While picking the picture to throw at the top of this recap, I realized this is my last recap, ever, of The Sopranos. Kind of deep when you think of it. I mean, while I KNEW that the show would end the way it did (although I, like many others, was half-way confused when the screen CUT to black and lulled before going to the credits), it hadn't truly hit me. I wanted to laugh, cry, fuck, freeze, scream... I was a ball of emotions in an instant.
And then I realized, David Chase (who wrote & directed this episode, something he hasn't done in a bit) won. Good for him, too. For as much as The Sopranos changed, the more it stayed the same. And for the legions of viewers upset with there being no "true" conclusion ('did they get whacked in the diner?' and other theories), listen up: Chase & company have been doing this since day dot. Let me ask you: whatever happened to the Russian in the "Pine Barrens"? That's just one question... I was waiting to see if the smell in the house Carm and the kids stayed in was Adrianna's dead body decaying.
This episode, however, played up all of the suspense and underlying drama that has been constant for six seasons. The cat staring down Chrissy's pic (and pissing Paulie off to boot); Paulie's most on-point insight about all of the heads of Ralphie's old crew dying off; Carmela's spec-house flipping used as a mask for what she won't face; AJ's descent into depression, and subsequent return to the spoiled little rich kid (you like how quick he flipped from G.I. Joe to Hollywood Ho); Meadow still being the smartest one of the bunch, with her dead-on commentary during the sake-bombs that seemed to almost make T cry; Uncle Junior, stuck in his rut (I mean damn, dude didn't remember running that crew!?); Janice still being the money-hungry bitch she always was; Phil still being heartless and cold in the face of opposition... the only change was Lil' Carmine finally growing a pair and speaking out to NY in favor of Tony. Good show.
Funniest part of the show? That would have to be proud granddad Phil Leotardo getting popped then the still-in-drive-SUV crunching that skull. Totally saw it coming, but it was handled so well, with the reactions of the gas station patrons accenting the way I was feeling. Good riddance to that heartless prick.
Saddest part of the show? There's two: Tony seeing Sil, who he came up with as a lil' roughneck, in the hospital, seemingly living the rest of his life not really living, and towards the end when T's eyes watered for Corrado. I felt the same way, b/c unlike the situation with Livia, where the perception was that she was faking her illness, there was no glimmer in Corrado's eyes. He was more concerned with the birds than whomever came to see him - although the scene with Janice where he saw Nica's pic and went on about the stove with the wet rag was priceless.
Now, the guy in the diner, the one with the Members Only jacket on who went into the bathroom, was that a nod to Eugene, who murked himself at the beginning of season six?
How choice was it for AJ to harp about foreign relations, and when his SUV burns up due to his error, his main retort is "we need to stop depending on foreign oil"? LOL... come to think of it, its telling how much real life mirrors this show, with the countless references to the Middle East and terrorism in this episode, as well as the entire season. And Agent Harris' "we're gonna win this thing!" exclamation had me ROLLING!
I could keep going on, but I won't I mean, I will just leave it at this:
As much as I love how Chase ended it, leaving things upto the viewer's imagination, and I would love to see a new series featuring some or all of the cast, or even a MOVIE (which was hinted at during the cast's viewing of the finale), I think they should just leave it the way it is. The show doesn't need to come back with the #45 on, for they ended on a great note. Do you think Adrianna's spirit is in the cat? HEY, go with it. Do you think the immediate Soprano family got knocked off in Holston's? HEY, run dat. Just let us keep it moving... in our own minds. My ending has Tony going on... Carlo (who I thought flipped to NY, but really flipped to the feds!) and his snitching gets Tony indicted, but T beats that one... but the cycle still goes on. Some day he might end up like Uncle Junior, he might end up like Johnny Sack. Hell, he might just grow old and die peacefully. Who knows!? I am just glad that I can ponder these questions, and the show didn't end on some definitive point. Life isn't like that... and neither is The Sopranos.
More Sopranos-related reading:
*EW gets the "no more fucking ziti!?" award with this one
*peep HBO.com's synopsis of the final episode
*dude at Slate.com seems to have hated this one
*do you really care about how a load of reviewers feel? they all end up sounding the same.
*Jeff Edlestein, a local columnist in Trenton, is on the right track - peep his catalytic converter spin
*some still question if that was really it...
So, unless there IS some kind of new Sopranos show or movie, this is khal, signing off for the rock the dub Sopranos recaps. For good.
1 comment:
great read! excellent perspectives.
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