Whoa,I loved it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, expecting Tony to get whacked…I think it was neat the way it did end, with the Journey song (“don’t stop believing, hold on to that feeling”). I think David Chase meant that we could interpret the end exactly as we wanted it to be: Tony looks up suddenly, either as he dies from a bullet or sees Meadow walking in. Anybody else like the end ?
You might want to put SPOILER in the thread since it has just started here in california.
Thanks - will do
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I believe you are correct that Chase is allowing us to come to our own conclusions.
Here is mine:
I didn’t think he was going to get wacked, too much money to be made in movies. Life continues as usual, he has consolidated the NY and NJ families. No one close that is powerful enough to hit him. Those guys in the diner are just regular joes. He keeps his eyes on everyone, as everyone can either be out to get him or be a cop.
Three years from now we see a two hour movie. AJ is taking the family business legit in the movie industry with Carmine. Meadow is married and a big defense attorney, Syl is ok and still the #2 man.
As I watched the finale I was thinking “I really hope they dont whack him”. The ending they picked was brilliant. It left the final interpretation of the Soprano’s future up to the viewer. My thoughts are… it was just Meadow walking in the door and that Tony will go on living a life where anytime, anywhere, it very well may not “just be Meadow” walking through the door.
Finally that POS Phil gets a 9mm vacation , but in front of the woman was just in poor taste, but the tire thing was nice. They had some strangers walking to the bathroom / in the front door of the restaurant ??
The meadow parking delay must hint to her coming in late or during , or stopping it ?
It has to many questions unanswered
Whats with the FBI agent saying " Maybe we’re gonna win this one " after he hears Phil got whacked ?
Whats up with the FBI bangin off a piece , that kind of happy after glow - better stick to whipin your Skippy.
I’m sure millions of people said “HUH?!?!??!?” when it ended last night. I have to admit that I was disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but the last five minutes seemed like a big build-up to nothing.
On the other hand, Tony going into Witness Protection would have been too similar to the end of Goodfellas, and Meadow getting killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time would have mirroed the end of Godfather 3. The ending last night reminded me of the ending of the book “Primary Colors”, where it just ended and left you scratching your head.
I thought it was great. Leaves a lot to the imagination. Thoughts:
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**“AJ is taking the family business legit” **quote above. “Kay, in 5 years, the Corleone family will be completely legitimate.”
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I know others noticed the Godfather parallel with the guy going to the men’s room, a la Michael Coreone before the McCluskey/Solozzo hit.
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Phil’s head was a nice touch.
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Did anyone else notice Dr. Melfi’s swinging shut the door on Tony last week was exactly the camera angle and action of Al Neri swinging the door closed on Kay in the final shot of Godfather I? right hand reaches out to our left to grab the door, then the door swings closed.
I wonder if there is any significance to “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey played during the final scene.
“Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on”
Does this foretell the much discussed movie to come?
I was thinking that too. The more I think about last night, the more I like it. It gave every fan what they wanted. If you wanted Tony dead, then you could see the fade to black, just like he tells Bobby or Christopher earlier this season “when you get whacked, it’s just a quick fade to black” or something along those lines. Maybe he saw Meadow coming through the front door, or it could have been someone else right before her. Or it could have been the guy in the bathroom (a la Godfather). I think many of the patrons in the diner harkened back to old mobster movies.
Or, you could go the Journey route, and know that this “thing of ours” never ends, it just goes on and on and on…
So, whatever you wanted, you could argue it happened. Unless you wanted him in witness protection.
It seems like a money grab to me.
It gives them the chance to release the DVD with multiple endings, since they supposedly shot different endings. More money.
It gives them the chance to make a movie. More money.
Yeah, the last five minutes were definitely a bit - initially - disappointing. We just looked at one another and went “HUH??”
Then I thought about it a bunch. So, what happened? Did the ice cream place blow up? Did the guy in the Member’s Only jacket come out of the bathroom with guns blazing just as Meadow walked in the door? Did the creepy guy in the Carhartt vest pull a piece out from under the table and waste AJ? It’s a brilliant “Insert Your Own Ending Here” moment.
Being left hanging like that with basically no questions answered was tough. How does the grand jury go? Does Sil make it? Does Janice get to keep her enormous house? Does Uncle Junior remember where his stash is? So many questions.
The whole Agent Harris/Tony relationship is still just so baffling. Tony tells him about the bank account, then asks for some tit for tat and it takes him a few days to work on it. Does he tell Tony about the flurry of calls from the gas station in West Orange because he doesn’t want Tony to get whacked, or because he wants Tony to whack Phil so they have more for the RICO case?
Bah, if I keep thinking about this I will just drive myself crazy. Overall, it was a great episode.
Watching it via the DVR I thought for a second “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!, Comcast strikes again!!!”…and then the credits start to roll, and then I’m thinking it’s a masterpiece of an ending.
As others have noted, the parallels between this and scenes from "The Godfather’’ are very obvious…the guy going to the bathroom, I’m thinking “a la Michael Corleone”, but then immediately dismiss that as “well, why would he need to go in there to get a gun? No one frisked him when he came in, right?”
Once “Don’t Stop Believing” started playing, though, I figured even with all the tension those last few moments that there would be no further bloodshed. Perhaps a movie down the line, though James Gandolfini insists he never wants to play Tony Soprano again…perhaps it will always be a “fill in the blanks” sort of thing, where in your own mind the saga continues…or ends.
Paulie and the cat was classic stuff.
I thought the exact same thing re Comcast, but I went beyond thinking it. I said “you motherf*&king son of a b*&ch, I’m gonna throw this f&*ing cable box out the window,” which was met by a “honey, settle down” from the wife. re-watched it 2x.
Funny…reading some of the blogs over at HBO.com and some people insist that on their feed, they saw Meadow inside the diner just as another person in a tan coat pushes past her, and then cut to black…
The mind does funny things.
“The mind does funny things.”
And I think that was Chase’s intent. It is going to be interesting to see how people remember it in 3 months, 6 months, etc.
I agree…had a little spare time this morning, and it was odd how many of the clips that were shown on the various morning shows replaying the ending had the “fade” on the wrong lyrics—it was very clear that “don’t stop…” was the moment it cut to black, but I must have seen a half dozen that were all over the lyrical map…
But overall, a very classic last few minutes, if disappointing at first. It looked like everyone was a possible “suspect”, tension filled every second as we expected something to happen. Just like life must be for someone like a Tony Soprano, where that “cut to black” could come literally at any time he’s out in public performing the most banal of tasks, like having a meal with his family.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I loved last night. I wasn’t real happy at about 10:05pm though…
Does anyone have this Tivo’d? I read an online chat that indicated Tony was wearing one shirt when he entered the diner and another shirt later in the scene. Indicating maybe he was “watching” himself or something???
The online chat was the Sports Guy’s chat on espn.com. Lots of interesting Sopranos stuff in there.
yes, no resolution, so they can make a movie. personally, i find that a huge cop out…people have watched the show all these years for a no finale kind of finale. but, there is alot of money to be made by having no resolution; it’s so hollywood. blah.