Its over. All 6 seasons of The Soprano’s came to an end last night and the controversy is just starting. If you TiVo’d it have not watch it you should stop right about here.
Having waited patiently this past year to see how it will all end, last night’s series finale was brilliantly executed. and broke all the boundaries of dramatic television series finales. The HBO forums are still buzzing from last nights big event which was titled Made In America.
I’m not going to go through what has been going on in the last episodes but I have not felt so tense while watching a television show in maybe ever. David Chase, the creator of the show, wrote and directed this last episode which ended with Tony and his family in Holsten’s, a modest italian family restaurant, about to have dinner. Suspicious characters are dotted all around the room as Carmela, AJ and Meadow all showed up individually giving Tony some time to queue up the 1981 power ballad by Journey, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ on the jukebox.
Chase has become a master at creating so much tension in a scene that makes you want to vomit. You get the same kind of feeling while watching a horror movie when you think the killer is going to jump out and scare you in any second. The last scene showed Meadow running late while struggling to parallel park her Lexus across the street from the restaurant. Without any indication, the screen cuts to black as she opens the door and enters the restaurant. No video, no audio, just a black screen that seem to have lasted forever but in reality was merely seconds. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”. I didn’t know what had hit me and I started to think maybe my TV died during the most anticipated scene of the series of this entire year. Of course that was not the case. David Chase had intended to end the show in darkness and silence. As the credits started rolling, a million thoughts were going through my head. What happened? Who is the suspicious looking guy at the counter? FBI? A hit man? Does he take out Tony? What’s the significance of the song? Do I like what just happened? Does Silvio survive? So many unresolved issues yet the show is over. Man, it’s over…..
As of now there are many theories and interpretations of how this show ended. The one that makes the most sense to me but not necessarily how I wanted it to end is that Tony was whacked by the suspicious guy at the counter as he exited the restroom. Their table was right next to the restroom door and as Meadow walks into the restaurant, you see Tony’s perspective and real quickly the audience’s perspective of Tony just before it all goes black and silent. In episode 78 named “Soprano Home Movies“, Tony and Bobby were sitting in the boat on the lake when Tony tells Bobby what he think it’s like when it happens. He says and I paraphrase, “I don’t think anything happens, it just all goes black.”
Obviously this show ended this way so people like myself will interpret and conspire about what we think the ending might be. I don’t think Chase will ever tell people what his intentions were or if there even were any. I can’t wait to watch it all over again…
Just a small town girl
Living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere
A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night
Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
Don’t stop believing
Hold on to that feeling
Streetlight people
CUT TO BLACK
