I think most people will disagree, but I'm fine with it. I thought it was good.

And that was the absolutely beautiful thing about it. In all honesty, I would've been disappointed if Tony was whacked (unless he committed suicide) or if he flipped.

More shows need to take a lesson from Six Feet Unders finale.

I was very happy and relieved to see that after a long, tense ordeal, Meadow was able to get that car parked.

Dont Stop.........Believing

This I agree with. The other scenarios were just to ambitious for the last hour.

Well, I wouldnt really be bummed with that if the episode was so good that I didn't want it to end.

But I want more because the ending was incomplete. This was unlike this season we've seen. It was more like last seasons Kevin Finnerty nonsense.

I don't see at as incomplete. This is how the show is. Life goes on. There will be a tommorow in Soprano's world. We just wont see it.

The creators said they knew just how the show was going to end when they started out in season one. More power to them for telling the story they wanted to tell, and not change it based on what people that came in after they created it wanted it to end.

Don't stop believing....

I thought a Springsteen song would have been used, since it was Jersey. 'Born to Run' would have fit.

Unless they decide to make a movie at some point. I sense a huge payday at some point down the road.

I loved the final scene. That's how Tony will continue to live his life...always having to look at who's coming and going, wondering if that face coming through the door is the one to either put a bullet in his head or end up in cuffs.

terrific episode.

ended perfectly. This show was less about the mob, and more about family.

I just had a thought. Maybe the guy going into the bathroom was going to get a gun. Like he and Bobby said on the boat, you'll probably never hear it coming. He looked up to see Meadow walk through the door, and the screen went blank because he got a bullet in the head right at that moment.

Cop out. This will go down as a poor ending. The writers are charged with telling a story - and they couldn't end it. They got lazy and couldn't end the show.

This gets my vote. Blank screen and no sound.

It's funny...I had just told my friend that this is exactly what I thought happened, and I actually typed it out only to delete it. My stumbling block was...who ordered the hit? Basically all we have left is some renegade member of Phil's crew who is pissed. While I like the theory, it's not enough for me to think that's what happened.

I like this assumption. Very possible.

Am I the only one that noticed Tony had a different shirt on when he entered the diner than the one he had on while seated? I thought that it was a "Tony's ghost is there to see himself get whacked" kind of thing. Anyone else?

Someone go look and tell me I'm not drunk-while drinking Dr. Pepper only.

nope, good catch, now that you brought it up, you are right. didnt notice at the time.

Okay...how do you end it? Obviously Tony wasn't going to die. He "won" in a sense. Phil's gone, and whoever takes over that crew will have a nice working relationship with Jersey.

So you're left with two options:

- Tony flipping. That would be disastrous to me. Tony has never shown the weakness that would warrant that, and it would be more of a "cop out" than what you're complaining about.

- Tony getting arrested. Okay, perfectly legitimate ending, right? But if the end of the episode is Tony getting taken in, how does that neatly wrap it up? Then you're left wondering if he's going to be convicted, if he's going to take a lesser sentence by ratting out some of his guys or NY, etc.

What you (and many, many others) seem to want is to see Tony end up getting cuffed, and then have a nice series of quick flashes displaying what happened to everyone, finally including, "Tony Soprano was convicted of 47 counts of interstate fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, etc and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2029."

THAT is a cop out.

It also looked like he was sitting somewhere very different than where he ended up sitting with the family.

Gonna need another viewing to figure out what was up with that.

Now, I'm curious. I wonder if either one of those shirts was worn by 'Kevin Finnerty'.

Amen.

As an aside, my wife and I were running around getting the kids into bed at 9, so we set the DVR to start taping and wound up about 2 minutes behind. When the screen went blank, we both sat bolt upright and started cursing a blue streak, thinking that the DVR had stopped taping. It took a few minutes to figure out exactly what was going on.

But I thought the ending was brilliant. Really, there is no way to "wrap up" the entire show without doing the Law and Order text flashes at the end. In my initial confusion over the blank screen, I told my wife that I was certain that the guy would appear in the bathroom doorway and take a shot at Tony, only to hit Meadow as she rushed in and sit down next to him. That still seems plausible, but the greatness of the ending is that so do about a half a dozen different scenarios. However you feel about the characters, the show, life in general ... the show ends however you want it to end.

That's the job of the writers.



I don't need to see that necessarily. I wanted the show to be wrapped up. I wanted everything that was told over the last 7 seasons to mean something.

See, that's why I think it's a copout. If I wanted to imagine some crime family, I can do that. But I'm watching a show where people are paid to write a story - not to give me ideas about a story in my head.

I really like the ending scene, just so many possibilities, and the fade to black leaves plenty to discuss. On the whole, though, I was disappointed with the final episode, it seemed to just try to wrap up too many meaningless threads without much happening.

