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We've got a (spoiler-full) summary of the episode after the jump, but we want to know what you thought of finale:
Free Polls (Related) - Take Our Poll (Related) And tells us what you think in comments!
Summary :
Tony wakes up in the safe house. He and Paulie drive to the airport, where Tony meets Agent Harris. Tony tells Harris about a bank account he "suddenly" remembered that Christopher mentioned the Arabs having and also asks Harris if he can find out where Phil Leotardo is.
Tony drives out to the house by the shore where Carmela, AJ and Meadow are staying. Carmela is going crazy there, but they seem safe. It turns out AJ's friend Rhiannon is staying there too, and AJ says she's a junior in high school (!).
Everyone is eating after Bobby's funeral. The kids table is talking about the Oscars and Dreamgirls. AJ says everyone is fucked and they are living in a dream, quotes Yeats (for him, it rhymes with cleats) and rails against Bush. He says the American dream is fake.
Tony and the crew are in a safe house and discuss plans to find Phil.
Little Italy. A call to the NY crew from Phil Leotardo, who refuses to reach out to the NJ crew.
Tony visits the widow Janice with candy. He asks what's going and Janice mentions she'd like to give it a shot with Bobby's kids, saying she's gone through therapy and that she's a good mother. Tony suggests they form a new nuclear family and tells Janice he's there for her. As he heads to the van, Agent Harris calls Tony to tell him that Phil's call was traced to a pay found in Oyster Bay, Long Island.
AJ sits in a SUV with Rhiannon, listening to Bob Dylan. They start to kiss and Rhiannon climbs on top of him. Suddenly, the car starts to smoke and they scramble out. AJ parked the SUV on top of some leaves, and the car starts to burn and then explodes. Back at home, Tony and Carmela tear AJ a new one and tell him he's not getting another car.
FBI agent listening to a tap of Tony asking for a meeting with the NY crew. Cut to Tony meeting with Phil's people in a warehouse. They shake on an agreement, and Tony makes it clear he wants retribution since the NY crew killed his sister's husband.
Tony and the gang are back at the old office. Paulie doesn't like the cat they brought from the safe house.
Janice goes to visit Uncle Junior in the home. She shows him a picture of her daughter with Bobby and Junior thinks it's Janice. She tells him Bobby is dead. Later on, Uncle Pat, who was at the home, tells Tony that Janice was there and is after Junior's money.
AJ is with his therapist and says he feels free after the SUV blew up. The therapist says "Because it was a polluter?" but AJ is more amazed by how the act itself.
Paulie is at the Bing and is upset that Carlo isn't there for a meeting. He calls Tony and they wonder if Carlo flipped. Paulie also informs Tony that Jason Gervasi was arrested.
Hunter visiting with Meadow, and Carmela is shocked to hear to Hunter, who was kicked out of college, is now in her second year at medical school. It turns out the Sopranos are hosting the Parisis, what with Patrick and Meadow dating. Patrick reveals that Meadow a partner at his law firm and might get an offer, possibly with a starting salary of $170K and Tony and Carmela are shocked and thrilled.
The cat from the safe house is staring at Christopher's photograph; Walden tells Paulie that the cat does it all the time and Paulie is freaked out. Tony tells Paulie he wants him to captain the Cifaretto crew.
Another agent is looking for anyone who may have seen Phil Leotardo at a gas station, but the attendant says there are few stations with pay phones.
Tony is driving and sees AJ running. Tony sings the Rocky theme music. AJ tells Tony he's going to join the army. Tony shrieks, "Iraq?" to which AJ says, "Afghanistan." AJ explains he wants to learn helicopter skills so he can work for Trump at some point.
Tony is meeting with AJ's psychologist. Carmela says maybe the army would be great "if there wasn't a war going on!" She reveals AJ bought $250 of CDs to learn Arabic. Tony tells the therapist about his mother and how his childhood was terrible. It becomes a session.
Tony has dinner alone with Meadow. She explains why she wants to go into the law - she's seen her dad dragged away by FBI agents so many times, imagine how the rights of immigrants are abused.
Phil, in a velour tracksuit, is dropped off by his wife at a gas station. As he stands outside the car, telling her to go to the pharmacy, he's shot in the head by Walden. Patty Leotardo gets out of the car, freaking out, and it's still in drive with the grandkids in the back. The car's back tire runs over Phil's head, which makes a kid watching throw up.
