Soprano Series Finale..........
- Thread starter kickserv
- Start date
Still can't decide if I liked or disliked the ending, but, really, WTF cares as its a TV show, nothing more, nothing less...
Thought 'John from Cincinnati' was great...another 'Six feet under"-type show? Thats a very high bar for this show to aspire to, but if the coming shows are as strong as last nights', its got a chance...
Great to see Al Bundy back on the boob tube, too....
Thought 'John from Cincinnati' was great...another 'Six feet under"-type show? Thats a very high bar for this show to aspire to, but if the coming shows are as strong as last nights', its got a chance...
Great to see Al Bundy back on the boob tube, too....
I guess only myself and chickenman seemed to pick up on the ending. Those who watched every episode this year will remember that when Tony asks Bobby what he thinks happens when you die Bobby says, "Everything goes black..." I will take this to mean that Meadow runs in to see Tony executed before her eyes. Personally, I thought it was a great episode as the last 5 minutes in the diner allowed the viewer to see and feel life through Tony's eyes. The tension of watching everyone come through the door, those who were getting up and the song playing in the background was great! I'll definitely miss the show but think people need to watch it again as everything was there. Also, no way that there is a movie or anything else going forward.
Haven't poured through all these posts so sorry if someone already mentioned this but my thoughts on the ending are this:
The ambiguity of the last scene allows each person to pass their own moral judgment on Tony for what they would like to have seen happen.
If you thought Tony was a monster you probably though he was about to get whacked.
If you thought he deserved to suffer the ultimate pain, to have his actions result in the death of a loved one you probably thought Meadow was about to get in the way of a bullet intended for Tony.
If you thought he deserved justice you probably think he was about to get pulled in by the FBI and thrown in jail.
If you though he was a good guy...well then maybe nothing happened.
And if you really don't know what to think...well that's the point.
IMO, it was both brilliant and well suited to the series.
The ambiguity of the last scene allows each person to pass their own moral judgment on Tony for what they would like to have seen happen.
If you thought Tony was a monster you probably though he was about to get whacked.
If you thought he deserved to suffer the ultimate pain, to have his actions result in the death of a loved one you probably thought Meadow was about to get in the way of a bullet intended for Tony.
If you thought he deserved justice you probably think he was about to get pulled in by the FBI and thrown in jail.
If you though he was a good guy...well then maybe nothing happened.
And if you really don't know what to think...well that's the point.
IMO, it was both brilliant and well suited to the series.
People need to do a little more gambling and less tv watching.
The fact that there is many a strong opinion about a soap opera is indicative of this.
Who killed JR?.......
Who cares?:shrug:
The fact that there is many a strong opinion about a soap opera is indicative of this.
Who killed JR?.......
Who cares?:shrug:
Another take on it
Another take on it
Tony Soprano carries on. The much-awaited conclusion of HBO's "The Sopranos" arrived Sunday night in a frenzy of audience speculation. Would New Jersey mob boss Soprano live or be killed? Would his family die before his eyes? Would he go to jail? Be forced to enter witness protection? Would Brooklyn boss Phil Leotardo, who had ordered a hit on Tony, prevail?
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.
But Chase was true to himself, and that's what made "The Sopranos" brilliant on Sunday night, and the 85 episodes that went before. The product of an artist with a bleak but illuminating vision, "The Sopranos" has always existed on its own terms. And it was seldom tidy.
The only neat development in the finale was that Leotardo was crushed. Otherwise it was perversely non-earthshaking - just one last visit with the characters we have followed so devoutly since 1999.
Here was the funeral for Bobby Bacala, Tony's soldier and brother-in-law, who was shot dead on Leotardo's orders last week. Here was Tony (series star James Gandolfini) paying a hospital visit to his gravely injured consigliere, Silvio Dante, also targeted by Leotardo.
Tony's ne'er-do-well son A.J. (Robert Iler) continued to wail about the misery in the world, and voiced a fleeting urge to join the Army and go fight in Afghanistan (Tony persuaded him to get involved in filmmaking, instead). Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) harped on her plans to be a lawyer.
Tony visits his senile Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) at the nursing home. "You and my dad, you two ran North Jersey," Tony prompts him.
"We did?" said Uncle Junior with no sign of recognition. "That's nice."
Despite suspicions to the contrary, neither Paulie Walnuts nor Patsy Parisi sold out Tony. And neither was whacked. Dr. Melfi, who kicked Tony out of therapy last week, made no last-minute appearance.