I thought the episode was disappointing right up until the end. The ending was great. It just leaves you to think. Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"...Man...I have gone from really disliking this song to reveling in it's cheesy power. It's like coke....after your first line, you're like "wtf is this shit?". And then, by the end of the night, after a few shots and a half dozen rails, it has you pumping your fist like an excited monkey.

It was an ending.

Since they shot multiple endings there is a possibility that Tony's shirt got 'dirty' in one of them and had to use another one.

He isn't wearing a different shirt than when he came in. He came in with a jacket on. The part of the shirt you can see through the open jacket is the same color as that part of the shirt he is wearing in the booth.

I never watch one second of the show, but on a whim, I flipped to the show and watched the last 15 minutes. The acting was pretty good (except for the main guy's horrifically stupid voice) and it seemed well directed, but the ending made me think I didn't miss much.

Then you were watching the wrong show if you wanted some sort of ending. Part of the lure and frustration with David Chase is that he is not conventional with beginnings and ends. If you don't believe me, watch the season preimeres and finales of The Sopranos over the years as well as the fascination with dream sequences.


Your half-right here. Those people "are getting paid to write a story," but Chase has said from the very beginning that he was not sold on the typical rise and fall of a gangster story (as in Godfather and Goodfellas) and wasn't sure if he wanted to stick with that pattern.

IMO, the way it ended was the most realistic of all possible endings. There are other subtle things going on in that episode that make it great.

-Paulie's long looks of contempt for Tony v. duty to Tony every time they talked
-Tony starting to go on about his Mother at AJ's psychologist and the looks that Carmella was giving him while doing so.
-AJ's sudden fascination with the Army and then flaking out as he always does.

Thus, in truth, a lot of things were resolved:

-Tony's going to have the stress for the rest of his life until death or mental disease (why the visit with Uncle June was so important)
-AJ is going to be a flake for the rest of his life
-Meadow is never going to fulfill her potential
-Carmella is going to break-down soon, as well.

That was the whole meaning of this show. It was not a gangster type show. Chase wanted to show viewers the stress of the hidden mafia world and its impact on a person who can seem to be a hero even though he really is a villan. He did a great job, and you can tell the series was successful b/c you wanted more. I felt the same way after Seinfeld ended and both series ended in somewhat the same way.

Nevertheless, I doubt it's the last time you hear from the Soprano's. Someone will throw Chase or some other director and the actor's a boatload of cash to convince them to be in a two hour movie which will basically be a direct ripoff of Goodfellas. Me, I probably won't catch that one.


Typical.

That was a very good ending. And the Phil killing....that was an awesome hit.

Much like alot of people I disliked the ending when I initially saw it but RedKingGold and others here make good points so I guess I can see the "artistic value" of the episode.

My wife and I thought our TiVo cut out, and she is still bitter about the ending. We had been watching all the episodes over again and in two weeks just finished through season 2. I loved the tension the entire episode because you thought there was going to a bloodbath of people being killed and you kept waiting at the edge of your seat. I definitely think there is room for a movie, and there would be one in a few years.

Question, why did they think Carlo flipped just because he missed a meeting? Isn't that a bit over presumptious? How many times did Christopher miss meetings or others were late? Why not suspect that he was whacked and not flipped?

I thought the cat was staring at the picture of Christopher because there was a small camera or something in it that the Feds had in there.

Why was Butchie and the NY family so eager to dump/turn on Phil after going so far with him? They alread whacked Tony's top guys, seemed like they threw in the towel too early.

I liked how Agent Harris was happy and said "We might win" when he found out about Phil. I guess over the years he has grown to like Tony so much that he was rooting for him. It was an interesting character turn to see the Agent Harris cheating on his wife as well, painting the picture of the fact that even the good guys are immoral as well.

So is Juniors condition implying that all Sopranos end up like that or something (if they aren't whacked or die of health problem)?

Is AJ going in the army another Godfather reference?

Tony's crew is so "beat up" to me. He has Paulie who seems like he is starting to dislike Tony. Sil is pretty much dead. Bobby is too. Carlo flipped. Basically he has Patsy, Benny, Walden (random character who was introduced late), his fat driver and who else? Why did NY cave into that? I guess they didn't want to have too much inner struggle.

EDIT: I did hear from other places that they filmed multiple endings. Was this to throw of the media or any spoilers so that know one knew what the real ending would be or do you think that these multiple endings will be released at some point if they were for real?

Should be the other way around, I think ... he missed the meeting because he flipped. Paulie made a reference to his son (I think?) getting picked up on a drug charge the day before, with the implication being that he flipped to get him off the hook.

