Jun 11th, 2007
End of the Sopranos
To be honest, I think it was a brilliant ending. When I watched it last night I knew that it was going to be immediately thrashed by critics and fans for being anti-climactic but I think it was perfect.
Everyone assumed that Tony was going to die in the final episode, to the point at which the majority of the debate was over how he was going to die and who was going to kill him. No one ever imagined that he would make it through okay.
The final scene was also a thing of beauty. The moment he put the Journey song on the jukebox you began to imagine that this was going to be the soundtrack to his demise. Then, his family began walking into the restaurant and as he shared moments with his family members, you imagined that he would go out a happy man. Then, Meadow had trouble parking and you thought to yourself that she would somehow be the lone Soprano to make it through alive. Finally, a mobster-ish guy walks into the restaurant and begins eyeing Tony Soprano and you imagine that this will be the his executioner.
Then, Meadow walks into the restaurant and nothing and everything happens at the same time.
Here is the thing though: during those final few minutes you experienced what it must be like to step into Tony’s shoes and experience all these seemingly mundane activities that you or I take for granted, while in the back of your mind realizing that any moment could be your last. It is that lingering sense of doom that accompanies everything he does and the gift that is bequeathed in the final episode is that you really empathize with Tony Soprano.
I think it is brilliant - and I think the way they built up the audience expectations through subtle innuendo only to play upon that expectation in the final scene - is also a masterful stroke.
I’m probably alone in saying this but I absolutely loved the way the Sopranos ended.
