Sopranos not hold up?

[August_West]

loved the show, but hoped Tony at least once would get his ass kicked when he went off on one of his temper tamtrums

Bobby kicked his ass in Sopranos home movies.

 

[Kolumbo]

Bobby kicked his ass in Sopranos home movies.

watching episode 78. that beatin' was the best scene of the series so far. the green hotel flick. classic.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

watching episode 78. that beatin' was the best scene of the series so far. the green hotel flick. classic.

Those two idiots stumbling at each other rates second only to Chris' intervention in terms of twisted comedy.

 

[Kolumbo]

Those two idiots stumbling at each other rates second only to Chris' intervention in terms of twisted comedy.

I forgot. The intervention scene was pure gold. "Now what was it barkin'?" "I said my piece Chrissy." "F dat. Let him take his medicine."

Baccala got some great shots in though. To see Tony take his medicine was satisfying.

 

[Kolumbo]

Just finished watching the entire series, took me about a month. Great series, but the final episodes were disappointing. I agree with some that it all seemed rushed, like they were trying to wrap it up somehow, and AJ was just a disaster, he was all over the place. The stuff T was going through, the last scene just made no sense to me. One sit down and he totally lets his guard down, even after learning someone flipped. It seemed like some writer had to meet his deadline and was not prepared at all.

 

[Kolumbo]

 

[Rico444]

Yeah I'm bumping this 10 month old thread because I just finished the series. I thought it was great, but didn't like the ending.

Chase was ambiguous throughout the entire series. He loved leaving the audience with questions that couldn't definitively be answered. He also loved building tension to the point where you just felt like you were going to explode, then letting the air out of the balloon. How many times did it seem like we were going to get a real, balls-to-the-wall war with New York? Every single time they would call a truce and everything was back to normal. When Junior/Livia tried to have Tony killed, it seemed like there would be another war there. Again, turned into nothing. My guess is Tony didn't die in that diner, but Chase probably doesn't even feel strongly either way. He just wanted to make it ambiguous, make it so people on both sides could argue that they were right but not definitively be correct. If he wanted people to know that Tony died, he would've showed Tony dying, or put shown something that gives you a clue he's in danger. I'm not talking about a random dude that keeps looking at Tony. If they had showed Member's Only Guy coming out of the bathroom with a gun in his hand, THEN that final shot the same way, then I would believe Tony is dead.

Honestly it's a little bit of a cop out in my opinion; Chase knew the power of killing Tony and what statement he would've been making (crime doesn't pay! Stay in school kids!) and didn't want to do that. If he wanted Tony to survive, but just show the audience that he has to live with paranoia every minute of every day for the rest of his life, he could've shown MOG come out of the bathroom and walk by Tony's table and make eye contact, then just walk harmlessly by. Chase obviously didn't want to do that, either. I just wish he would've made a decision and played it out.

Funny enough,

Spoiler: MAJOR Fargo season 3 spoilers

I loved the ending of season 3 of Fargo, which is every bit as ambiguous. I think it's because that was more a statement on power and its role in the justice system. Varga had the juice to wiggle his way out of that holding cell, but obviously you need a lot of juice to avoid charges from the federal government. So the ambiguity works better there because it didn't matter which way it turned out; only that both possible endings were equally plausible. The Sopranos' ending just seemed like ambiguity for ambiguity's sake.

 

[Mano]

Yeah I'm bumping this 10 month old thread because I just finished the series. I thought it was great, but didn't like the ending.

Chase was ambiguous throughout the entire series. He loved leaving the audience with questions that couldn't definitively be answered. He also loved building tension to the point where you just felt like you were going to explode, then letting the air out of the balloon. How many times did it seem like we were going to get a real, balls-to-the-wall war with New York? Every single time they would call a truce and everything was back to normal. When Junior/Livia tried to have Tony killed, it seemed like there would be another war there. Again, turned into nothing. My guess is Tony didn't die in that diner, but Chase probably doesn't even feel strongly either way. He just wanted to make it ambiguous, make it so people on both sides could argue that they were right but not definitively be correct. If he wanted people to know that Tony died, he would've showed Tony dying, or put shown something that gives you a clue he's in danger. I'm not talking about a random dude that keeps looking at Tony. If they had showed Member's Only Guy coming out of the bathroom with a gun in his hand, THEN that final shot the same way, then I would believe Tony is dead.

Honestly it's a little bit of a cop out in my opinion; Chase knew the power of killing Tony and what statement he would've been making (crime doesn't pay! Stay in school kids!) and didn't want to do that. If he wanted Tony to survive, but just show the audience that he has to live with paranoia every minute of every day for the rest of his life, he could've shown MOG come out of the bathroom and walk by Tony's table and make eye contact, then just walk harmlessly by. Chase obviously didn't want to do that, either. I just wish he would've made a decision and played it out.

Funny enough,

Spoiler: MAJOR Fargo season 3 spoilers

I loved the ending of season 3 of Fargo, which is every bit as ambiguous. I think it's because that was more a statement on power and its role in the justice system. Varga had the juice to wiggle his way out of that holding cell, but obviously you need a lot of juice to avoid charges from the federal government. So the ambiguity works better there because it didn't matter which way it turned out; only that both possible endings were equally plausible. The Sopranos' ending just seemed like ambiguity for ambiguity's sake.