So I am almost positive there were numerous times when Christopher missed meetings, they never automatically assumed he flipped?

And where did AJ get the BMW from when a scene earlier they said they aren't getting him a new car?

I rewatched the ending, it seems as if there is a focus on the 2 black guys walking in, and you can see that Tony didn't see them. Now maybe they were just there to get some food, but it would almost be a full circle thing if they did do the job....aka the whole thing where he made up the one story to cover his panic attack that kept him from getting pinched with Tony B.

Just a thought anyways.

*shurg* They knew the feds were closing in ... maybe the surrounding environment was more conducive to that kind of paranoia than it had been in the past.


AJ told his girlfriend there wasn't any public transportation out where he was working, so they "had" to get him a new car. He made sure it wasn't an SUV though. I suspect it was also a bit of a bribe to get him to give up the Army talk.

The Feds had been closing in for many years. It just seemed a bit too much to speculate so soon. The Feds have always been on their tail since Altieri flipped, and years before that.

At that moment though, there was less suspicion of the Feds closing in, and more of a worry about the on going family war. Aliteri flipping, Pussy flipping, Bevilacqua murder, Fake Airline tickets, Johnny Sac arrest are all times I can think of when the Feds seemed to be a lot closer than this last episode.

Your first response is perfectly typical. The writers did do their job; you just didn't like it because there was no nice little bow on top.

Why should the show be "wrapped up?" His life isn't over, he survived the biggest attempted hit on himself and his Family to this point, so he continues to go on, always on the lookout for the guy coming to kill him. RKG hit the biggest point:

I thought the final scene was a homage or wrap up to the entire Terrorist storyline as well as melding with the "it could come at any moment" fear that Tony lives in. Admit that when you were watching it that you were leery of the Italian dude, and then when the black guys walked in you (the royal you, or "we" as it may be) of course were leery of them. Even the middle aged hunter dude with USA on his hat was focused on. We were all waiting for it to come from somewhere and someone, which is what life has become post 9/11. Even if it's not a someone it can be a something, like hurrying across a street at night.

The viewer saw evil in everything that happened in that final 5 minutes even though in the end nothing happened.

At the end of the day no matter how paranoid we are we just wanna sit down with our loved ones, have some good food, and not stop believing.

interesting article about the "Man in the Members only Jacket"

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...7-1360360.html

So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?).

Absolutely incredible!!!! There were three people in the restaurant who had reason to kill Tony and then it just ends

Where did you get that info from? I could see Nikki Leotardo, but wouldn't Tony recognize him if he was sitting there for that long? As for the trucker, that sounds like speculation and same with the two black kids. Screen shot comparisons?!?!?!?

I read this exact quote from the HBO boards. I love it when random people post shit they see and make it sound like they got the inside scoop...

A Bang-Up Finale For 'The Sopranos'

By Tom Shales
Monday, June 11, 2007; Page C01

It may have been the greatest double-take -- by the audience -- in the history of American television.

Millions of viewers who might have thought something had gone wrong with their TV sets or cable systems last night were mistaken. When the picture vanished at the end, the very end, of "The Sopranos" and the screen went black, that was producer David Chase's unorthodox and arguably ingenious way of ending the series and dispatching the Soprano family to eternity.

Chase set up the audience to expect an assassination, perhaps of the whole Soprano family: Tony, Carmela, Anthony Jr. and Meadow, who were sitting in a nostalgically old-fashioned diner about to order dinner. Menacing strangers entered. One went into the men's room, a seeming reference to a famous shooting in "The Godfather" in which a gun was hidden in a water closet.

And then -- while Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" played on a vintage jukebox and the family members made everyday small talk -- the Sopranos disappeared. No shots were fired. Whether they all would have been killed in the next scene, or lived several more years, or even made it to old age, was not specified.

These great mythic characters, who have captivated HBO viewers for nearly a decade, are now suspended in space and the national imagination forever.

An attentive HBO executive who was watching the episode for the second time said the last image, of Tony's face, was seen just as the words "don't stop" were sung on the jukebox. The episode was littered with references to mortality -- life, death, even the Apocalypse in a poem by William Butler Yeats. Only Chase could mix Yeats with the theme from "The Twilight Zone" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" played as a cellphone chime and make it all jell.

As always, "The Sopranos" was a catalogue of references from the mundane to the profound, but the finale was the biggest guessing game of all: Who would die, who would live? Fans of the show hoping to see the evil Phil Leotardo get his saw one of the grisliest deaths in the series:

After being shot in the head, Leotardo falls dead to a gas station driveway. The SUV from which he'd emerged proceeds to run over his skull, crushing it and causing his two little grandchildren in their car seats to feel a little bump. It was macabre and bizarre in a way that only "Sopranos" could bring off.

