I do not understand the ending of /The Sopranos/.

[LoZoccolo]

Somebody please explain it to me.

[mentalsolstice]

1. You're supposed to come up with your own ending.

Think for yourself...blah, blah, blah...

[Blue-Jay]

2. He was whacked by Noel Gallagher.

and then Noel imploded in a black hole of his own suckiness.

[DS1]

7. This is actually rather feasible

[LoZoccolo]

8. As I expected, Noel is an excellent actor, and a multifaceted talent.

The proof is that you don't even know that he plays a character in the series. He is that good of an actor.

[Blue-Jay]

19. He acts like a musician when he's not throwing punches at Liam.

It's still an act, however.

[peekaloo]

27. So he was hit by the Unibrower?

Ingenious!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. He was possibly whacked.

Remember the flashback in the previous episode where Bobby Bacala tells Tony that "you don't hear it coming" when you're whacked?

That might explain the quick cut to black at the end, especially since the guy wearing the Members Only jacket and eyeing Tony had walked by him just before the cut.

[Bunny]

4. The onion ring represents the Circle of Life.

It's all very deep.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. The restaurant

didn't pay the electric bill.

They ate in the dark.

[mcscajun]

6. My take...

Chase deliberately closed the book on all of Tony's avowed enemies (with the exception of the Justice system, which will be bringing him to trial in the not-so-distant future) leaving him free to maneuver, rebuild his crime family, and for now, enjoy his life with Carmela, Meadow, and A.J.

The scene in the ice cream parlor/restaurant deliberately built tension and put the viewers on edge, watching Tony study every person entering the restaurant, with his back protected and his gun handy yet concealed. Imminent threats or at least the possibility of them inside the restaurant, and the vulnerability of Meadow attempting to park her car outside, were intercut until we were certain that another bloodbath was about to ensue.

It didn't. Chase made us all Tony for a few minutes, made us see his life through his eyes; always suspicious, always on guard, waiting every moment for his world to come apart.

On, and on and on and on...

[Wapsie B]

10. I like that assessment.

And for all those who think that Tony got whacked in that last scene I say it's just as possible that he or one of his guys offed any supposed hit man from another family. To me Tony showed life goes on.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. The Altos finally got the last note.

[Radio_Lady]

11. Me? I'm still trying to figure out the last episode of "Seinfeld."

What the hell were they doing in jail?

[Kat45]

16. Are you serious about Seinfeld?

If you are, I can PM you the explanation, so as not to hijack this thread. :-)

[Radio_Lady]

24. Just pullin' your leg, NotMyPrez... thanks anyway...

[gemdem]

12. Plain and simple...

We, the viewers, got whacked. We never saw it coming -- just like Phil. Things went black and silent for us. Now, whether Tony got whacked we'll never know...

That's my take.

[rbnyc]

31. You got it!

LOL.

I thought the TV went out.

[wildhorses]

13. all i know is ---

i am glad that i never even saw the show to begin with :rofl:

fade to black
fuck that
the viewer
was the one
that got whacked

[Jamastiene]

14. The black screen was like looking inside Tony Soprano's eyelids.

It's goes black when someone dies. There. End of story. That's it. I can't believe no one else figured that out yet. :evilgrin:

*leans back in recliner and waits for the inevitable rebuttal*

:popcorn:

[Radio_Lady]

15. 'Sopranos' finale owed you nothing" -- from Peter Ames Carlin, outspoken TV reviewer:

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/living/1181692574185600.xml&coll=7

'Sopranos' finale owed you nothing
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

One second Tony Soprano was sitting in a diner, munching an onion ring and contemplating his own doom. Then the screen went black.

Was that really it? Viewers everywhere leaped to check their televisions, fearing the worst-timed of all possible power outages.

The juice was still flowing.

"The Sopranos," on the other hand, had ended.

So, what about the hit men? What about the FBI agents? What about the legion of moles and rats who had been circling closer to Tony Soprano during the acclaimed drama's final weeks?

Surely, some viewers reckoned, the show's final hour would provide a fitting conclusion to the sprawling tale. A final statement. A conclusion. Closure.

Instead, nothing.

