Soprano's ending... Love it or hate it

[southsider2k5]

What say you Soxtalk? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

[Kid Gleason]

I think I need to answer the bottom one, as I have never seen a single episode of this show.

[KipWellsFan]

Can't say I loved it, but I certainly didn't hate it.

[Milkman delivers]

I guess hate is too strong. I voted for hate, but I really just didn't come away feeling satisfied.

[Gregory Pratt]

Milkman SMASH!

[DrunkBomber]

I guess hate is too strong. I voted for hate, but I really just didn't come away feeling satisfied.

Thats pretty much how I feel about it. I didnt completely hate it but I also wasnt a fan of everything being left p in the air.

[Chisoxfn]

I don't think I hated it...I liked it a lot but love is a bit wrong. I loved the episode before...but this episode was pretty fantastic as well.

[Milkman delivers]

Milkman SMASH!

 

Ha, sounds like my new slogan.

[Brian]

I like that Chase didn't treat the audience like idiots. To kill of Tony would of made the whole series irrelevant.

Why do we need something huge to happen at the end? Why can't he just be shown that life goes on?

[whitesoxfan101]

The show has spent 8 years being completely different from anything else on T.V. The fact that it could end like it did, with you wondering whether the entire family was about to get whacked or if life was simply continuing to go on was great. I would have hated for a great series to be ruined by wrapping the whole thing up in a little bow like others do. I loved it, although if they are saving more for the movie or alternate endings on the DVD I take this post back.

Edited June 12, 2007 by whitesoxfan101

[shipps]

The show has spent 8 years being completely different from anything else on T.V. The fact that it could end like it did, with you wondering whether the entire family was about to get whacked or if life was simply continuing to go on was great. I would have hated for a great series to be ruined by wrapping the whole thing up in a little bow like others do. I loved it, although if they are saving more for the movie or alternate endings on the DVD I take this post back.

That was my problem with the ending ,you knew they werent gonna get whacked.It was obvious the writers were just messing with the audience because they knew everyone was just wondering if any of the immediate Soprano family would be killed,it was a joke.They could have had a suspense filled ending with the Letardo situation and they passed that up.

[jackie hayes]

That was my problem with the ending ,you knew they werent gonna get whacked.It was obvious the writers were just messing with the audience because they knew everyone was just wondering if any of the immediate Soprano family would be killed,it was a joke.They could have had a suspense filled ending with the Letardo situation and they passed that up.

I would've hated that. Phil's only been big news recently. Before that it was Johnny Sack. For the final scene, I wanted a comment on the show's entire run, not just something suspenseful that would have wrapped up a recent plot line. Shouldn't end the whole series on something so minor.

[shipps]

I would've hated that. Phil's only been big news recently. Before that it was Johnny Sack. For the final scene, I wanted a comment on the show's entire run, not just something suspenseful that would have wrapped up a recent plot line. Shouldn't end the whole series on something so minor.

It wasnt something minor.It was the big war between bosses killing each other,and they built that up on the second to last show.A family killing off another family is a huge deal in this show.

[Gene Honda Civic]

I like open endings in general, but that was a little too abrupt. I needed another line of dialog with meadow at the table -- and it didn't have to be of any significance -- pan back, fade to black.

[jackie hayes]

It wasnt something minor.It was the big war between bosses killing each other,and they built that up on the second to last show.A family killing off another family is a huge deal in this show.

Well, yeah -- "in this show" it's pretty big. But when the show's done forever in 5 minutes, I want to see something that wraps up the entire run. It'd be big in the middle of the season, sure. But having that at the end seems kinda pointless.

[SoxFan1]

I just watched the last 5 minutes on DailyMotion, and I heard that it ended abruptly, but god damn...

[KipWellsFan]

I like open endings in general, but that was a little too abrupt. I needed another line of dialog with meadow at the table -- and it didn't have to be of any significance -- pan back, fade to black.

 

Agreed, I don't think the whole feeling would have been ruined had the music and picture faded away instead of the abrupt ending. I have to question it when it makes everyone think their cable went out. But the strange end seems to be some kind of attempt to cement the Sopranos legacy or something. And I figure with a lot of serious people comparing his work to SHAKESPEARE I'll let David Chase get away with this one.