Throughout the episode, Chase paid farewell visits to many of the regular "Sopranos" haunts, including the Bada Bing Club ("the Bing" to its mob owners), Satriale's Pork Store, and the Soprano home once the family felt safe enough to move out of hiding and back into it. In the end, Tony's problem with the feuding mob boss Leotardo was solved with the help of an FBI agent, who could in his way have been as morally corrupt as Tony in his.

But "The Sopranos" was not judgmental. It could be maddeningly neutral and even amoral; Tony Soprano, so powerfully played by James Gandolfini, could be a vicious killer one moment and dear old daddy the next. He loomed a giant figure from the first episode to last night's blistering and shattering finale.

Even posthumous characters showed up or were mentioned last night. Tony's malicious mother is still in his thoughts: "I never could please my mother," Tony said sorrowfully to his son's new therapist. Tony's own therapist, in an unlikely turn of events, dropped him as a patient last week, but now Tony's very, very confused son is seeking a shrink of his own. So the torch is passed to a new generation.

At a mental hospital, Tony visited the notorious old Uncle Junior, who was once instructed by Tony's own mother to kill him and later, in the throes of dotage and Alzheimer's, shot Tony in the stomach. Uncle Junior, dazed and deluded, exists somewhere between the living and the dead.

And Tony's nephew Christopher, whose life Tony himself ended in a recent episode, returned as a photo on the wall that a stray cat for some reason stared at obsessively -- even when the photo was moved to another spot.

HBO has had greater success with "The Sopranos" than any premium cable network has ever had with any series -- not just in terms of audience size but in terms of inspiring conversations, arguments, discussions and re-viewings of episodes.

Wherever two or three are gathered around a water cooler this morning, "The Sopranos" is likely to be a subject of discussion.

It's a classic now, and one that will live on for years.

I know where you're coming from, and I'm not saying I disagree necessarily. Just that it didn't jump out at me as being completely implausible.

I meant to insert th post I got this from:

hxxp://tv.com/the-sopranos/show/314/board/411/topics.html

Inside scoop? I'm just reading shit about the ending as other people are... chill :rolleyes:

When your post is started by...


...it makes it sound like you came up with that all by yourself. The link helps. Thank you.

The final ep has created more buzz online than anything else I can remember. Except for those stupid cats on the ihasacheeseburger site. :rolleyes:

I'm gonna be busy all day reading Sopranos shit.

One dude's view...

http://www.pajiba.com/tony-from-jersey.htm

The first line uttered by the titular character in “John from Cincinnati” was “the end is near.” For our dear families of “The Sopranos,” of course, the end was last night. It was an open-ended end. It was an ambiguous end. And it was a perfect end.

Yes, for this show, it was the perfect ending. Like many other seasons, the penultimate episode really held the “action,” and this was more of a clean-up episode to show us the aftermath. We see how the Jersey family gets itself more-or-less back on track and out of the turf war by brokering a deal with New York and getting Phil permanently gone. We see how the Soprano family gets itself more-or-less back on track with new houses to build, legal careers (get out now, Meadow — it’s not too late!) and fiancés to marry, and movies to produce and clubs to start. And then, of course, there’s Tony.

In the episodes leading up to this finale, David Chase and company have gone out of their way to de-humanize Tony, reminding us that the head goombah we have come to know and love is. Not. A. Good. Guy. The gambling, Christopher’s murder, the almost-whacking of Paulie — almost every episode this season has acted as another underline of the “anti” in “antihero.” And this finale was no different. Sure, there were some moments where Tony actually appeared to have advanced on a basic emotional level — he showed some actual sympathy and remorse towards Silvio, and there was even a smattering of empathy for Junior. Yet Tony is still, when it comes down to it, the same self-centered son of a bitch he’s always been, and the visit with A.J.’s shrink was meant to show us that Tony hasn’t really made any progress in his journey over the last six seasons, as he quickly steered the discussion of his son’s well being to his own mommy issues.

Now I have to assume that all the talking over the next day or two will be about the ending, or lack thereof. I went to one message board last night and did a quick scan and, as I suspected, it was already full of “worst episode ever,” “I want that hour of my life back,” “they copped out to leave the door open for a movie” and “all that tension and buildup for nothing” comments. Some of you reading this very column may be nodding your head in agreement. Well, at the risk of offending and alienating you, you’re all fucking idiots.

Truthfully, we got a touch more finality here than I was expecting. Phil? Dead. The NYC/Jersey turf war? Resolved (for the moment, although that moment may be fleeting, depending on how you interpret the show’s end). Meadow and A.J.? Apparently moving into rather comfortable places in their lives (although, again, that comfort may be quite shattered depending on that last moment). The Feds? Rolling with the subpoenas and indictments. In fact, the only real ambiguity in this episode was the very end. And that’s really what the insufferable monkeys people are pissed about.

