Sopranos:The Final Episodes

[Suicane75]

I've come, over the passage of time, to believe that Tony is shot. Then last night as I read this thread it occurred to me that if that's the case, AJ is probably dead too. Bummer man.

[cthomer5000]

The ending was satisfying the first time around, but I never got the feeling that it was about finality.

I felt like the tension of that final scene was just meant to finally drive home the point that Tony will forever be looking over his shoulder.

Whether it is right then, or 5 years later, the character and the viewers pretty know how it will end for him.

Year later - I can't ever imagine rewatching this show. I enjoyed it, but the last 4 seasons felt like a grind to watch, and I would rather watch The Wire for like a 10th time instead.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

I've come, over the passage of time, to believe that Tony is shot. Then last night as I read this thread it occurred to me that if that's the case, AJ is probably dead too. Bummer man.

He wasn't connected. But his acting killed the show.

Also bonus points for identifying a young Lady Gaga in the episode where AJ vandalizes the swimming pool.

[molson]

With Lauren Bacall passing away recently, I had to re-visit these classic scenes:

Lauren Bacall getting robbed by Christopher Moltisanti - YouTube

Christopher and Carmine talk to Ben Kingsley - The Sopranos HD - YouTube

[Logan]

Tony lives.

Did Tony die at the end of The Sopranos?: David Chase finally answers the question he wants fans to stop asking - Vox

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

I felt like the tension of that final scene was just meant to finally drive home the point that Tony will forever be looking over his shoulder.

I've always agreed with this. His life will be hell because he'll never be able to relax. "Don't stop" means that the minute he does, he's dead.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Logan

Tony lives.

Did Tony die at the end of The Sopranos?: David Chase finally answers the question he wants fans to stop asking - Vox

the article was as disappointing as the ending of the Sopranos

[molson]

Not so fast, says David Chase:

David Chase on Tony Soprano Death Story: Author ‘Misconstrued” Him | Variety

"Update: David Chase has now issued a statement on the matter. It reads as follows:

A journalist for Vox misconstrued what David Chase said in their interview. To simply quote David as saying,“ Tony Soprano is not dead,” is inaccurate. There is a much larger context for that statement and as such, it is not true.
As David Chase has said numerous times on the record, “Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point.” To continue to search for this answer is fruitless. The final scene of THE SOPRANOS raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer."

It is what it is on the screen and that's it. I wonder if David Chase even "knows". Neither option is really satisfying. Tony being scared for his life at every moment was never really a theme of the show, and to the extent it came up some, he was at a safer place at the end of the show than he was during most of the series. Which is the same problem with him getting killed at the end. Who would have done it and why? I've heard some speculation, but nothing that was ever hinted at on the actual show.

[JPhillips]

I'm certainly not at the level of Chase, but as an artist when I direct sometimes I'm looking to give answers and sometimes I'm looking to pose questions. When I want to pose a question, I purposefully don't have an answer predefined. Forcing the audience to engage and pose the question to themselves is the end result I'm looking for.

[cartman]

The series finale was 10 years ago tonight.

[Shkspr]

I'm beginning to suspect they have no intention of going back to finish filming that last scene.

[Edward64]

Flipping thru Amazon Prime and saw the Sopranos. I re-watched the last 2 episodes.

What a great series.

With 10+ years perspective now, simple question - did Tony die in the last scene?

Yes, No and then explain if you want. No maybes.

[Edward64]

Yes, he died.

I've not seen anything definitive come out from David Chase or writers, but just how they setup the scene indicates that Chase wanted people to think that Tony was whacked.

(I was watching them eat the onion rings, going to order some this weekend from Taco Mac)

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Edward64

No maybes.

I think that misses the point. The intent was a maybe and that's what elevated it - Tony in his line of work can get wacked at any time.

[molson]

I've been going through the entire Sopranos series again, 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, like one huge episode, for the last couple of weeks. Still hugely entertaining, and I'm always catching new things I didn't notice before.

And /r/TheSopranos is still a goldmine for fun Sopranos talk and observations. It's a rare subreddit that seems to like the thing it talks about, so that's nice.

Overwhelming consensus from people who have broken this down there and other places is that Tony was killed at the end. The most popular theory is that it was ordered by Patsy Parisi, perhaps with the support of New York. There's a million little clues hinting at this throughout the series (but that's not the only theory).