Another agent tells Agent Harris that Phil Leotardo "got popped." Harris, whose been watching terrorism tapes, says, "Damn, we're going to win this thing!"
Carmela and Tony talk to AJ about his army plans. AJ tries to convince them how he wants to be a liaison and how it'll help him later on, but then admits that Rhiannon doesn't think enlisting is a good idea. Carm and Tony list how AJ's had other plans before, including owning a club. They slyly convince AJ to consider working as an assistant to a producer - on a non-p0rn movie that Little Carmine will finance. They want him to have real world experience before investing in a club.
Tony's lawyer mentions the witness who flipped. Tony doesn't say much, but he is upset.
Silvio is in the hospital, probably ICU. Tony sits with Sil (the TV is showing "LIttle Miss Sunshine").
Paulie and Tony sit outside Satriale's. Paulie refuses to lead the crew, because everyone who led it has died prematurely. Tony is angry, and says that Paulie BS's everything, like about the cat. Paulie says the cat keeps looking at Christoper's picture, even after Paulie moved it. Paulie reveals Tony he's seen the Virgin Mary at the Bing, which Tony jokes about and says they could have made tons selling holy water or from a shrine. Tony finally says that, fine, if Paulie doesn't want to run the Cifaretto crew, he'll place Patsy in there. Paulie balks at that, acknowledging that Tony knows what to say, and agrees to run the crew. Tony leaves and Paulie goes back to sunning himself.
AJ leaves the film production office in a new BMW M3, proving that his parents will do anything to keep him from enlisting. He tries to justify the purchase of the car by saying it has good mileage on the highway and there's not public transport at the production office. He picks up Rhiannon from Montclair High School.
At home, AJ and Rhiannon are laughing a montage of White House officials doing stupid things and Carmela tells them they're going out for dinner. Tony rakes leaves in his lawn, happily looking up at the winter sky. Carmela tells him about their dinner plans and he says he needs to meet some people.
People means Uncle Junior. Tony asks if Junior remembers shooting him. He tells Junior not to leave his money with Janice, but with Bobby's kids instead. Tony then realizes that Junior doesn't remember him.
Tony arrives at the restaurant first. He looks at the different songs on the table jukebox, and ends up picking Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Carmela comes in and says AJ's on his way and that Meadow went to the doctor...to change her birth control. Tony looks like he didn't really need to hear about it. Tony tells her Carlo will testify. AJ arrives and Meadow, proving herself a terrible parallel parker, tries to park her car about five times. These shots are intercut with shots inside the restaurant, of her family and other customers sitting down and walking in. The many cuts back and forth (we'll count them later) build tension, until finally, Meadow parks the car and runs towards the restaurant. Tony looks up and then that is it. Hard cut to black for many moments (it almost feels like the cable went out). Then the credits.
First thing we thought was: uh-oh, seconds left in the finale and my cable went out!
David Chase gave us what we wanted: an open door for a sequel or feature film.
[1]
Posted by:
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June 10, 2007 11:05 PM
I've never watched an episode of the Sopranos in my life. But that synopsis sounded really, really boring.
[2]
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June 10, 2007 11:08 PM
I never watched an episode of The Sopranos in my life either. I was never interested in a show about a bunch of sleazy New Jersey mafioso scumbag low lifes. Who cares?
[3]
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June 10, 2007 11:14 PM
Fantastic, what a great way to end the series. At heart, this has always been a show about family and seeing Tony finally overcome his mother's bad mojo by helping Meadow and AJ to brighter futures really made me smile. Sure, you're a murdering sociopath, but dammit Tony, I love ya. I hope you whack Carlo and I look forward to seeing Danny Baldwin's vision on the big screen.
PS Loved Phil's head getting squashed like a bug.
[4]
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June 10, 2007 11:19 PM
thank God I don't pay for cable.
Now, maybe finally, all the people will stop talking to me about the Soprano's because I'm Italian.
[5]
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June 10, 2007 11:24 PM
Absolute pretentious ambiguous garbage from David Chase. The show went downhill steadily and crashed with a big thud of nothing.
[6]
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June 10, 2007 11:35 PM
It was the worst episode in the entire run of The Sopranos. It was dreadfully boring, meandering, pointless, and worst of all, it was completely disappointing. I have been a loyal fan of this series since its first episode. The writers, directors, and producers should be completely ashamed of themselves. Producing and airing this episode was a colossal waste of time and money. I know the show's producers have never been fans of simple resolutions but to end the series like this, that's just ridiculous.
