Sopranos Season Finale Discussion

[pauliewalnuts]

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I noticed this line in the Journey song the second time through, and I chuckled:

"Working hard to get my fill (Phil),
Everybody wants a thrill"

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Nice. In this show, nothing seems to be just a coincidence.

[Thug Bubbles]

Not much else to say since it's all pretty much been covered. But I'd like to point out that Chase really couldn't have ended it with a traditional take on the big three (he dies, he gets jailed, or life just goes on). The ending of a show should encapsulate the meaning of the run.

Tony NEVER changes, and never will. AJ is still a (psychologically) weak man hiding behind any excuse, just like his father. Meadow is deluding herself in ignoring the reality of her family and Tony, just like her mother.

The ending managed to get all the big three without getting to them, and it's truly an ending unique to the world of The Sopranos and the commentary that the show makes on Mafia life. I had a feeling the ending would not be gratifying because the point that the show has made through the seasons has been just that: Dissatisfaction.

I think the large reason so many people will hate then ending is because we've been so saturated with Gangster flicks that we now expect a certain way to be told "another Mafia story", and this show has done an amazing job of referencing and paying Homage to the styles and stories previous while doing something completely different for itself. The ending was unconventional, but not self-inflated.

Though i REALLY wanted Meadow and Carmella to somehow find out, concretely and without doubt, the things that Tony has done. For him to have his own family see the evil in him and cast him away would have been the perfect punishment. But that wouldn't fit with the current of the show.

[antifish225]

I think it was perfect ending - the last scene was probably one of the most suspenful 2 minutes of TV I have seen in a long time, Brilliantly done....after it ended I sat around and thought about it for a while, and I can not imagine a more perfect ending for a brilliant show.....sad is over...sad there is only 1 more season on the Wire....

[sylar]

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When I Googled "Nikki Leotardo" the only link was to freepublic.com where I think it said exactly what you said.

When I IMDB'd it the show only credited the main actors, while normally it shows every single actor (maybe it's too soon for them to show that stuff).

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full credits here http://www.tv.com/the-sopranos/made-...1450/cast.html

they are only credited as truck driver in diner, and man in members only jacket.

noone is referenced as nikki leotardo. wtf.

everyone who says it's obviously tony gets whacked is over-reaching.

[BarryLyndon]

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the ending is a crafted jolt to the viewers. i can understand people standing on "that ending sucked", i can understand people being struck and then going on to accept or like or love it. but to instantly say it's perfect seems like you're skipping over the mourning phase. how can you say something was great despite difficulty if you never actually internalized the difficulty? it's like everyone wants to be the first to "get it".

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i felt they held on the black screen for too long - that's my only problem with it. still, i feel like that's what life is like for tony soprano - one minute you're ordering off a menu, the next you could be dead - it's a quick cut, no goodbye endings, nothing operatic or grand.

if it suggests death, so be it - the show is by and large about death. is the soprano family depressed because of how close they are to death, or does their tendency towards depression lead them into these choices?

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At least one person on this thread understood the ending.

This was a show about the life and psychology of a man, Tony Soprano, who was both the head of a mafia and a father to a dysfunctional family. Those of you who watched the show to see expositiory depictions of exact happenings should go watch an episode of "Friends." No matter how you look at it, the last shot shows you the position that Tony is in now, which is more than enough. He has a son who is entirely detached from life as Tony knows it, but maybe he is starting to turn around. Maybe a week from now he's going to quit that job. Thank god he didn't sign any papers (yet). He has a wife who is ultimately dissatisfied with her position as a house-wife and, in some respects, as a mother - but maybe things will be OK now that his daughter may make 170K as an attorney or if Tony spends more money to help her invest in property. You have the FBI accumulating enough evidence to put you away for life and everytime the door to a diner opens or someone gets up to go to the men's room, you may be worried that a bullet is going through your brain. Maybe it just has - just as you're beautiful, smart-as-a-whip daughter walks into this [censored] North Jersey diner that, in your opinion, has "the best onion rings in the state." This is Tony's life now: his slowly mending dysfunctional family, a [censored] diner, several members of his family dead, and the fear of having a bullet lodged in his head / being sent off to jail. If that's not an ending, I don't know what is.

Barry

[Pokerlogist]

If this is all true, and it may be, it would make the finale at least clever and acceptable but still not great for me. TV and movie creators have really lost the ability to make great stories. A great story needs a great ending. This was far too undramatic or flat for me. The long sudden blackout was a bad mistake since viewers, including myself, thought their cable equipment had a glitch. This takes them out of the story. It needed a "THE END" sign. BTW I think if Tony was shot during the blackout, we would of heard a gunshot during the blackout. That would have been a passable ending.

[BarryLyndon]

ENTOURAGE NEXT SUNDAY, BABY!

[secretprankster]

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My Dream Ending

Meadow walks in, the camera focuses at her confused face for .5 seconds.

Then either; screen turns black and you hear many many many gun fires

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This does not sound good at all.

[heater]

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When I Googled "Nikki Leotardo" the only link was to freepublic.com where I think it said exactly what you said.

When I IMDB'd it the show only credited the main actors, while normally it shows every single actor (maybe it's too soon for them to show that stuff).

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full credits here http://www.tv.com/the-sopranos/made-...1450/cast.html

they are only credited as truck driver in diner, and man in members only jacket.

noone is referenced as nikki leotardo. wtf.

everyone who says it's obviously tony gets whacked is over-reaching.

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The only Leotardo relatives shown throughout the series are Phil's brother and wife. Also, find me a male Italian who spells his name, "Nikki" please.

[RacersEdge]

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I think Carmela hit new lows in self-centered, whiny shame in this episode.

However, the ultimate success in "The Sopranos" over the full 7 seasons is that it has de-mythologized, de-romanticized the Mafia and its accompanying lifestyle. Anyone still wanna be Mafioso?

Sure, the cash is nice, the goomarr(s), the rush of guns and bein' a tough guy, but what tonight confirms is that Tony will never be secure, never deal with his depression and anxiety, because the death and misery that surrounds him in every facet of his life will never, ever, ever, go away.

Everyone in his family is full of [censored] about their life, their value to society, their potential for positive contributions. Meadow concerned about the civil rights of career criminals, AJ becoming an Arabic speaking helicopter pilot, Carm producing loving kids and supportive plans, and Tony as much as he sees himself as a provider - only takes.

There is tension in the scene in Holstens because we all identify with the small pieces of conflict presented: people are late, they talk smack, they are disappointing, you can't parallel park on-demand...

But as an experienced audience, and expecting SOME sort of dramatic ending, we are shown that an every day dinner for Tony and his family will always always be a second away from death.

We infer that Meadow's parking skills are about to save her life while her family is being murdered inside - that fate, timing and circumstance, will haunt those four forever.

Unbelievable anxiety. *That* is David Chase's curse. There will never be a simple night out for the family again.

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This line doesn't work for me at all becasue I took it as a given from day one that these people were selfish evil people - and people like that who live in the scum of society will always have miserable rotten lives. So if that was supposed to be the big takeaway, it was wasted effort from my perspective.