51 replies to this topic

[Andrew]

Wow. Apparantly, Chase is also God, b/c he never makes any mistakes as well.

I'm unsure as to how you reached this point from reading my post.

I'm sure everyone was on the edge of their seat during that final scene (including me for the only time in the episode) and NONE of you were thinking, "You know what, I don't want to know what happens. I think the screen should go black right about now."

So we should only like what we expect or want?

I'm just curious, would you have preferred that the episode ended with Meadow taking her seat in the diner and then fading to black while the family eats?

[Mike00spy]

Well, I do believe there is an almost loyal backing to the ending.

Like I said before, it is disrespectful to the audience.
Maybe some of you disagree. Great. I love debating anything. But, if you liked the ending, then answer this honestly.


The ending says that WE the audience do not deserve to know whether Tony and his family lives or dies.

And if that is the case, then why did you watch for all these years?

[Andrew]

The ending says that WE the audience do not deserve to know whether Tony and his family lives or dies.

And if that is the case, then why did you watch for all these years?

For entertainment.

[Turn]

Well, I do believe there is an almost loyal backing to the ending.

Like I said before, it is disrespectful to the audience.
Maybe some of you disagree. Great. I love debating anything. But, if you liked the ending, then answer this honestly.


The ending says that WE the audience do not deserve to know whether Tony and his family lives or dies.

And if that is the case, then why did you watch for all these years?

I watched all those years because I enjoyed it and never ever thought there would have to be an ending with Tony dead or alive or knowing his ultimate fate.

And I never thought any creative person owed it to me or felt I deserved anything. I just like endings that don't tie everything up necessarily and leave you to come up with your own conclusions. I think having a hit on him or his family would have been a poor way to go out, as would just the family was eating together, all happy.

It seems like EVERYBODY is talking about this. I was watching SportsCenter last night and they went from baseball highlights to this. Rather than yet another series finale where everybody rants about how it didn't do justice, this one has people talking, good or bad.

[zencat]

The more I think about it (and I've thought about it a lot) the more I think the ending was brilliant. And not just the cut to black, but the entire scene. I've watched it several times on YouTube and I just marvel at how utterly banal AND how utterly suspenseful it is. It's all about total paranoia. Looking up at every person who walks in, seeing a potential killer in every face. You can play a favorite song, you can have dinner with your family, but you will NEVER feel safe. And, like Tony, we are not given a break from this. We are not killed, and we are not reprieved. We will look up at every ding of that door in this terrible, terrible, fearful state...forever.

It was a brave, artful, and totally unexpected. It was more about communicating feeling than providing dramatic resolution. It played the tension to the zenith, and then brutally left us at the zenith. Beautiful.

[Andrew]

Here's my ranking of the episodes this season, all of which were excellent...

The Blue Comet
The Second Coming
Walk Like a Man
Made in America
Kennedy and Heidi
Stage 5
Remember When
Soprano Home Movies
Chasing It

Anyone else have a preference? I may make an update later on with my favorite episodes of all time and seasons, if anyone wants to do that too that would be awesome.

[zencat]

I LOVED the opener (was that Soprano Home Movie?) and the one where Tony went to Vegas and did peyote. Oh, and the one where he and Paulie went to...Florida was it? The Blue Comet was also excellent.

[killkenny kid]

The more I think about it (and I've thought about it a lot) the more I think the ending was brilliant. And not just the cut to black, but the entire scene. I've watched it several times on YouTube and I just marvel at how utterly banal AND how utterly suspenseful it is. It's all about total paranoia. Looking up at every person who walks in, seeing a potential killer in every face. You can play a favorite song, you can have dinner with your family, but you will NEVER feel safe. And, like Tony, we are not given a break from this. We are not killed, and we are not reprieved. We will look up at every ding of that door in this terrible, terrible, fearful state...forever.

It was a brave, artful, and totally unexpected. It was more about communicating feeling than providing dramatic resolution. It played the tension to the zenith, and then brutally left us at the zenith. Beautiful.

Thank you, Thank You, Thank You. At last someone who got it. I felt I was all alone on this.

[Loomis]

the one where Tony went to Vegas and did peyote.

!

He was a bit coked up in season five, but peyote is definitely unexpected!

[zencat]

the one where Tony went to Vegas and did peyote.

!

He was a bit coked up in season five, but peyote is definitely unexpected!

Talk about a great ending. Tony and the girl out in the middle of the desert at sunrise having blazed all night. They girl just laying by the car like a zombie and Tony standing looking out across the canyon and yelling out, "I get it!"

Yeah, we all been there.

(Was that the same episode he killed Christopher? Great episode.)

[Andrew]

Was that the same episode he killed Christopher? Great episode

Yes, it was!

Oddly enough, as I'm replying to this message I'm listening to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" which was used when Tony was recalling his childhood in the Season One episode "Down Neck" . This show certainly uses music brilliantly.


Loomis, when do you get to see 6b over there?