Sure, headaches lie ahead for Tony. The Feds are still after him. And Meadow's fiance, Patsy Jr., is a lawyer who may well be pursuing cases that intrude on Tony's business interests.
So what else is new?
The finale displayed the characters continuing, for better and worse, unaffected by the fact that the series is done. The implication was, they will go on as usual. We just won't be able to watch.
Of course, Leotardo (Frank Vincent) hit a dead end after Tony located him with the help of his favorite federal agent. The execution was a quick but classic "Sopranos" scene: Pulling up at a gas station with his wife, Leotardo made a grand show of telling his two young grandchildren in the back seat to "wave bye-bye" as he emerged from his SUV. The next moment he was on the pavement, shot in the head.
Then you heard the car roll over his head. Carunnnchh! Quick, clinical, even comical, this was the only violence during the hour.
Not that Chase (who wrote and directed this episode) didn't tease viewers with the threat of death in almost every scene.
This was never more true than in the final sequence. On the surface, it was nothing more momentous than Tony, his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), Meadow and A.J. meeting for dinner at a cozy family restaurant.
When he arrived, Tony dropped a coin in the jukebox and played the classic Journey power ballad "Don't Stop Believing." Meanwhile, every moment seemed to foreshadow disaster: Suspicious-looking people coming in the door or seated at a table nearby. Meadow on the street having trouble parallel parking her car, the tires squealing against the curb. With every passing second, the audience was primed for tragedy. It was a scene both warm and fuzzy yet full of dread, setting every viewer's heart racing for no clear reason.
But nothing would happen. It was just a family gathering for dinner at a restaurant.
Then, with a jingle of the bell on the front door, Tony looked up, apparently seeing Meadow make her delayed entrance. Or could he have seen something awful - something he certainly deserved - about to come down?
Probably not. Almost certainly a false alarm. But we'll never know. With that, "The Sopranos" cut to black, leaving us enriched after eight years. And flustered. And fated to always wonder what happened next.
? 2007 The Associated Press.
Another take on it
Tony Soprano carries on. The much-awaited conclusion of HBO's "The Sopranos" arrived Sunday night in a frenzy of audience speculation. Would New Jersey mob boss Soprano live or be killed? Would his family die before his eyes? Would he go to jail? Be forced to enter witness protection? Would Brooklyn boss Phil Leotardo, who had ordered a hit on Tony, prevail?
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.
But Chase was true to himself, and that's what made "The Sopranos" brilliant on Sunday night, and the 85 episodes that went before. The product of an artist with a bleak but illuminating vision, "The Sopranos" has always existed on its own terms. And it was seldom tidy.
The only neat development in the finale was that Leotardo was crushed. Otherwise it was perversely non-earthshaking - just one last visit with the characters we have followed so devoutly since 1999.
Here was the funeral for Bobby Bacala, Tony's soldier and brother-in-law, who was shot dead on Leotardo's orders last week. Here was Tony (series star James Gandolfini) paying a hospital visit to his gravely injured consigliere, Silvio Dante, also targeted by Leotardo.
Tony's ne'er-do-well son A.J. (Robert Iler) continued to wail about the misery in the world, and voiced a fleeting urge to join the Army and go fight in Afghanistan (Tony persuaded him to get involved in filmmaking, instead). Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) harped on her plans to be a lawyer.
Tony visits his senile Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) at the nursing home. "You and my dad, you two ran North Jersey," Tony prompts him.
"We did?" said Uncle Junior with no sign of recognition. "That's nice."
Despite suspicions to the contrary, neither Paulie Walnuts nor Patsy Parisi sold out Tony. And neither was whacked. Dr. Melfi, who kicked Tony out of therapy last week, made no last-minute appearance.
Sure, headaches lie ahead for Tony. The Feds are still after him. And Meadow's fiance, Patsy Jr., is a lawyer who may well be pursuing cases that intrude on Tony's business interests.
So what else is new?
The finale displayed the characters continuing, for better and worse, unaffected by the fact that the series is done. The implication was, they will go on as usual. We just won't be able to watch.
Of course, Leotardo (Frank Vincent) hit a dead end after Tony located him with the help of his favorite federal agent. The execution was a quick but classic "Sopranos" scene: Pulling up at a gas station with his wife, Leotardo made a grand show of telling his two young grandchildren in the back seat to "wave bye-bye" as he emerged from his SUV. The next moment he was on the pavement, shot in the head.
Then you heard the car roll over his head. Carunnnchh! Quick, clinical, even comical, this was the only violence during the hour.
