Here are some follow-up bits regarding Sunday night’s Sopranos Series Finale which, by the way, has proven to be a mega hit for all of the blog sites out there (like this one) who posted entries or reviews about the finale.
From a Star-Ledger interview with Sopranos Creator David Chase:
“I don’t think about (a movie) much,” he told the paper. “I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, `Wow, that would make a great movie,’ but I doubt it.
“I’m not being coy,” he added. “If something appeared that really made a good `Sopranos’ movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we’ve kind of said it and done it.”
Chase said he would leave it to fans to interpret the show’s last scene for themselves.
So that clears up the speculation that the ending was made specifically to lead into a future movie. Chase thinks that the series has “kind of said it and done it.” And with 86 episodes, I think that some people would tend to agree.
From CNNMoney.com:
The final episode of the crime drama “The Sopranos” was watched by nearly 12 million viewers, making it the fourth most watched episode in the HBO show’s history, according to figures released Tuesday by the cable network.
The 86th episode of the show, which aired Sunday night, was seen by 11.9 million viewers, according to figures generated by Nielsen, said HBO spokeswoman Tobe Becker. It was the conclusion of the show’s sixth season; the program debuted in 1999 and had some years in which no episode aired.
The most watched episode was the season four debut in 2002, with 13.4 million viewers, Becker said. The season four finale in 2002 was seen by 12.5 million people, while the season five debut in 2004 was watched by 12.1 million.
One has to understand that with all of the waiting in between seasons and the sometimes go-nowhere plot lines, some casual fans wouldn’t bother to continue watching the series. Understandable. But hey, 11.9 million viewers is nothing to scoff at.
The episode has been universally panned by critics calling it a disaster and a horrible way to end the show. Personally, the more I think about it, the more I like it. There are a ton of hidden clues in that last scene that support both Tony’s death and his survival. For example, the words to the Journey song: “Oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on…”
Pretty much tells you what to expect, right?
However, Nikki Leotardo is the boy at the bar (Phil’s nephew), while the trucker is the brother of a trucker that Christopher killed earlier in the series, and the young black kids are the ones that tried to hijack Tony in Season 2 or 3. Does this mean that a Leotardo exacts revenge on Tony for Phil’s death? Doubtful.
Many people are interpreting the quick cut to black scene as proof that Tony gets whacked. This is, of course, alluded to when Bobby says a few episodes earlier, “You never even hear it when it happens, do you?” The connection being that the screen cuts to black because Tony never even heard it coming – “it” being the gunshot that killed him. There is also some connection between the Journey song since it was the one that Carmela played for Tony when he was in the coma.
Personally, I see this a different way. Yes, the cut to black means someone got whacked. WE got whacked. The viewer got whacked. Those of us who have been on a voyeuristic “journey” with Tony and the Soprano families over the last few years. I think the song tells us clearly that the life Tony leads will go on and on and on and on and the shady characters in the bar show us that while this life goes on and on, Tony will need to continually look over his shoulder.
But the episode had to come to an end, right? And it did. The viewers got whacked out of this fake world that seemed so real to so many people.
And it was over – just like that.
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