Television: Did The Sopranos Go Out With A Bang?

Monday, June 11, 2007

Did The Sopranos Go Out With A Bang?

So be honest: How many of you with Time Warner Cable thought the cable went out -- again! -- when "The Sopranos" went to black in last night's finale? I bet you cursed Time Warner.... and when you realized that's how creator David Chase wanted the series to end, did you curse David Chase?

Was this the worst ending for a TV series? That life just goes on for Tony, Camela and their family? With all the foreshadowing -- the 80-90% chance he'd get indicted, the shadowy characters in the restaurant at the end -- I wanted something to happen. Not that I needed a lot of bloody murders, but the finale just seemed so antiseptic. Some might praise the ending, saying we could each draw our own conclusion as to what happened to the characters, or be left with the feeling that Tony and his family always lived in fear. To me, two words flashed to mind: Movie Sequel. All the doors are open for a feature film franchise, if James Gandolfini can't move on to another role.

"The Soporanos" finale didn't have the closure of the last M*A*S*H, or the creativity of "Newhart." It will be debated for days, or years.

Did you like the ending? Why? How should it have ended?

26 Comments:

at 6/11/2007 9:33 AM

Unknown said...

I thought the ending was good. There was so much anticipation surrounding the show. We predicted Tony was going to be killed at season end. If that was the case there would have been no ending matching our imagination. Ending the show on a sort of 'cliff hanger', was great. We were all sitting on the edge of our seats waiting, anticipating the worst, but nothing happened. It was left to our imagination to consider. David Chase is a good writer but he is also a pragmatic man who understands there is nothing he can write that will satisfy our imagination.

at 6/11/2007 9:38 AM

Anonymous said...

at first i thought the cable went out too. i thought that he might get shot in the restaurant. i do not understand all the time spent on meadow parking her car.
when phil finally got shot that was about the only surprise in the finale.
they say that there will never be a movie made but i hope there is one. i think the finale was overrated and i wish there was more closure.

at 6/11/2007 9:47 AM

Anonymous said...

I thought this was one of the most disappointing letdowns in television history. For over a year we have been anticipating the "Grand Finale.” Instead of Tony getting whacked, arrested, or taking over all of the New York families we were left only to think that our cable went out. The only salvation is that we can now hope and pray for Sopranos: The Movie. I just hope the next few years of anticipation of a movie does not end in the same letdown as the series did by a movie never coming to fruition.

at 6/11/2007 9:49 AM

Anonymous said...

I was OK with the ending and sort of expected it. Chase's method of cutting to all sorts of "suspicious" characters in the final scenes drove my poor wife nuts and she literally would stand, walk out of the room, peek in, walk out, sigh heavily, well you get the idea. I read that the penultimate episodes of series tend to be the best... have to agree! No movie please, unless it's a prequel.

at 6/11/2007 9:51 AM

Anonymous said...

I also thought the cable went out but after we were shown the credits I felt like I had been let down. After further reveiw I see that there is alot left open. The black out could have been Tony being shot and thats what it is like when you get shot straight darkness. I have heard there might be a movie so some things had been left to us to try to figure out until the movie comes out.

at 6/11/2007 9:53 AM

Anonymous said...

"OK, I admit it. I'm so hooked on these characters I hope there's a movie in the works.

Let's admit it, we like these bad guys and dysfunctional families - all except for AJ whom most of wish had drowned (even Tony).

at 6/11/2007 9:54 AM

Anonymous said...

I totally thought my DVR stopped working. Loved the ending. It wasn't what I expected but I love they way the did it. It is nice to know that life will keep on as usual for the Soprano's. The "shady" characters in the restaurant had me on edge.

at 6/11/2007 9:55 AM

Anonymous said...

I was not happy with the ending. I at first thought that DirecTV lost the satellite feed. When I realized that was how the show was ending I was angry. Life goes on for Tony and family. Nothing was resolved and the words "movie sequal" flashed through my mind.

at 6/11/2007 10:02 AM

Anonymous said...

They went out in where there will be a Soprano two

at 6/11/2007 10:04 AM

Anonymous said...

I thought the ending was perfect, the tension that we all felt as viewers at that last scene was the same tension that Tony feels everyday of his life, it was brilliant how Chase brought us viewers into Tony's world. Everytime I hear the Journey song 'Dont Stop' I will think of the show and all the great memories I had sitting home on Sunday nights with my father, enjoying the show that made us think and bond together. Thanks David Chase for all the great memories!

at 6/11/2007 10:13 AM

Anonymous said...

My wife looked at me and said....what did you do? We thought the cable must have lost connection. What the !!!!!! If they were going to leave it up to our own imaginations, I could have just skipped the final episode. Not the greatest finalization of a series!

at 6/11/2007 10:14 AM

carin said...

The final episode was such a cop-out. It seems obvious to me that David Chase couldn't think of anything that the audience wasn't "expecting" (Tony being indicted, getting shot, etc), so he took an easy out and didn't resolve anything at all. If I wanted to make up my own ending, I'd be writing a show instead of watching one. It was as if I was reading a book and the last chapter was missing. Also, playing the Journey song was unbelievably cheesy.

at 6/11/2007 10:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Hated it! Why hang a picture on the wall when you can just imagine a work of art hanging on that bare spot? Why have a tv show if the viewer is left to imagine a great ending?

Everyone can stop pretending that they understood the subdued genius that was (not) the last episode. Instead, see it for what it was: lifeless.

at 6/11/2007 10:30 AM

Anonymous said...

