Sopranos: Made in America – Review (And An Analysis of the Ending Moments)

If you’ve been watching the Sopranos since the first episode aired and you were looking for some sort of closure, well, you might have been better off stopping at the season finale from last year. (That would be the episode that ended Season 6 Part 1 where everyone is gathered around a Christmas tree in a nice family gathering.)

Initially after the episode was over, I was a mildly disappointed. After having consumed myself with so-called “spoilers” for the past week, I was hoping for an explosive episode that would take the show out with a bang. Actually, most of the supposed spoilers turned out to be nothing more than “fan fiction” — and in some ways I wish those rumors were true. I heard rumors (and even speculated a few myself in the previous post) that Anthony Jr. would be “made” and follow in his father’s footsteps – hence, the show’s title, ‘Made in America’. There were also rumors of everything from Tony going to the feds and becoming an informant to Carmella and Meadow dying in a car bombing. But none of those rumors turned out to be true. (I guess I found out what A.J. was looking at.) The truth was much less dramatic.

But when you take the time to truly reflect upon the series and where it has taken us over the eight years that it’s held our attention (some seasons more than others) the signature style of the Sopranos (and now after having seen the finale, what I believe to be the theme of the show) has been the amazing degree of stability that such a violent life can maintain. For every monumental death that has taken place — whether that be Big Pussy, Johnny Sack, Jackie Aprile, Tony Blundetto, Jackie Jr., Adrianna — or even Phil Leotardo tonight — it is always followed by a period of almost unbelievable stability. Nobody freaks out. Families grieve, but maintain their daily routine. And even the grieving widows have a moment of mourning — but only a moment, as their facial expression seems to come a few frames short of them turning to the camera and saying that they knew this could happen — it’s the consequence of such a risky business.

As I sat down and watched Tony take that last ride into New Jersey through the Lincoln Tunnel, I was really happy when I saw the credits at the beginning of the episode indicate that David Chase — the series’ creator — was both the writer and director of this episode. Watching the series over the past few years, I’ve always thought that if Chase had directed each of the episodes that we might have had a bit more consistency. And I still believe that. But at least with this final episode, we would be getting the vision for how the show ends from the guy who started it all. And as much as I held a bit of disappointment in my heart for the way that the show’s final seconds played with our emotions, I feel like the hints that came during the episode before that weird scene in the diner were much more revealing about how the father of the series feels about his characters. As much as he respects them, it’s my strong opinion that he also loathes them. He thinks them petty. More than anything, he thinks of them as walking contradictions.

Anxiety Sets In….

Some would say it’s strange to feel this anxious for fictional television characters, but I can’t help it. This is a series finale that has been eight years in the making and will spend fifty-something minutes trying to resolve all that we who watch the show have invested in it. And I’m anxious. (Writing usually helps me ease that anxiety.) The worry on my mind comes from this photo below….

What could AJ be looking at? Is this the image of a boy watching his mother and sister consumed by the flames caused by a car bomb? Or more likely is this this image of a boy after his first kill — the boss of New York City, no less — leading to him being….”Made in America”? (The final show’s title, for those who didn’t know.) Hopefully it’s not the former, because, in my humble opinion, Carmela….for all her contradictory faults…. doesn’t deserve this ending.

I guess the real question that remains for everyone is whether Tony will live. Tony is probably one of my all time favorite TV characters. It’s funny — going back and watching the first few Sopranos episodes reminds me of watching the first few Simpsons episodes. The voice of Homer wasn’t quite fleshed-out. Same with Tony. He seemed like a completely different character. Or maybe he was a completely different character. The deaths of those that have fallen since the curtain went up in 1999 have been enough to change anybody. And with that all having been said, I just don’t want the curtain to go down with Anthony Soprano lying in a pool of his own blood.

This is the most anticipated series finale in all my TV watching years. Let’s hope all that we’ve invested in the show can give us a sense of completion. Redemption. Peace. But somehow, with the image of AJ above affixed into my brain…..”peace” is the farthest thing from what we’ll see.

And so we wait…

All This Time, Were You This Unprepared For War, Mr. Soprano?

I know I’ve already written a bit about the The Sopranos setup for the series finale next week….but I have to wonder….

I know there are some who think I might take this a bit too far, but I’m a strong believer that only when you allow art to suspend your disbelief — whether that be during a movie or reading a Stephen King book or playing Grand Theft Auto or listening to a song by Erykah Badu — do you allow yourself to truly enjoy the experience. And thus is the case with The Sopranos.

My, how the mighty have fallen. It wasn’t long ago after that fateful day on September 11 that I felt a bit of pride after getting an e-mail with this picture attached…

….and now, the crew from New Jersey has been relegated to this???

This is Patsy — you might not be able to recognize him when he’s haulin’ ass.

And with that and other recent events, I’ve got not other choice but to express my thoughts to the big man……

The Sopranos: The End of An Era

(This post will contain spoilers. If you haven’t ever watched the show, don’t read. Instead, go pick up Season 1 on DVD and try not to keep picking up the rest of the seasons until you’re at the point where the rest of us are….. one episode to go. Ever.)

OK…..with that said….

I was going to title this post, “In a World Where Bacala’s Aren’t Safe”, but as vague as that might seem to one who doesn’t watch the show, it would still be criminal (pardon the pun) to rob someone of the experience of watching this incredible fictional story unfold.

I recall seeing commercial after commercial one year during the Super Bowl about this new HBO series called, “The Sopranos“. I remember seeing the shots of James Gandolfini thinking, “this guy’s gonna be a wimp”. (Boy, would I learn!) With a name as strange as “The Sopranos” and knowing that the show would feature “organized crime”, I somehow concluded that this would be a show about a guy who was in the witness protection program because he “sang like a soprano”. Well, of course we know by now that the Soprano family has nothing to do with the witness protection plan (although they’ve stopped a few folks from partaking in it.)

I wasn’t an instant fan. When the DVD box set came out, I took a strange interest in the packaging. That coupled with all of the buzz about this show led me to buy Season 1 on DVD. Like everyone else, you’re immediately taken by the way that it’s shot. Every episode is more closely aligned to being a movie than a television show. And then after a few shows, you realize that either the casting was so well done that either one of two things is going on: 1) the actors are basically playing extensions of their own personality or 2) these folks have some serious acting chops. After having watched all but the final episode, it’s clear that there is truth in both of those conclusions. These actors have played their characters so well that it carried us through some of the show’s less eventful episodes. Whether it’s the acting, she storylines, the directing or the incredibly filmwork, this show deserves all of the acclaim that it has received.