Letters to the Editor
sunny miller
Published Letters: 107 Editor's Choice: 3
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Another theory
[Read the article: "The Sopranos" goes dark]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't necessarily believe it, but it does have a few factual details to support it. First of all, I just want to say, the final episode is NOT a Rorschach test that can be read however you like. Going by what Chase has said, there is a definitive interpretation of the final ep. With that out of the way, here is the theory:
The ep was Tony dreaming in the safe house bedroom.
He goes to bed in a barren room and wakes up on a bed with sheets, freshly painted walls, a lamp, clock radio, a little wooden coat rack, etc. IOW, several creature comforts, which Tony doesn't know how to do without. Sure, we don't know how long Tony has been there, but would he really take the time to decorate the room? Sheets maybe, but not the rest.
All of the music was Tony to a T, 70's and early 80's radio rock, with three exceptions: when an old guy is in a scene, Paulie, and then Phil getting whacked, we get the 60's Motown of Tony's father. In the scene with AJ and his girlfriend, we get Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan would arguably be the only kind of music Tony would be able to associate with the things AJ has been saying.
In the episodes leading up to the finale, AJ is seen to be developing a radical leftist political philosophy. Tony knows power and how to use it, he doesn't understand left, right, center or whatever. He doesn't know how to interpret what AJ has been saying. In the finale, AJ is all over the place and then decides to join the Army! Even as goofy as AJ is, this does not fit with his developing POV.
At Bobby's funeral dinner, AJ says to his table companions "you people are all living in a dream!"
AJ suddenly has a new therapist who echoes Melfi, with her coifffed hair, shapely legs, and neutral attitude.
There is precedent for an entire ep being a dream- Kevin Finnerty and the episode following Big Pussy's whacking, the one with the talking fish?
Everything in the ep works out beautifully for Tony with hardly any effort. The whole thing is very, very happy and fortuitous. Butchie turns on his boss with ease,(do whatcha gotta do) despite being a top guy in the organization. This smacks not only of a dream, but a pipe dream. Agent Harris not only gives away Phils's location, but cheers when he gets whacked. Janice is devoid of bitchiness. He is at peace with Uncle June. His family, instead of drifting away from him as they have been doing in "reality", are all returning to the fold. Despite his disappointment with Meadows decision not to become a doctor, he is perfectly content with her not only becoming a Mob lawyer, but marrying into it, thus keeping her close to him. AJ has a girlfriend and a mob related job. Carm is perfectly happy with this and even encourages it; again, wishful thinking on T's part.
Sils condition not only echoes Tony's own previous comatose state,(an important aside: when Sil was shot, the camera deliberately focuses on the bullets hitting Sil. He is only hit in the leg and shoulder) but represents being asleep.
Paulie, the venal murderer who has betrayed Tony in the past, is represented as loyal and harmless, despite Tony's and OUR suspicions of him.
Tony goes to bed in fear of his life. By the end, he only fears an indictment. He can live with that.
To Tony, the cat represents "9 lives" and "always landing on your feet".
Everyone who comes into the diner is representative of people Tony knows,has seen, or are American archetypes. A young healthy "Janice" breezes in. Two African American guys reminding him of the ones who tried to whack him. A man who looks like Phil is not only seen *behind* Tony, but we only see the back of his head. A patriotic working class fellow. A boy Scout troop. The Members Only guy looks like his dad, Johnny Boy! Ala Godfather, which Tony would be acutely aware of, he goes into a bathroom. His dad was whacked in a restaurant, it would be perfectly natural for Tony to conflate this bit of mob lore with his father's death within his dream. Notice no Livia representative? She doesn't belong in a happy dream.
Meadow has had some trouble "paralleling" Tony and Carmela's life, but in the end she comes on in.
Cut to black. Did he wake up? Or did someone come through that ominous bedroom door and whack him with a silenced weapon? Was it Paulie, or did the NY crew find him because Paulie had left his easily recognizable Cadillac out in front of the safe house?
The debate goes on.
There is one detail that possibly puts the kibosh on the whole theory. During AJ's rant at the funeral dinner, he quotes The Second Coming and says "Yeets". Someone corrects him and says "Yates". Tony wouldn't know the difference. He would be unable to quote the poem. Or would he? Was the poem mentioned to him by AJ? Am I wrong, or was there a long ago scene wherin Melfi or someone corrects his pronunciation of Yeats?
Help me out here! What do you think?
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One more thing
[Read the article: "The Sopranos" goes dark]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A dream sequence would explain the strange editing which seems to show Tony "seeing himself" when he walks into the diner.You I KNOW it's a jump cut, but you still get that impression. You see Tony sitting at the table from Tony's exact perspective at the door. There is a reason for everything Chase does, and this odd tableau was no accident. It represents Tony "observing" a happy life second hand, a dream.