Isn't is sad that our cable service provider (Untimely Warner) sucks so bad that we even have to consider that a creative pause in a show might even be bad service?

Something to ponder.....

at 6/11/2007 11:45 AM

Anonymous said...

There are tons of other great possible endings detailed at Foodle.net

at 6/11/2007 12:45 PM

Anonymous said...

It was perfect. Also I think Chase now owns cutting to black. I doubt many will think of it every time they see it from here on out...

at 6/11/2007 1:15 PM

Frumpy Curmudgeon said...

I was so convinced the silence and black was a glitch that I ended up setting the DVR to tape the West Coast feed of the final episode. I guess I don't need to rewatch the end.

I had a feeling that David Chase would do this with the finale - that he would leave a lot of loose ends like this.

I loved Paulie getting irritated with the cat that kept staring at Christopher's picture. And a friend of mine saw some symbolism between Meadow trying to parallel park and her efforts to "fit in" the family.

As usual, David Chase did a good job with building tension throughout the episode; he put viewers on a hook and kept reeling them in through the entire 65 minutes. It wasn't one of the best finales of all time; but it was a good one.

at 6/11/2007 1:20 PM

Anonymous said...

After talking with several people, I finally figured it out. We, the viewers, got whacked. The show that let us watch people get murdered with little to no warning let us experience what they felt. Right in the middle of us enjoying Sopranos BAM !!!! fade to black... no music....

The last character on the show to be whacked was us, the loyal viewer.

BRILLIANT !!!

at 6/11/2007 1:21 PM

Anonymous said...

I felt the ending did the series justice. If you look back at the series as a body of work an ending such as this fits right in with the writing and story arcs. Chase always leaves us wanting more and this so called end of the series did not deviate. Well done. Where is the spin-off? HBO should do a new series titled "Paulie Walnuts". Would you watch?

at 6/11/2007 1:42 PM

Anonymous said...

They should have ended The Soprano's with season 4, all episodes since have been quite lame, what's with all the filler episodes in this last season? could THEY not think of anything good?

The finale was just a complete let down, worst episode of the whole series, a great shame.

at 6/11/2007 3:43 PM

Anonymous said...

When it first happened, I thought my cable went out. Then I kept rewinding the DVR to see if I could figure out what just happened. My wife was frustrated but I love it the more I think about it. I like the idea that we can all wonder about it. This show never had nice tidy endings. Personally, I think he was shot and we saw it from his perspective... "you never see it coming"

at 6/11/2007 5:25 PM

Anonymous said...

As I sit watching the last show, the anticipation of a great finale was dwindled when exactly NOTHING happened. Baffled at why Chase did this, it finally "hit" me at 3am this morning.

The show was critically acclaimed for its plot of Dr. Melfi and Tony. The whole idea of sociopath type behavior continually evolved and exploded, even from Tony down to A.J. The next-to-last episode summed up the characetristics of a sociopath - explaining that sociopaths receive satisfaction from deviant behavior.

Was Chase trying to prove to us that we all have sociopathic behavior? Were we, the viewers, not given the satisfaction nor the release that we so much needed and wanted from the big finale? By giving us nothing to fill our anxieties, I found myself asking (synically, of course), "Do I have sociopathic type tendencies as well?"

A little deep - but nonetheless the type of attitude Chase wants us Sopranos to be left with. After all, Chase is the master at explaining human behavior by ripping the ugly core of our weaknesses into the characters that we know, in our hearts, can never die. Tony Soprano is the dark side that gives us the safe release - he gives the "whipping post" for things gone awry in this angry world. And, that of course, makes us sleep better at night.

Chase, you are truly brilliant!
Tina Aileen Terry

at 6/11/2007 9:39 PM

Anonymous said...

David Chase didnt have enough confidence in himself or his audience to deliver a real ending. His copout is what's wrong with television and movies today, they want to be an event rather than a real story. If anyone is pretending that after eight seasons this finale was genius you are fooling yourself. LOST, Heroes and even Brothers and Sisters all delivered viable finales that were both imaginative and complete. This finale was a cheap trick that exploited the devotion of a large fan base. HBO and Chase should be ashamed.

at 6/12/2007 12:15 AM

Anonymous said...

The usual let-down after such media hype, with only ourselves to blame. Shouldve known that when the almighty dollar reigns supreme... creativity is secondary.
I see either movie deals upcoming or how 'bout this --- dvds with
"alternate endings"!

at 6/12/2007 9:39 AM

Anonymous said...

At first I was really irritated with the ending but now after a day to think about it I think it was brillant. If Tony was killed at the end it would still would of raised almost as many questions, who did it? who's now in charge?
I was hoping that if the plan was to kill off Tony I wish it would of happenede early in the episode. That way we could of watched the power struggle that developed.

at 6/12/2007 7:23 PM

Anonymous said...

I never got into "the sopranos"(in fact I never saw a Godfather movie either), but i thought your mention of the last episodes of MASH(The best ever), and Newhart,where Innkeeper Bob gets beaned by a golfball,and wakes up in bed as Psyhologist Bob and the smokey voiced Suzanne Pleshette instead of Mary Frann) Also the last episode of Cheers, when Sam tells the customer "We're closed" ranks right up there too.
Probably the most odd final episode was St Elsewhere, when we discover that St Eligius is just a figment of the imagination of Westphall(the wonderful Ed Flanders)s autistic son Timmy. Westphall was a blue collar worker.
from the neighborhood

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Monday, June 11, 2007

Did The Sopranos Go Out With A Bang?

26 Comments: