Sopranos: Seeking a Singing Fat Lady
James Gandolfini in The Sopranos by Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
I'm sure I'm not the only person who got a phone call shortly after
The Sopranos was over, with someone on the other end wondering frantically if their TV had gone out at the crucial final moment of the final episode. Because surely it didn't just go to black. And I don't mean fade to black. I mean, crash to black. To total black, including absolute silence as, after several elongated seconds, the credits began to roll, minus the usual music.
When it's over, it's over, David Chase appears to be saying. No tidy resolution, no clever summation, except perhaps for A.J. parroting something he heard his old man say once: "Focus on the good times." OK, let's do that.
Anything to take our mind off the fact that, for one last time, Chase has upended our expectations for where we think
The Sopranos is going to go or how it's going to end. Surely you didn't think this show would settle for a conventional ending. Even so, an actual ending might have been nice.
Because this wasn't an ending. It was a sudden halt. Mid-scene. Mid-song. The last words you hear in
The Sopranos are from Journey on the jukebox, singing "Don't Stop" as the action suddenly stops. Cold. Forever. Last thing we see: Tony looking up as the bell rings over the door of the diner, presumably announcing the arrival of Meadow, whose frantic attempts to park her car are so laden with symbolic portent. Throughout this final sequence in the diner, it's edited to build tension, despite the fact that what we're seeing is so banal, so ordinary. The Sopranos eating junk food at a place we've never seen before (I think), surrounded by people we've never seen before. That random dude at the counter, looking around furtively before heading to the bathroom? Just a random dude. He wasn't pulling a Michael Corleone in the men's room. Or was he? We'll never know, but I tend to doubt it.
We only thought he may have been a hit man because we've been conditioned and misdirected to expect the worst. And because we've seen too many clichéd mob movies. Which
The Sopranos most definitely isn't.
Yes, there was a memorably grisly whacking to satisfy the bloodlust of a certain type of
Sopranos fan. You couldn't have asked for a more unforgettable exit for Phil Leotardo than his execution at the gas station mere moments after he sings bye-bye to his grandbabies in the back seat of his SUV (not a good week for SUV owners, by the way). Suddenly he's shot in the head, and his wife makes matters worse dashing out from behind the wheel and leaving the car in drive, so the wheels turn forward and squash Phil's head open. We don't see it, but we hear it, which is probably worse. And how about FBI Agent Harris giving Tony the key to Phil's whereabouts? To him, it's just a big game of whack-the-mobster. When he hears Phil got popped, he cheers: "Damn! We're gonna win this thing!"
So there was closure, at least where the war between the families was concerned, and also a significant twist as one of Tony's associates is rumored to have flipped and started squealing to the grand jury. As the Soprano family goes out for their final meal (of the series, anyway, in an echo of the first-season finale when they all gathered at Artie's place in the blackout), Tony is facing the very real possibility of an indictment. Life as they know it is about to change again, but we won't be there to see it. Honestly, did we really want to sit through a season of Tony in jail, on trial? Probably not. But did we really want to be left hanging this way, without a classic final shot or fadeout? Probably not.
This was a case of climaxus interruptus. Some no doubt will argue that it was a brilliant trick, Chase being Chase, defiant to the end. But many, I fear, will only dwell on their frustration and dismay at the self-consciously arty finish, seeing it as a slap in the face. All I can think is that this was the kind of "what the heck" head-scratcher that, combined with the impenetrable and insufferable premiere of
John From Cincinnati that followed, will leave many HBO subscribers seriously rethinking their investment.
Not that there weren't many marvelous moments throughout this final hour. It was often very funny, courtesy of Paulie Walnuts. His war against the stray cat brought in from the safe house was absolutely hilarious, as was the cat's mysterious habit of staring mesmerized at Christopher's portrait, no matter where it was hung. The final image we get of Paulie is genius, sunning himself outside Satriale's with a reflective screen while his nemesis the cat walks up and, unbeknownst to Paulie, also splays out in the sun. Kindred spirits? And how about Paulie's revelation to Tony that he once had a vision of the Virgin Mary at the Bing? And Paulie at the feast after Bobby's funeral, unzipping himself at the kids' table: "In the midst of death we are in life. Or is it the other way around?"
There was also profound poignance in this episode as well, especially in the scenes with Uncle Junior. Tony's visit, which immediately preceded the final scene in the diner, was drenched in the sadness and regret that permeated this final season.
The Sopranos is a tragedy, but one rooted firmly in human comedy. In a typical mob drama, you'd expect one of the Soprano family's cars to explode. But in
The Sopranos, A.J.'s SUV catches fire and combusts only because this stupid, horny kid has parked in the woods atop flammable leaves. And this kid thinks he can get into Officers' Candidate School? Good thing Tony had that "Anti-Virus" movie script handy to give his wayward son yet another new career path as a glorified gofer.
If there was anything traditional about the series finale, it was the way that it recalled past seasons' swan songs, shifting gears after the previous week's violent and bleak twists. While it may have seemed anticlimactic, there is something comforting in knowing that life goes on for this family, that one way or another they'll continue bickering and eating and scheming and eating and disappointing each other and eating.
Unless, of course, some opposing force comes through the door and blows their world to smithereens. Still, going out in a blaze of glory or even dishonor doesn't seem like the Sopranos way, does it?
However one feels about the way the final episode played out, these characters will loom large in our collective memories for ages. We might have wished for a more classical ending, but we have always entered David Chase's personal twilight zone at our own risk. And did you notice the shout-out to
The Twilight Zone, with glimpses of a vintage episode in which, no doubt ironically, we hear a character say: "The television industry today is looking for talent. They're looking for quality. They're preoccupied with talent and quality, and the writer is a major commodity."
David Chase has without question elevated the notion of what a TV writer can be. Love or hate where and how he took and hooked us, it has been quite a ride. And while he left the door more open than I would have imagined for a sequel (and I'm sure rumors of a movie will pursue him to France, where he's currently cooling his heels), I hope no one makes him an offer he can't refuse.
Let Tony, Carmela, Paulie and the rest go. Let sleeping Silvios lie. Fat lady or not,
The Sopranos is over. The rest, as Chase demonstrated in his jarring way, is silence.
[An addendum, much later in the day: Various theories have surfaced as to the identity of some of the people in the diner in the final scene. If you care, you can read them below in the comments area. I certainly didn't pick up on it; and when I asked some HBO reps Sunday night if we were expected to recognize the people in the diner, they didn't help me connect the dots. My bad? Their bad? Who knows? Who cares? So I am happy to remain in the merry land of ambiguity. If you think Tony was about to be whacked, so be it. If, like me, you think he was just out with the family for another night of artery-clogging food and that life goes on, however unmerrily, no complaints as well. It's quite clear this ending was meant to be debated.]
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Edited by Matt Roush at 06/12/2007 10:42 AM
