Letters to the Editor
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Hailed as Geniuses When We Were Just a Bunch of Scumbags
(Pete Townshend's reaction to the popular and critical acclaim for 'Tommy')
The first thing I thought of when the screen went dark was Duchamp's "Fountain": the finale could be viewed either as a brilliant, subversive gesture or as a cruel, flippant joke--or both.
The first thing my wife thought of when the screen went dark: "Did my idiot husband forget to pay the cable bill?"
In one sense, I'm amused by Chase's decision to end the story as such, though we had already concluded at about a quarter to 10 that we weren't going to get an epilogue.
Heather, you really nailed it re: Journey. I can hear Chase laughing from a thousand miles away at the thought of the critics dissecting the masterful verse of Steve Perry.
I'd be less annoyed if not for the fact that Chase has invited us for the past 8 years to over-analyze this series with his pretentious dream sequences and endless symbols and allusions. I suppose the virtue here is that he never seemed to lose control of his vision. Chase certainly couldn't have predicted or expected the show's evolution into a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon. He certainly never intended--as has been debated here for the past several weeks--for his lead character to become a romantic anti-hero. I'm inclined to think that the unsatisfying denouement was, more than anything else, a statement of artistic independence and creative control--i.e., "I will risk ruining the last hour of my masterpiece just to prove to you that it's mine--my vision, my characters, my story, my decision." Is this a gesture of self-destructive narcissism or unprecedented brilliance? Don't most great artistic achievements stand on the same razor's edge?
P.S.--I thought Paulie's worrisome facial expressions and initial refusal to take over the Cifarretto crew were meant to be read as evidence that he was talking to the Feds. And that thing in Meadow's car is called a gear selector--the clutch is under the hood. Just sayin'.
Thanks for writing these pieces and for all of your writing over the course of the series. You have always had smart things to say that have enhanced the viewing experience.