The Sopranos final episodes (SPOILERS!!!)

[ThreeMusketeers]

My initial reaction was to HATE the final episode. HOWEVER, I am going with the tony died thing as well.
First off...

It ended so Abruptly..

And thats all I got. I like thinking that I have some closure..
LOL
I don't have a second of all.
lol

 

[jenfur]

I thought it was perfect! When the screen first went black, DH and I were a little confused, I thought that my Tivo was off time or something. Then it hit home and I teared up. I thought Tony was going to make it....

 

[SamRoc]

I might be in the minority here, but since i didnt actually see Tony or anyone in his family get whacked, I think they all survive. It's just another family dinner out, but always surrounded by suspicious characters. Thats the life he leads, you always have to be on your guard. If they were going to definitely kill Tony off, they would have done it with all the blood and guts the Sopranos is known for. The only one who died in this episode is Phil and he's good and dead, first the bullet to the head, then his own car crushes his head! The sound was just awful! I was actually cheering, does that make me a bad person for wanting Phil dead?

 

[rie'smom]

I might be in the minority here, but since i didnt actually see Tony or anyone in his family get whacked, I think they all survive. It's just another family dinner out, but always surrounded by suspicious characters. Thats the life he leads, you always have to be on your guard. If they were going to definitely kill Tony off, they would have done it with all the blood and guts the Sopranos is known for. The only one who died in this episode is Phil and he's good and dead, first the bullet to the head, then his own car crushes his head! The sound was just awful! I was actually cheering, does that make me a bad person for wanting Phil dead?

This is exactly how I feel about the episode. I told my husband this in almost those exact words. If you're in the mob, you have to be suspicious of everyone. That's why David Chase made all those people in the diner look so shady. He would never stoop to copying The Godfather with the guy coming out of the bathroom to hit Tony. He doesn't have to.
Of course you're not bad for wanting Phil dead- I wanted it too.

 

[SamRoc]

This is exactly how I feel about the episode. I told my husband this in almost those exact words. If you're in the mob, you have to be suspicious of everyone. That's why David Chase made all those people in the diner look so shady. He would never stoop to copying The Godfather with the guy coming out of the bathroom to hit Tony. He doesn't have to.
Of course you're not bad for wanting Phil dead- I wanted it too.

Thanks! I'm glad we think alike! The scene where Phil says goodbye to the 2 kids, then gets shot in the head, is classic Sopranos.

 

[RobIrie]

I haven't read all the posts here, there are too many, but my interpretation is that the ending was left completely open to interpretation by the viewer. I think the stuff about how you don't hear the shot coming and everything just goes black is relevent, but it wasn't Tony who was wacked. It was the viewer.

Everyone knew this was the final episode and everyone was waiting for the big ending, but when it came, you never knew it. You didn't hear the bang; everything just went black...

Saying Tony got killed is too simple because there's no way to prove it. Chase focused on all those random people in the diner because he wanted everyone to get on edge and think something big was going to happen, but when the end came, no one saw it coming.

 

[bengalbelle]

I liked the episode.

Initially I thought the guys in the diner were feds or hitmen, but after re-watching the ending a few times, I think they were nobodies. Tony was on guard and we were watching and judging the character of those men through his eyes and based on his suspicions. He'll always be looking over his shoulder and never feel safe.

It's just another night in the Soprano family. How many times have we seen Tony involved in a hit/something gruesome, or the family have to deal with tragedy, only to end up at the dinner table talking about their day like any other family.

The loose ends were tied up with the family. We saw how far Jr. has fallen. He used to run North Jersey, now he barely knows his name. Janice tries to carry on without Bobby (with financial help from Phil's crew). Carmella and Tony wanted their children to have lives outside the mob, but to keep AJ out of the army he's now working for a movie company financed by the mob, potentially opening a club, financed by the mob, etc. He basically abandons all his feelings about doing something bigger (Afghanistan and CIA) for a BMW and a shot at a movie deal. Meadow is marrying into the mob. It just shows how firmly entrenched they are in their mob family.

I like the idea of everything going to black meaning Tony was killed, but I just think it meant the end of the Soprano's as a series. Tony is back in power. Little Carmine will likely take over the NY family now and he and Tony are on good terms. The few guys close to Phil basically gave Tony the go ahead to do whatever he needed with Phil...so they weren't all that loyal to Phil either. Who would have it out for Tony? Everything is as it should be...

And, their options are completely open if they ever want to revisit the story

I'm not one of those people that gets all of the symbolism and deeper meanings in books and shows, so I may be totally off base. Just my take on things, FWIW.

 

[bengalbelle]

Thanks! I'm glad we think alike! The scene where Phil says goodbye to the 2 kids, then gets shot in the head, is classic Sopranos.

It was! I think everyone watching knew Phil was going to be killed. I guess that's why I liked the ending so much. Everything was set up (I was literally on the edge of my seat those last few minutes) for something bad to happen, and instead we got the unexpected.