The manner of his killing, in front of his family, would have been considered contrary to the code of how they did things, but, it was a fitting response to Phil being killed in front of his wife and grandkids. So after Tony was gone, New York did, like Phil wanted, decapitate the family and do business with whoever was left (which would have been Patsy, who was on his way up but who always disliked Tony)

Edit: As an aside, the list of dead Sopranos actors is growing all the time - which makes sense, we're going back over 10 years now since it ended, and it was a relatively older and unhealthy cast. But Phil, Butch, the crooked cop from season 1, Tony's lawyer, Angelo, all died in the last year or so.

[Edward64]

I was watching youtube on how the NJ mafia gang (lesser brother to the NY mafia) thought the Soprano's were based off them. FBI wiretaps had them talking about it after each episode.

[stevew]

It's like really bad film-making if you were implying anything other than Tony getting whacked in that sequence.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I think that misses the point. The intent was a maybe and that's what elevated it - Tony in his line of work can get wacked at any time.

I'm not at this level, but I do shows all the time that leave questions rather than answers. The older I've gotten the less I think I have answers and the more I want to ask questions.

[Suicane75]

Tony dead.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by molson

And /r/TheSopranos is still a goldmine for fun Sopranos talk and observations. It's a rare subreddit that seems to like the thing it talks about, so that's nice.

Just checked it out and surprised its still going strong.

[GrantDawg]

I think Tony survived, got into real estate, and became President of the United States.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I think Tony survived, got into real estate, and became President of the United States.

nah. Tony was actually intelligent

[Dreghorn2]

I always worked under the assumption that the series started with us being introduced to Tony at a certain day in his life, and that the story ended on a given day in his life.

No more or no less. Cameras went off with his family eating at a restaurant, just as they came on when he was staring at ducks.

[Maple Leafs]

A New Book Asks: Is Tony Soprano Dead or Not? - The Atlantic

Sepinwall: When you said there was an end point, you don’t mean Tony at Holsten’s, you just meant, “I think I have two more years’ worth of stories left in me.”

Chase: Yes, I think I had that death scene around two years before the end … Tony was going to get called to a meeting with Johnny Sack in Manhattan, and he was going to go back through the Lincoln Tunnel for this meeting, and it was going to go black there and you never saw him again as he was heading back, the theory being that something bad happens to him at the meeting. But we didn’t do that.

Seitz: You realize, of course, that you just referred to that as a death scene.

[A long pause follows]

Chase: Fuck you guys.

[cartman]

https://screenrant.com/sopranos-fina...hase-response/

[molson]

I've watched too many Youtube videos breaking down that scene, and once you understand the screen language of David Chase, it does become pretty obvious he was killed.

The remaining mystery was/is who killed him, and there's quite a number of well-supported theories on that too. I think a lot of different hints were dropped implicating several people in being part of it. Most simply though, Butch just continued the plan that had been in place - decapitate New Jersey, including the boss, and absorb whoever was left and willing to take orders from them - and by then, they knew who that would be. (Certainly Patsy, and, more debatably, and there's a fun Youtube video making this argument, Paulie.) Butch was in a great position by the end. He didn't betray Phil, so nobody would hold that against him, and he was able to lure Tony out into the open, which nobody still alive who mattered by the end would hold against him.

[Edward64]

I hated the ending. Genius and great for Chase because we are still talking about it after so many years. But so unsatisfying for fans.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I saw the latest interview (well, read the transcript) and couldn't help but wonder if the comments were a tactical error on the part of Chase.

I mean, now that he's kinda ended the mystery, does it put the mystique of the show on the clock a bit.

[stevew]

Tony Loses On Sports Betting, Buffalo Bills - The Sopranos - YouTube

Explain this wager? It makes no sense at all. If you assume that Tony has Tampa +3 then there’s no way of a push anyways.

And there’s like a zillion other scenes I have similar questions about, starting with how in the hell they raked 80K after expenses on a poker game in season 2(I think)

[molson]

Originally Posted by stevew

I have similar questions about, starting with how in the hell they raked 80K after expenses on a poker game in season 2(I think)

I loved how those lucrative "executive card games" that only the top guys got a piece of, took place in a Motel 6 motel room off the freeway and involved 2 non-mafia participants.

[stevew]

I remember hating Many Saints of Newark when it came out. Rewatched it last night(it’s on Netflix). Still hated it. Movie feels like it’s incoherent and missing a bunch of scenes. None of the performances were bad or anything but the scope of the story was too big for a single short movie.