That final scene is, quite simply, one of the best moments this show has ever had. And coming on the heels of last week’s amazingly executed hit on Bobby, “The Sopranos” truly ended on a high note from a direction, cinematography and editing perspective. But the true genius of this scene is that very same ambiguity many are now crying about. Is Tony looking up with every ring of the front bell because he’s anticipating his family members, or is he looking up because, even though the current “war” is over, he fully knows that his life is always one bullet from ending? Are we seeing a truly objective scene, where the guy at the bar really does have an unnatural interest in Tony, or are we simply seeing Tony’s perspective of everyone as a possible enemy (remember that our pal isn’t just cautious, but a raging narcissist)? Does that guy at the bar, who we last see going to the bathroom, really have nefarious plans for Tony, or is it just that maybe he recognized the well-televised head of the Jersey family (or “gang,” as the departed Phil derogatorily commented) sitting in his local diner? And then there’s the final blackout. Did we get cut out in the middle of just another New Jersey night, with Tony simply watching Meadow walk through the door, with the Soprano life, much like a movie, just going “on and on and on?” Or was that Tony’s last fleeting moment, perhaps with Mr. Bathroom Guy returning to put two into Tony’s head? (And yes, there was “peace” with NYC, but surely there were still those loyal to Phil who weren’t too pleased at his capping, not to mention the countless others who must hate Tony because of who he is and what he’s done to them.)

There is so much that can be read into and interpreted out of that final scene, all played to one of the greatest prom songs ever (screw the naysayers — Journey rules), that I dare say it’s richer and more layered than almost any scene that has ever been on TV. And as for “the insufferable monkeys” who call this a disappointment and the television version of blue balls? Well, actually, I take it back. I don’t find you insufferable or think that you’re “fucking idiots.” … I feel sorry for you. I am truly sorry that you missed, or were incapable of appreciating, this final chapter for what it truly was. Look, like many others, I did more than my fair share of pissing and moaning about this show’s decline from the genius of its inception. But even at its dullest and most uneventful, it was still better than 90% of everything else on TV. And there’s no arguing that the show was responsible for a major shift in television. It really put HBO on the TV map, which in turn opened the door for Showtime and FX and cable television programming in general. It also pushed network dramas into a darker, grittier “realism” (that it had more or less avoided in the name of “escapism”) and a more cinematic design and aesthetic. Quite frankly, this show probably had a bigger impact on the nature of television than any show before it, and while I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t personally dub it the best show ever, I might dub it the most important. And tonight’s final chapter was a worthy denouement (and the fact that it wasn’t really a denouement — which is technically where a series of events are firmly resolved — is exactly why it was the perfect ending for this show).

Does Tony live to go on mobbing another day? Or, as Bobby said, did he not even hear his last moment coming? Did Carm and A.J. and Meadow just watch their lives shatter before them as the family patriarch was brutally murdered in a diner? Or was this a rare and happy night in the Soprano’s life?

Many will have their own interpretations of this final moment. I have no such interpretation because, frankly, I don’t care. “The Sopranos” has never been about finality (except with regard to many character’s lives, that is). It’s been about the little moments and incidents that act to form the pastiche of life, be it family life or mob life. And … well, look — I just don’t know how many other ways to say it. I’m in awe of what David Chase did. This was as fitting and “in tone” an ending as the final montage that Alan Ball gave us in “Six Feet Under.” It left me desperately wanting more (something I wouldn’t have believed I’d be saying a mere two months ago) and, just like Steve Perry’s final lyric, I almost want to plead that they “don’t stop.” But that would ruin the beauty of this moment.

Geez. The thing I loved most about the finale is that it really separates the fans from the non-fans.

I know a lot of people are disappointed with the finale, I just can't believe those people have actually followed the show all these years.

Stick with reality shows. They're easier to understand.

Ridiculous. The story did have an ending. The Sopranos life goes on but to us it is over. Some people are just too shallow to look beyond the big blazing ending. Not everything needs to be tied up in a neat little bow.

I just rewatched the whole episode, and the ending stands out even more to me now. Just fantastic. I really think this was the perfect ending. All the posibilities. I'll be going through withdrawl next sunday night for sure.

AICN apparently had a recap of the episode on friday or saturday. So some did get to see it days in advance. The Phil hit at the gas station was pretty well a "known" plot point in many of the spoilers I read. Incl the part where the black kid threw up. Maybe the major suprise to me there was that Walden did the hit instead of Bennie. They may have switched them up later.

Huh?

