Explaining the Sopranos Finale
John C. Dvorak
Everyone is trying to get into the act about the miserable ending to the Sopranos with all sorts of theories. I can tell you what happened and perhaps the complaining will end. While I didn’t like the ending it didn’t completely surprise me since the entire series was filled with unresolved loose ends from the rape of the psychiatrist to the machinations with the Russian mob and the missing guy Paulie shot. An entire website could be devoted to loose ends. And the show, over the years, became very slow-moving so it was fitting that it ended in a boring café.
But what happened? We go to black then the credits roll silently.
It’s pretty obvious to me. It was the show that was killed. It was the end of the series, the show was killed – “whacked” in the parlance of the genre. Thus the abrupt black screen and the silent credit roll. The credit roll was the wake. The show is dead, over, done. Get it? And, yes, it is so corny that it was indeed lame. Argue all you want about it, but that’s the joke or the symbolism depending on your perspective. As for Tony being dead or alive. How funny. He is a fictional character! He was never alive to begin with.
You all got jobbed by David Chase.
related links:
Worst analysis ever — click here
San Jose Mercury News – McCollum: After `The Sopranos,’ a debate rages
What I didn’t expect (although perhaps, in hindsight, I should have) was how overwhelming the reaction would be and how passionate, both pro and con. The episode, particularly its final scene, generated more debate than I have seen in seven years on this job. Indeed, no other finale in TV history has come close to generating such an uproar.
I have never seen this series, but I would have expected it to end on a high note.
If you had seen the series you would not have expected a high note. You just wouldn’t have expected a punchline to a shaggy dog story either.
What was missing from the whole gag ending was a rimshot at the very end. That would do the trick.
Here’s one interesting take on the ending:
WOW!!!! AMAZING!!! OK, at first I was really angry. I mean really, really angry. I can’t believe though that no-one has posted by now what happened. The only thing I saw that was right, was that in the last scene we are seeing through Tony’s eyes. Remember when he was speaking with Bobby…basically saying that you don’t see it happening? So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn’t that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil’s brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail. So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?). Absolutely incredible!!!! There were three people in the restaurant who had reason to kill Tony and then it just ends. This was Chase’s way of proving that he will not escape his past. It will not go on forever despite that he would like it to “don’t stop”. Not the fans!!! Tony would like it to keep going but just as we have to say goodbye, so does he. No more Tony and I guess we are supposed to be happy that Meadow didn’t get clipped as well (she would have been between the shooter and Tony) since she is the only one worth a crap in that family. Thank you David Chase for making it so obscure that I feel
bad for hating you at first. Absolutely amazing!!!
I tried an ambiguous artsy ending like that in a grade 9 English class assignment once. I failed it. My teacher in failing me told me that it was laziness that an ending like that projects not art. I agree with him now.
A bad end for a bad final season. They’ve been mailing it in for a while now on that show.
Wasn’t Twin Peaks killed with a (n intentionally) disappointing (season) finale too? Disclaimer: I didn’t see either one.
TV shows? Movies? Reality? Geeezzz, get a life!
All that tube junk is pure fat to the brain. I’ve heard the office tripe of Sopranos, CSI XY&Z, Lost and all the other “reality” TV garbage. Spend some time outside hiking, biking or boating. Want drama, work a soup kitchen, a cancer ward or tutor some less fortunate kids in work skills. Fictional characters have nothing on the real ones.
Actually Hopper that note you are passing around is a hoax..that was carefully explained in the Goodman piece. That actor has never been on the show before. It’s one of those viral letters that get passed around. Look you just did it! Even though I didn’t think much of the Goodman piece he did a good job of ripping that phony letter point by point. Cripes.
And to you #7 — you must be the life of the party around the water cooler, eh?
#8 – water cooler? lol i havent seen one of those in ages… more like the espresso stand…
#7 — I don’t watch this program either, but I don’t feel compelled to sound off like an arrogant ass.
#7
The TV raised me btw. Thankfully I had a preference for documentals and horror sci-fi movies.
Has their ever been a high profile series that ended the way an overwhelming majority of fans wanted it to? I doubt it.
The whole show was full of ambiguities and symbolism…why would the last scene be any different?
Most of us don’t subscribe to HBO.The crap they put on basic cable is quite enuf crap for me.
Jesus. #7 is right. Get a fucking life. This is about as important as “who shot JR?”. And even though I DID used to watch that show, I don’t remember who shot JR.