[7]
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June 10, 2007 11:40 PM
I get it!
It is a slice of life, and we only rev=ceived a small slice tonight.
I only subscribed to HBO to watch the Sopranos. Now I want my money back!
Except for Phil's "crushing fate," the show was mundane and disappointing. Chase went over board in his attempt to be "business as usual."
For the Sopranos, the "usual" was edgy, and unpredictable. "Made in America" felt like it was scraped up off the editor's floor and pieced together at the last minute.
Definitely not Chase's best!
[8]
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June 10, 2007 11:41 PM
Sorry, but anyone else here who has never seen ONE episode? Have never been a fan and don't understand how people connect to FICTIONAL characters on TV...
[9]
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June 10, 2007 11:49 PM
A very disappointing ending. A great series deserved better. Chase wasn't up to the task. This was a lazy, poorly crafted script. He lacked the courage, discipline or will to give the series a real ending and as a result, whether he realized it or not, David Chase basically told all of us, his loyal audience, to go fuck ourselves.
[10]
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June 10, 2007 11:50 PM
Amazing episode, and entirely true to life: most of the time in life, not all that much happens -- not even to trigger-happy mobsters. My roommate, brother and I were on the edge of our seats for the final seven minutes in the restaurant, as every little look from someone looked like a hit coming: but it never came. That's the hell that Tony has devised for himself -- not a hell meted out by the universe, but one of his own making, wherein neither he nor his family will ever be truly safe.
But, he lived; and things were going pretty well for him and his immediate family there at the end. And that's life, that's what David Chase & Co. have been trying to tell us (among other things) all along: the universe does not punish bad deeds or reward good ones; it is what it is, and there's no old man up in the sky throwing lightning bolts or sending bread from heaven, however much we may want to believe that.
I think that what Tony "got" during his peyote trip out in the desert was that, yes, there is another plane of existence, another something out there, but -- like the sun that flashed at him, it is indifferent to what we do on this earth. We may come from somewhere, but whatever that somewhere is doesn't have any feelings one way or the other about what we do here. This was the only true way The Sopranos , given its entire preceding run, could have ended -- no matter how many red herrings David Chase threw us along the way.
Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in this incredible show -- which, if I may be so bold, deserves to be mentioned alongside such great and timeless works of art as Ulysses , Guernica , et al. Job well -- and, most importantly, honestly -- done to the very end.
[11]
Posted by:
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June 10, 2007 11:55 PM
i loved the idea that they were all knocked off and met in purgatory ( the diner ) ....brilliant close...loved the difficulty in parking sequence also...having trouble getting to limbo...but finally she perished too. Film sequel would now all have to be shot in hell for tony and i suppose the three others not. Incidentally the two dudes looking over pastries were arch angels and the guy who went to the bathroom ...well that was god checking it all out.
[12]
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June 11, 2007 12:01 AM
gothamist = idiot city
for = not knowing that was bob dylan... yeh, you're really on top of things...
[13]
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June 11, 2007 12:02 AM
The person who wrote this article needs to learn how to use correct English grammar.
"...and that it's." UMMMM--- try "that's it"?
"the witness whose flipped." try "who has flipped."
wtf?
This article is an embarassment to the professional enterprise of journalism/ writing.
--That is my only comment.
[14]
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June 11, 2007 12:04 AM
i think the hard fade to black was a reference to the conversaton Tony recently had with Bobby..that when the time comes, it all just goes black.. a well written final 7 min, where we the viewer finally FELT the ever present tension in Tony's life: everytime the door opened, it COULD have been family, or it COULD have been a killer.
well written, but emotionally unsatisfying.
[15]
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June 11, 2007 12:06 AM
Little doubt that this episode didn't know how to end a series. Of course, life goes on and even gangsters must succumb to the mundane--like changing birth control pills. But did not viewers deserve something better? Remember "the Unforgiven" "I don't deserve to die like this?" "Deserve got nothin' to do with it" Now that was saying something. This episode said nothing.
[16]
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June 11, 2007 12:08 AM
ahghh what a waste of time now surfs up hbo, next soma please.
[17]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 12:13 AM
good riddance, please, no more.
my dick goes all black. lah dee dah, you're smarter than me because you get it and I don't.
well, whoop dee frickin doo.
