it like that, it's easier to see vs. an eight year time span. Still a brilliant show, I certainly will miss it.

[tutusue]

Same here, Ryan.
Anyone else willing to 'fess up with us?

:o
'Fessin' up in Kakaako!

[Random]

What is so lovable and appealing about a mafia family?

[tikiyaki]

What is so lovable and appealing about a mafia family?

That's the whole point of the show, because, even tho Tony Soprano does dispicable things, you still root for him...

I'm in Hilo, and have no access to HBO (low budge hotel), so I haven't seen this last episode yet....My guess is that it wouldn't end with a fanfare, but more of a "life goes on" type scenario, leaving room for future film or series possibilities.

[shaveice]

Same here, Ryan.
Anyone else willing to 'fess up with us?

:o

oh, easily and without any regrets or embarrassment. i may watch it someday on dvd but there are so many things going on, there's just not enuf time to do and watch everything...

[Leo Lakio]

Same here, Ryan.
Anyone else willing to 'fess up with us?
:oHand raised right here. Episodic television just has no grip on me any longer - even stuff I know I would enjoy (like --- here goes another confession of a show I've not watched at all --- "Lost." Don't hate me, Ryan.)

[WindwardOahuRN]

Hand raised right here. Episodic television just has no grip on me any longer - even stuff I know I would enjoy (like --- here goes another confession of a show I've not watched at all --- "Lost." Don't hate me, Ryan.)

:::Confessing to not watching "Lost":::

[Kawika0320]

I've watched every episode and enjoyed the series. Sure it had it's ups and downs, but for the most part it was entertaining. The finale was a disgrace in that the whole lovey-dovey ending with no resolution was infuriating. The whole idea of watching this "family", was that they were faced with the same problems that normal family's face, albeit without the killing and the like. The ending with Tony and Carmella, in a diner that they've never been in before, with a resurrected AJ and a soon-to-be engaged Meadow was so out of the ordinary. The whole world wanted to know if Tony either lived or died or if he would even be indicted on or even thrown in jail. To go to a blank screen as your final scene is such a cop-out. Imagine when they complete LOST they end it by saying it was a figment of the imagination of a madman. It would leave you betrayed and with no sense of reality. Hated that ending.

[LikaNui]

I'm in Hilo, and have no access to HBO Which is exactly why I never watched it. (Not because you're in Hilo, but because I never had HBO.) And once they finally started airing reruns on 'regular' channels, I figured it would be hard to jump in the middle and figure out the whole thing; better to have started with it from the beginning.
Kinda sorry that I wasn't able to see it, since it seemed so darned popular.

:o

[zff]

Jason Genegabus at the Star-Bulletin posted an extensively forwarded e-mail that purports to make some sense of that final diner scene (http://www.starbulletin.com/blogs/sonecessary/the-sopranos-season-finale/).

It's an interesting theory, but there's at least one hole in it.

The shady guy in the diner who went to the mens' room isn't the same guy who owned the sporting goods store as stated in the email/article. The guy who owned the sporting goods store was played by Robert Patrick, the actor who played the T-1000 shape-shifting liquid metal robot in Terminator 2.


Wikipedia article on the episode. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bust_Out)

*** EDIT: Ok, upon rereading the article, it doesn't say the man who went to the restroom is the same man who used to own the sporting goods store. It only says that the man who used to own the sporting goods store was in the diner. I think I would've remembered seeing Robert Patrick in the diner, but I don't. I will have to review that last scene.

[blueyecicle]

I've yet to see a single episode of The Sopranos (the first disc of Season 1 is just in from Netflix), but it's been impossible to avoid discussion of the finale. Jason Genegabus at the Star-Bulletin posted an extensively forwarded e-mail that purports to make some sense of that final diner scene (http://www.starbulletin.com/blogs/sonecessary/the-sopranos-season-finale/). Sounds like the kind of little details that a brilliant series would rely on to wrap up, but because I don't know the show, I have no idea how likely this theory is.

