Monday, June 11, 2007
The Sopranos: Final Episode
Well, The Sopranos is history, after last night. Talk about fading to black! I loved it. David Chase wrote and directed this episode, so it can't get closer to the creator's vision than this. If this is how he wanted to end it, then this is how it ends. The abrupt episode ending gave me a chance to reflect on past episodes and think a little about what must have happened after things went dark. It made the episode last longer, in a way. I was miffed at first about the ending, but after reflection, I'm convinced the final episode of The Sopranos couldn't have ended any other way.
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3 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more! Kudo's to David Chase for not selling out and ending the show his way. I thank him for allowing me to draw my own conclusions!
I don't think that the final episode really was meant to be so open ended. I typed this up for another site, so I hope you don't mind me pasting it here:
Here's what I think....There's a reason David Chase spent so much time having Meadow park her car. If she'd been on time for dinner, then the guy coming out of the bathroom wouldn't have had a clear head shot at Tony. In fact, she came in the door just as the shot was fired. Remember in the opening show of this season, Tony & Bobby were on the lake? One subject they spoke about was getting plugged. "Everything probably just goes dark" or something like that, was the quote. Foreshadowing....
Also, I think that Paulie was working with the New York crew still. He ratted Tony out to Butchie and Albie. Remember the cat in the final show? Notice how he followed Paulie around, and generally bothered Paulie? That's because cats do not like rats. And dig this...We know that Paulie was superstitious, right? Well, Tony wanted Paulie to take over the Ciffereto crew. But in Paulie's mind, everyone who takes that gig ends up dead. He does not want to be the next one...so he does what he has to do to survive, just like in the Columbo war of the '70's.
My final observation is the way the final sequence was shot. When Tony walks in to Holsten's, we, the viewers, see the restaurant from Tony's point of view as he surveys the place. Then, the director shoots the restaurant from the exact same angle, but this time we're outside of Tony's point of view. This is done for a very specific, and beautiful reason:
Chase allows us to experience Tony's death from Tony's perspective.
Those of us who love the show do so because we love the characters on the show. We've gotten to live the mob life vicariously for the last 8 years. When the final moment comes, we don't have to see Tony's head gush red, we don't have to witness Carmella, A.J., and Meadow jolted into shock at the sight of the most important person in their lives getting blown away.....no.....When the headshot happens, we go black, the music stops...we get to "feel" Tony's death - Just like Tony, it just goes dark.
Great stuff Marty...we're both on the same page...But when T and Bobby were talking about "Everything going dark," I feel that us, the viewing public were the ones getting "capped" in the final moments....who knows ??
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