Honestly, I've never watched the Sopranos before, because I've never had HBO until about a month ago, not because I think I'm cool by not watching it. If I had had HBO over the years, I probably would have watched the show at some point.

hmmmm, didn't one of them die in this attempt?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#John_Clayborn

The guy at the bar was credited as "Man in the Members Only Jacket" and was a real life philly restaurant owner who only appeared in one episode(this one). I dunno about the other guys in the diner, but I don't think that they are necessarily who people think they may be.

So liking it makes you a fan, hm? Allllright. lol

In some strange way, I wish I had watched this show so I could take part in the universal discussion going on everywhere I look or read. I guess it's because the show aired on HBO that it never seemed like a big deal to me, since I wasn't constantly hit over the head with commercials for it, etc., but I had no idea this show was so big. I saw one episode years ago, out of boredom late one night - I think it was about Tony running into a snitch while up in the NE taking his daughter to scout out colleges - and it seemed like a decent show, but didn't really interest me. But I'm not a mob show/movie fan at all - never seen a Godfather movie, nor Goodfellas (other than a couple of clips), etc. Too bad this show wasn't about something that would have interested me.

As far as "life goes on" endings, I think you either love them or hate them. I didn't particularly care for the Seinfeld ending, and I absolutely hated Broadcast News because of a similar type of ending.

Never watched the show, but I'm intrigued by the final scene. Has it been posted online anywhere yet?

How about that classic scene with Janice and Tony? Janice saying that she got therapy and put all her mother's shit behind her, and right after tearfully saying that she gets no thanks for it. The essence of Janice in three lines of dialogue. Completely self deluded as to how much she really is like dear old mom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bphuuLi17SU

Here, I don't believe that there is anything unsafe for work about the video

Thanks

Apparently my HBO cut out the final shot of Tony and the family at the table with Tony looking up. The last thing I saw was Meadow heading to the restaurant and then it went to black.

you missed a lot

I had an email forwarded to me that originated from some guy at Lehman Brothers with this exact wording.

It's not that you didn't watch it, it was that you felt like you could have an opinion of the entire series after watching the last 15 minutes. That, and the whole posting in a thread who's topic doesn't interest you in the least.

I think you need to relax with a nice glass of iced tea.

I watched the end of the Sopranos. I read some of the posts. I posted my impression of the part that I saw in a thread devoted to the subject. I didn't make fun of the show or anything. I just thought that, even though I never watched the show, the ending seemed lame.

It was great. The more I think about it (and I've been thinking about it all day) the more I'm impressed. I spent a chunk of the day talking about it with anyone who'd let me harangue them. The final scene achieves the effect it sets out to achieve -- it heightens the tension to a peak using film craftsmanship (the fast intercutting of shots like Meadow's tires, people entering the restaurant, etc.), and then ends at exactly the most tense moment for anything that might have occured next. The effect has its merits and faults -- chief among them being that it is in opposition to the closure effect (descending action, the falling off from the peak to a resolution) the majority of the general audience is expecting -- but it was masterfully done, and it's the only example of which I now know that skirts the fallacy of imitative form (frex, the idea that the best way to write a story about something boring is to write boring sentences) and yet finds a compelling place beyond the emotional effect to a fulfillment of the series' themes.

It was a really remarkable magic trick: we as the audience were demanding something never before seen on television. Chase and Co. delivered. And the better you know the series, and the more you enjoy it for the non-whacking scenes, the more this end becomes the most effective way to exit the Sopranos narrative. Whatever happens afterwards, we feel at the ultimate moment exactly how Tony Soprano feels: that everyone is a disappointment or a threat, and that the end could come before you even know it. And then it did.

I really can't praise The Sopranos as a whole enough -- for its flaws and the limitations of its medium and makers, this episode and this series, are a landmark in the art of filmmaking. Last night we saw something that will be a watershed moment for future television narratives and where they can go. But time needs to go by for perspective, as with most great art.

Given how the critics and fans of The Sopranos have smashed David Chase specifically and the show in general for not living up to expectations and not paying off in a way we came to expect after the first few seasons, this had to be Chase's way of saying "Screw all of you people, this is *my* show and I'll end it *my* way." He threw all the blood-thirsty fans a bone with the episode last week, and this week he indulged himself.

In the end, however, the show's legacy is left to the fans and critics, and Chase pretty much sealed the fate of The Sopranos as perhaps the biggest undelivered promise in dramatic television - 2 or 3 of the best seasons in television history followed by 4 seasons of self-indulgent ungratifying crap, with the finale episode - and the final scene - a perfect example of what's been wrong with the Sopranos for so long.

