The Sopranos are dead. Long live the Sopranos. I am sad, yet exhilarated that the show ended the way it did. After watching the Sopranos finale titled “Made in America,” you will find yourself in 1 of 2 camps, you loved it or hated it, and it’s all because of those last 5 minutes in the diner.
I for one loved it. I think it’s because I’m a writer and one who believes the show is more art than entertainment. Who are we to makes demands of an artist? To me, David Chase created art that was displayed on a television screen. Who am I to argue with his vision? Who am I to tell him how his story should end? As an aside, during the episode we see a “Twilight Zone” episode and Little Miss Sunshine playing on background TVs. I think its Chase saying, “Look – writing is important. Its the story that makes the show.
In keeping with that thought, here is a great quote from the Chase. He said,
“I don’t think art should give answers. I think art should only pose questions. And art should not fill in blanks for people, or I think that’s what’s called propaganda. I think art should only raise questions, a lot of which may be even dissonant and you don’t even know you’re being asked a question, but that it creates some kind of tension inside you.”
For all those that want (and demand) closure, go find Da Vinci and ask him why the Mona Lisa is smiling. Oh wait, he’s dead. I guess you’re going to make up a reason….
Getting back to the show itself, there are 2 major theories and 1 dark horse theory about what happened. They are: Tony was killed, Tony was not killed, the audience was killed.
If you want to read more on first 2, The NY Times has 2 great posts in its Lede blog about them. I would read this post and then read this post to get a good sense of what is what.
I am in the “Tony wasn’t killed” camp because for 5 minutes, we get inside of Tony’s head. We get to know, and feel if your heart was thumping like mine was, what it is like to be Tony, where every second everything needs to be analyzed like it’s a threat. He is never safe, never truly happy, even at “happy times.” Sure, its possible that he died, that the Members Only guy is supposed to be Nicky Leotardo and that he kills Tony when he comes out of the bathroom but that is the beauty of this final episode: we just don’t know. That being said, the Nicky Leotardo theory has been slammed due to it having some huge semi-sized holes in it.
Here is another theory, more of a dark horse theory, but one I am now in love with it because its a combo of the one that I agree with (a.ka. Tony wasn’t killed): WE were whacked. WE didn’t see it coming. WE don’t see anything or hear any music because WE just died. You can read more about the “WE got whacked” theory here. Basically, the idea is that the show goes on, like life after we are dead, except we aren’t around to see what happens.
Lets talk about the music now. For a show that was so musical, the lack of music was telling. Steven Van Zandt said on Yes Network’s Centerstage the show featured the best music in any TV show ever. If you can, watch this interview on repeats. He is very smart, very artistic and very, very cool. In fact, I made as background noise for the dinner party we threw in honor of the show ending a music mix that only featured music used in a Sopranos episode. I couldn’t wait to hear what song they used as the last song so the silence to me was shocking and in the end awesome.
If you are on the fence about Tony not dying or about us being the ones “whacked,” think of the words in the Journey song: Oh, the movie never ends – It goes on and on and on and on – Don’t stop believin’ Even the band name is telling as many people say that life is a journey and we should enjoy the trip, not the destination you hope to reach. If that is the case, this is more weight behind the “Tony wasn’t killed” theories…
Adieu to a fantastic show. TV will never be the same again.