[18]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 12:15 AM
Once Phil was wacked, it was over; Family order restored. Life goes on. The rest of it attempted closure, however limited, with thr major characters. No reason for Tony (or his family) to get wacked at the end. Phil was dead ....and that's that.
[19]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 12:55 AM
Lost's season finale buried this. Game changer; deaths; reveals; and ambiguous moments in a TWO HOUR ep. gimme a break dude.
[20]
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June 11, 2007 1:01 AM
Interesting theory that the hard stop, fade to black indicated that at least Tony got whacked (while life was mundanely going on around him). Maybe Meadow (the only one with possible redemption) was saved by the very mundane fact that she doesn't parallel park very well and arrived late. Whatever we are left to conclude - I thought the ending was perfect. Incredible series that started and ended on its own terms.
[21]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 1:17 AM
Sorry guys...but that was rubbish. If Chase put a ."This is a test of the emergency broadcast system" pattern up there for 55 minutes, half of you would be fawning over the brilliance of such a move and blabbering on about how that represents the futility of life and the Catholic Church in crisis..blah blah. I know, we all got hosed, but lets call it what is was...rubbish!
[22]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 1:51 AM
OHHHHH, I get it,
Life is Black, please,
a pig in a dress is still a pig.
[23]
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June 11, 2007 1:56 AM
http://blogs.chortle.co.uk/andrewjlederer/2007/06/11/it_ain_t_over_til_the_fat_gangster_sings (Related) http://blogs.chortle.co.uk/andrewjlederer/2007/06/11/it_ain_t_over_til_the_fat_gangster_sings (Related)
[24]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 1:57 AM
C'mon. This was an interesting, funny episode. I would have tuned in for the "Paulie and the cat" bits alone. Hasn't Paulie aways been superstitious and deeply afraid of getting weak and old and dying. loved the last shot of him in front of the pork store, when the cat just plops down next to him at the entrance.
Also, AJ's story resolved in an realistic and amusing manner. After all that angst about the war and the environment, his parents bought him a new car, got him a job in entertainment, and voila! he's happy on the couch laughing at that MC Rove clip. Thats a pretty good ending to his story with some social critique layered in.
And the FBI guy rooting for the NJ family! Guess he's glad to be winning one war.
And Phil's head gets smooshed. Something for everyone, I tell ya.
[25]
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June 11, 2007 2:16 AM
Good episode to end on except for the cut to black. I hate the "he got shot and the daughter was the last person he saw before the end" theory because its boring and simple. I also hate the "choose your own adventure" interpretation because its too much like one of those pretentious late-night frosh year art theory conversations-as if the only way to challenge your audience is to poke it in the eye.
I wish Chase had chosen an ending that worked in conventional terms-Tony lives or doesn't, goes into the witness protection program or doesn't, or just goes home. Fine. Then you can have your ominous but ambiguous presences in the restaurant suggesting he still might get killed in the future. Who cares if he gets whacked right now in the restaurant!! Let him finish his onion rings for gods sake.
[26]
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June 11, 2007 2:32 AM
the following was reposted from the nj.com forums:
So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.
So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the brothas at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?).
Absolutely incredible!!!! There were three people in the restaurant who had reason to kill Tony and then it just ends. This was Chase's way of proving that he will not escape his past. It will not go on forever despite that he would like it to "don't stop". Not the fans!!! Tony would like it to keep going but just as we have to say goodbye, so does he.
[27]
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June 11, 2007 3:09 AM
Story about the actor playing the guy at counter
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06092007-1360360.html (Related)
maybe "the alternative endings" filmed were each of those characters killing Tony. And using none of those endings kept everyone honest.
[28]
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June 11, 2007 3:28 AM
@3:09
Are there any episode references? Other than the Boy Scouts, I can't remember any of those events taking place.
[29]
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June 11, 2007 3:50 AM
@3:50 .... looks like the guy may have been just BSing. I wish that someone could prove it.
[30]
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June 11, 2007 6:53 AM
"This article is an embarassment to the professional enterprise of journalism/ writing."
Damn straight. I'll never read the New York Times again.
Oh, wait...
(I'll be kind and let the misspelling of embarrassment slide)
[31]
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June 11, 2007 7:31 AM
@14, - come on - with liveblogging, you may get a typo or two....deal with it.
