A lot has been made of the Journey anthem ending abruptly with "Don't stop..."

Unless my ears are playing tricks on me, I think the song playing faintly on the radio as Phil's SUV pulls into the gas station is a cover of the The Supremes "Keep Me Hanging on," a down-tempo version, with a male voice singing:

get out my life, why don't you babe?

'cause you don't really love me

you just keep me hanging on

now you don't really need me

you just keep me hanging on

*pop*

...with the cap to Phil's head coming precisely as that last line is crooned.

We all gotta go sometime. If it has to be instantaneous (and who wouldn't want it to be?) then at least both Phil and Tony went out smiling. Phil saying "bye-bye" to the grandkids, and Tony hearing from his son how A.J. remembers his father telling him, "Try to focus on the good times."

I was ok with seeing Phil's head crushed like a pumpkin. I don't need to see Tony face-down in a plate of onion rings.

If anybody needs the closure of viewing Tony in a coffin, rewind your TiVos to the very first shot of the final episode: an overhead Gods-eye view of Tony peacefully resting on a single small pillow. There's even funereal electronic organ music playing in the background -- until we realize it's the intro to a classic rock song on the clock radio.

I think it's just really hard to face -- and we should appreciate David Chase being gentle with us -- but Tony was shot by the thug in the Members Only jacket, gunned down in front of his family. Serendipity (or Fate) had a little mercy on Meadow and gave her some trouble parallel parking so she wouldn't have to get her dad's brains splattered on her.

Who needs to see Tony blown away? David Chase has a little mercy on the viewers too.

I'm also tuned in to the color symbolism, because in an finale this important you have to think that no detail was overlooked. In that diner scene the color palette is obsessively monochromatic -- all blacks, browns, and shades of gray. Absolutely the only flashes of color are Carmela's red jacket (which she takes off before sitting down) and after that the occasional glimpse of a red dress of a lady in the booth behind them, this patch of blood red seen directly in the middle of the frame between Tony and A.J.

Not a single bit of peaceful blue or natural green in the entire last sequence -- except for the distorted ethereal (heavenly?) reflection of a blue neon sign reflected in the windows of a building hanging over Meadow as she parks the car.

Laugh if you want, but colors signal meaning in art. I can't believe these production design choices were accidental. It's not all about the script or dialog. Every aspect of the visual medium is the message.

Black silence.

I don't think David Chase is playing loose or vague with that.

eligit -

Great leap of imagination, and very plausible interpretation. If you're right, and the diner is a microcosm representing America, then we know where all the terrorist trails are leading. Too ghastly to portray as anything but metaphor, that final obliterating blackness might be the blast that tens of thousands of people never hear. Truly horrifying conclusion, when a hundred wrong decisions catch up to us and culminate another national tragedy.

Terrific post, jennifer rexroat. You nailed it.

I'd go a step further with one of your ideas. Among the song choices Tony flipped through on the tabletop jukebox, these titles were prominently featured:

Somewhere in the Night

Turn, Turn, Turn

Only the Strong Survive

Victim of Love

I've Gotta Be Me

A Lonely Place

This Magic Moment

I'm Alive

Who Will You Run To

Magic Man

Don't Stop Believing

Any Way You Want It

Anyone who thinks David Chase is vague, sloppy, lazy or disrespectful to the characters and his audience just isn't looking too deep.

"...if "The Empire Strikes Back" faded to black just as Vader makes his tragic revelation to Luke..."

yeah, if only. Because it all went straight to hell at hyperdrive speed after that. Next thing we know, Ewoks and Jar-Jar Binks...

We should be so lucky that Lucas knew when to quit. At the peak.

anonymous says

"The discussion on Televisionwithoutpity.com is like an honors graduate course compared to Salon's remedial freshman summer school."

So I went to check it out. Here's a sample:

I understand Lorraine Bracco had recently been on Conan and appeared to be drunk. Can't find a clip, but can someone who saw it recap/confirm this?

ejluther

I didn't see her on Conan - but I have noticed that she's always kind of "loopy" on talk shows. I think it's just her way. Speaking of her being on THE VIEW, she also mentioned something like, "David Chase wrote another scene for Melfi and Tony". I wonder if he's changing the ending around...

alsep73

i remember reading an interview saying that when she was a teen she drank alot of wine. when her friends wanted to drink pop she wanted to drink wine

smellyvalentine

Thanks for the great tip, anonymous, but I think I'll stick with Salon.