I just finished watching the ending of The Sopranos and all I can think is, what? I need to take a moment to stop shaking, calm down, and write.
**SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP**
Black. Black screen. They end with a black screen. I was shaking with nervous anxiety. What’s with Meadow’s inability to parallel park? Who are these guys walking into the restaurant? Who’s that couple sitting over there? Journey? Black screen?
For a moment, my sister and I thought our cable went out. I was about to cry!
As The Sopranos credits rolled, my sister and I sat there. As the new series began, we wished there was an after show, or something. We’re lost! My imagination can’t handle this kind of assignment!
Does it mean he got whacked by the shady looking character going into the bathroom? Remember when he and Bobby were discussing the end and saying when it comes, you don’t hear a thing? Or is David Chase leaving it so open-ended that he can sit and think about the possibility of a movie. I’m so thoroughly bugged-out after that surreal restaurant scene.
Phil Leotardo’s whacking had a nice irony to it that only the Sopranos can provide. Getting shot in the head is one thing, having your head then run over by your Escalade carrying your grandchildren - brilliant.
Bravo, David Chase. You have had me entertained for years, and tonight, you are a king.
until Andre Tippett's Enshrinement
until Patriots Training Camp!
I'm Angela - I'm staring down the barrel of my 30s (gah) working as a production editor
(office bitch) for a small newspaper. I'm consumed by my endless devotion to
the New England Patriots and have recenty taken up knitting to keep busy until September. Oh yeah, and I have a really whacky boyfriend to keep me amused.
All that was need was the returnof the ducks.
I was thinking about the ducks too! I thought, that last scene outside when Carmela told him where they were eating and he looked at the sun, I was waiting for ducks to fly over or something.
Andy Kaufman ending, they should have played with the vertical hold too !
the king of what? mr. one hit wonder doesn’t have the stugots to off his meal ticket….he’s probably at home sticking pins in his JG voodoo doll, in hopes career gets stuck in neutral and he has to come back.
He had a chance to make a statement with the end and instead served us warm steaming pile of ****
I’ll tell ya, I was stunned, expecting more, but this is the best I could have asked for… we’re all sitting here talking about it.
I actually had the privledge of watching the finale in a nice hotel room in Newark of all places with a Tony sized glutton meal and a few glasses of vino. All I can say is that when the screen went black- 2 seconds later there arose such a howling chorus of WHAT THE FUCKs from every other room in this joint that i had to supress my laughter cuz I thought I’D get whacked. It was truly funny as shit and I’m glad I was where I was when it happened…
And Phil’s death has got to be the second funniest thing tonight. Jesus God, that was the ultimate death. And every time I think of the quick shot of that kid who was watching it projectile vomiting his chips - too perfect. David Chase, you magnificent bastard, I wouldn’t come out of the house for a couple of weeks, but man am I gonna miss you.
Oh yeah, nice touch having DC’s daughter make a brief return (Meadow’s friend).
Being as it’s my first time here, I gotta say I like the design of your site and your content and overall feel! I hope I find my way back someday. Cheers!
Doctor, my sister and I thought something happened with the DVR because two minutes earlier, it was about to change the channel for something else taping. We seriously thought that messed with it until the credits started to roll.
Here’s why I’m not pissed - that ending left me shaking. It left me stunned. That’s what I want when I’m watching something. It would be too easy to just whack him, but now, did he get whacked? That’s entertainment. I’m sure I’m all alone here.
Thanks for stopping, Bush. I hope you do make it back!
rj - I totally get where you’re coming from and to a degree share your feelings (and maybe will more so upon sober refelction in a few days). It definitely would have been a statement to see Tony get his comeuppance finally, but maybe it’s just as much of a statement to see him not - or to just not know.
I love stuff that fucks with my expectations and Chase is certainly a master at that, what with the disappearing Russian, whole seasons that, frankly, not much happened and a main character that you so wanted to empathize with, but who just kept proving he was a raging sociopath.
So tomorrow I might be pissed, but for the moment I’m still shaking my head and chuckling (under my breath of course)…
For all you people who think David Chase is a genius, an innovator, a visionary with the ending of the Sopranos, guess what? He’s not! It should have ended in 1 of 3 different ways. 1. He should have died in front of his family. 2. He should have lost everything his crime ridden money had bought for his family. 3. He should have been indicted, went on trial and serve a life sentence like John Gotti, alone and dying painfully with rectal cancer.
But see, that’s where Chase wins. Any one of those things could have happened and now we get to pick the one we want.
I think the ending was horrible. No denouement. No character resolutions. I think we got punked. I think either the execs at HBO told the writers that they HAD to keep the door open by having the main characters live, or the writers had a group seizure. I was expecting something Shakesperean, Greek… like Carmela FINALLY realizing that all her bling and her “lovely” life was all financed by murder and greed, and she somehow confronted Tony, in the end, and maybe shot him? Ripped the jewlery from her body, tossed it to the floor, ripped her clothes off, and then pointed the pistol at Tony, her naked body shivering, and Tony said to her with cold eyes…. “do it” …. and THEN fade to black with a pistol shot ringing in the darkness…… Not the whole family sitting around eating onion rings with absolutely NOTHING… Bad choice. But who knows. Like I said, maybe they’re going to have a movie, and they didn’t want to queer the deal.
I knew you’d have a fucking post about this up! I thought my download didn’t complete with that black screen. Had you not talked about it, I probably would have gone and redownloaded it again just to make sure.
The ending was so brilliant in that it perfectly sums up basically every Sopranos plotline ever. Tons of emotion, confusion, and thinking to yourself “How the hell are they gonna get out of this jam?!”….and then the plot is just dropped. Or conveniently wrapped up in a two second phone call or a timely heart attack.
And yet I was freaking out during that last scene. Even after watching all six seasons for the first time over the past two months and knowing exactly how the ending was gonna turn out (ie, someway potentially disappointing), I was STILL freaking out. Who is the shifty guy? Why are we seeing the young couple over and over? Who cares how much sugar the trucker puts in his coffee? AND WHO THE FUCK TAUGHT MEADOW HOW TO (NOT) DRIVE?!
And yet my heart was racing. That’s damn good writing, any way you look at it.
That’s what’s so fascinating about this finale. You either LOVED it, or you despised it.
Hey, Gosh it was like reading two post with all the comments. I thought it ended great. Kinda suprising with the black screen and all, but I think there are going to be spin offs or something to that affect.
I gotta agree with Martha from Rahway, as a fellow NJ resident I think Tony should have gotten whacked in the restaurant at the end.
Overall kind of disappointed with it, although the Phil murder was probably one of the best killings of the entire show. I don’t know anyone who didn’t cringe when the car ran over his head.