[whitesoxfan101]

I like open endings in general, but that was a little too abrupt. I needed another line of dialog with meadow at the table -- and it didn't have to be of any significance -- pan back, fade to black.

 

I think that little detail ruins the whole thing though. If Meadow makes it to the table and says something, it's just an ending where the family is together. The fact it didn't get that far is a big reason why the ending is so open to interpretation as to what really happened.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Agreed, I don't think the whole feeling would have been ruined had the music and picture faded away instead of the abrupt ending. I have to question it when it makes everyone think their cable went out. But the strange end seems to be some kind of attempt to cement the Sopranos legacy or something. And I figure with a lot of serious people comparing his work to SHAKESPEARE I'll let David Chase get away with this one.

 

I don't know about the comparisons to Billy the Shake.

 

The abrupt cut, rather than a pull back and fade down, was used IMO to highlight the uncertain future of Tony and his family/Family. Pull back/fade down would have put everybody at ease, and you'd know there were still unresolved issues but you wouldn't feel it in your gut lie with the abrupt cut. I rewatched the ending scene today and, yeah, right when they cut Tony has a look of comprehension on his face and he is reaching for something under the table/in his pocket. It may be no more than him recognizing Meadow walking in and reaching for his wallet, or maybe it's not her and he's reaching for his cell phone to call her. Or it could have been something entirely different, and darker.

 

Karmic sh*t is going to catch up with Tony sooner or later, that is a given. Since he lasted through the series and it won't play out in front of us, it's academic whether he pays the piper in 10 minutes of 10 years.

[whitesoxfan101]

I don't know about the comparisons to Billy the Shake.

 

The abrupt cut, rather than a pull back and fade down, was used IMO to highlight the uncertain future of Tony and his family/Family. Pull back/fade down would have put everybody at ease, and you'd know there were still unresolved issues but you wouldn't feel it in your gut lie with the abrupt cut. I rewatched the ending scene today and, yeah, right when they cut Tony has a look of comprehension on his face and he is reaching for something under the table/in his pocket. It may be no more than him recognizing Meadow walking in and reaching for his wallet, or maybe it's not her and he's reaching for his cell phone to call her. Or it could have been something entirely different, and darker.

 

Karmic sh*t is going to catch up with Tony sooner or later, that is a given. Since he lasted through the series and it won't play out in front of us, it's academic whether he pays the piper in 10 minutes of 10 years.

 

Exactly, and part of the brilliance of the show are little details that become so important such as whether it should have pulled back and faded to black or not. If it has the more gradual end, it is like yeah the family has problems but we all do. With this ending, it could be the family has problems but we all do, or Tony was just being paranoid as usual, or the whole family is about to get blown up. I just hope they don't ruin a great ending and put half a dozen alternate endings on the DVD when it comes out, or have a movie. I bet one happens, and that would be a shame.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

So where would you put this in terms of series finales all-time?

 

Slightly better than seinfeld but nowhere near MASH?

[FlaSoxxJim]

So where would you put this in terms of series finales all-time?

 

Slightly better than seinfeld but nowhere near MASH?

 

 

I really disliked the MASH finale. By the end of the run, the series had been well past its prime and Alda just seemed like an insufferable prick. The last thing I needed was 2 hours (or however long it was) of that drek. And that is coming from a pretty diehard fan of MASG through most of its run.

 

On the other hand, I realize I'm the only one on the planet who quite liked the last Seinfeld and all of the self-referential elements that went into it. The whole trial thing was a convenient vehicle for all of the cameos, sure, but it really did get you thinking that, yeah, pretty much the whole group was pretty much a bunch of jerks and ruined a lot of lives during the course of the series.

 

I also liked the ending scene with them all stuck with each other in confinement for a year (again, a pretty stupid plot vehicle I'll concede), where they just start talking about the same innane nothing stuff they've been talking about from the start.

 

Hands-down, the worst sitcom series finale ever: Rosanne. Just awful.

