Sopranos Finale

[Rogelio Salinas]

I have to vent about one of my favorite TV shows. If you have not seeing the episode or want to avoid any spoilers. STOP READING.

I cannot believe it ended the way it ended. I was excited. I went over to my father's house to watch the finale and we sat through the entire episode and during the last few minutes of the show we were glued to the TV anxiously waiting for the ending, but everything cut to black for a moment then the credits came on without any music. We thought something went wrong with the cable box or something. So we waited another three hours to watch it again just in case, but when the moment came again. BAM, cut to black as soon as Meadow is about to walk into the diner to meet Tony, Carmela, and AJ. I know that there are some who may say that this ending was genius for leaving what occurs next to the imagination, but as a loyal fan and viewer, some closure would have been appreciated. The second to last episode was one of the best and for it to end like this is a total shame and a huge letdown for loyal fans. For the show to end the way it did is a total dissapointment and from a filmmaking perspective to end the show the way it did was an editing nightmare. The show leaves you guessing and concerned, but not in a receptive way. To much had been invested into this show just to have it end the way it did. That's my two cents, what do you all think.

[Tom Lowe]

This thing is being discussed widely across the internet right now, on every discussion forum known to man.

I loved the ending myself, and maybe at some point the creator will say something publicly about that final cut to black. Or maybe they are planning a movie? Who knows.

I was just glad to see Phil's stupid head get squashed like a pumpkin. :gun:

[Jeremy Torrie]

It was a brilliant end. Like many in the biz, I was immediately 'choosing my own adventure' as to how the scene was about to play out.

It makes so much sense to continue a theme of storytelling that made it so watchable all these years. Namely family, and appreciating the small moments -while death lurks around the corner.

The writing was fantastic. Virtually every word had either irony, or meaning. Take the meeting b/t Meadow and Tony -all he ever wanted was for her to be a doctor, but 'watching the FBI take him away all those times' made her realize she wanted to be a lawyer. The scene with Junior at the end, even with Tony visiting Silvio...and not saying a word.

Mr. Chase did a fine job.

BTW the sit down was a beautiful set.

[tomcassetta]

I thought it was a brilliant ending. Very spirited episode - certainly the one I will remember most.

Cheers! :)

[Mark L. Pederson]

A brilliant marketing move for HBO.

I am very sure that right now agents are negotiating away for the movie.

Of course, it would be very cool if they did a "surprise" additional epsiode as a "pay per view" event - that would make a few bucks -

[Tom Lowe]

BTW the sit down was a beautiful set.

Yeah that was an awesome set.

[Rogelio Salinas]

I agree with certain elements that each one of you spoke about. The ending did keep you on the edge of your seat, it did grab the attention of the viewer, it was unexpected, it does allow the viewer to assume a number of different situations, but for a show of that caliber there should have been more closure. Just imagine the Usual Suspects building up to revealing Keyser Soze with some important plot elements and as the detective is assuming his own ideas of what happened on the dock with all the tension and some major plot points being revealed, everything goes black and the credits start rolling. I can see the artistic element of why David Chase did what he did, but I disagree with it. Yes killing or arresting Tony would have been predictible, but the audience deserved some sense of closure, no matter what it could have been. This ending leaves the "general" audience unfufilled. One of the most anticipated series finales and it just cuts to black in the middle of a tense moment. Many will love this ending and many will hate it, but I just expected much more.I did love the tension between Paulie and the cat though.

[Ace]

The cut to black was good. Im guessing it was a reference to the whole "Do you hear it when you get shot in the head since the bullet travels faster than speed of sound etc etc".. well I guess Tony finally finds out the answer.. total silence.

Just as in the real world, death and tragedy often comes in a silent and meaningless blow, lacking any grandeur or fanfare and confusingly interwoven with normality. This was also reflected.

[goldyprog]

Who killed Phil? I don't think it was Tony's crew. Perhaps this had something to do with the suspicious man in the final scene...

[Craig Ryan]

I am one of those who loved the ending; as soon as they played "Don't stop Believing" I knew that it wasn't going to end in a cliche. It's very interesting reading all the boards over the net and reading all kinds of different interpretations of this last episode; that shows the brilliance in writing alone. What I felt when watching the last scene, was the Chase was finally giving the audience a real feeling of what it would be like to be Tony for just 5 minutes; paranoia and vulnerablility with the things we take for granted like eating out with our family. To me it showed how no matter what actions Tony takes, he will always be vulnerable.

One thing I interpreted is the tension building cuts with the mysterious man in the jacket, as well as the two black guys; to me this was a final test for the audience; can we separate race and appearance from judgement even after all the things we've learned through this series? Racial profiling seemed to be one of the main conflicts AJ was struggling with the entire last season, and Meadow even changed her career to law because of it. Once I picked up on this, and along with "Don't Stop Believing", I was confident the show wasn't going to end in a cliche bloodfest fashion.

To me, the last scene was a fantastic and brilliant display of editing; something I've never seen before, which is why I loved the ending so much. Every single thing in those last 5 minutes had me thinking "wait what was the significance of that?"; again, that alone shows how much this show has taught me personally to always be on the look out for hidden meaning. I've read quite alot of convincing theories about whether or not the cut to black either represents Tony's death, or the death of us (the viewer) as observers into the most facinating period of the life the Sopranos. Whatever the case may be, to me it seems evident that it's up to the individual to decide what the ending meant to them personally, based on what they learned and got from the show.

[RayFrisby]

I watched the last episode on a terrible out of sync web stream cause I couldn't wait the three months to see it here in Ireland.
And the end came; and it wasn't a cliche; and it didn't offer any closure, so like Tony I guess were all stuck in Limbo.

But I didnt care ! everything I got from this series outweighed any reservations I had, its the journey I'm after !

[Ken Corben]

Like several million other viewers I lept up to check my satellite receiver when the episode cut to MOS black - gotcha! My immediate response was, Chase just shat on several million viewers. Not pleased - especially after the close of the previous episode where Tony goes to bed with his "little friend" the full on assault rifle. Oh well.

So here is what I found out for the die hard fans:

The guy at the bar in the final scene 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 brothas 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. This was Chase's way of proving that he will not escape his past. It will not go on forever despite that he would like it to "don't stop". Not the fans!!! Tony would like it to keep going but just as we have to say goodbye, so does he.

[Craig Ryan]

yeah I read that article on Hockeybuzz; pretty convincing given the detail.

[IAN SUN]

I think Chase just called the American dream for what it is.

wake up