The Sopranos - RIP | 2old2play | 2old2play

Well, I finally watched the season finale of "The Sopranos". Unlike what seems like a majority of people, I thought it was very well crafted. I actually watched it twice to make sure I understood all the small nuances and hints that David Chase was dropping.

In my opinion, Tony died. Everything happening in that final scene was from his viewpoint. Flashback to an earlier episode when Tony and Bobby were out fishing on the lake and they were talking about being killed, and Bobby says, "You probably don't ever hear it when it happens. You don’t feel anything, everything just goes black.” (Something close to that.) That's what happened. You heard nothing. Everything went black.

Some people think that the man in the Members Only jacket that went into the bathroom was Nikki Leotardo, Phil's son. That's a possibility and would shore up the only weakness of the "Tony Died" theory. That weakness being; "Who would whack Tony?"

A lot of things were resolved (somewhat (more on that later)) in the final 2 episodes. Meadow was goint to get married and was getting a job with a lawf firm. A.J. got a job, a cute girlfriend, and a new car. Carmela was going to start building another house. Tony realized that Junior had finally lost his mind. Literally. Paulie agreed to move into a new captaincy position, putting him in-line to be Tony's successor. Tony was informed that indictments were coming down, and he'd most likely be one of the indicted.

Yet, for all of the issues seemingly resolved, a lot was left unanswered.

But that is the David Chase's style. "The Sopranos" has never been big on tying up loose ends. Remember the "Pine Barrens" episode when Paulie and Chris botched the execution of the Russian? Never found out what happened to the Russian.

Or, did Adriana actually get killed? (I'm pretty sure she did, but they never showed it.)

Anyways, I enjoyed the finale. The death of Phil was possibly one of the most extreme killings I have ever seen on TV. (Not the actual killing itself, but what happened with the SUV afterwards).

Was the finale ambiguous? You bet. But damn if it didn't force people to talk about it. And they are still talking about it. Did it provide closure? No, not really, but what TV show ever really has? Seinfeld? Lame. Dallas and Dynasty? Can't even remember. Friends? Don't recall. MASH? Possibly the only one that did provide a modicum of closure.

This final episode may have pissed people off, may have made them think, but it should go down in TV history as one to remember in decades to come. Was it spectacular? No, but not all final episodes need be.

Under [C]

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