The final Episode: Sopranos -Spoilers Everywhere!

[Hemingway Jones]

They don't kill families. They said that several times on the show.
Part of the reason the NY Crew was upset was that Tony's crew whacked the gumar!

Remember when Tony lead his family out of the house, he said to Carmela, "You know, they never go after families."

I think the shocking fact of that dinner in the restaurant is that nothing, nothing, happened.

 

[Bebop]

If you recall they showed a clip from a prior episode of Bobby Bacala and Tony Soprano sitting in a boat fishing on the lake. They discussed what it would be like to get whacked and one of them said that it would be like everything suddenly going black. Thats what happened at the end... it all went black and there was no sound. From this I would guess that Tony got whacked. And the guy going into the bathrooom before it happened seemed to be a salute to The Godfather when Micheal went into the bathroom to get the gun to whack Sterling Hayden, the cop.

Nice take on the episode. It sounds much better when explained by you than from watching it. Maybe Chase should have had someone explain that mess at the end of it. I just wish they would have made those links more evident. I don't like having to put puzzles together as if there is a test at the end when all I wanted to do was watch a T.V. show. It's just a T.V. show. A soap opera at that. Very difficult to compare The Godfather to The Sopranos. I can't see any "genius" or "highly creative" producing and writing by "not giving the audience what it wants" lol . Maybe I just have a different take on television altogether [huh] . It's a shame because the show was pretty entertaining right up until the last second.

 

[Girl Friday]

I actually thought it was really good. The anticipation and second guessing. And I thought the thing with Paulie ad the cat was hysterical.

And...I am glad it is over. I've finally got my Sunday nights back

 

[Twitch]

After Phil was eliminated there was no one left with the authority to knock off Tony.

The end was simply illustrating that things went on as usual.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

After Phil was eliminated there was no one left with the authority to knock off Tony.

The end was simply illustrating that things went on as usual.

You're so right! I don't know why I didn't get that connection. But man oh man was the last 5 minutes of the show so stressful. I was waiting for a major massacre!! I know that Kelly likes to build up stress, and he certainly did a great job of it toward the end.
Wow, Phil getting whacked was awesome!! Does thinking that make me a bit sadistic??
This also means, since as far as we know Tony is still alive, that there could be more future shows or possibly a movie. But, that's me and my wishful thinking!! I'm genuinely sad that the show is over. I really think it was one of the best shows on television.
Also, I loved how the FBI agent ended up basically working for Tony in the end. It just showed that even though Tony was this hardened gangster, he was a likable guy and you just wanted him to survive....
Overall though, at first I hated last nights episode. I'm mad about the ending, I think it was cruel to leave it open to so much interpretation. But, it was a great episode. Darn jerk left me wanting more!!!! And there is no more to be had

Girl Friday, the thing with Paulie and the cat was hysterical!!! He's so darn superstitious!

There were a few things that went unanswered that I thought they would address. Like when Tony was talking to his lawyer about someone giving grand jury testimony against him. They just dropped that. I thought it might have been Paulie, and he was just using his superstitions to get out of doing that job for Tony, when in fact he couldn't do anything criminal do to his soon to be testimony.. I didn't understand why they brought up such a huge thing then just dropped it, never addressed it again. There's just way too much unanswered, they've gotta give us more!!! But damn, that cat was funny!!!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

If David Chase wanted to show "life happening" he would have had something happen! Worst episode of The Sopranos I have seen. All the build up and in the end, a flimsy, nothing of an ending. [huh] That did not even leave room for a follow up story for a movie. Makes me feel foolish for having been sucked into the Hollywood hype I am so proud of not ever being sucked into. I thought my cable went out at just the wrong time. Bad stuff. I think it made a fool out of every die hard fan.

Something did happen. A mobster met his wife and two kids for dinner. They sat and talked like a normal family. They had some resolution in that AJ (the wimp) was somewhat out of his depression and he showed gratefulness to both Carmella and Tony. Every day life was going on. Meadow was late because she had a doctors appointment to change birth control (Ok that's a bit much, I would kill my Mom if she ever told my Dad of such an appointment but that's what made it funny). As others have said, Chase likes to build up tension. But this tension is the type of tension prominent in the every day life of a mobster. Tony looking at the door, at the guys at the juke box, at the guys at the counter, wondering if one of them could be the one who might kill him. This is a stress that he goes through on a daily basis, so this scene was no different than any other family dinner out.
Besides, like Hemingway Jones pointed out, they do make a few mentions that they do not kill in front of families, and they do not kill families.
Besides, nobody knew where they were eating out.
I think they're still alive and well. Although, hmmmm......
Yes, the cat was Christopher reincarnate!!

 

[Rosie]

I was not a fan of the way it ended (I too thought my television went out)but, I don't think anyone died. It was just a return to the beginning. Regardless of what Tony does as a character, he's still just a man who loves his wife (even with all of the foolishness he does) and his kids. I liked the fact that it ended with the family having a family dinner, though they did the same thing a few episodes ago. You have to admit, the build up with Meadow parking the car and that suspiscious (sp?) looking guy was really good, there was a bit of panic, will he, won't he?