 

[JulyGirl]

I might be in the minority here, but since i didnt actually see Tony or anyone in his family get whacked, I think they all survive. It's just another family dinner out, but always surrounded by suspicious characters. Thats the life he leads, you always have to be on your guard. If they were going to definitely kill Tony off, they would have done it with all the blood and guts the Sopranos is known for. The only one who died in this episode is Phil and he's good and dead, first the bullet to the head, then his own car crushes his head! The sound was just awful! I was actually cheering, does that make me a bad person for wanting Phil dead?

That is what I got from the episode. The scene shows the paranoia that Tony and his family go through everyday.

 

[JulyGirl]

I haven't read all the posts here, there are too many, but my interpretation is that the ending was left completely open to interpretation by the viewer. I think the stuff about how you don't hear the shot coming and everything just goes black is relevent, but it wasn't Tony who was wacked. It was the viewer.

Everyone knew this was the final episode and everyone was waiting for the big ending, but when it came, you never knew it. You didn't hear the bang; everything just went black...

Saying Tony got killed is too simple because there's no way to prove it. Chase focused on all those random people in the diner because he wanted everyone to get on edge and think something big was going to happen, but when the end came, no one saw it coming.

Oh, I like the way you think. I'm going with your theiry.

 

[crazyme5kids]

I think the ending was brilliant! Everyone gets to write their own ending !

 

[Cass]

I think it was more lazy than brilliant.

 

[Poppinsme]

What a fabulous episode!
How did you like the reference to A.J. working for the "Producers" and having "Ulla" for his secretary? Mel Brooks anyone?
And as always the symbolism is incredible.
What an ending!!!
I will miss one of the best shows on television ever.
BRAVO

 

[MickeysMommy]

I've read all the responses and I'm going with Tony is NOT dead. That would be too easy and like the others said who would need him dead now? BTW, the cat was so completly Adriana.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I think Paulie was the one flipping. The cat was supposed to represent Adrianna, she flipped. Paulie was so bugged out by the cat and after every conversation with Tony he looked like he felt really guilty. The cat lying down next to Paulie in that last scene was also because he, like Adrianna flipped on Tony.

I also agree Tony is dead, did Tony's dad get shot in a dinner in front of his family? Same ending for Tony, I agree that's why the screen went back and stayed that way, lights out, Tony is dead.

I agree with you. It seemed pretty clear to me that the cat was Adrianna, Chase kind of hit us over the head with that one. I also found the FBI agent's transformation that a PP referred to pretty interesting as well. He started out being this really clean cut guy and at the end of the series he's sleeping with a co-worker.

I think the guy in the Member's Only jacket was the hit man, and the last time we see him he's going into the Mens room to get the gun. I think Meadow comes in, Tony looks up to see her and the thing we don't get to see is the guy coming out of the Mens in the same moment and shoots Tony in the head-the same way Phil got it. (minus the whole head crunching thing).

I pass the gas station where Phil got it every day on my way back and forth to work, so that was a big moment for me. "hey! That's the Raceway on 202 and Rt 10! Look, the Barnes and Noble is right over there!"

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I think that was a GREAT ending! Sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for disaster at every turn.....exactly what Tony is feeling everyday. The impending doom was palpable.

Sad to see it end.....

BTW, I don't think Tony was killed. Just continuing on with his miserable life waiting for the piano to drop....

 

[alldiz]

Wow....I also thought my cable went out....

I think.....life goes on.....Tony will always be
"waiting to get wacked"....the scene showed how
every moment can feel suspicious....

that scene reminded me of on the boat...where Tony
was thinkin of wacking paulie....
he kept looking at the ax...and sharp objects....like
he was gonna wack paulie at every minute...
Kerri

 

[madge]

It left you on the edge of your seat wondering what was going to happen. It just set it up to either come back or have a movie if they wanted. Not what I was expecting but different

Which is exactly how Tony Soprano is going to have to live every day, for the rest of his life. Those last few minutes in the coffee shop, when he was alone... and tense, and vulnerable. You never know when your final moment is going to be.

I'm not sure I buy into the sudden cut to black is Tony's death, though. And I still think it was a lousy way to end the show. LOL. But. Was there any way that David Chase could have ended The Sopranos that would satisfy everyone/anyone?

One thing I don't like is the notion that the ending was planned with a movie in mind. The TV show shouldn't have anything to to with that, IMO. With all the money that can be raked in from movies, I know that's not a very realistic opinion, though.

Unresolved and controversial... that's what David Chase was quoted as saying. And he was right. LOL

 

[madge]

they're saying he didn't die....

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PMCDG80&show_article=1"

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Was there any way that David Chase could have ended The Sopranos that would satisfy everyone/anyone?

Unresolved and controversial... that's what David Chase was quoted as saying. And he was right. LOL

David Chase has never tried to make everyone happy with the Soprano's, that is for sure .

This is what AP writer Frazier Moore had to say about the finale...
"In the end, the only ending that mattered was the one masterminded by "Sopranos" creator David Chase. And playing against viewer expectations, as always, Chase refused to stage a mass extermination, put the characters through any changes, or provide his viewers with comfortable closure. Or catharsis. After all, he declined to pass moral judgment on Tony -- he reminded viewers all season what a thug Tony is, then gave him a pass."