Not that Chase (who wrote and directed this episode) didn't tease viewers with the threat of death in almost every scene.
This was never more true than in the final sequence. On the surface, it was nothing more momentous than Tony, his wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), Meadow and A.J. meeting for dinner at a cozy family restaurant.
When he arrived, Tony dropped a coin in the jukebox and played the classic Journey power ballad "Don't Stop Believing." Meanwhile, every moment seemed to foreshadow disaster: Suspicious-looking people coming in the door or seated at a table nearby. Meadow on the street having trouble parallel parking her car, the tires squealing against the curb. With every passing second, the audience was primed for tragedy. It was a scene both warm and fuzzy yet full of dread, setting every viewer's heart racing for no clear reason.
But nothing would happen. It was just a family gathering for dinner at a restaurant.
Then, with a jingle of the bell on the front door, Tony looked up, apparently seeing Meadow make her delayed entrance. Or could he have seen something awful - something he certainly deserved - about to come down?
Probably not. Almost certainly a false alarm. But we'll never know. With that, "The Sopranos" cut to black, leaving us enriched after eight years. And flustered. And fated to always wonder what happened next.
? 2007 The Associated Press.
Yes. Brilliant, very artistic. It would have been more brilliant if they just stopped it after the first episode and let us imagine the last seven years.
Couple of things
Couple of things
If you really listened to the entire show. It was the most brilliant end to the series. Tony was the infomrant. Keys to this were indicated on the show. His daughter said "how many times has the FBI dragged you away?"
On the series they never showed all these times. He put his head down when he was informed that he had a big chance to be indicted. He said good by to Junior and his sister. He put his house in order. He also had separate dinners with his kids.
And at the end, those guys in there were FBI agents protecting him in a restaurant they were eating at in the protection program..
One minute you see his kid driving a BMW and the next he is sitting in the restaurant that you never saw these guys eat in ever...telling him it's a starter job...
He was the informant the whole time.
He lived... i really think this is a possiblity.
Also alot of people on other fourms are saying the last thing they saw was Meadow running across the street and then tony hearing the bell on the door and looking up and the screen going to black but the last thing I saw was tony looking up and then showing meadow walking in with a smile on her face then it went to black.
I think it was the perfect way to end this series. At first I was pissed but after the morning to think about it it couldnt of ended any different.
Couple of things
If you really listened to the entire show. It was the most brilliant end to the series. Tony was the infomrant. Keys to this were indicated on the show. His daughter said "how many times has the FBI dragged you away?"
On the series they never showed all these times. He put his head down when he was informed that he had a big chance to be indicted. He said good by to Junior and his sister. He put his house in order. He also had separate dinners with his kids.
And at the end, those guys in there were FBI agents protecting him in a restaurant they were eating at in the protection program..
One minute you see his kid driving a BMW and the next he is sitting in the restaurant that you never saw these guys eat in ever...telling him it's a starter job...
He was the informant the whole time.
He lived... i really think this is a possiblity.
Also alot of people on other fourms are saying the last thing they saw was Meadow running across the street and then tony hearing the bell on the door and looking up and the screen going to black but the last thing I saw was tony looking up and then showing meadow walking in with a smile on her face then it went to black.
I think it was the perfect way to end this series. At first I was pissed but after the morning to think about it it couldnt of ended any different.
(from another site--brilliant if it is correct)
(from another site--brilliant if it is correct)
"Remember when he was speaking with Bobby...basically saying that you don't see it happening?
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 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."
(from another site--brilliant if it is correct)
"Remember when he was speaking with Bobby...basically saying that you don't see it happening?
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 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."
`Sopranos' Extras Thrown Into TV History
June 11, 2007 - 8:14pm
By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In the already infamous conclusion of "The Sopranos," the camera ominously panned to a number of background actors populating the diner where the family sat down for its last televised meal.
Seldom have nameless extras been so integral to such a historic moment in television. Depending on your perspective, they could be viewed as either red herrings meant to distract bloodthirsty fans waiting for an explosive finale _ or as Tony's potential killers who struck at the instant the screen abruptly went black.
Paolo Colandrea, a 47-year-old owner of a pizza joint in Penndel, Pa., played the mysterious man wearing a Member's Only jacket sitting at the bar. He was shown going to the bathroom _ a way station of assassination to fans of "The Godfather."
When a relative of Colandrea's picked up the phone at his pizza shop, he exclaimed: "You're trying to get in touch with him? Everyone's trying to get in touch with him!"
