Sopranos 6/10 -- THE END

Double Down, thank you for endorsing the return of the ducks.  The ducks are a significant symbol to the series and it's fitting that they return tonight.  

You hit on a few things that I was thinking about while at street festival today:  the impact and message that The Sopranos had beyond Chase's psychology:  the difficulty and the pursuit of trying to move the Mob into the 21st Century.  As we have seen in the series, trying to be the Mob in today's world is completely different than back in the day.  A lot of things have contributed to this:  RICO, new generations of children are unwilling to take up "the life", and toll it takes on the older guard, emotionally and mentally.  

Since the creation and enforcement of RICO laws, mob families and their power have been broken up into pieces.  The Mafia isn't able to do what they did best anymore.  Some have resorted to doing petty things such as trafficking drugs, and minor stuff.  Everyone knows what "waste management" means.  DD nailed with the allure of what The Godfather trilogy, Al Capone, and John Gotti brought:  the flair, the cold-bloodedness, and the wise-guy tactics that made The Mafia part of the lexicon.  To paraphrase the popular quote to describe today's state of affairs:  These aren't you father's Mafia.  

The children part is very telling throughout with Chris, A.J., Meadow, and Jackie Jr..  They want no part of their father's "work."  The real life example is Victoria Gotti and her brat pack sons.  She opted to write books and became a best seller.  Her kids would rather be "stars" than pick up a gun and snub someone out.  Their generation may have seen what their fathers and grandfathers have done, but they don't have the passion (see A.J.) to succeed their predecessors and carry on the mission.  Christopher is the Greek tragedy of his generation:  he loves the allure and the rush of being part of "the family," but his passions and goals do not mirror Tony's or Uncle Junior's.  

As a result, the old guard is afraid that their way of life will end when they die, peacefully or by violence.  Remember when Paulie was complaining to Pussy in the first season about "losing" all of their traditions and things they cherished to a world outside, like "this espresso shit"?  Paulie, FWIW, was probably the only gangster who fretted about the future of the Mob, but also adapted to it.  Manicures, understanding finance, doing updated things, made Paulie an endearing character to many.  The conflict between Chris and Paulie was the "battle":  the generation gap.  Tony tried to entrust Chris the keys to the empire, and whether Paulie admits it or not publicly but he wanted Chris to fail, and Chris did miserably in his role.  Chris didn't have the balls to go full bore into it.  Chris should have made that realization when he became "made": "you can check out, but you can't leave." [/lyric courtesy of Wyclef Jean]

The Mafia wasn't and to this day are not ready to segue into the 21st Century.  They are used to the old way of handling things.  Issues such as college (Meadow), homosexuality (Vito), and family roles (Carm going into real estate) are foreign to them.  Such as the case of Tony going to therapy to combat his anxiety and depression.  All of that can't simply go away by firing a gun to eliminate it.  Vito, Carm, and Meadow are doing things that are current. Tony, Paulie, and Phil continue to resort to what they do best: being mobsters and not being open to the changing culture around them.

This was a look into the "real" Mob being deconstucted.  It's no different than what a regular family goes through, but in the Mob world, it's quite a different point of view.  

Yes, this series had everything to do with the psychology and the mind of Tony Soprano.  It's David Chase's calling card (The Rockford Files episode with the manic-depressive bad guy is a must-watch).  But it's more than the mental capacity of a capo.  It's his way of life becoming a shell of what it used to be and no one to succeed him and put a spark into it again.  

That is what makes shows like The Sopranos an indeliable part of television history.  It was a character study unlike anything we have seen.  A real life possibility of what regular life is by using someone unlike us to be the person we hate and loved so much.  

This is from someone who has spent too much time thinking this up and writing it down.  

It's a good question to ask, thanks to DD.  What do each of you got of this show that will leave an impression on you?  

 

Here it is!

 

i love that Carm gets up in this dumpy house and puts on a sweater with gold sparkles.

 

I'm beginning to think AJ's not smart enough to make a bomb and hatch an attack of his own.

 

HOLY FUCKING SHIT ... THAT SCENE WAS GREAT!

 

I think this sets up the rest of . . . oh, never mind.

 

are you kidding me? that's it?

 

Ho. Lee. Shit.

Probably the greatest finale EVER.

 

Umm...

 

Terrible. Pathetic. Boring. Stupid. Disappointing.

 

And ...



that's OK.

 

Great ending. Some things from seasons 1 & 2 (or was it 3 with Meadow almost getting hit by a car?) and the nod to the G-I. Also the Journey was classic.

One of the, if not the greatest whack scene in series history and the shit with Paulie & the cat was also an all-time high.

Some might criticize the finale but I thought it was as good as it could have been.