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Sopranos ending.
- Thread starter TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
- Start date
SkyMasterson
Member
Nah, it was great.
It's funny because if people got either A) An ending where Tony lives or goes off into the Sunset or B) Tony gets killed, most people still would have complained.
That series set the bar so high, there were no way that expectations could have been met.
I remember sitting on my bed, thinking, "Ok, only a few minutes left...". Wondering how this was going to end. I kept looking at all the background characters, expecting something to happen. It was very intense.
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
I've been reading an article and I like how it explains it
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...as_televised_excerpt_david_chase_and_the.html
Makes sense! Doesn't even mention the lack of resolution to say, the russian.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...as_televised_excerpt_david_chase_and_the.html
Makes sense! Doesn't even mention the lack of resolution to say, the russian.
Fried Food
Banned
best tv ending.
Raging Spaniard
If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
He died. The whole show had been building up to that point by showing how all the other mob members would get killed in an instant, in a relatively random place.
uncelestial
Member
Some day you will experience that in real life. Welcome to what it feels like to die. That's the ending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjohsyoJjao
"You probably don't even hear it when it happens"
It's the coldest shit I have ever seen put on TV or film, and I love it from the bottom of my heart.
darkistheway
Member
The great thing is your need for closure doesn't take away from how fantastic the ending was.
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Nah, it's a great ending.. because it ends however you want it too.
Either Tony lives and we watched a mundane moment in his life that's becoming a lot easier.
..or he died.
The looking for clues is pointless, was it Tony's POV on the last shot? Or did she finally walk in after having trouble parking.
If you want him dead, that's how it ended. If you don't.. that's how it ending.
One of the best endings to one of the greatest shows of all time.
Either Tony lives and we watched a mundane moment in his life that's becoming a lot easier.
..or he died.
The looking for clues is pointless, was it Tony's POV on the last shot? Or did she finally walk in after having trouble parking.
If you want him dead, that's how it ended. If you don't.. that's how it ending.
One of the best endings to one of the greatest shows of all time.
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
I can't argue, it was pretty great. After all I wouldn't be thinking about it so much if it wasn't.
Frustrated_me
Member
Probably one of the best endings to a TV show.
OG Shaka Zulu
Member
This is probably my 2nd favorite show ending with The Shield being first.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
I don't think they meant for it to be vague at all. I think they thought it was clear he had died. It's hard to judge that type of thing as an insider. Like, you are too close to it to realize you might not be nailing it. Of course it's clear and makes sense to you. You're in the know.
I just watched the show for the first time a couple of years back and I completely loved the ending. It was fucking chilling to me. I completely get people being annoyed by it, and not understanding. But, I also don't know how they could have done it differently to make it clearer, without it also losing it's effectiveness.
I definitely think anything that isn't explicit in a movie/tv show is open to interpretation. But, I've never really understood how people can think he didn't die. If it had just faded to black and you still heard the music, I could absolutely see it. But, the jump to black and silence means something. And I just don't know how to interpret that other than he was dead. I realize I'm prejudice to lean that way, but that's how I felt the first time watching it.
Flashing back to this conversation at the end of the second to last episode definitely has a huge part in my believing he died at the end. Again, it has to have meaning. And I don't know how else to view it other than a setup.
Patterbits
Member
I was a bit too young to really catch on to this show as it was happening. Now that much time has passed can someone tell me if the show is worth watching in its entirety?
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
Very much so.
bootsthecat
Banned
YES. It still stands up terrifically today imo. I binge watch a few episodes every few months, probably seen the series 20 times by now.
dark_chris
Gold Member
Technically yeah and the creator did confirm at some point that besides all that tension that occurred in the diner, he still lives.
ShadowKingpin
Member
Brilliant ending. Definitely going to re-watch the show as soon as I can.
Frustrated_me
Member
100% holds up very well, truly a classic.
I'd normally say your in a highly privileged position to go in fresh, but the truth is, the show is so well made, that every rewatch it gets better then the last. Yes should watch it, it's aged wonderfully.
I plan to, will be my 6th rewatch.
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
I don't know whether he lived or died, but I do know that tony didn't have the makings of a varsity athelete.
....MOTHER FUCKING COCK SUCKING#@!!!
This is how I always read it, especially with the foreshadowing thrown in by Bobby earlier in the year.
We got to see Tony's paranoia would never leave him and then our view into his life got 'whacked'
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
He actually came out and denied this after it was reported.
From what I remember reading, he has come pretty close to saying the opposite on multiple occasions, but always stops just shy of saying it. I assume he thinks, like a lot of creators, that it's not his place to give a definitive answer.
