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It’s easy to be a geek about a show like Lost, where the puzzles the show puts forth are front-and-center, and too numerous to count. I have to say, though — and feel free to disagree with me here — that The Sopranos is (er, was) in a subtle way just as mysterious, and brilliantly so. The mysteries weren’t of a what is reality? nature, as in Lost (I think we’re supposed to wonder if the whole series is a big, fat fakeout … and then Jack woke up!), but were of a more psychological, even literary, bent: what does the lighthouse in Tony’s dreams represent? Is the cat who keeps staring at fallen Chris’ picture a feline reincarnation of his murdered wife? And, most urgently: what the heck happened at the end of the series?
When the screen cuts to black at the climax of one of the most suspenseful scenes in recent memory, I thought for one horrifying moment that my TIVO had failed me, or my cable provider, perhaps worried that what was about to happen was too intense even for late-night pay cable, had pulled the plug. But no — creator David Chase, ever the trickster, means to leave his characters in a state of suspended animation. (Just like he does Sil, who doesn’t even get to live or die, but waver indefinitely in a coma-state.) Since he’s left it for us to figure out, who better than readers of mental_floss to parse the meaning behind that black screen? What do you think — does Tony get whacked? Was the scene just paranoia, and the guy headed to the bathroom wasn’t going for a Godfather-style gun taped under the toilet? Or is it missing the point entirely even to wonder?
Comments (15)
Comment
I think they want us to wonder until they make a movie (just like Sex and the City)
posted by JaneM on 6-11-2007 at 9:44 am
Remember when Bobby B and Tony were talking in the boat a couple episodes ago. Tony said that when you’re hit, everything just goes black. Plus, Chase said that the music over the credits was always reflective about Tony mood for the episode.
Cut to black + no credit music = Tony is dead.
Hit in the temple from the guy near the bathroom.
posted by Georgio V on 6-11-2007 at 9:51 am
The wondering is what seals it for me. David Chase is not one to pander, never has. And the final song, Don’t Stop Believin’? Perfect, especially when the scrfeen goes black on the words “Don’t Stop”.
This is what art does best. It just sits there for yours and my interpretation, awaiting our conclusions. It could be Tony is about to get whacked, it could be Meadow finally showed up, it could be the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Now wouldn’t that have been great? In the end, we do have a bit of closure: Tony has finally made amends with his family.
posted by Johnny Cat on 6-11-2007 at 10:03 am
perfect as endings go. pointless to wonder. life goes on, is what chase is telling us.
think about how bad the 6 feet under and sex/city endings were. this is his way of making those finales look even more pathetic than they already were, me thinks.
posted by David on 6-11-2007 at 10:26 am
I love Georgio V’s musings. Fits with Chase’s melieu. However, the Journey lyrics are thought provoking as well. Don’t stop believin’–A.J. seems to have adopted that point of view.
And the “movie goes on and on” in our discussions.
posted by Phyllis Copt on 6-11-2007 at 11:12 am
well this doesnt have anything to do with the meaning behind the last episode.
the place it was shot is really an ice cream parlor and burger joint [and as a vegetarian i really would eat meat just for another taste of their amazing burgers]
annyyywaaayyy i just think its interesting cause in bloomfield nj there was a hug fight because the italian community thought it “reflected badly” to shoot the last episode in Holstiens. Literally if you live in essex county [or around there] everyday there was a new story in the saga of the sopranos. i just think thats kinda interesting. but yea…………………
posted by Elliott S on 6-11-2007 at 1:26 pm
I thought the cat belonged to Schrödinger… There were a couple of quantum references dropped throughout the series. My impression was that Chase slammed the box shut leaving the whole Soprano clan in a state of superposition. We won’t know who’s alive or dead until we crack the box open later and check.
posted by Devin on 6-11-2007 at 1:40 pm
I think I understand what Chase tried to do, but I think it is a shod sandwich attempt and completely narcissistic. I understand what others have written, that it is art, and should be left up to one’s interpretation, however this is was just like reading a book with the last ten pages ripped out. At least with a painting you have everything in front of you to interpret, I felt like Chase cut out a big whole in the canvas leaving it incomplete. And that is my simple minded opinion.
posted by Gustav on 6-11-2007 at 2:45 pm
From a new interview in the Washington Post :
“Although the series ends ‘elegantly and probably exactly the way it should,’ Grey says, he doesn’t close the door on the idea that it could re-emerge as a feature film.”
[Brad Grey was executive producer of the Sopranos, and is the current CEO of Paramount Pictures]
IMHO, they might as well have ended with “To Be Continued…” scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
posted by Hal from Jersey on 6-11-2007 at 6:56 pm
I tought that the ending was brilliant! I’m tired of being spoon fed my entertainment. Wow!, Chase really left it up to us to think it out. I thought Tony and his family got whacked, and the black screen and silence was his death. The Feds were closing in on him. And after all, If Antony Jr. was that happy, something really bad HAD to be about to happen!
posted by Magnus on 6-11-2007 at 7:30 pm
Am I the only one who thought the whole episode (well, except the ending) was a setup for a spinoff series about the FBI guy and his counter-terrorist stuff? I mean, we saw him with his mistress, we saw him having family troubles…why did we see so much of that guy??
I liked the ending. Though I was pretty sure my TiVo had borked it for a minute there.
posted by Higgins on 6-11-2007 at 11:52 pm
I do not believe Tony got whacked. That would be firmly flouting the mob rules. Once they shook hands on Phil Leotardo getting whacked, that right there settled everything.
Unless, there was another sit-down with Paulie and Little Carmine and the rest, and it was decided that Tony had to go. But that’s seriously a stretch.
posted by Karan on 6-12-2007 at 4:15 am
Coming soon to a theater near you…
posted by Doc on 6-12-2007 at 6:47 am
I think the onion rings were symbols of coins placed in the mouths of the dead. If so, then Tony, as well as Carm and AJ, got it.
Note the title of the episode: Made in America. The baseball cap said USA. Was he a “made” guy?
posted by A Lesson A Day on 6-12-2007 at 9:12 am
I’m with Gustav on this one. I get that Chase is being all artistic and crap, but I think he chickend out. He knew that no matter what ending he came up with, people woudl hate it. So he opted to go with no ending at all.
Chase has no stugots.
posted by eamwkc on 6-12-2007 at 9:58 am