I also liked that Tony went to see Uncle Junior, he seemed to realize that Junior really does have problems and didn't purposefully shoot him. The scene with the therapist was also good, Tony isn't through with his relationship with his mom, that was huge. I didn't like how disapprovingly Carmela looked at him though. How unsupportive.

 

[Zig2k143]

All I have to say about this ending is WHAT THE .... (do not re-edit!)! I guess the producers wanted you to "fill in the blank" or something but c'mon! Seven episodes later and this is what we get???

I wanted to atleast see that annoying kid AJ get whacked.

I loved the ending... I hate when everything has to be tied up in a neat little bow.

It makes you think....

 

[Bebop]

Whatever they did, they must have done it right because they have people talking and feeling about a fictional character familiy as if they were related or neighbors and I suppose that is the point of story telling. Sadly, I am much too jaded and can't get into it as much as others. It's been downhill for me since I found out Marcia Brady was not real and I did not stand a chance of going out with her.

 

[flat-top]

Ok, so the cat wasn't Christopher...it was ADRIANNA!!!

 

[MudInYerEye]

I agree with FT about the cat.
Tony got whacked in front of his family in retaliation for Phil getting whacked in front of his.

 

[Tomasso]

Tony got whacked in front of his family in retaliation for Phil getting whacked in front of his.

But didn't Tony whack Phil with the consent of Phil's crew.[huh]

 

[Hemingway Jones]

But didn't Tony whack Phil with the consent of Phil's crew.[huh]

One would even say the encouragement of his crew and Little Carmine would have to sanction it. Little Carmine would never sanction that.

 

[MudInYerEye]

Keep in mind what Livia said to AJ:

IN THE END IT"S ALL A BIG NOTHING.

 

[MudInYerEye]

But didn't Tony whack Phil with the consent of Phil's crew.[huh]

He did, but he did it in a distasteful manner. There are polite mannerly whackings and then just plumb rude whackings.

 

[MudInYerEye]

IN THE END IT'S ALL A BIG NOTHING.

 

[Tommy Fedora]

One last thought.....

Little Carmine was semi-retired and wanted little to do with the family events. Tony even had to tell him to get involved and say something when they met with Philly's family. If someone wanted to hit Tony and take over, Little Carmine presented little in the way of a deterrent and his permission wouldn't necessarily be sought, not with the whole enchilada at stake.
I agree Tony's family was safe. It was a hit on Tony, not a massacre.
And I think the guy that went into the bathroom did it. If he left his seat and approached Tony it would be obvious. But someone coming out of the bathroom can walk anywhere, even behind him, without suspicion.
And with that, I have removed The Soprano's from my TiVo season pass list and I am thankful that I won't spend my Sunday nights disappointed and wanting more...lol

 

[Dr Doran]

My wife and I had only gotten through to the beginning of the fourth season and I walked into a bar on Sunday evening and the last episode was on. Since I know nothing that happened between the third episode of season 4 and this one, I, as you would suspect, was confused about several things. I did not even know that Janice had gotten together with Bobby Baccala; the last episode I saw was when Bobby Baccala's wife had died in a car accident and Janice kicked whatshisface - Ralphie - down the stairs of her mother's house after he broke up with Ro Aprile and tried to move in with her.

However, to the topic more germane to this thread: I am torn between the interpretation of a (multiple?) assassination at the end, versus a statement that life simply goes on, which is what the song on the jukebox would suggest, isn't it? I am surprised no one talked about that. Journey. "Just a small town girl ...." The song must be significant -- the music in this series always was, from the theme song by Alabama 3 to the Morphine video that Meadow and Hunter were watching once to the "Cuore Ingrata" song that Dominic Chianese/Junior beautifully sang to the Britney song with which Meadow rudely interrupted him, and they had a music director who actually knew about music, knew many many genres of music, and they spent real money on real songs. The Journey song would suggest to me less of an assassination than a sense that life simply will go on for Tony and his family. An anticlimactic non-assassination is more in keeping with David Chase's trickiness and refusal to pander to the audience's desires for closure.

In the NY Times last Sunday, James Gandolfini revealed that he was QUITE ready to move on but that the other actors were not as QUITE ready (i.e. sick of the show) as he. I also read elsewhere that Chase has been chomping at the bit to end the show for a long long time.

 

[MrBern]

fyi, article on DavidChase interview post finale

TVsquadarticle

"We did what we thought we had to do." "No one was trying to blow people's minds, or thinking, 'Wow, this'll (tick) them off.'

 

[Rainbow]

I'm glad Phil got whacked, but I was really disappointed at the ending. I thought my cable went out, complete darkness, then the credits. I've heard all these speculations about the cat being the reincarnation of Christopher, then Adrianna, not sure.