But if Colandrea's character was there to kill Tony Soprano, the actor who played him isn't saying.
"I do have an idea, but I cannot really talk," Colandrea said Monday. "I have papers signed that I can't make any comments on that."
Colandrea, who was born in Naples, auditioned for the role after a casting agent stopped for a bite at his shop. He claims to know definitely his character's intent and what happens following the episode's conclusion, but won't divulge it. (A bit of trivia: Colandrea's character wears a Member's Only jacket; the first episode of the final season was titled "Member's Only.")
Most have read the ending as deliberately ambiguous, leaving myriad reasonable conclusions for the audience to decipher. Colandrea's perspective, though, would have it that there's an answer to the puzzle worth hiding.
Colandrea mentions the possibility of a "Sopranos" movie, which was discussed and eventually dismissed by Chase and the show's producers years ago. Chase has said he's almost certainly not going to make a "Sopranos" film. (Chase is currently in France and unavailable for comment.)
Others imagine the blackout signifies Tony's death, coming in a flash. As Tony told Bobby Bacala while fishing earlier in the season: "You never see it coming." In this scenario, Tony perishes having seemingly reached a level of peace; he chooses Journey's optimistic "Don't Stop Believin'" on the juke box, not Frank Sinatra's backward-looking "My Way."
The final scene was shot at Holsten's Old-Fashion Ice Cream Parlour in Bloomfield, N.J. Jimmy Spadola, a local of Bloomfield, also played an extra in the final scene.
He watched the episode with friends and family on a newly installed flat screen TV, which threw doubt into the abrupt black screen that finished the finale.
"Everybody screamed! Everybody screamed: `Jimmy your cable! What did you do? What did you do?'" says Spadola. "You know something, I think that's exactly what David Chase wanted."
June 11, 2007 - 8:14pm
By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In the already infamous conclusion of "The Sopranos," the camera ominously panned to a number of background actors populating the diner where the family sat down for its last televised meal.
Seldom have nameless extras been so integral to such a historic moment in television. Depending on your perspective, they could be viewed as either red herrings meant to distract bloodthirsty fans waiting for an explosive finale _ or as Tony's potential killers who struck at the instant the screen abruptly went black.
Paolo Colandrea, a 47-year-old owner of a pizza joint in Penndel, Pa., played the mysterious man wearing a Member's Only jacket sitting at the bar. He was shown going to the bathroom _ a way station of assassination to fans of "The Godfather."
When a relative of Colandrea's picked up the phone at his pizza shop, he exclaimed: "You're trying to get in touch with him? Everyone's trying to get in touch with him!"
But if Colandrea's character was there to kill Tony Soprano, the actor who played him isn't saying.
"I do have an idea, but I cannot really talk," Colandrea said Monday. "I have papers signed that I can't make any comments on that."
Colandrea, who was born in Naples, auditioned for the role after a casting agent stopped for a bite at his shop. He claims to know definitely his character's intent and what happens following the episode's conclusion, but won't divulge it. (A bit of trivia: Colandrea's character wears a Member's Only jacket; the first episode of the final season was titled "Member's Only.")
Most have read the ending as deliberately ambiguous, leaving myriad reasonable conclusions for the audience to decipher. Colandrea's perspective, though, would have it that there's an answer to the puzzle worth hiding.
Colandrea mentions the possibility of a "Sopranos" movie, which was discussed and eventually dismissed by Chase and the show's producers years ago. Chase has said he's almost certainly not going to make a "Sopranos" film. (Chase is currently in France and unavailable for comment.)
Others imagine the blackout signifies Tony's death, coming in a flash. As Tony told Bobby Bacala while fishing earlier in the season: "You never see it coming." In this scenario, Tony perishes having seemingly reached a level of peace; he chooses Journey's optimistic "Don't Stop Believin'" on the juke box, not Frank Sinatra's backward-looking "My Way."
The final scene was shot at Holsten's Old-Fashion Ice Cream Parlour in Bloomfield, N.J. Jimmy Spadola, a local of Bloomfield, also played an extra in the final scene.
He watched the episode with friends and family on a newly installed flat screen TV, which threw doubt into the abrupt black screen that finished the finale.
