I messed up my DVR and missed the first 30 minutes. Anyone mind telling me what happened? For example, how did Tony manage to go from being in hiding to being back at his house? Was Budgie whacked?
What I didn’t need was misdirection and tricksies.
I’d have been fine with the ending – no resolution, nobody whacked, nobody flipping, the Sopranos going on with their pitiful lives – fine.
But to do an abrupt cut to black after a big tease? Chase didn’t have the guts to leave it at that? Fuck him. He’s probably laughing his ass off.
but didn’t they promise us an ending which would NOT keep the possibility open for future movies and such?
So, then, as someone familiar with his machinations, what’s your interpretation?
I liked it, but I didn’t want a neatly wrapped package. The fight with New York is far from over (and I loved the crushing of Phil’s head after he said he wanted to decapitate New Jersey), maybe the bathroom dude is bad news, maybe the black dudes are bad news, Agent Harris banged his Brooklyn contact to get info to help Tony (at least, I assumed she was the Brooklyn contact), the groundwork is being laid for A.J. to get sucked into the family, Meadow’s fiance is working on a case involving Tony, etc., etc., etc. Plenty of storylines for a movie…
Any thoughts on the cat?
I hope they release the alternative endings on DVD…
I liked the ending. I had a moment of shock, first thought was , oh crap, how could my cable kick out just then, then I mentally kicked myself and said WTF?
Then I laughed out loud in appreciation of what an incredibly unexpected ending that was. Primed for the movie. Ready to roll.
Tony is going to get flipped by Carlo, AJ is still a total little shit, Silvio will probably recover is my guess and I loved how Phil went down.
It worked for me.
YMMV,
Jim
I don’t know. Where did you read that?
The only thing I heard was that it would be a controversial ending.
If this thread is any indication, they succeeded.
Tony’s dead.
The last thing he knew, before the guy came out of the bathroom and popped him was watching Meadow come through the door.
Bullet travels faster than sound. He didn’t even hear the sound of his own death.
R.I.P. Tone.
And I thought the X-Files finale was the worst ever. Not anymore. Fuck you Chase.
Will there be a movie? My nephew says Gandolfini expressed disinterest in continuing playing Tony, but this is thirdhand scuttlebutt.
Now that I’ve stewed a bit, I think the ending was pretty well done. They’re out doing the most mundane shit ever, but Tony is still on high alert and aware that he could get whacked at any time. Then fade to black - he very well *did *get whacked.
Hmm. Interesting. Out on the lake with Bobby - didn’t Bobby ask Tony if you “heard it” before it happened? Tony flashed back to that briefly when he first got to the “safe house”.
We may have a winner here.
VCNJ~
I have to call bullshit on this. The reason for this ending is tradition. Chase loved to end every season with a non-cliffhanger non-ender. Usually it was a WTF moment that didn’t really resolve anything or leave the viewer with any clues or expectations for future episodes. The series finale was totally in keeping with this trend, and in that sense, not a big surprise. Every time Chase did it with the season finales it felt anti-climactic and kind of like a cheat, not particularly artistic, just manipulative. Multiply that feeling tenfold because this is the finale.
I’m not exactly disappointed, because it’s what I expected from Chase, but I do feel some dislocation, wondering if Sil lived, if Tony will go to jail… I guess we’re supposed to wonder. Just because the show ends doesn’t mean the characters’ lives end. It was a complete lie that the series finale would close the door on any future movies or sequels, though. That door is wiiiiide open. It’s not clear at ALL that Tony died in the end. They don’t indicate that the man in the bathroom came back out or anything. It may be how it ended but it’s in no way clear. Wonder what Chase will say about it, if anything.
Two things I liked: Tony got to hear that Meadow gave up on being a doctor, which he wanted for her, because of his lifestyle. And maybe I don’t deserve credit for this, but when Janice went to see Junior, I said “Ten bucks says he calls her Livia.” First word out of his mouth. 
Nope, now we have a cat.
Sorry, I applauded at the end. Tension builds, everyone a suspect, what will happen? A simple family dinner has so many possible outcomes, dramatically presented. It seriously amused.
I actually felt the real ending was the visit to Junior “You ran North Jersey” / “Was it good?” So much was there…
The ending gave me the impression that this was the ending of every day of their lives - mundane things which when viewed a certain way were the moments before the end.
Good stuff!
I wish I knew. I usually get my information from Matt Zoller Seitz at The House Next Door. He’ll have an analysis up tomorrow.
That was my assumption.
That was the first thing that occurred to me, after I finished saying “What! WHAT!!? W H A T ! ! !? ? ?”
Strange, I thought the real ending was Paulie sitting back and sunning himself after taking the extra job. I have a feeling we will all have seen a different ending or motive.
Jim
This was my thought too.
After spending some time trying to figure out what Chase wanted to say with this ending (and simultaneously trying to make sense out of this John from Cincinnati show), I think I’ce come up with this:
Life goes on for Tony but the tension of that final scene is something which will permeate every moment. Even the “good times” are spoiled. The sword of Damocles is poilsed eternally overhead. Every trucker in a diner looks threatening. He can never relax for a second.
I got nothing better. I don’t know when I’ve ever felt so jerked around by a TV show.