That tension at the end was a glimpse of what he goes through every day of his life, Chase bringing the audience down to Tony's viewpoint, literally, the camera was purposefully positioned so that we are sat in his chair looking at the entrance, is just outstanding work from David. There's so many angles that seem valid as to why he may or may not live that I can't see how anyone can be disappointed with the ending. For me, it was groundbreaking.
No, because then they'd be able to explain themselves coherently, instead of just dropping vague bullshit and getting mad in coffee shops at interviewers asking them about it and contradciting themselves and claiming they were misquoted the next day. They didn't know what they were doing so they shot some vague nonsense and let people run around pretending like they're enlightened because they found meaning in it.
Gabriel_Logan
Member
plus him ending his sessions with Dr. Melfi was the final nail in the coffin of his flirtation with changing his life around. He'd accepted who he was and was going to keep doing the same shit he'd been doing, cheating on his wife, etc. We as viewers had reached the end of his character arc and anymore seasons would be recycling the same shit. I'll echo here that the final moment with Junior was amazing and it transitions into the final scene superbly.
That was a good read. Thats how it happens to you. In a way the screen going black was symbiotic with Tony going black.
Best TV show ever made with the best characters ever put to screen.
Discotheque
Banned
Yep. GOAT tv lead performance. I think he had great presence in movies like killing them softly and in the loop too
CD'S BAR
Member
It is not supposed to be ambiguous. He dies. The closer the interview with Chase you can find to the original airing, the more he suggests, just short of saying that outright. Over time he seems to have conceded that it can be read as two different ways but...
There is a direct quote from an interview where he says if the scene comes off as ambiguous then he failed in constructing that scene, and that everything you need to know to determine whether he lives or dies is in that scene.
Dunno if that's been dug up and quoted in here yet.
There is a direct quote from an interview where he says if the scene comes off as ambiguous then he failed in constructing that scene, and that everything you need to know to determine whether he lives or dies is in that scene.
Dunno if that's been dug up and quoted in here yet.
I'm totally with this analysis:
https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/
With all that in mind, with explanation of angles and whatnot, it is quite clear.
Also:
https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/
With all that in mind, with explanation of angles and whatnot, it is quite clear.
Also:
bootsthecat
Banned
Because of that final few seconds, it doesn't really matter; even if Chase came out and directly said it one way or the other. I, the viewer, got to decide.
I had no idea folks were so adamantly certain about him dying until this thread
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
It doesn't NOT matter. You're right that you get to decide how to interpret art. But, that doesn't mean the creators intent should be completely disregarded.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Most bullets move faster than sound, so yes, you really wouldn't hear it if it killed you instantly.
Ultimadrago
Member
The Sopranos is excellent, including that ending.
AlimNassor
Banned
Why would he die? The war was over. Personally, I think and would rather believe he's not dead. The fade to black was symbolic. Tonys story is over. Dead or alive it doesn't matter.
Patterbits
Member
Glad everyone is saying it holds up! Not only have I not seen this, but I also haven't watched Game of Thrones at all(waiting to watch the entire show at my own pace). After those two I'll finally watch The Wire.
If you haven't seen Game of Thrones, please stay away from this forum if you're planning to watch it fresh. There are spoilers permeating hundreds of different threads (even many threads not even about GoT) about some really huge events.
Just start HBO and marathon that bitch then come back to us.
Al-ibn Kermit
Junior Member
Yeah, definitely think you'd enjoy this show. If you have Amazon Prime you can stream it all for free.
Ultimadrago
Member
I'm just reminded again that we lost James...
Fuck.
Fuck.
Just marathoned through this myself recently. It's a show I will likely rewatch in its entirety every two years or so, even as great as TV is now, there's just nothing like it. Those characters and that world are plain addictive and fascinating.
I was between HBO subscriptions for the final episode (that break between the first and last half of the final season was brutal) and was watching a download of it during lunch at work and I remember audibly yelling "what?!" and assuming I had a bad torrent, since they tended to clip off the credits. Took to the forums, confirmed that was it, and took awhile to process it all. I think he died, but the lack of definitive catharsis is kinda Chase's style. And ya gotta love him for it.
About to finish rewatching Boardwalk Empire as a post-Sopranos depression chaser. It never achieves that level of greatness, but I think it's aged well as a sort of unofficial prequel.
I was between HBO subscriptions for the final episode (that break between the first and last half of the final season was brutal) and was watching a download of it during lunch at work and I remember audibly yelling "what?!" and assuming I had a bad torrent, since they tended to clip off the credits. Took to the forums, confirmed that was it, and took awhile to process it all. I think he died, but the lack of definitive catharsis is kinda Chase's style. And ya gotta love him for it.
About to finish rewatching Boardwalk Empire as a post-Sopranos depression chaser. It never achieves that level of greatness, but I think it's aged well as a sort of unofficial prequel.