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.

What I’ve noticed in the last hour or so is that hits on websites talking about The Sopranos are going through the roof! And hey, that’s great for all of us who have websites where we try to have some fun and blog about what we see on a daily basis.

Which brings me to some of the great, fun things that I’ve read so far about The Sopranos season finale. Among the best things I’ve read online is the awesome drama in the last scene. Why is it awesome? Well, if you live in New Jersey, you’ll understand this a little bit better…

We have the Soprano family gathering in a diner in beautiful Bloomfield, New Jersey. Meadow is having some trouble parking (who hasn’t had THAT problem in New Jersey?!) while Tony orders some onion rings for the family. In walks a suspicious looking trucker type of guy who sits at the bar. By the way, there seems to be a cub scout troupe and a couple of young lovers sitting in the diner.

Then in walks some suspicious looking character who sits down at the bar and keeps shooting an eye towards Tony before two young “thug” looking kids walk into the diner.

The brilliance in this scene, so far, is that this is a completely common night in New Jersey at a diner!!! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the same exact experiences at a diner. You sit down and some shady looking character comes in and gets a coffee at the bar. Then some kids walk in that you’d rather weren’t there for whatever reason (in New Jersey, it’s mostly because they’re drunk).

But up until this point, there is nothing crazy about the final scene. Not for a New Jerseyan, at least.

And then as the door opens and Tony looks up (seemingly to see Meadow walking in), we cut to black. This can mean a couple of things. The first, and most likely, meaning is that Meadow walked in and this completely common night in a completely common situation carried on. But what about what Bobby Baccalieri said a few weeks ago to Tony?

Remember? When Bobby asked Tony if he ever wondered if you hear or feel anything when “it” happens? Did this sudden cut to black mean that Tony got knocked off in the diner in front of his family?

Or (and here’s something that’ll give you a headache), did Sopranos creator David Chase want to answer Bobby’s question with this last scene, but in the viewers’ perspective? In other words, was David Chase’s answer to Bobby’s question the collective, “WTF?!?” that Sopranos fans yelled as the show cut to black?

Sure, that might be a reach, but it’s the Sopranos that we’re talking about here!

What do you think?

We’ll get to the odd ending scene of the series in a minute, but let’s first review the major points in the episode. The big drama that built up over the last week was whether or not Tony Soprano got whacked. Well, we don’t know the answer to that for sure, but I’m 99.99% positive that Tony and the entire Soprano family is alive and well.

The other big plot line in this episode was the conclusion of the New York/New Jersey war. Speaking on behalf of all of New Jersey (I can do that now), let me say thank God that scum sucking son of a bitch Phil Leotardo got his brains blown out. And to add some poetic justice to the entire scene, his Cadillac Escalade rolled over his head – his grandchildren were in the Escalade. Beautiful – well done, Mr. Chase – especially in light of Phil’s speech a few weeks back about how the filthy Americans took advantage of his family when they came over on the boat, etc.

Phil’s head being crushed by a symbol of American largess while his soon-to-be-Americanized grandchildren are in the truck? Priceless.

I also liked how Phil’s underbosses came to an agreement with Tony and the New Jersey family towards the middle of the show. That was a nice little twist – who would have thunk that the guys from New York would have realized that Phil was completely off-center and ruining what was a good thing? Of course, now I’m left wondering whether or not Little Carmine rises up and assumes his rightful spot as the head of the New York mafia, but I’ll live with not knowing the result there.

Tony also has a touching scene with Uncle Junior, who he finally realizes isn’t playing a game and really is in deep physical trouble. The terrors of Alzheimer’s and dementia have taken their toll on Uncle Junior and the man who once tried to kill Tony is reduced to not really knowing who he is in the final episode of the series. It was sad, and touching.

We also get some resolution as to what will happen to Janice Soprano, Tony’s sister and the new widow of Bobby Baccalieri. She’s got his kids to worry about plus the child she had with Bobby. In recalling one of the less-remembered Sopranos trivia bits, Tony suggests she call her long-lost child, Harpo, and try to start a new life. But in the end, it looks like Janice is just going to sit in misery for the time being before trying to piece together her newly shattered life. Can she be a family woman once again? Who knows. I’ll take no resolution on that one, too.

And what about Carlo Gervasi?!? Turning in to the feds and giving them an 80% shot that Tony will be indicted? Wow! You fucking snake, Carlo! Nice twist in the final episode – also very well done. Related to this is Paulie Walnuts’ complete rejection of Carlo’s crew and then the ultimate acceptance that he has to take the crew over unless he wants an inexperienced guy to get control. Also a nice “the plot thickens” moment that we, as viewers, can stand to be without any resolution to…

Oh, and then there are the Soprano children. We think that they both end up alright, with AJ eating some of the “best” onion rings in the state as his sister runs into the diner to meet her family. All seems well with them – AJ stopped his baby bullshit (for now, we suppose) and is back to being a “normal” kid. Meadow is moving along with young Parisi and all seems to be well.

But what about that ending? What about the cut to black scene to end the show? What looked to be a mistake turned out to be exactly what David Chase wanted. I can’t say that I agree with that, but I can say that the entire scene was absolutely marvelously done up until the cut to black. You have Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” playing in the background (a heartfelt message from Chase to loyal Sopranos viewers, I’m sure) and you have 2 thugs walking into the diner that the Sopranos are at who look somewhat suspicious.

And before the thugs we get a trucker looking guy who seems to be just eating by himself and an FBI/hit man looking guy who sneaks into the bathroom while Tony just gives him a passing glance. All the while Meadow is trying her damnedest to find a parking spot outside, but she just can’t seem to find one.

When she DOES find one, she leaves her car, runs to open the diner door, and as the door opens we have a quick shot of Tony looking up to see who is coming in – and then we cut to black. End of series. No music playing, no resolution on the hit man/FBI guy and no resolution on the thugs. Just the Sopranos eating onion rings in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

And that’s it.

I’ll come back in a little bit to write about how I was pleased with the end of The Sopranos – that filthy dirtbag Phil got what he deserved. But was the end of the show a mistake?

Did you all see what we saw? Meadow had trouble parking her car, then as she came into the diner, Tony looked up and the entire show cut to black with no sound until the credits started a few seconds later. Is that what you all saw?

Was that a mistake? Because that was building up to be the best way to ever end a hit show like The Sopranos…and then it cut to black before we saw a final moment.

Huh?