[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Has anybody brought up the fact that “Members Only” was the title of the episode in which Tony got shot by Uncle June?
[/QUOTE]
Yes, a bunch of people.
Regarding the fan wanking, I was referring mostly to the post used as evidence early in this thread claiming that everyone in the diner was in prior episodes and had an axe to grind. That was pure fan wankery. I seem to remember other things being proven the same, but I would have to wade back through this 9 page thread to find them. That probably isn’t happening today.
[QUOTE=Trunk]
Seriously, we have to rule out 1, right? Chase ain’t overlooking that line.
So, what about 2 (and combined with myriad other things, but forget that for a minute)
[/QUOTE]
The parallel is obviously there. I haven’t heard anyone dispute that the scene wasn’t set up that way. Hell, for all we know in that 10 blank seconds, Tony and family could have been cut down in a cross fire resembling Omaha Beach considering all of the possibilities that were set up. That’s just it though. We don’t know. It was purposely meant to be a tense scene.
I think the beauty of the scene is that there wasn’t a single answer.
[QUOTE=BlackKnight]
On preview: I disagree with RogueRacer. I feel like I’m in a debate on god’s existence and I keep hearing from agnostics about how they don’t know so I can’t possibly know either. Their position is not special, nor free from criticism. Nor is mine. Nor is the idea that the ending is completely ambiguous. I don’t see why we cannot discuss the merits of the position that the ending is truly ambiguous without being accused of “religious fervor”. I like the show. I like discussing the show. I certainly don’t think those who disagree with me about the ending are idiots or anything. I hope I have not given that impression.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I missed this. I’m fine with discussing the possible endings of the show. I wouldn’t be this deep in this thread otherwise. My reply was more to the posters saying that Tony positively died and all other possibilities are wrong.
In the first hours of the show, the most common remark was “I shouldn’t have to write my own ending!” And so many people have proceeded to do just that. At that time, I posted this on another forum.
I thought it was brilliant.
I’d been saying all week, “Well, it’s not going to end with everyone toasting each other and talking about how great it all was. And it’s not going to be ‘none of it was ever real,’ like Roseanne/St. Elsewhere/Newhart. It’ll probably be Tony dead but maybe not, like on Dallas.”
But whatever it was, I was not looking forward to a clear-cut ending. I feel let down by those, because they usually have to do with the characters reaching a turning point in their lives, which changes the tone of the episode. In this case, though, it was a fairly typical episode (and a darned good one!). Some sense of closure, with most storylines being resolved, but with a few new ones springing up. Then it ended, at a point where anything could have happened, including nothing.
So the story did not really come to an end. No one was left in clear peril, so the people claiming to have been cheated are wrong – they were promised nothing. It ended when it ended, not when it was truly over. It reminded me of the last line of “The Killing Doll” by Ruth Rendell. “Everything that had happened to them had led to this moment, and as they closed together with the knives between them, each gave an equal cry of fear.” That was as much as I needed to know. Not how it played out, not what happened afterwards. And if Tony really is dead, I saw as much as I needed to see of that, too.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Update: James Gandofini shot by closure-seeking fan.
[/QUOTE]
Justice as we have come to expect it. Note the Pacman Jones link. Equally right on.