This is interesting as it got my wife and I talking about series finales again. She is the "wrap-it-up-and-tie-a-ribbon" type and I am the opposite, which is why she hated the Quantum Leap finale and I loved it. We have no opinions about Sopranos since we don't get HBO nor have any interest in doing so but I told her, alluding to Sopranos, that half of the fans will love it and half will hate it - no matter which type of ending they choose to do.

The show certainly has changed a lot during it's run, but it's very much an issue of preference. I watched season 1 recently, and to me, it really hasn't aged well and doesn't stand up to depth we've seen the last two years.

It's been a while since I have seen it, and not to threadjack, but I thought that Quantum Leap wrapped up nicely.

Bearcat, Sam was never given the choice, it was asked rhetorically because both knew the answer. We never knew (and this was the part my wife didn't like) whether he ever made it back home - definitely a "life goes on" ending or Sam's case, "leaps go on".

My family moved in the middle of the final season of Quantum Leap to a place that didn't have a local NBC affiliate. So, I never got to see how it ended. I loved that show.

The final season is out on DVD (I've watched most of it recently, except for the Evil Leaper, never got into that). The season ended with a Civil War leap, a great Elvis leap and then the finale.

Sorry to threadjack.

You the viewer was the one who got wacked.

Some critic on Countdown (watchable with reg host MIA) quotes Chase as saying "its all there if you watch it." The show was about Tony's life, and the screen goes dark just as Meadow walks in. Someone goes in the john right before and two 'brothers' are browsing the case close by.

The opinion is Tony is dead, never saw it coming. Meadow is the last thing he sees.

From over at Fark:

Dudeskis! Everything about the ending was a juxtaposition of what television dramas are supposed to be. An escalation of drama achieved through pure direction and cinematography, which would presumably lead to an easy followthrough, and use of music to add to said tension. The followthrough was a followthrough, but it was the polar opposite of what most envision a followthrough to actually be. The music did heighten the tension, but it was with a power-ballad that most roll their eyes at upon hearing now. I think the music choice would be akin to hearing "Welcome to the Jungle" during a wedding scene. It has the rising action you're looking for, but it casts such an odd light on the scenario that it just works, and is so not cliche that it feels very fresh.

Anyways, I think the ending took the "what you don't see is the most horrifying possible thing" route. We just don't know......If we had seen Tony getting shot in the face, it would have been closure, yes. But what the hell does closure even mean in regards to an alternate universe?

And to those who say "I feel like I've wasted 8 years of my life"....Just watch CSI...they wrap that shit up in an hour every week. That should suit you just fine. That's not a knock, and I'm not saying that makes you less an appreciator of art, but it's just different tastes, and it's too bad you mistook a gun going off every other episode for Terminator 4.

First, I loved the ending.


Second, thought this might interest people:


http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...id_what_w.html

Ok...that made me truely LOL. And my crew at work is looking at me quite strangely now.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

A couple of more observations:

The flip side of the Journey single on the jukebox was "Any Way You Want It"

The name of the episode where Junior shot Tony was "Members Only". The guy that was seeing walking into the bathroom was was wearing a Members Only jacket.

Nice. See, if we had had a clear ending, this type of discussion wouldn't be happening. This is fun, people!

Perhaps if you put the terms "blind loyalist" in there, your comment makes sense. Because by your definition, I'm sure people who didn't like the finale cannot be fans, which is of course absurd.

I watched every episode of the show. I really liked the final 2 episodes. I liked the show overall, but all things considered, i could only really recommend seasons 1-3 to someone who had never seen the show. I thought there was just a ton of fluff in 4-7.

Interview with Chase:
http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sep...l=1&thispage=1

Yeah, i noticed that as well. Kind of a bookend effect for the season IMO.

If you don't think he dies, it kind of sucks that some stupid punk kid getting busted for E would be the reason that Tony gets taken down. Maybe then it all goes back to the fact that AJ is such a putz, and he wasn't enough of a leader to calm the Gervasi boy down and put him in check like he needed to.

I watched the clip someone posted above, and the funny thing about the music is that I had the exact opposite reaction to it that you did. I bet he had this whole thing planned out years ago, down to the music, because before the White Sox hijacked this song, it was one of those guilty pleasure-type songs, but since 2005, that song has been everywhere and is far more acceptable to listen to. So when I heard it during the clip, I actually thought it was almost cliche how late to the party he was for using it. Someone got there first, and instead of coming off like Tarantino using Jungle Boogie, it smacked of bad timing.

To anyone who TiVoed the last episode, was Tony holding/eating an orange during any part of the show? If he did, then I believe he got whacked from the blind side by the guy who went into the bathroom. (Following the recurring theme of oranges=death from the Godfather) Meadow was the last thing he saw, and then boom. "I bet you don't hear it when it happens."

Silence, and the credits roll for the first time without any music.