[32]
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June 11, 2007 8:13 AM
Everyone (including Gothamist) is summarizing the last scene of the episode as if Tony actually met his family -- but when he first walks into Holsten's, Tony doesn't see anyone there at all. Then he suddenly sees himself at the table, wearing a completely different shirt, looking at the jukebox. It was weirdly Dave Bowman / 2001 moment -- didn't anyone else see that?
[33]
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June 11, 2007 8:51 AM
The last scene perfectly articulated Tony's constant peril. It reminded me of the parable of the
Sword of Damocles (Related)
.
[34]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 8:58 AM
@33- you're right about the quick cut to the table, but I have the scene in front of me and it seems like the same shirt. walking in, he's wearing the jacket and you see the brown button up shirt, and at the table, he's wearing a shirt that seems consistent, although it is three wide big stripes....but the center stripe is indeed the same color as before...so i'd say same shirt.
but good thinking.
[35]
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June 11, 2007 9:13 AM
My guess is that the ambiguous ending is perfect for a potential movie option.
[36]
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June 11, 2007 9:13 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/07/tv.jamesgandolfini.ap/index.html (Related)
Gandolfini pretty much says that Tony is dead to him. I think Chase has too much integrity to go further forward in a movie, but maybe back into a prequel...if the actors don't get too long in the tooth....of course, a prequel would need different children casted,right?
[37]
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June 11, 2007 9:18 AM
Considering that teh kitteh played a prominent role in this series-ending episodes, I thought some LOLSopranos might be appropriate:
Im in ur bing, staring at christofa.
I made Agent Harris a veal parm sub, but I eated it.
I can has ambiguouz ending?
More at...
http://tinyurl.com/ytvtbd (Related)
[38]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 9:53 AM
"Tony makes it clear he wants retribution since the NY crew killed his sister's husband."
No, he made it clear that he wanted compensation , not retribution. Followed up by "name a figure"...
[39]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 10:10 AM
thank you #37, I too, read that article stating
JG is tired of playing tony soprano, he's tired of playing him, again, he's tired of playing him.
A movie? like another TV show turning into a crappy movie? that type of movie?
[40]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 10:13 AM
What was ambiguous about it? Only whether it was just Tony, or the rest of the family that got killed.
he got popped by the guy who went into the bathroom. They played it pretty open, what with the onion ring communion wafer, etc.
but Tony got shot first, maybe a shot to the head like Phil, probably. the signal was cut as Tony's head got blown off. The odd timing made more of a point of how abruptly life ends.
it was fine.
but the first season was really the best.
Tony and his mom were the crux of the show.
that it lasted this long without her is a surprise to me. at least in this finale Tony starts up talking about her to remind us of why the show was so good originally.
[41]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 10:22 AM
gee, a gangster dies from an abrupt end,
like that never happens. Almost everyone in the show died from a abrupt end. They're bad people and they die. No news here.
To quote Lt. jack hanna, you can die walking your doggie.
what I don't understand it why people with humdrum relatively normal lives love this show about a sociopath and his minions.
See ya, don't let the Good Lord hit ya where he split ya.
[42]
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June 11, 2007 10:34 AM
It would have been pretty cool to have a killer shoot everyone in the family but Tony, so that he would have to live at least a while thinking about it.
mind you, when I say a shooting would be cool, I am speaking in the context of this particular set of characters and storylines.
[43]
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June 11, 2007 10:56 AM
Lastnight minutes before it started me and my family took a final poll...2 of us said tony was going to die, 2 people said the feds were going to get him. obviously none of that happend.
I thought it was a good episode, it took me a little while to deal with the ending but all of you people who said it was boring need to think on a deeper level.
there were many very intersting parts of the episode. one being when the FBI agent called tony to tell him where phil was. How many times have we seen tony in bed making business calls after being with a pretty lady? the whole scene was a contrast to tony and the FBI agent they are on different sides of the law yet so similar.
another thing i picked up on is when tony and carm were meeting with AJ's Dr. Tony started opening up about him mom and that shows how much he really does miss Dr. Melfi and how important that relationship was to him.
the ending built so much suspense but in the end life goes on. why does the end of a serious have to be mind blowing most of the time they just make more questions then annswers i feel that all loose ends were tied and no new questions were presented in the last episode.
[44]
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June 11, 2007 10:58 AM
it's interesting that, as an apparently smart college grad, meadow still can't put two and two together that her dad is a gangster. the look on his face when she mentioned his being persecuted was classic.
