10 Comments Add your own

• 1. brian  |  June 11th, 2007 at 9:20 am

  I found it very satisfying. A conclusive ending would have felt completely out of context with the rest of the series.

  I think people who are complaining about it never really got the show.

  A blogger this morning said it perfectly: Those people weren’t watching The Sopranos, but another show that they hoped would turn into what they wanted The Sopranos to be.

• 2. Patrick  |  June 11th, 2007 at 9:42 am

  I thought it was awesome. Caught me totally by surprise, which was refreshing. David Chase doesn’t conform to “normal” TV practices, which is a good thing!

• 3. David Johnson  |  June 11th, 2007 at 9:51 am

  it was week, seemingly rushed and plodding at the same time. the pacing was slow and casual, and yet so many plot arcs were tied up without significant payoff that it undersold the value of the story lines and the characters involved.

  i got the show, and i also get good writing, and i know the difference between existentialism and fizzling out. one way to stop writing is to just put down the pencil, i suppose, but that doesn’t make it brilliant.

  in the end, the only character that had a real moment of dynamic transformation was tony’s therapist, and since that relationship was the central arc of the series, her quitting in the penultimate episode represented the only real wrap up offered… and yet it didn’t get paid off for the viewer who invested the time in taking the journey. just another gloss over/fly by on the way to the non-curtain-call.

• 4. Steve Safran  |  June 11th, 2007 at 9:56 am

  I thought it…

• 5. Cory  |  June 11th, 2007 at 10:31 am

  Yeah, I’ve heard from quite a few people who thought their cable went out. And subsequently, they hated the ending.

• 6. Howard Owens  |  June 11th, 2007 at 10:54 am

  At first, I felt a little let down that there wasn’t a real conclusion, but the more I thought about it, the more wonderful it seemed to me.

  The whole show played on expectations for a real wrap up, but the longer the episode went on the more it felt like nothing was going to happen … then the final scene was full of tension … because we had to pause the DVR just before that final scene, we knew there was only about five minutes left in the show … the final scene was so tense and menacing … you’re wondering, is the whole family going to get whacked, except maybe Meadow cause she can’t park her car, then she almost gets hit by a car walking in, and a menacing guy enters with her … and it ends.

  Life goes on just as before … Tony surrounded by both the love of his family and the danger of this thing he has … perfect, really, if you get the show.

  It is a climatic ending without the obvious climax. Very good.

  And it has the feeling of finalized, to me at least. This ending would be ruined if there were a sequel feature film some day, or something like that.

• 7. Joe Gannon  |  June 11th, 2007 at 12:45 pm

  At first I thought the message was, no matter what, no matter how things work out, no matter how many threats Tony survives, no matter how many people get wacked, life for Tony always stays the same. He will always have to scope out the place when he goes in, sit facing the door, close to the bathroom, etc. Life goes on because Tony always has to keep looking over his shoulder.

  And then I read something on the LA Times blog about the show. If Tony did indeed get wacked, that’s how it would end. He would never see it coming (as he and Bobby talked about at the beginning of the season). At some point, long-term memory would run out, and it would all cut abruptly to black. The scene didn’t end and go straight to credits. It was in black for a good 5 beats.

  Either way, I think Chase came up with the best series finale ever. It’s not like Tony’s going to take off in the last helicopter while Pauly rides his motorcycle next to some rocks that spell out “Farewell” or “Goodbye” or “Fuggetaboutit!” Or Tony was led into a cell with Kramer and Elaine. All things come to an end. And endings aren’t always tidy or pat.

• 8. Joe Gannon  |  June 11th, 2007 at 1:17 pm

  I think Livia nailed it in season one (or two?) when Chase had her say, in summing up Life itself:

  “It’s all a big nothing”

  I really think that is as close to what David Chase thinks as we are ever going to get.

• 9. Guido  |  June 11th, 2007 at 1:42 pm

  Perfect setup for “Sopranos: The Movie”.

  Otherwise, it was a garbage ending. Chase should get whacked himself for this crappy ending …

• 10. Anony Mouse  |  June 11th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

  Joe Gannon is absolutely right. When Tony and Bobby were talking in the boat in the flash back scene of episode 85, Bobby says “you probably don’t even HEAR nothin when it happens”. Also I don’t hear much talk about how the diner scene is a total homage to the Godfather… The guy goes into the bathroom pulls his gun and comes out and shoots T in the head as he leaves. If Meadow had been in the diner she would have been in the way of a perfect shot….

  I hated it last night, but after watching some stuff over again and thinking about it. I can say I’m satisfied. You can’t make everybody happy and to David Chase’s credit, I believe he tried. Give it some time, I think this will go down as one of the greatest endings to a TV show in history.

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