.

That makes alot of sense, I was wondering about Meadow walking in so late and the bathroom scene. Thanks for the link PZ

[zff]

Jason Genegabus at the Star-Bulletin posted an extensively forwarded e-mail that purports to make some sense of that final diner scene (http://www.starbulletin.com/blogs/sonecessary/the-sopranos-season-finale/).I've revisited the final scene keeping that article in mind, and there are several holes.


When Tony walks into the diner he looks at himself sitting down at the table…you can be sure of this b/c he is wearing different clothes when he sits down.It's the same clothes. He just took off his jacket, that's all.

if you watch closely you will see Janice walk in shortly after Tony sits down…That wasn't Janice. It looked like her, but if you pause it, it'll be obvious it wasn't.

Then you will see the sports store owner who Tony destroyed walk in wearing a brown kinda hunting jacket…You never get a good enough look at that person's face to say one way or the other if it was Robert Patrick. While I can't say it wasn't, I don't know how anyone can say it was.

…a voice over: “You probably dont even here it when it happens rite?” (this is Bobby talking to Tony in the 1st episode of the season…Tony had this flashback as he was laying down in the last episode…there would be no reason to have had that in unless it had some huge significance…)This voiceover never happened in the last episode. It was probably the second-to-last episode, but that's because it's the episode where Bobby dies.

It's a very interesting theory -- I really like it -- but it's not based on anything we saw happen on the show. :(

[blueyecicle]

I watched it again lastnight as well, and you are right it's not Janice.:(

[sinjin]

I watched it again lastnight as well, and you are right it's not Janice.:(Did you catch the part where Janice tells Uncle June that she is his daughter, which of course she isn't.

[blueyecicle]

yes, I caught saw that but I was confused by it.

[sinjin]

yes, I caught saw that but I was confused by it.He had money stashed somewhere and she was trying to get it. For the kids of course.

[buzz1941]

Check out the current HP printer description on www.woot.com

[lavagal]

Check out the current HP printer description on www.woot.com

fuggetaboutit!

[pzarquon]

The New York Times has compiled reactions to the finale (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/arts/television/12sopr.html?ex=1339300800&en=59a524778c62866d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) from some other prominent television writers, including those behind "LOST" and "Heroes."My heart started beating. It had been racing throughout the last scene. Afterward I went to bed and lay next to my wife, awake, thinking about it for the next two hours. And I just thought it was great. It did everything well that ‘Godfather III’ did not do well.Ron Moore, of "Battlestar Galactica," made perhaps the best case (http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2007/06/) for why "The Sopranos" ends perfectly:I don't want to see Tony's death, nor do I want to watch him drive off into witness protection, or sit down to some kind of illusory happiness in the bosom of his family. I simply want to pretend that his life continues, that he's still simultaneously worrying about onion rings and whether that guy is hiding a gun in the restroom. It's poetic. It's exciting. It's perfect.

[WindwardOahuRN]

The New York Times has compiled reactions to the finale (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/arts/television/12sopr.html?ex=1339300800&en=59a524778c62866d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) from some other prominent television writers, including those behind "LOST" and "Heroes."Ron Moore, of "Battlestar Galactica," made perhaps the best case (http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2007/06/) for why "The Sopranos" ends perfectly:

I thought the ending was exquisite.

After I realized that my DVR had not cut off the recording prematurely, that is.

Very cool. Perfect, IMHO.

And no, that was not Janice. Nor was Tony looking at himself sitting in the diner---rewind and you will see that the transition from Tony entering the diner and Tony sitting in the diner booth is just that---a transition. The scene never goes back to Tony entering the diner, which would make him appear to be looking at himself in the booth. He is not wearing different clothes in those scenes. Same clothes, leather jacket removed.

I'm glad that we didn't see Tony and his family get whacked. Along with Agent Harris, I was rooting for him.

And who cares if Chase was actually setting the scene for a movie sequel? I'd certainly consider going to see it, if it happens.