[45]
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June 11, 2007 11:03 AM
What's with all the "guest" stuff? C'mon, people, log in!
The episode was infuriating... and absolutely perfect. In the end Chase, who hates television even as it lines his pockets, ended it because he had to end it... it was 10:00. Show's over. Go back to your lives, folks. Friggin' brilliant.
The scene with Tony and Uncle Jun could have been the end in itself. But Phil's saving the twins with his dead head under the SUV's wheel was also great.
Personally, I think nothing happened. He's surrounded by danger all the time, and he looked up and saw his daughter walk in. That's about it. Don't stop believin'.
[46]
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June 11, 2007 12:07 PM
Maybe that cat was Pussy!
[47]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 12:20 PM
Didn't watch it.
[48]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 12:47 PM
I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
Ive been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You’ll get up and do it again
Amen
-Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender”
Isn’t this the death we all hope for ourselves–to pass away with no anxiety or drama? In this regard, Chase’s series end represented the perfect death. Dr Kevorkian couldn’t have done a better job.
Im going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Thought true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender
[49]
Posted by:
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June 11, 2007 1:00 PM
I've watched the show since day 1 and still feel it is one of the best shows ever created. My 2 cents is this:
The ending was done in good taste and was fitting. It doesn't matter if Tony was shot or if he and his immediate family were left the untouched. Either way, it was the end of his immediate and criminal family as he knows it. Whether it's a shot in the head or him spending the rest of his life in prision. Both scenarios end the same way, life is over for Tony Soprano and your past actions will always catch up with you.
The show was specifically focused around Tony from day one and everyone else had an effect on how Tony lived his life. Now that everyone who has an effect on his life is either dead or going their own ways (his kids leaving, his uncle's mental illness, most of his crew dead, his soured relationship with his sister, etc...) who's really left other than Carmella who has come to accept the life she had chosen long ago? Tony knew well before that there would only be 2 family members that could carry his torch after he was gone, AJ and Christopher. Obviously AJ wasn't a consideration so that left Christopher. Once he was forced to kill Christopher he knew that his end was near. And for Tony, there isn't much difference between life in prison and death. Because either one is inevitable and means the end of Tony Soprano, it didn't matter what his demise is.
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June 11, 2007 1:09 PM
The cat was Adrianna.
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June 11, 2007 1:26 PM
The cat was Adrianna.
[51] Posted by: Tim N. | June 11,
why then didnt the cat claw tony's face off?
why stare at a picture of that loser?
this is a reach, sir.
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June 11, 2007 2:30 PM
Oh no, where am I going to get my music cues from?
I'm glad they played Dave Alvin at the end of last season.
did tony ever sing to steely dan? or was that in my imagination.
Now that I got time to mull this over I think Tony is finally at peace. Dead or alive he does not let the daily grind get to him. His kid is coming around, daughter on the right track, uncle junior I dunno a word he said.
He's at peace so he does not care if he's whacked. He's done some bad shit and he alone accepts that.
I don't believe in the paranoia scenario, he was never that.
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June 11, 2007 4:18 PM
The Sopranos is a perfect example of the importance of first impressions. Like other pathologically overpraised pop culture such as Pulp Fiction, the Sopranos started off better than just about anything of its kind that had come before it, and that strong opener became the rose-colored filter through which all the subsequent hours of thoroughly phoned-in acting and writing were interpreted.
Even though the downward slide began probably as far back as Livia's death, no one seems to have really noticed (out loud anyway) that at least a third of the cast -- in particular the idiotic Steve Van Zandt, the horrible Robert Iler, comically wooden Steve Vincent and Lorraine Braco -- would feel right at home in bad community theatre and that most of the writing was alternately pretentious (who could forget Kevin Finnerty), dull and implausible. Then there is the directing, which went from inept to thoroughly risible last week when Bobby's murder was comically intercut with a toy train wrecking.
It's fitting that the final episode was also the worst, a succession of largely meaningless and dull scenes capped by three minutes of Meadow parking her car while AJ snarfed onion rings. David Chase and co figured out long ago that they could do literally anything and someone somewhere in a high place would call it brilliant. So funny to hear dimwits speculating on what the last episode means, when it's obvious: the message is, 'Fuck you, rubes, and btw, wait for the film.'
