The Sopranos final episodes (SPOILERS!!!)

[LisaB]

I thought the ending was brillant after pondering it awhile. Just like the song don't stop believing it just goes on and on and on and on. Make your own conclusions about what happens. It ended up the ducks.

 

[sunee]

Exactly...reminds me of books with different endings I read as a kid....

If Tony hears the bang turn to pg 57....

If meadow walks in turn to page 88....

If the guy comes outta the bathroom turn to page 68...
Kerri

 

[Blondie]

I like my TV (when I do watch it) without having a reference book to guide me through the episodes. Let me see...what song does that reference....the man in the baseball cap and members only jacket...who does that resemble, what does driving a BMW signify, etc. Just give it to me straight up.

I don't mind being "spoonfed" (I'm reading that term all over the net this morning! )

With Sex and The City and Six Feet Under, I walked away after their season finales feeling completely satisfied. I wish I could say the same for the Sopranos, a series I stuck with for 9 years. I almost feel betrayed!

I think I need to go get a life!

 

[tedhowe]

Unless they are as lame as the one used.

I wanted an ending. This was no ending. I wanted closure. This provided me with a lot to think about and a lot to guess. That's not what I wanted. Heck, Seinfeld's ending was better compared to this one.

I remember an quote from David Chase from a couple of months ago (about the time the filming of this episode was completed, I think) that said effectively that people looking for closure would be disappointed.

At least he was up front and honest about that.

Personally, I've been thinking about the finale a lot since I watched it last night. I don't have a problem with the way he chose to "end" it. I don't think it was great (in the way Six Feet Under was) but I don't think it was horrible.

I like the ambiguity.

 

[brerrabbit]

I like the ending for several reasons. First its totally open to interpretation as so many here are doing. Second the ending suggests that in light of the death, the fear, the evil people that so many of the characters are that life just goes on. Many people wanted the show to end with Tony getting whacked and them getting closure, but the reality for Tony living his life is much harder than just getting killed. There were hints throughout the show that in small ways resolved each characters situation and the overall irony of the fact that the family could go from living in hiding with the fear of death one day to right back to their normal lives the next. Tony gets the sit down with the New York family minus Phil and rather than being pissed that they killed Bobby, negotiates a settlement for Janice his sister. He would be more annoyed listening to Janice whine about what she's going to do than he is about Bobby actually getting killed. AJ goes from attempting suicide and fearing the decay of civilization, to being an enviromentalist not caring about his SUV burning up and deciding to take the bus, to not minding driving the BMW because "hey, it gets 23 miles a gallon, and thats not bad". Tony takes care of him by getting him set up with Carmine to help with producing a movie to a promise of eventually getting his own nightclub to run. It's like AJ went through his discovery phase of life and is ready to settle into his niche in life prospering from his fathers activities. Meadow wants to become a lawyer and part of the reasoning she gives Tony is because she's tired of the government picking on minorities. I mean after all she has seen how poorly they treat Italian Americans based on all the warrents they have executed to search her own (Tony's) house. Can you say Mob Lawyer! Carmen is in total fear when asked to run by Tony, but the very day the "war" ends she has an appointment with her builder to start working on her next house she is going to flip. The whole theme of the show from the outset was life goes on.

Even Paulie sitting in front of the Pigstand working on his tan suggests that through all the changes, the death, the deciet, and the crime, life goes on. I did like the idea of the cat being the reincarnation of Adrian and thought it was interesting that it only bothered Paulie. Seems he is the only one with any smidgeon of a consious about the things they do.

Finally, the killing of Phil was in my way of thinking a goodbye to the old Mob mentality. He was old school, mad because Tony has never done any real prison time, mad because made men are not made to spill blood at their ceremony. Ready to declare war at the drop of a hat. While the New York guys Tony met with would not give up Phils location they understood why Tony felt the need to kill him. They even admitted he had crossed the line.

His death just signalled the end of the old Mob, and the start of the new Mob that has to exsist in todays world, and deal with the same problems of family and everyday life that the rest of us have to deal with.

In my ending Tony does'nt get killed, he has a much worse fate, he has to go on living his life.

Also as a last thought, I thought the whole scene at the end of Meadow having trouble parking the car was a nod from Chase to all the people who wrote and pursued spoilers about the final episode. After all the ruckos over the spoilers for the last episode of Lost it was his way of setting us up to think Meadow was going to killed like the spoilers said but she wasn't. There was anticipation as she tried again and again to park but couldn't, and then as she ran across the rod was she going to get run over? Chase threw that in the face of all those who thought they knew the ending.

 

[minniecarousel]

Now that I've had the night to ponder - I like the whole idea that life goes on. Tony will always have to be on guard, hoping that every time a door opens, someone is coming after him. They got AJ through his crisis. Meadow may end up defending mobsters like her father (sheesh, what did she think her father does for a living?! "picking on Italian-Americans" too funny!)

 

[Hannathy]

Even Paulie sitting in front of the Pigstand working on his tan suggests that through all the changes, the death, the deciet, and the crime, life goes on. I did like the idea of the cat being the reincarnation of Adrian and thought it was interesting that it only bothered Paulie. Seems he is the only one with any smidgeon of a consious about the things they do.