[Loomis]

I don't know. An item on Channel 4 News the other night about the final episode finished with the reporter saying we'd have to wait another six months, but I don't know whether he was referring to the TV broadcast or the DVD release. In any case, I always wait for the latter. Better quality, no adverts, and you don't have to wait a week between episodes.

[MarcAngeDraco]

The more I think about it (and I've thought about it a lot) the more I think the ending was brilliant. And not just the cut to black, but the entire scene. I've watched it several times on YouTube and I just marvel at how utterly banal AND how utterly suspenseful it is. It's all about total paranoia. Looking up at every person who walks in, seeing a potential killer in every face. You can play a favorite song, you can have dinner with your family, but you will NEVER feel safe. And, like Tony, we are not given a break from this. We are not killed, and we are not reprieved. We will look up at every ding of that door in this terrible, terrible, fearful state...forever.

It was a brave, artful, and totally unexpected. It was more about communicating feeling than providing dramatic resolution. It played the tension to the zenith, and then brutally left us at the zenith. Beautiful.

Excellent points zencat! I really have to agree. The more I've thought about it, the more I really like it.

[Arbogast777]

Thar be spoilers...

Spoiler

After having thought about it, I think it's pretty clear that Tony was killed.

Think back to an early episode where Tony and his brother-in-law Bobby Bacala are sitting in a fishing boat talking about what it's like to die (a scene we also flashbacked to in the previous episode). Bobby said "At the end, you probably don't hear anything, everything just goes black." And it would would make sense that that's how we as the audience would see it, because the entire scene was shot from Tony's perspective...

Also, the guy in the Members Only jacket who walks into the bathroom - "Members Only" was the title of the episode where Uncle Junior tried to kill Tony, and it could also be seen as a reference to membership in the mob...

Edited by Arbogast777, 15 June 2007 - 06:11 PM.

[TortillaFactory]

mikeyfish loved it...I have mixed feelings. Still digesting it. It's classic David Chase, and I think he accomplished exactly what he set out to accomplish.

Apparently the owner of "Don't Stop Believing" refused to give his permission for the song to be used unless they assured him it wouldn't be the soundtrack to Tony's death. It's not DEFINITELY the soundtrack to Tony's death, but it's pretty hard to argue that's not a possible interpretation.

[Loomis]

It strikes me that there are only two interpretations that make a whole lotta sense:

A: Tony gets killed.

B: He doesn't.

The "It's actually the audience getting whacked" theory is interesting, albeit loopy. I gather that there's also speculation that everyone in the diner dies, thanks to a terrorist bomb explosion, but in that case why not also entertain the idea that, say, Carl Weathers comes in, challenges to Tony to an arm wrestle and then has a long discussion with Meadow about contemporary British politics? Point is, of course, that, based on what we see, there are just two theories that would seem to hold water.

My personal take is that Tony lives. Because that's what I want. Sure, he's a monster, but it doesn't mean we don't love him. If he does get whacked, though, he's at least surrounded by his family (hard on them, of course, but a crumb of comfort to the Tonemeister himself, perhaps) and the last thing he sees is Meadow, arguably the person he loves most in the world. Something to consider.

Further discussion on what it all might mean:

http://www.sfgate.co...;entry_id=17571

[MarcAngeDraco]

Thar be spoilers...

Spoiler

After having thought about it, I think it's pretty clear that Tony was killed.

Think back to an early episode where Tony and his brother-in-law Bobby Bacala are sitting in a fishing boat talking about what it's like to die (a scene we also flashbacked to in the previous episode). Bobby said "At the end, you probably don't hear anything, everything just goes black." And it would would make sense that that's how we as the audience would see it, because the entire scene was shot from Tony's perspective...

Also, the guy in the Members Only jacket who walks into the bathroom - "Members Only" was the title of the episode where Uncle Junior tried to kill Tony, and it could also be seen as a reference to membership in the mob...

Except that the entire scene is not shot from Tony's perspective. In fact, when it goes black it is not his perspective at all...

[Arbogast777]

Well, I guess what I meant by "shot from Tony's perspective" was not that the shots were literally his POV, more that Tony was the focus of the scene. The way it was shot and everything that happened, it was about him and his reaction to it.

Edited by Arbogast777, 15 June 2007 - 11:35 PM.

[Andrew]

Here's a cool link:

"The Sopranos" in Seven Minutes


Pretty entertaining.

[Arbogast777]

And then there's THIS version of the finale

Edited by Arbogast777, 19 June 2007 - 07:37 PM.

[Andrew]

Here's another...

[Andrew]

Emmy nominations are out; "The Sopranos" racked up 15...

[quote]The Sopranos 15 Emmy nominations (from www.emmys.tv):

Congrats to James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Aida Turturro, and Lorraine Bracco for their nominations.

Congrats also to Phil Abraham, Alan Taylor, Matthew Weiner, Terrence Winter, and, of course, the real Boss of north Jersey, David Chase

Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-camera Series
1. The Sopranos