"Everybody screamed! Everybody screamed: `Jimmy your cable! What did you do? What did you do?'" says Spadola. "You know something, I think that's exactly what David Chase wanted."
amen ,brother....the episode rehashed every boring subplot that we long suffering sopranos fans didn't want rehashed...a.j. the brat, janice the gold digger, junior and his dementia...
f-ck the "members only jacket guy going into the bathroom" at the end..... i think we all knew tony wasn`t getting whacked.....money talks.....and theres still plenty of money to be made...
but,they couldn`t have made the ending a little more interesting?...
and hbo?....somebody broached the hbo subject before....a waste....
so now,why keep your hbo subscription?....no deadwood.....shitty movies...the boxing?.....boxing`s getting it`s ass kicked by mma,now...
my guess.....if not a movie,they`ll bring the series back in a few years with tony doing a sort of contemporary marlon brando/godfather kind of role with a bunch of younger ,new characters...
i wonder how many millions of people were sitting in front of t.v.`s sunday night mouthing the words,"what the f-ck"?
People need to do a little more gambling and less tv watching.
The fact that there is many a strong opinion about a soap opera is indicative of this.
Who killed JR?.......
Who cares?:shrug:
WHo's JR? :SIB :mj07: :mj07:
Still can't decide if I liked or disliked the ending, but, really, WTF cares as its a TV show, nothing more, nothing less...
Thought 'John from Cincinnati' was great...another 'Six feet under"-type show? Thats a very high bar for this show to aspire to, but if the coming shows are as strong as last nights', its got a chance...
Great to see Al Bundy back on the boob tube, too....
John from Cinn sucked big time, ugh I will not watch 1 minute of that stupid show.:00x4
From Alan Sepinwal's blog in the Newark Star-Ledger (Alan for the past year and a half has written articles about the Soprano's most recent episode the following Monday). He was also the only person to get an interview with David Chase after the final episode aired on Sunday night.
Click here for link to the interview
First of all, apparently the reference at the bottom of my David Chase interview to "the e-mail that's making the rounds about all the Holsten's patrons being characters from earlier in the series" wasn't clear enough, as people are still forwarding it to me. So I'm going to put this in boldface type: There was no character at Holsten's named Nicky Leotardo. The guy in the Member's Only jacket had never been on the show before. Tony's carjackers died in the attempt. This entire e-mail is bogus. Moving on to some more debunking...
I vaguely remember in the episode at Bobby's cabin, Bobby says somethng along the lines of being killed "that everything just turns to black." Do you think this is Chase's way of telling us Tony has been whacked? -Evan Fox
Evan, you were one of a few hundred people to send me some variation on the "turns to black" (or "fades to black" or "goes black") theory. Problem is, Bobby never said it. I checked the scene -- both the original version from "Soprano Home Movies" and the bit excerpted in "The Blue Comet" -- and what happens is, Bobby says, "You probably don't ever hear it when it happens, right?" Tony responds, "Ask your friend back there. On the wall."
As with the Nicky Leotardo theory that everyone grasped onto, I think a lot of people really want a clear answer to something that David Chase obviously designed to not have a clear answer. I'm not necessarily opposed to the theory that Tony -- or Meadow, since you could argue that the final shot was from her POV -- was killed right as the music cut out, but we can't rely on evidence that doesn't exist.
Click here for link to the interview
First of all, apparently the reference at the bottom of my David Chase interview to "the e-mail that's making the rounds about all the Holsten's patrons being characters from earlier in the series" wasn't clear enough, as people are still forwarding it to me. So I'm going to put this in boldface type: There was no character at Holsten's named Nicky Leotardo. The guy in the Member's Only jacket had never been on the show before. Tony's carjackers died in the attempt. This entire e-mail is bogus. Moving on to some more debunking...
I vaguely remember in the episode at Bobby's cabin, Bobby says somethng along the lines of being killed "that everything just turns to black." Do you think this is Chase's way of telling us Tony has been whacked? -Evan Fox
Evan, you were one of a few hundred people to send me some variation on the "turns to black" (or "fades to black" or "goes black") theory. Problem is, Bobby never said it. I checked the scene -- both the original version from "Soprano Home Movies" and the bit excerpted in "The Blue Comet" -- and what happens is, Bobby says, "You probably don't ever hear it when it happens, right?" Tony responds, "Ask your friend back there. On the wall."
As with the Nicky Leotardo theory that everyone grasped onto, I think a lot of people really want a clear answer to something that David Chase obviously designed to not have a clear answer. I'm not necessarily opposed to the theory that Tony -- or Meadow, since you could argue that the final shot was from her POV -- was killed right as the music cut out, but we can't rely on evidence that doesn't exist.