I still hate the non-ending. but thanks for the laugh! Yeah Paulie with a conscious that's hilarious. A man who killed a waiter cause he asked about the tip, who made a profit off of the Church Carnival, who beat up and threatened to kill a man when he wanted to get out of the trash business after his father died if he didn't continue and keep paying Paulie, After killing the guys in the apartment took all the money in the freezer and wasn't going to tell Tony, the Russian in the pine barrens, His method fro getting his Mom friends in the home,Do I need to continue.

 

[beattyfamily]

Just heard on the View that they only taped one finale. That the taping of 3 finales was a lie.

Joy said it 'by accident' saying that Lorraine Bracco told her there was only one finale taped.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Didn't Tony's father die as he was eating onion rings?

 

[gometros]

It wasn't trash, it just wasn't spelled out for us. If you've watched the Sopranos from the beginning, you got a feel for how they use subtle ness and metaphors. They never wanted to spoonfeed us. This was supposed to be a sophisticated show for the discearning viewer, not just a mob and cop show. From all the circumstances, clues, and set-ups, I'd bet my dog that Tony was shot in the head, just like he spoke of in the episode last week. Galdolfini swore not to reprise the role of Tony. This is the was of keeping this series a cult phenomenon, an icon, by not coming out with Sopranos movies of the week.

Thank you. Too many times we seem to want simple answers and everything spelled out for us. I think the hallmark of good TV is a show that doesn't patronize to us. Why do so many people like shows like Lost? Sure, we get frustrated by so many questions and so few answers, but that is what keeps us engrossed with the show. It's a balancing act, since if the writers muddy the waters too much, then we get frustrated and walk away. The trick is to tease enough to want more. The Sopranos was complicated on so many levels and the beauty of the ending is we may never know what really happened. Maybe Tony did get whacked and Chase offered us a dignified ending to the show. Maybe he didn't die and the show ended as it began, with a metaphor.

One thing I did think about when I heard the bell as the door opened, was It's A Wonderful Life Where Zuzu says that every time a bell rings an angel gets their wings. Now, Tony was no angel, so either it was a wink by Chase, or I'm reading too much into it

 

[airhead]

I thought the ending was awesome!!! I'm one that also believes the silence and darkness is Tony dead. WOW!!!!!!!!!

Now,I will watch all the episodes from day one!

 

[disneyfan67]

I still hate the non-ending. but thanks for the laugh! Yeah Paulie with a conscious that's hilarious. A man who killed a waiter cause he asked about the tip, who made a profit off of the Church Carnival, who beat up and threatened to kill a man when he wanted to get out of the trash business after his father died if he didn't continue and keep paying Paulie, After killing the guys in the apartment took all the money in the freezer and wasn't going to tell Tony, the Russian in the pine barrens, His method fro getting his Mom friends in the home, Do I need to continue.

I agree with you, but Paulie has changed somewhat after going through cancer. He knows the end is near and is worried about the after life and what it has in store for him. Remember the episode a few seasons back when he went to a palm reader/Psychic reader who could communicate withe dead? I remember how he and the Psychic reader were scared by all the negative emotion and anger from the departed souls of the people Paulie had killed or done wrong. Paulie is worried about taking on that Union construction skimming job that everyone that had it before him, has died prematurely. He's a violent man with not much formal education, but is very superstitious, especially with anything having a religious tone to it. The cat and always watching that photo of Christopher, is just too much for him to handle.

I didn't care for the ending, but the cat and Paulie were classic, IMO.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Just heard on the View that they only taped one finale. That the taping of 3 finales was a lie.

Joy said it 'by accident' saying that Lorraine Bracco told her there was only one finale taped.

Oh NO! I was hoping for at least something when the DVD comes out!!!!

 

[LouDisney]

I am leaning towards the whole life goes on, he will always be watching behind his back ending. AJ says something like remember the good times, telling his dad that he told him that once. Maybe it's life goes on, even with all the bad stuff that had happened, life goes on and but to just remember the good times...but I can see it going the other way. Tony getting whacked, darkness, done.

Oh well...

 

[lovebuzz]

Someone asked who is Carlo? Well last nights episode he was the one that was filling up his plate and his son said hey pop they have roasted pork. Maybe that was our refrence that he is a pig and going to turn states evidence??

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I am leaning toward he got whacked.
I think he knew the guy at the counter and knew he had the drop on him. The guy couldn't make his move till his partner, the guy in front of AJ walks in. Tony couldn't do anything because it would risk his family getting hurt.
He ordered the onio rings in a sign of acceptance(same fate he and his father shared).
He even eats them the same way as his son.
Oh and Meadow is pregnant.

 

[KristinBelle]

I'm starting to think there just wasn't an end. I think Chase is just sitting back and laughing about everyone speculating and reading into things trying to find a hidden meaning when there is none. Jerk.

 

[MosMom]

After thinking about it more, it was kind of a cool ending. I think Tony got it though. Nobody wants to see Tony get it but you knew it was always a possibility. I guess this lets you make up your own mind but after having time to really think about all the details (down to the onion rings) it is brilliant.

 

[alldiz]

I am leaning toward he got whacked.
I think he knew the guy at the counter and knew he had the drop on him. The guy couldn't make his move till his partner, the guy in front of AJ walks in. Tony couldn't do anything because it would risk his family getting hurt.
He ordered the onio rings in a sign of acceptance(same fate he and his father shared).
He even eats them the same way as his son.
Oh and Meadow is pregnant.

Hmmmmm....
Oh....what makes you think meadow is preggars?/
Kerri

 

[dvcfamily41801]

I just wish that David Chase would just let everyone have fun with the different endings and then finally say how he intended it to be.