Comments on: It ends; it never ends

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:17:52 +0000

*Sounds to me like it was a definitive ending that David Chase made a point to hit you over the head with through foreshadowing.

Journey sucks.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:16:09 +0000

I didn’t see the ending or the episode I’m about to reference. Therefore, take my analysis with salt.

Apparently in an early episode this season, some guys says to Tony that he thinks when you die, you “just see black”. In a later episode, Tony has a flashback to the moment when the guy said this.

Sounds to me like it was a definitive ending that was David Chase made a point to hit you over the head with through foreshadowing. I think the Sopranos audience thinks they’re a lot more clever than they really are. David Chase isn’t an asshole, he just made the mistake of writing about gangsters, which inevitably attracts a certain amount of illiterates & retards.

That said, I don’t want Will to think I read his blog for fun. I’m just really bored at work and I’m going through a lot of depression right now. And not because I moved out of Carlin Springs.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:27:33 +0000

I really enjoyed the ending, but I think Max’s criticisms are totally valid. When faced with two possible choices, choosing to avoid either of those options comes across as looking either pompous or totally lazy (perhaps both). It definitely wasn’t a brilliant choice, but I don’t know what would have been. I guess I appreciated the ending for being brilliantly constructed, if that’s a fair distinction to make.

To be honest, though, I was more impressed that the shot of the dude walking toward the bathroom could make us all think of “The Godfather.” It’s a guy walking into a bathroom. While Francis Ford Coppola could achieve that sort of lasting fame, I kind of wonder how memorable the ending of “The Sopranos” will be even six months from now.

On another note, I wonder if Journey made any money on iTunes this week.

By: max

max — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:31:51 +0000

Also, even if the guy wasn’t there to shoot Tony, he wouldn’t “be all right,” for the reasons you cited above. It would be one thing to build that suspensful seen and then have it end, seemingly, with yet another disfunctional family dinner. No more tragic than its always been. But we know Tony’s trial is likely on the horizon, and clearly there are those in Brooklyn who might feel he took it too far, so the tension still remains. But to have nothing is not only a “gotcha” moment, for it may simply be that Chase had no idea what to do, and therefore chose to do nothing.

Maybe it wasn’t brilliant is all I’m saying.

By: max

max — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:27:34 +0000

They aren’t more original. I’m just not impressed with his non-ending. I think its a “gotcha” moment more than anything. Its possible that the ending would have been talked about regardless, so I’ll give you that.

Also, it really does bother me how nearly everyone I’ve read in print or seen on TV have called it a fade to black.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:54:08 +0000

a) I don’t understand this (widespread) idea that the ambiguous ending came from Chase being an asshole. Everyone was going to talk about the ending regardless of what it was.

b) It’s going to be difficult to make a movie without James Gandolfini, who has repeatedly expressed his relief at being finished with the character.

c) The other options for Tony’s fate were Tony dies and Tony will be all right. How are they more “original”?

By: max

max — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:24:16 +0000

Nah, I just thought it was arrogant and unoriginal. David Chase wanted everyone to talk about for weeks. And, also, possibly, he just wants to make a movie.