The ending of “The Sopranos” was artfully left to the imagination of the audience, who can think about any number of fates for the characters: Tony indicted, Tony popped, Tony rising further thanks to the literal popping of Phil Leotardo, Tony going witness protection, Tony becoming Kevin Finnerty, etc.
One of the beautiful things about “The Sopranos” was its restraint: in other hands, a show like that would have featured countless gun battles, car chases, explosions, courtroom scenes, plenty of Godfatheresque BS, etc. The understated ending reminded me of all the dumb things they could have done but didn’t. We’ve all been conditioned to expect grand finales and to have all loose ends wrapped up. Life doesn’t work that way. It’s reassuring that “The Sopranos” was as popular as it was.
Damn! Sucked in by the web again! When will I ever learn?
I think they produced 2 or 3 endings and then forgot to attach one of them.
I thought the ending was good. My read on it was, “get over it”, those of you who want a happy ending, you got it, those of you wanting an FBI takedown you got it, those wanting cement galoshes, got it right there for you. A cop out? sure maybe but no-one will be satisfied at any of the fantasy endings of that cast of characters.
Didn’t G. Gordon Liddy shoot JR?
How about the ending to “all in the family’s” “Archies place”??
Wow — Dvorak can’t handle the slightest criticism. My comment was edited to remove a note about a minor mistake in his post.
It’s always the guys who are full of criticism for others who are the most thin-skinned — just like the editors of the Palookaville Post. 🙂
I think it was the only way to go, leave it open. Any final ending would have been boring or bad:
Tony goes to the Feds? No chance Tony would do that.
Tony gets busted? Boring.
Tony quits? Not going to happen, and boring.
Life goes on? Boring.
Tony gets whacked? Nobody wanted to see that.
The whole mob scene has completely changed with Johnny Sack and Phil dying in the last season and most of Tony’s guys getting whacked. The end leaves you to think that Tony got or is going to get whacked but still leaves you some hope. If he doesn’t, it’s a whole new world for him.
There were many times in throughout the shows run where were left wondering what was going to happen and it was usually something we didn’t expect. This is another example and really, the Sopranos will live on in the blogs and forums of the fans for some time to come.
In my opinion, the ending was brilliant.
#21 – If John fixed the “minor mistake,” why should he leave your message pointing it out?? DUH!
And I’m sure he’s forever indebted to you for pointing it out.
#21 — what is your problem dude? As hopper pointed out I made the change you suggested then erased the suggestion so you don’t look stupid since it would make no sense, then you slam me? Read the posting guidelines before posting. This is a moderated forum.
The real reason the ending was so ambiguous, and resolved nothing had NOTHING to do with it being ‘artsy’, or Chase being a ‘genius’, but had EVERYTHING to do with Chase keeping the show open to continuation – be it through a movie, another season, a mini-series. The blind sopranos fanboys are too busy slurping the show and Chase in particular to even see they got robbed of a series finale.
The idea that it was all a dream because of the multiple songs with ‘dream’ in it is the most retarded theory of all, and if it was just a dream, wouldn’t that just be stealing a storyline from ‘Dallas’?
7-
Get off your high horse…people like to be entertained, and just because you can’t afford both internet access AND tv, doesn’t mean you need to be condescending here.
#21 – If John fixed the “minor mistake,” why should he leave your message pointing it out?? DUH!
He should leave the mistake — perhaps with a note of correction — and my (humorous) reference to it there, to remind readers that he is as error-prone as he is opinionated — a great combination. Erasing the error and my note is like an airbrush job by the politburo — the ministry doesn’t make mistakes.
When is Dvorak getting his own show on Fox News (or Palookaville Public Access TV)?
#19
Liddy sure wants to shoot somebody. If not JR, then JFK.
But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant.
Never having seen an episode (Sopranos? about girl singers? or Michael Jackson and/or Wayne Newton? 😉 ) this reminded me of the concluding episode of Quantum Leap… at a restaurant, characters reoccurred from various episodes….hmmmmmmm maybe Dr. Beckett ‘leaped’ into Tony?
snark
J/P=?
Bush is 100% to blame for all this mess.
The sopranos ended the way it did to leave the show open for a movie deal. Worked really well for Xfiles and Twin Peaks….
The ending to me was a sell out of the show all together. the show had been going down hill since the third season. I blame HBO because they dragged it out too long and chase had run out of ideas by the time they got around to ending it all. it happens all the time in tv.