[jackie hayes]

I really disliked the MASH finale. By the end of the run, the series had been well past its prime and Alda just seemed like an insufferable prick. The last thing I needed was 2 hours (or however long it was) of that drek. And that is coming from a pretty diehard fan of MASG through most of its run.

 

On the other hand, I realize I'm the only one on the planet who quite liked the last Seinfeld and all of the self-referential elements that went into it. The whole trial thing was a convenient vehicle for all of the cameos, sure, but it really did get you thinking that, yeah, pretty much the whole group was pretty much a bunch of jerks and ruined a lot of lives during the course of the series.

 

I also liked the ending scene with them all stuck with each other in confinement for a year (again, a pretty stupid plot vehicle I'll concede), where they just start talking about the same innane nothing stuff they've been talking about from the start.

 

Hands-down, the worst sitcom series finale ever: Rosanne. Just awful.

Everyone thought Rosanne had been cancelled years before that. Didn't really matter.

 

Seinfeld's was only good in that it was almost the Platonic ideal of condescending tv s***. Worst ever. As shallow as the characters were, it's not like the supporting characters were any different. Then trying to manufacture some moral out of the shallowness? It was the vomit of finales.

 

Maybe the only conclusion I liked better was Arrested Development's -- and I wasn't even a huge fan of the show. But I laughed my ass off for those two hours.

[RibbieRubarb]

I posted this in the other Sopranos thread, but I thought I'd post it here too. It seems appropriate.

 

A wonderful final episode to a landmark series that NEVER settled for standard TV/Mafia cliches...no matter how much the public demanded of it.

 

David Chase created a living, breathing work of art in a medium that is dominated by predictable fare that pushes "ratings" first and "integrity" second.

 

Ultimately , The Sopranos was just that...the story about a family. And the show ended like it begin with the Soprano family eating and unsure about their fate. Life goes on and this series was never shy about it's focus on that sentiment. Chase was never tidy with with all plot points...because life isn't tidy folks. I know many wanted the story to have a clean ending because it brings closure. But if you wee really expecting that, I think you have been watching a different show since 1999.

 

I expected this ending...one chapter closed and the next to begin away from our eyes.

 

As for the abrupt ending? I thought my cable went out too. But I see it as NOTHING to get mad over. Think about it. If the show ended 10 seconds later with Meadow walking in and sitting down then a fade to black...this would have been better? Does this ten seconds make or break the series?!? No...also that kind of ending would give the audience a false sense of security about the Sopranos, that everything would be all right. But, my friends, that is not the case. I know we have invested years with them and have grown to love this family. We want that sense of security. But Chase knows that is not truthful. That would be giftwrapping the entire series in a lie. I think we expect more from this great show.

 

The abrupt ending was just that. Removing any sense of security you have about them. No symbolic nature to it. Their lives with forever be "looking over the shoulder", "denial" and "depression". This is life the enitre family chose. There is no backing out. Tony, Carm, AJ and Meadow are all now involved in it.

 

The ending made you, the audience, feel anxious, nervous and angry. Just like the Sopranos will feel every day from now on. David Chase just welcomed you into the family...finally.

Edited June 12, 2007 by RibbieRubarb

[southsider2k5]

I really disliked the MASH finale. By the end of the run, the series had been well past its prime and Alda just seemed like an insufferable prick. The last thing I needed was 2 hours (or however long it was) of that drek. And that is coming from a pretty diehard fan of MASG through most of its run.

 

On the other hand, I realize I'm the only one on the planet who quite liked the last Seinfeld and all of the self-referential elements that went into it. The whole trial thing was a convenient vehicle for all of the cameos, sure, but it really did get you thinking that, yeah, pretty much the whole group was pretty much a bunch of jerks and ruined a lot of lives during the course of the series.

 

I also liked the ending scene with them all stuck with each other in confinement for a year (again, a pretty stupid plot vehicle I'll concede), where they just start talking about the same innane nothing stuff they've been talking about from the start.

 

Hands-down, the worst sitcom series finale ever: Rosanne. Just awful.

 

I'm too young to remember the end of MASH, but I too liked the Seinfeld finale. I thought it was a great microcosum of the show's history, and it was a perfect ending that they all had to suffer together, because of each other.