Letters to the Editor
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I was shocked for a minute...
I was shocked and unhappy with the series finale for about one minute. Then, it began to grow on me. This was a great way for Tony and Co. to go out and a perfect ending to Chase’s 8 year insistence that we never know what the fuck is going on. Why would he give us clear answers? Why would he make sure that everything is spelled out for us? The answer is…he wouldn’t.
I believe that if David Chase could reach through the television and shake us and speak to us personally, he would say, “Look, you fools. The answer is right in front of you. If you need it explained, then you’re not the kind of audience that I’m catering to anyway.”
Here is what we know:
First, there is an eight to ninety percent chance that Tony is going to be indicted, which means, certainly, that there will be a trial. Although Tony’s lawyer confidently tells him that trials can be won, history is not on Tony’s side here. Countless guys have gone off to prison already on the show. Think of Johnny Sack’s last days…not pretty. My thinking is this, if the Feds are going to the trouble to indict him on this so-called bullshit gun charge, they have enough to take down our hero. So, prison time is a realistic fate for Tony.
Second, the final scene at the diner was filled with an unbelievable amount of tension and angst. Every time the door opened, someone walked by, the guy at the counter looked at Tony, the camera focused on Meadow as she tried in vein to park her car, I, and I am sure countless other fans, was wracked with fear for my favorite TV family. Did the guy at the counter go to the bathroom to retrieve the gun from behind the old-fashioned toilet and come back out in a sound vacuum reminiscent of the subway train, a la The Godfather, and then shoot Tony in the face and neck? Maybe. The thing is, that is not the point. The point is, if it isn’t this guy, it will be the next one. Tony will forever live with this angst that almost gave me a heart attack in a three minute scene. He will forever have to look over his shoulder and wonder if the Feds, or an assassin, are coming to call on him. He will never, with or without Dr. Melfi, be at peace.
Right now it really sucks to be Tony. Thankfully, though, Chase lets us off the hook. We do not have to see our hero go down, we do not have to watch as Tony’s family is murdered in front of his face or he is hauled off to prison. As AJ says, we can remember the good times, remember why we loved this family and this show, and hope that Television can deliver something that can come close to the emotion that The Sopranos has elicited from fans for the past eight years. Thanks for the ride, David Chase, and thanks for keeping Tony alive in my mind, even if the fade to black meant something other than what I want to believe.
*my one complaint…I wish we could have seen Hesh one more time. He’s one of my all time favorite characters from the series. Oh, well. I can’t have everything.