I think he (Tony) lives.

Yes, the orange is an homage to "The Godfather", hell, just about one reference an episode did that...and that's an interesting thing, was the "Godfather" so big that it resulted in the mob acting like it, or was the "Godfather" a realistic depiction of what mob life was.

I think the Sopranos was showing a little of what present mob life is. It's dying.

When Phil is talking to his number two, it was showed and stated that "LIttle Italy" has gotten smaller, the guy on the phone wandered into Chinatown. It's dying.

Look at Tony's crew, you think even with him alive, that they'll ever be that big. I liked when Tony finally met with Uncle Junior, to see for himself, to prove to himself that Junior was so far gone that it wasn't an act (Remember Junior wanted to off Tony). I loved how he talked to Junior about that "thing" and Junior goes ,"I was part of that?" And Tony goes, "You and my dad ran New Jersey." Forgiveness Tony, and the realization that it won't ever be like that again. It's dying.

You see AJ and Meadow simply following in the footsteps. AJ was for a brief shining moment ready to do something positive - join the army, nevermind the Trump thing, but to actually learn Arabic and be something (of course, what did Michael Corleone do to try to cut ties, join the war) but instead of seeing the positives (and though it was masked by the fear of losing him to war) they corrupted AJ back into his old ways. Meadow was different, she was the one closest to breaking free, but it was seeing her dad get arrested and dating a mobster's son that pulled her back in (170k a year, defending mobsters, excuse me, Italian-Americans). I think Tony was disappointed as much as he was excited at the thought of her success, the one that almost acheived greatness without the taint, which is why he's looking up for her, which is why when he was in his coma he heard her voice (still gives me chills and made me tear up since I gotta little girl of my own).

Carmella is older and wiser, the spec houses are bringing in the income she couldn't rely on Tony for. She builds crappy homes that have rotten foundations due to cost cuts and questionable practices (like getting Tony to get inspectors to okay the house). And while she had guilt that someone could be harmed by the bad roof, we see her looking at new ones to work on.

Tony, still needs the outlet to talk to, hence why he took over AJ's counselor. He's got indictments coming, but the lawyer didn't seem too worried (too busy looking at the dancing girls getting ready) and munching into that hamburger.

In the end the family is intact, but rotten as ever, and no one is there to take the reigns when Tony does finally go off, if Phil had just waited, he could've had this crew easy.

So Silvio is down and out, and Paulie is a nervous captain (I don't think he's a rat)..."I'm old, I just survived my prostate!" The guy wasn't ever a leader, he was an enforcer, and the years are going by that he'll be less and less at that.

So the crew is dying too, I didn't see anyone who shined enough to bring new life into it, and the crew AJ hung out with, the new breed, is getting busted for drugs, just like the old breed, only slicker and more violent, not smart enough to know what to do, not honorable enough to be trusted.

You see Tony raking the leaves and hearing the ducks and smiling, the idea of family was still there. I mean he went to Junior to find a way to help Bobby's kids (lord knows that Janice won't)

Seeing the final moments for the 2nd time, all the tension was gone (I can see why Schmidty wasn't impressed). Tony is always going to live in fear, he's sliding back into the depths. AJ wants him to enjoy the good things, and I think that goes back to when Tony finally came out of the coma, "Every day is a gift." I think Tony has accepted that sooner or later, the lights go out.

So like a episode before, the Doors were playing the instrumental break but I know, knew..."when the music's over, turn out the lights."

Chase did, and it was good.

I don't consider my view to be better or correct than any others' view. I think this is what Chase intended, you draw your own conclusions. It's made the ending that much more interesting...there is no closure per se, just the continuance out of our eyesight and ears, and the imagination of our own as to what happens.

From an objective view of the last scene, not having watched the show, the beauty is that there are enough clues to convince you he got shot, but it's not obvious, so (a) it can retain that unknown ending forever, if he wants it to, ensuring it lasts longer in peoples' minds then it otherwise would have, and (b) it also leaves the possibility of a movie wide open.

I don't think they were going for that kind of musical effect at all. They use so many songs each show that i don't believe they're ever going for the "wow" factor. Not to mention I can say I haven't personnally heard this song any more or any less over the course of the last 15 years. Like most people in america, i have no idea about your White Sox reference, but the song has always been in roughly the same level of rotation on radio for as long as I can remember.

No, it got picked up big time after the White Sox made it their unofficial anthem and had Steve Perry sing the National Anthem, I believe, at one of the WS games. It was uncool before; it became hip after.

Agreed. This thread is the first time I had any idea of any connection between this song and the White Sox.

Then again, I know pretty much next to nothing when it comes to music, so I will trust Ksyrup who seems to know pretty much everything.