A 'Tony' Ending for 'The Sopranos'
Monday, June 11, 2007
By Roger Friedman
"Don't stop believing." That was "Sopranos" creator
David Chase's farewell to fans Sunday night.
That, and five seconds of black as a probable hitman entered the men's room in the diner where Tony, Carmela, Meadow and A.J. ate what seemed to be their last meal.
It was an idea borrowed from "The Godfather," of course, the famous scene in which Michael emerges from a bathroom with a gun to kill the police captain.
Some critics and a lot of fans apparently didn't like the ending. I only read this after watching the episode upon returning home from the Tony Awards. I'm a little surprised. The final episode of covered a lot of territory and wrapped up almost all of the loose ends of the show.
Did we need to see a bloodbath in the diner? I don't think so. If you don't know what happened next, then it probably doesn't matter anyway.
But step back for a minute. The prior episode was supposed to have been the ending, and in it we saw the Dr. Melfi plot resolved. So that was done. In this episode, we saw Tony finally confront Uncle Junior. Resolved.
There was talk of the film business, just as there had been in the pilot. And if you didn't get that, then there was a black-and-white clip of the "The Twilight Zone" in which television pilots were discussed, as well as the value of writers.
I have no doubt that more clues can be dug up with a deeper look at the episode. A.J. and his girlfriend were listening to someone sing Bob Dylan's anti-war treatise "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" right before the SUV blew up. A.J. also quoted again from William Butler Yeats (calling him "Yeets").
Almost more interestingly, Tony visited A.J.'s therapist and started telling the story of his mother again as if he had never seen Dr. Melfi. Wasn't this the whole point Chase made with the research dug up by Melfi's friends? Here was Tony, using the story of his life once more clearly to gain sympathy. It's a loop; it's never going to end.
And still, Chase throws in the tour bus going through Little Italy with the guide explaining the demise of the area. The FBI agent following Tony also turns out be just like him, cheating on his wife with a female agent in a motel. When the agent hears that Phil Leotardo is dead, he exclaims gleefully, "We're going to win this one!" Preposterously, he's on Tony's side.
I think this may be Chase's way of showing how strange it is that the audience is with Tony, too. We have forgotten that he is a remorseless killer.
Is this the end? Yes. I doubt a "real" ending will appear on DVD, and a movie seems unlikely.
Did Paulie sell Tony out? Again, unlikely.
Was there closure? Phil Leotardo's brutal double death should be enough. He was crushed to death after being shot, bada bing.
That there was no scene of Tony acknowledging the death was indeed a mistake. But the ending, in black, seems appropriate. You know what happens next. I think David Chase knew it all along, from the beginning.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280352,00.html