Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The Sopranos Finale

What’s with all the crybabies out there whining about the final episode of The Sopranos? People are complaining that show-creator David Chase left them hanging and didn’t give them closure. They’re disappointed because he used a genius closing shot….sending the screen to black as Tony and his family were eating in a diner….instead of going out with guns blazing and blood splattering.

I think Chase crafted a perfect ending for his hit series. He left it open for you to interpret. Let’s face it, most everybody who watches The Sopranos already had an idea in their own head as to how the show should play out in this, its final season. And everybody’s mind-created endings to the show were never going to live up to any type of ending that the crew of the show could’ve come up with. So instead, David Chase ends the show with the family appearing happily enjoying a nice meal (complete with onion rings) at a diner when the screen goes black for a few seconds, and then the credits roll.

Were you somebody who wanted to Tony to be gunned down and killed? Well, with David Chase’s ending, you have the option of playing out your previously formatted ending in your own mind. You wanted to see Tony die? Well, in your mind, he can now be dead. Did you want to see Tony survive and end up doing time for the weapons charge that was looming? Well, in your mind, he’s now doing the time and his family is coping. Did you want to see Sil come out of his bullet-induced coma? There you have it…he’s doing just fine in your scenario. Did you want to see Meadow flash her boobs as she walked into the diner? Well, I know I did. And in the ending I had pre-fashioned in my mind before the final chapter aired she does!

David Chase knew he would be in a no-win situation with whatever ending he crafted. And maybe he won’t win this imbecilic brouhaha that’s been kicked up since the show ended Sunday. But, he did end it with the most awesome ending that could’ve been created for this show.

So quit your whining sissy-pants TV viewers. Paulie Walnuts is still out there, and he’ll come whack you if keep giving his creator (Chase) any more grief.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tony's dead. Here's my rationale:

Tony and Carmela spent Tony’s 47th birthday at a lake house owned by Janice and Bobby Bacala. As they drifted across the lake in a boat, Bobby and Tony talked about how Bobby had not yet killed anyone. Bobby talked about what happens when you die. He said something like "They say, you never hear it coming, and then it all goes black." When Bobby was killed in the second to last episode, Tony started thinking about that conversation and they inserted a flashback of Bobby saying that same line.

In the final scene of the series, the camera was switching back and forth from Tony’s first person perspective and the omnipotent third person perspective. You could see the jukebox from Tony’s perspective as he flipped through the songs. You could see Meadow trying to park from the omnipotent view of the third person perspective. Then the camera returns to show Tony’s perspective as he watches Carmela and AJ eat onion rings. It goes back and forth like that for several shots. But when the episode cuts to black we are looking toward the door of the diner from Tony’s perspective. So when everything suddenly stops, it’s because he’s dead. Shot in the head? Heart attack? Choked to death on an onion ring? Who knows.

11:57 AM  

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