And then an explosion.

"It was thumb of the nose. A puckish '(forget) you' to 8 millions who deserved better," wrote the New York Daily News' Verne Gay, his outrage wreaking havoc on his typing accuracy.

Across the continent in Los Angeles, the L.A. Weekly's Nikki Finke was even more hysterical, shrieking that "Sopranos" creator and top producer David Chase "clearly didn't give a damn about his fans. Instead he (did something unmentionable) in their faces."

MORE AT LINK ABOVE -------------------^^^^^^

[northzax]

22. amazing, isn't it?

the amount of energy and emotion people invested in a TV show? and how we seem to want everything all wrapped up in a little bow at the end?

[Radio_Lady]

25. I got all wrapped up in "Everybody Loves Raymond," but that's a comedy.

I can never understand why people got invested in "The Sopranos" -- including my own husband.

They were such despicable characters -- who cares who whacked who?

The actors did a good job with those characters, don't get me wrong. But season after season after season of this SH**? I just couldn't handle it.

[Connonym]

20. That's my interpretation

but the beauty of it is that you can interpret it how you want. I think it was pretty genius actually.

[Onceuponalife]

17. the episode was good but the ending sucked

[blockhead]

18. It means

blockbuster movie in the future.

[kay1864]

28. David Chase says otherwise

Sopranos' Chase says final episode isn't a setup for a movie

NEWARK, N.J. - "Sopranos" fans who thought the series' open-ended conclusion was a setup for a movie may be in for disappointment: series creator David Chase says it isn't so.

Chase went to France before the airing of the much-debated finale because he wanted to avoid what he called "all the Monday morning quarterbacking." But like a true New Jersey loyalist, he granted one interview to The Star-Ledger of Newark, which posted his comment early Tuesday on its Web site.

"I don't think about (a movie) much," he told the paper. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-06122007-1361643.html

[lutefisk]

21. Bob knows. (Thanks swag)

http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/1406/1

"I finally got around to watching the much-debated Sopranos finale last night. I haven’t seen the show much in years; it’s brilliant and all, but I gave up around season four. Just had things to do, and the show got a little, I dunno, slow for a while. You know. But after all the hullaballoo, I decided to take a look again for myself.

After looking closely at the final episode, I’m reminded of people who left the film American Beauty wondering who had actually shot Kevin Spacey, just because face of the killer was offscreen when the trigger was pulled, despite the fact that his identity couldn’t have been clearer. This is a lot like that.

I should add, incidentally, that I was a TV writer myself for a while. Not a particularly accomplished one. Mostly small stuff nobody ever saw. I wrote for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for most of the third season, but I got tired of all the death, frankly. Some people might have loved the job, and the money was great, and I still respect the folks there for being so incredibly good at what they do, but it just wasn’t a good fit for me. Anyway, my point: not my own expertise -- which is questionable at best, and for you to judge, in any case -- but during the year of my life that I helped devise ways to hang dwarfs, make parasailers go Icarus, and poison poker players with lead-filled candies, I saw first-hand just how meticulously the little details could be fussed over for the cameras – and that was on a show with a breakneck production schedule and no particular auteur nursing his vision through every single shot.

So..."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6624008

[peekaloo]

26. I thought maybe it was a family thing to swallow onion rings whole.

:crazy:

Being a (former) Southern Baptist I wouldn't/couldn't pick up on all that symbolism, BUT I too thought it was Tony's last minutes we were witnessing.

Thanks for the link, herbster and Swag.

p.s. David Chase was on 'Nightline' the Friday prior to the finale and the interviewer said three different endings had been filmed, with Chase making the final decision on which one would air. I suppose that could be a DVD selling point if he decides to release them.

[AzDar]

23. ..."Don't Stop".......

[MsKandice01]

29. From what I hear, there's a major clue...

In the credits where the guy who walked into the restaurant is listed.

I don't watch the show, I just heard that on the Progressive News Hour (on our local Air America affiliate).

[SoCalDem]

30. My take.. the "war" was over.. the other mobsters as much as gave their blessing

for whacking Phil..

Tony's life would be what it always was.. He would always have to be aware, but he was losing the gusto for it..