Letters to the Editor
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Chase whacks the audience
I agree with Heather. We the fans get what we deserve in the finale -- a bullet in the back of the head. We don't even hear it coming -- just like Tony said.
For season after season we've been lurking in the Sopranos' world, getting our vicarious kicks from the violence and tension that permeate Mob life. In the final episode(s) we get to feel a little of that tension for ourselves, right up until the last moment.
And then time's up. "Members Only Guy" (probably one of Tony's crew) heads for the bathroom, someone comes up behind us and ... cut to black. Show's over folks. Tony's world goes on, but like everyone from Big Pussy to Christofuh, we are no longer part of it.
Nice job, Chase!
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We weren't looking for it
I find myself in agreement with two recent posts (saf2105 and crushedHeart) even though they seem to be opposing arguments - both are well stated. I'm still pondering whether Chase was disrespecting his audience, or not. But overall, I liked how things were not "wrapped up," which is rather why I lean toward the idea that there was not a hit at the end (except for us: here we are watching Tony, then - ).
For one thing, nothing plot-wise set it up (Phil gone, his crew content with it, we are led to believe), and all that really happens in that last scene is simple manipulation of audience expectations - we're used to certain details, and rhythms, leading to violent acts in the show, but that's all we're given here. Watching it again, knowing how it "ends" I was struck by how it's really about perception: watch how Tony takes note of each of those "suspicious characters" and their movements, right along with us. He is in a vulnerable position (a booth in the middle of the diner), but he is aware of his surroundings. Also, he still seems remarkably calm, ready to enjoy the outing, despite the dangers that are a near-constant threat. He's used to living like this.
I have to agree that the "hit" theory is just as possible; those posters who bring up Bobby's line about never knowing when it will happen have a good point, and the cut to black could easily, and effectively, illustrate that. But I think Chase couldn't go so far as to show, or strongly indicate, a hit, because that would actually go against the show's overall aesthetic, it's desire to depict shades and complications. "Bad guy gets his comeuppance" would have too old-fashioned, too simplistic for all that's gone before. That would have been disrespecting his audience, I think. And Chase certainly succeeding in confounding all of our predictions, didn't he?
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Sopranos are 86ed. No more "servings"
I had noticed that the final episode of the Sopranos was number 86 and had considered that yet another clever manipulation by Chase. In restaurant jargon (for example, in a diner), "86 the Sopranos" would mean sold out -- no more servings. (The code 86 goes back to telegraph abbreviations.)
After the initial concern with cable/DVR, then pondering whether Tony or the viewers got whacked, I realized that there just weren't any more servings. While AJ still looked at the menu trying to decide, after out collective "Don't stop", it stopped -- no more servings.
73 and 88 to all involved.
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another two cents...
Nice piece, Heather.
I agree with a previous poster: Chase pulled off a truly stunning piece of theatre here: I thought the last scene was a dark, anxious, claustrophobic nightmare. This is how Tony lives...his entire life. This is what he sees, and how he feels, when he's not asleep. We might wish him in Hell, but we need not. Chase made it perfectly clear with that last scene that Tony Soprano is already in Hell. And always has been.
David Chase is a genius story-teller, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next..
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If Chase wanted the audience to experience getting "wacked" he made a hash of it ...
millions of viewers wondering if their cable had gone out is not a desirable outcome ...
IF he had wanted to effect such a thing, a black screen with concerned voices, etc. occurring some time NOT IN THE LAST 30 seconds of the FINALE would have worked better ...
I thought the final episode, minus the last scene was largely a waste of air-time ... even the "loose ends" that were touched on were not resolved ... How BAD are Silvio's wounds ... will he recover? for instance. Did Jun actually recognized Janice ... might he remember where he put his stash? and Why shouldn't Janice and the kids get Jun (who Bobby cared for well and a great deal) get the money?
For me, the biggest question of the last few episodes has been, "What happens to the NJ mob -- and all the people and families and projects -- without Tony?"
I expected Tony to get quietly capped early in the next-to-last episode and we would get to see the reverberations and adjustments and ... yes, life goes on.... and someone who's not Tony Soprano might have a ball and be successful running the New Jersey mob ... or not... or New York might move on in and take over and everyone would "adjust."
I was disappointed. I didn't want to see bullets and gore ... but the essence of drama is how events and situations CHANGE people.
I found Carmella urging AJ into film work because that's where all his little buddies he used to club with were PROFOUNDLY disturbing and out of character ... gee, maybe AJ can discover drugs and bookies and loan sharks along with the porno industry -- every mother's prayer ... And what dissatisfied mob wife wouldn't want her mob princess daughter to marry a mob prince ...
No, there was a lot in the last episode I found contrived, patched together and unsatifying ...
No one that I've read mentioned, however, my impression at the diner, that Carmella and Tony were pretending in that faux-nostalgic way people have that they were "regular folk" ... that small town girl who married the high school football player boyfriend, and it's Saturday night at the diner with the kids ... a place so "not-Carmella" with all her pretensions as to boggle ..
Oh, similarly, I might well have loved the cat and Paulie in some OTHER -- NOT THE FINALE -- episode ... I thought it was a waste of viewer loyalty and expectation ... A really GOOD finale would have been a wonderful thing ... ambiguity has been done to death, imho.
enough, I have to go back to work.