“You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?”

 

[Husky25]

Yeah I'm bumping this 10 month old thread because I just finished the series. I thought it was great, but didn't like the ending.

Chase was ambiguous throughout the entire series. He loved leaving the audience with questions that couldn't definitively be answered. He also loved building tension to the point where you just felt like you were going to explode, then letting the air out of the balloon. How many times did it seem like we were going to get a real, balls-to-the-wall war with New York? Every single time they would call a truce and everything was back to normal. When Junior/Livia tried to have Tony killed, it seemed like there would be another war there. Again, turned into nothing. My guess is Tony didn't die in that diner, but Chase probably doesn't even feel strongly either way. He just wanted to make it ambiguous, make it so people on both sides could argue that they were right but not definitively be correct. If he wanted people to know that Tony died, he would've showed Tony dying, or put shown something that gives you a clue he's in danger. I'm not talking about a random dude that keeps looking at Tony. If they had showed Member's Only Guy coming out of the bathroom with a gun in his hand, THEN that final shot the same way, then I would believe Tony is dead.

Honestly it's a little bit of a cop out in my opinion; Chase knew the power of killing Tony and what statement he would've been making (crime doesn't pay! Stay in school kids!) and didn't want to do that. If he wanted Tony to survive, but just show the audience that he has to live with paranoia every minute of every day for the rest of his life, he could've shown MOG come out of the bathroom and walk by Tony's table and make eye contact, then just walk harmlessly by. Chase obviously didn't want to do that, either. I just wish he would've made a decision and played it out.

You're thinking too much into it. MOG killed Tony. Doesn't really matter at this point. James Ganolfini being gone sort of precludes any sequel to the series. OTOH, his son is a spitting image and, though I think it has a better chance of being awful, I am really looking forward to The Many Saints of Newark.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Nope. The Sopranos got away without any consequences, as they always did. Meadow playing bumper cars in the street out front and then simply parking someplace else couldn't have driven that point home any clearer than if the 4 of them all turned to the camera in the diner and gave it the finger.

 

[Rico444]

“You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?”

You're thinking too much into it. MOG killed Tony. Doesn't really matter at this point. James Ganolfini being gone sort of precludes any sequel to the series. OTOH, his son is a spitting image and, though I think it has a better chance of being awful, I am really looking forward to The Many Saints of Newark.

How am I overthinking it if they never even showed it happening? If they showed a shot where in the backround you can see MOG walking out of the bathroom with gun drawn then that would be enough to convince me even without seeing the shooting, but there was none of that. And honestly, if he was a professional hitman/mobster sent to kill the most powerful man in North Jersey, then he's pretty terrible at his job, since he kept turning around and looking at Tony before he got up.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Tony died in the diner, and that evidence was intentional. David Chase admittedly wants it to be ambiguous. He has said so in every interview he's done since the episode aired. It was his style throughout the entire series run. There is no definitive answer.

 

[Husky25]

How am I overthinking it...

Two paragraphs with 320+ words, plus a mention in the Fargo spoiler on a show that went off the air nearly 12 years ago.

Kidding.

I'm actually re-watching the series before HBO takes it off On Demand on Jan. 1, 2020, but I'm only in season 5 right now. I have become re-fascinated by the show and I realize that I'd missed more than some nuance the first time around. It's almost as if I'm watching for the first time...except I know about the major events.

To me, there are two possibilities. Either Tony dies, or the spectator emerges from the other side of the 4th wall and is killed. As I get into my middle-aged years, I don't like the idea of the latter. So it must be Tony.

 

[Rico444]

Two paragraphs with 320+ words, plus a mention in the Fargo spoiler on a show that went off the air nearly 12 years ago.

Kidding.

I'm actually re-watching the series before HBO takes it off On Demand on Jan. 1, 2020, but I'm only in season 5 right now. I have become re-fascinated by the show and I realize that I'd missed more than some nuance the first time around. It's almost as if I'm watching for the first time...except I know about the major events.

To me, there are two possibilities. Either Tony dies, or the spectator emerges from the other side of the 4th wall and is killed. As I get into my middle-aged years, I don't like the idea of the latter. So it must be Tony.

That's what I thought originally, but as I thought about it more and read the other side's argument I was swayed.

And Fargo season 3 aired 2 years ago, BTW.

 

[Walker11]

Chase said the last scene was about killing the audience or some similar high falutin nonsense

 

[Husky25]

That's what I thought originally, but as I thought about it more and read the other side's argument I was swayed.

And Fargo season 3 aired 2 years ago, BTW.

Sopranos finale was in June '07.

I haven't gotten further than a few episodes of season 1 of Fargo.

 

[Rico444]

Sopranos finale was in June '07.

I haven't gotten further than a few episodes of season 1 of Fargo.

Ah, thought you were talking about Fargo.

And Fargo is a fantastic show, definitely worth a watch.

 

[Guapo]

I think the ending of the Sopranos is great and its very obvious what happens.

However, I do understand those who don't like it.

You could make an argument the endings of Seinfeld and the Sopranos should have been flipped.

 

[Husky25]

I've come to appreciate the Seinfeld ending. The 4 of them are sitting in the cell, talking about nothing, oblivious to their surroundings and their affect on them.