The icing of course was the premier of John from Cincinatti, another HBO trip into the mind of an insulated, self-indulgent and pretentious writer's head. Every character is on rage overdrive and they say fuck a lot so it must be fucking brilliant.
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June 11, 2007 6:00 PM
Tony dies. Its all about looking at the earlier episodes in the series. The guy at the bar is Nick Leotardo, Phils brother or cousin. He was in one of the earlier episodes. The black guys who walk in are the guys who tried to kill tony but shot him in the ear in an earlier episode. Then if you notice tony walks into the diner and looks at the booth then the view changes to his perspective. As everyone walks in theres chimes. Carmella walks in and theres chimes, A.J. walks in and chimes, medow walks in and no chimes and it goes black. But rememer when tony and bobby are talking about what it feels like when someone gets "wacked" They say its like you dont even feel it everything probably just goes black. And thats what happened everything went black. So tony dies
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June 11, 2007 10:52 PM
The guy at the counter was credited as "Man in Members Only Jacket", NOT as Nick Leotardo, folks. Get a clue!
I can't believe that this is getting dissected like the Kennedy Assassination. It's a TV show. (The best show ever, in my opinion, but still.)
I loved the finale, thought it was perfect. And I don't really need to know whether Tony's dead or just burping onion rings...
Thanks to David Chase, Jim Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Terry Winter and the rest of the cast and crew for a fantastic American fiction, one of the most fully-realized and satisfying of my generation.
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June 12, 2007 9:39 AM
He was killed....
in fact, the ending was genius if you've paid attention to the show or are just a fan of well developed well thought out plots that all tie together and have the memory of a champ to remember it all
the ending was simple, he got killed, but let me tell yall why and explain in detail... There was 3 people in the room total who had a reason to kill tony.....
the two black guys, they were paid before to kill tony but he was only shot in the ear, this was in one of the earlier seasons,
also in the earlier seasons, the trucker who was sitting at the bar stool, who the camera kept focusing in on, is Nikki leotardo, Phil Leotardos nephew, he was in one of the early season episodes where Phil and Tony have a sit down....
heres where the genius comes in....
When tonys walking in the diner,you see the camera focus on him, then it switches to his perspective, and you see him looking @ the booth hes gonna sit at...
then the camera switches back to tonys face, then it once again switches to his perspective, and it shows him looking @ the door and looking @ the people come in..... Everytime the door opens the Chimes sound....... Carmela walks in, Chimes, AJ walks in Chimes, this when Meadows parallel parking, still trying to get inside the restaurant....
at this point the camera switches back to the trucker who goes in the bathroom......
Then it goes to a scene where meadow finally parks and starts running in the diner....
the doors about to open, Tony looks up....
and No Chimes......................
No Music............
Everything just goes black...............
In one of the early episodes of the sopranos, tonys talking with bobby about what it must feel like to die..
Bobby says "at the end, you probably dont hear anything, everything just goes black"
part of that was revisited in the second to last episode during the last seconds of it, when tonys about to go to sleep and he flashes back to the memory of him and bobby on the boat... "You probably dont hear anything everything just goes black"
so in the end, the Journey song was playing, the chimes on the door sounded but when meadow came in, the guy in the trucker hat came out and killed tony...
its the reason you aint hear, or see shit when he died.... it was from his perspective.... and everything went black, then the credits rolled.
BH..I am right
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June 12, 2007 11:53 AM
as a sporanos fan i was a little diapointed with the ending. but, then you also have to think that the show did not start with the begining of tony's life so does it does not have to end that way either. we as sopranos fans were givin a slice of the life of tony soprano. no beging and no end. it is like meeting a new friend later in there life and loosing contact before there life is over. you only know things about the past that was disclosed to you, then the happenings of there life while you were there, and then the future is unknown. you are only left to wonder what ever happened to......? in this case tony soprano.
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June 12, 2007 4:02 PM
i think chase buckled under the pressure of ending a monstrously successful show. i mean, how many long assed hiatuses (hiati?) did the show take? he was struggling with how to kill something he created that he had no idea would become so damn successful. he probably could have kept creating episodes, but with the trend of tv shows ending on top rather than fizzling it out, chase was backed into a corner and was rushed to snuff out the show. too much speculation, too much criticism = chase ending a show in a half-assed way and running off to europe to avoid the shit we're all slinging at him, and deservedly so.
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June 12, 2007 8:08 PM