Why I Support the Final Episode of The Sopranos

     So, if you're like me, you spent the last 2 minutes of the Sopranos on edge and were left only to wonder if your TiVO somehow cut off the resolution of the final episode last night.  Once you found out that that was, indeed, the end, you felt somewhat confused...

   Now, it is a day later and I have been thinking about this series finale quite a bit.  Many are disappointed, but me, I have decided it is exactly the ending which the Sopranos needed.  Mainly, in my opinion, because of David Chase's expert ability to crystallize these characters we have followed in each, respective, final tableaux.  I begin:

Paulie:  As Tony and Paulie have their final meeting in the episode, Paulie expounds on his superstitions and his disgust over a small orange cat Tony has taken a shine to.  In the end, though, Paulie buckles under the weight of Tony and concedes to take over a business his gut tells him will get him killed.  As Tony leaves the cat appears and sits right next to a perturbed Paulie.  In this moment we see the life Paulie is trapped by:  he will always be forced to endure that which he detests only because he doesn't have the personal strength to rise above it.

Junior:  He doesn't even remember who he was or what his relationship is with Tony.  He is left alone in the cheap prison Tony has decided he should remain.  In a few words:  clueless and unhappy, convinced everyone is out to get him.

Silvio:  Shot up and in the hospital he sits silently (though, he is unconscious) as Tony holds his hand.  A true encapsulation of the kind of man Silvio has been and the kind of man he will continue to be.  Quiet, there for Tony when he is needed but, overall, staying out of it. 

The Soprano Family:  As the final moments occur, they come together haphazardly.  AJ is happy again, but we wonder: for how long?  Carmela sits with her standard and forced content demeanor. Meadow frustratedly tries to fit into a parking space (perhaps a simple metaphor for "fitting in" in general). 

Tony:  Our anti-hero looks about and we are filled with dread that he may, at any moment, be destroyed by one of the many people who keep entering the restaurant.  But this is not Tony's destiny and in the last second as Meadow races to the door and we see Tony hear the jingle of the door to the restaurant, yet don't see who enters, cut to black, we can realize exactly what is in store for Tony.  What Tony sees at that door is irrelevant because it is what we understand must be going through Tony's mind that holds the key to Tony's true nature.  What we know in that moment is that Tony is crystallized as one who never knows who will come through a door to meet him- it may be friend, it may be a foe.  What makes this even worse is, in the life Tony has, a friend may be a foe and vice-versa.  Tony will forever be a man who is plagued by this reality. 

   So back to my initial point about the empty feeling you may have had when watching this final few seconds.  I believe that is exactly the point.  The life these characters lead is in a limbo of emptiness.  We have shared their moments of happiness and we have shared their moments of pain but, in the end, whether we like it or not, each of these characters is trapped in an empty place from which they will never escape.   

   If I have but one complaint about the final moments it is the music choice.  I think "Don't Stop Believing" is a bit cliche and though we get it- though these characters are trapped they still hope for something better- the music, for me, sort of hit me a little too hard over the head and didn't match the void of the scene it accompanied.

Comments

[Alexandra]

the episode was a cop out. when would they ever go to a diner? honestly