How The Sopranos Ends II

It doesn't comport with my own theory about the show, but Matt's prediction would make for a pretty neat (and plausible) twist ending.

Also, is this Robert Iler quote suggestive, or am I just overanalyzing?:

Did he think Tony was ultimately a good father? “Yeah,” Mr. Iler said, but he added, “I think sometimes he loved his son, but he hated him a lot more of the time.”

Was a good father? As in, past tense? As in, one or both of them dies in the finale?

Okay, it was probably just the way the writer asked the question. I'll calm down now.

Comments

Hey, Your guess is as good as anyones. I've spent weeks trying to figure out the ending. So Strange that so much other information has been leaked about the finale, but as for the FATE of Tony, Nobody knows!

Posted by UrbanTwang | June 10, 2007 1:27 PM

Janice, holding Tony responsible for Bobby's murder and channeling familial rage that's been building over generations, will try to kill Tony. She will either succeed, or Tony will kill her in self-defense. My prediction is that Tony will survive, in a marginally safe position in the mob, but forced to live with the knowledge that his mother, uncle, and sister all tried to kill him, and that he was forced to evil behavior in order to survive physically and emotionally. Worst of all, Tony will know that his children's lives have been warped by the family's history. (See the title of the show.)

And I doubt that we've seen the last of Dr. Melfi. She needs Tony more than she needs her professional colleagues.

Posted by Paddy | June 10, 2007 2:05 PM

wow, so I just watched the ending of the Soprano's, and it was so fucking bad I'm LIVID.

Posted by MattOWU | June 10, 2007 10:10 PM

What happened?

Posted by Freddie | June 10, 2007 10:52 PM

Not sure what happened, but they are sure to sell some copies of Journey's Escape album tomorrow.

Posted by Shamma | June 10, 2007 10:57 PM

The final episode played like a thumb in the eye to all the prognosticators, almost as though the writer(s) had read every manifesto about How the Show Will End and deliberately chosen a contradictory, open-ended path.

It was a cruel middle finger to standard notions of dramatic resolution. I liked it.

Posted by Immoralist | June 11, 2007 12:04 AM

I thought the show ended well. It bugged me out, but I liked how it didnt have a real conclusion. i heard they might make a movie, but regardless it gave me somethin to look foward to.

Posted by DJ DavidJOel | June 11, 2007 1:02 AM

All episodes are presented from T's perspective. Tony enters the restrauant, but the director puts him temporally displaced, actually watching himself seated, to remind us of that fact.

Meadow is upset; she needs to talk to Dad (after all, she is a Mob lawyer) perhaps to warn him. Her agitation makes her attempt to parallel park difficult.

A man with a form-fitting Member's Only coat (you remember those - the 80's Journey song about a small town boy helps us notice that) Maybe he is settling a score for Phil, who was locked with him up for 20 years, and he only has wardrobe from that era - and is short on cash, hence Phil's plan "B". He enters the restraunt, following AJ, but Tony dismisses him since that tight coat could not conceal a weapon (Tony would pick up on that) and the guy uses the bathroom. That's where the gun is.

Tony is seated in the direct line of fire from the bathrooom, which is excecuted at the moment he sees his daughter enter the restaraunt - the last thing he sees. Again, since the show framend in his perspetive, the screen simply goes blank.

We can assume that by the time Meadow gets to the restraunt door, Tony looks at her, not seeing the .380 directed at this temple. (A scenario not unlike Phil, who is admonshing his wife about a perscription pick-up when he is killed.) He is reflecting on AJ's comment to remember the good times, and he is glad to see Meadow. Then the shot is fired.

Tony's last moment is enjoying his family, remembering the good times, and feeling the relief all parents feel when first seeing a child that is overdue. Not bad for a guy who had it comming.

Remember a previous episode: you never hear the bullet that kills you.

Posted by gmac | June 11, 2007 1:11 AM

The ending was BRILLIANT! I think gmac is right. The previous episode had a flashback of Tony and Bobby discussing whether you "hear it coming" or something to that effect. Tony said no. This ending leave us to always wonder whether any of the patrons were hit men or Feds, and whether watching Meadow enter the diner was Tony's last sight, or whether "don't stop" means that everything went on as usual.

Posted by beloml | June 11, 2007 9:34 AM

The ending was BRILLIANT! I think gmac is right.

I think the ending was brilliant too, but I don't agree with gmac that Tony meet his doom -- I think it's rather obvious we're not supposed to think Tony was murdered that evening. The suspicious looking man heading into the men's room was an obvious nod to The Godfather -- and a ploy to make us think Tony was about to get it. But there'd be no reason for him to head into the restroom to retrieve a gun, like in that scene from the movie.

Life goes on in its mundane, often anti-climatic way, even when your occupation is head of a crime family. Absolutely classic Sopranos. And a very good ending from which to launch a feature film some day in the future, if Chase wants to head in that direction, or allows others to do so.

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