Sopranos 6/10 -- THE END

Wasn't there a scoop weeks ago about Meadow being in one of the final scenes, driving a car into a pole on the way to an ice cream parlor? Someone posted that on a Sopranos thread weeks ago, and I thought about it when Meadow was tirelessly attempting to parallel park (which she did better than me on my best day). There were all sorts of rumors about shots being done in those neighborhoods, but a lot of them never came to pass.

Maybe that was all to deflect how Chase knew how he wanted to end it all along.

 

Which makes sense.

The alternate endings were shot to keep the final ending a secret.

I'm sure they'll be available on the DVD, but that's going to sell like crazy anyway, with or without them.

And ending the show with the family around the table together eating fits perfectly. They already ended one season that way. This was different, and certainly deliberately abrupt, but I don't think you can successfully argue that it doesn't fit the series as a whole.

 

I loved that Mink was more interested in catching a glimpse of a Bing stripper on the security cam than discussing Tony's imminent indictment.

Also, Patsy's wife was Donna Pescow, who played the self-titled character "Angie" on the ABC comedy in the 1970s. She was also the fat chick that lusted for Tony Manero in "Saturday Night Fever." I thought she looked familiar.

 

I swear that wasn't Steve Perry and Journey having the last two words on the last episode of "The Sopranos." It sure sounded like me.

"Don't stop."

 

And Pescow played the mom on Disney's "Even Stevens" from 2000-2003. 

When I was a 1st grader, I had a crush on her.  I loved that Redhead to no end.  But, I loved Maureen McGovern's theme song to "Angie" more.

 

Who else had to play Earmuffs tonight at work? I was there till 10:30 and we got in a little blurb about the season finale. Normally, I'm the guy who would've flowed that story on the page. But I told our night editor I didn't want to have anything to do with it. Our proofer, the only other Sopranos fan on the desk, got out of proofing that page as well. The editor gave us shit, but relented in the end.
I echo the majority of the posts here ... friggin' tremendous. And I'm pretty sure my neighbors heard all the commotion when Phil Leotardo got clipped. By none other than Gonarhea (sp?). Think the last time I made that much noise reacting to what I saw on TV was the Music City Miracle.

 

Originally, the ending pissed me off. But it's starting to grow on me.

I had read posts saying that the final episode would end with Tony and his family eating ice cream together. And when I saw the boy scouts in the restaurant, I was like "Fucking spoilers! It IS going to end like that!" But then I saw the trucker, the Members Only guy, the African-Americans, the Members Only guy going into the bathroom (to fetch a gun?). I was hoping maybe whoever leaked the family-dinner-at-the-restaurant ending might have been intentionally throwing viewers off. Then Meadow not being able to parallel park. I thought maybe her late arrival would foil a hit on Tony, or that everyone in the restaurant would die and she would be the only one spared. Funny how Season 3 (I think) ended with Meadow running AWAY from a restaurant after a funeral. I think Chase knew some viewers (like me) would think their cable went out for 10 seconds or so before the credits rolled. That trick helps make up for an somewhat unsatisfying ending to the story.

More thoughts:

Don't Stop Believin': From what I read of Chase, he's kind of a dark, brooding guy. Kind of funny that he planned all these years to end his mob drama with a Journey song.

Phil getting whacked: I kind of wish the camera didn't cut away so quickly from the tire crushing his head. If they can show Ralphie's severed head for a couple of seconds, why couldn't they have made that scene just a little more graphic? A great scene, don't get me wrong. But could have been just a little bit better. BTW, if there are so few gas stations with pay phones these days, what's Phil doing using one? He had to know that was going to narrow down his location a little bit.

Paulie: Him hedging about taking the promotion made you wonder if he had flipped. But his line "I live but to serve you, my liege" wrapped up Paulie's character as forever loyal to Tony.

Agent Harris: When he said, "We're going to win this," are we sure he wasn't talking about the Feds' case against Tony? Hmmm.

Hilarious lines: Tony telling Paulie he was "miffled" about his hesitance to take the promotion. And when A.J. remarked to Tony that Carmine "does porn" with Tony responding. "He did 'Cleaver.' He's branching out." Priceless.

 

Tom Withers spoiled it for me. He put it right there in his Cavs-Spurs gamer.

Knowing how it did end, I think ruined it for me. I did not like the episode and I think the main reason was because the tension in the last few minutes wasn't there for me. I instead was watching with my mouth wide open as the Journey song played.

 

That's not even right. At least here, I suppose it's a good thing the one desker who's not a Sopranos fan worked tonight.

 

The first minute after the credits, I hated it. Absolutely detested it on a Seinfeld-like level. But it's growing on me, more and more, for all the reasons already posted.

 

Amazing.
Thank you to David Chase, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and the rest of the cast for one of the greatest television shows in history. It's very rare for a show to go out on top, with the ability to put your heart in your throat to the very last second, but "The Sopranos" did.
A wonderful end to a wonderful series.

 

Brilliant ...