Sopranos 6/10 -- THE END

Just like SJ, apparently.

Welcome back, amigo.

 

Also -- a song you might remember from the last scene of "Soprano Home Movies," when Bobby comes back to Janice and the kids at the lake house -- "This Magic Moment."

 

I agree with that. Once Phil was dead it sort of let the air out of the balloon for me. I knew then everything was going to continue on as normal. The last scene was a bit stressful but mostly anticlimatic to me. I didn't think he was going to die at the end with no motive or explanation. Actually, I thought the guy who came in before A.J. was going to arrest Tony in connection with the indictments ...

 

Or she was pissed because she was unable to talk him into getting a machete and knocking some of that coat of hair off his chest.

 

Admit it: You all thought that was Kevin Finnerty waking up from a dream at the beginning, right?

 

The thought crossed my mind.

 

my two cents:
It wasn't one of the best episodes of the second half of season 6, that's for sure. it kind of jumped around too much for my liking. the ending kept you longing for more, but i guess that's what chase's intentions were. then again, it wasn't really an ending...life will go on as tony battles legal problems and NY fallout, silvio recovers or dies, meadow goes to law school, AJ works on the shady movie, uncle junior continues to lose it, janice finds another man, etc. but that strong sense of dread was evident as the camera zoomed onto ordinary customers. i was sitting on the edge of my seat during the diner scene with my stomach in knots, like my pats were in the superbowl or something, waiting for a bullet to fire. exactly what a mob boss has to live life like.

the more i think about the ending, the more i talk myself into actually liking it, at least more than i originally did. The easy way to end the show is for Ton to die or some far-fetched plot to occur like terrorists strike or phil turns on NJ. a cheap, fun thrill, sure, but chase's objective with the sopranos was to humanize the mob, and more specifically a certain mob boss, and he completely succeeded: A cold-blooded villian in tony soprano became a loveable hero or sympethic/sad man throughout some episodes and then then the next week could make you feel sick for ever rooting him on or even remotely liking the character. The ending was a prime example Chase humanizing: the family sitting around a table alongside other regular customers enjoying life, eating dinner, conversating exactly like a normal family...but tony still realizing his downfall can occur at any second by any unfamiliar source. also, knowing that he has to deal with carlo in the near future and that this may all end before long.

that phil death was completely vicious and very memorable. showing those babies while you hear that crunch plus the kid outside, watching it and then puking. just a strong, fun scene.

the scenes with the cat (chrissy reincarnated? hmm...ha) and paulie were utterly fantastic and hysterical.

 

Yes.

 

I JUST WATCHED EPISODE ONE (the very first episode) AFTER WATCHING THE FINAL EPISODE.
David Chase long has said that the series comes full circle.
It did.
Everything from Meadow's friend, to why Tony worries so much, to his sense of dread, to A.J., to Melfi.
I recommend watching the first episode after watching the last.

 

Maybe.

 

When they showed him waking up, I totally thought we were getting a dream ending.

I'll throw this out as a question:

What is the connection with the dead babies and cars?

We know the dead baby fascination comes from Livia -- it's a classic, over-the-top sociopathic tool for manipulation. But in the last three-four episodes, the allusions to dead children have both been increasing and increasingly tied to automobiles. Cars aren't uniquely American, but they certainly are a huge part of the overall American ethos.

Along with the title, "Made In America", is Chase making a statement about American children? Did we used to make them both better?

 

No. Another cheap Chase trick. If anything I thought he wanted us to think Tony was dead. White sheet, white pillow, funereal organ music.