The Sopranos Finale

At about 9:58 PM EST on Sunday millions of Americans grabbed their remotes, cursing their cable provider for the black screen they were staring at after seven seasons of The Sopranos. At some point thereafter, as people realized that Sopranos creator/writer/director David Chase intended to give the audience an ambiguous finale, most viewers seemed to feel let down by the lack of closure. But what were they expecting? At some point during The Sopranos run watching the show became less like watching a Brian De Palma movie (Scarface, The Untouchables) and more like watching a David Lynch movie (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet). Maybe it was when the crew went to Italy, maybe it was when Janice shot Richie Aprile, maybe it was when Junior shot Tony, but at some point Tony and the crew softened. Nothing season six gave any indication that there was going to be the bloodbath that many wanted.

The death of Phil Leotardo (what a great last name! It's like he's an Italian retard) was pretty classic Sopranos; I flashed back to season one when Junior's crew dropped a guy off a bridge in front of a bunch of black guys. The victim sold drugs to the nephew of Junior's tailor. Someone in the crew gives one of the guys $100, asks what he saw, and the guy says something like "Some real tragic shit. Guy said he can't take it anymore." The beauty of those scenes were the reaction shots, and there were some classic reactions to Phil flattened head.

The final scene reminded me of the end of a movie that similarly intends to give the viewer a window into a morally corrupt group: Boogie Nights. Throughout Boogie Nights, Amber Waves (Julianne Moore) talks about getting out of the industry. But at the end, Amber is still a porn star even after all her friends have moved on. Throughout The Sopranos, Carmela, Meadow, and A.J. judge Tony and condemn his actions. At the end, Carmela is getting ice cream with Tony just like the did when she still had illusions of him not being a part of the mob. A.J. has given up on his quest to eliminate dependence on foreign oil and is driving a BMW that gets an SUV-like 23 MPG highway. And Meadow, no longer pursuing a career in medicine, is dating a mobster and will inevitably become a mob lawyer.

Whatever you think happened on the cut to black at the end, you probably looked at everyone that walked through the door as a potential assassin, and that was the idea. Tony's life is constantly at risk, for this is the life he chose. And it goes on and on, like the mediocre Journey song. At some point during the series, Bobby told Tony that he thought that everything fades to black if you get shot in the head, giving credence to the opinion that someone shot Tony in the head. That someone of course may be the menacing guy sitting at the end of the bar with the truckers hat, who is coincidentally Kevin Connolly's uncle (E from Entourage).

Of course, if Tony dies that limits the appeal of a potential Sopranos movie. But after six seasons and whatever potential hiatus, I question the box office appeal of a Sopranos movie. A Deadwood film (or series of films) has been anticipated for some time, but Deadwood only lasted three seasons, and getting Ian McShane to become Al Swearengen will be a significantly cheaper investment that getting James Gandolfini to revisit the world of Tony Soprano.

Salute!

When The Sopranos debuted back in 1999, it was unlike anything else on television. Other shows featured sex, violence, and adult storylines, but The Sopranos had a slickness to it that made it feel more cutting edge. Shows like NYPD Blue and LA Law preceded The Sopranos, but the both had a pervasive Bochco-grittiness that served as a reminder that they went places Hill Street Blues had gone before. Since then shows like The Shield, Deadwood, and 24 have arrived with morally ambiguous characters, ultraviolence, and a healthy helping of nudity, and suddenly The Sopranos doesn't feel as fresh anymore.

So does that make The Sopranos the greatest drama of all time? How about Hill Street Blues, for its groundbreaking adult content? Or my favorite, The Shield, for continuing to build on these templates? This is the same kind of problem you have comparing athletes across different eras: evolution. Current all time home run leader Hank Aaron played at 6'0" 180 lbs, the same height and weight listed for light hitting Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp. Twenty years ago there were only 27 players in the NFL weighing 300 lb or more. Now there are hundreds. Education about nutrition, weight training, and sports medicine has made athletes bigger, stronger, and faster, making it difficult to translate dodging tacklers or crushing homers 40 years to today.

I'm for progress. I get more enjoyment from watching Batman Begins than Citizen Kane, I've watched enough tape to be confident that Shaquille O'Neal would dominate Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain, and I watch syndicated episodes of Seinfeld while I've never seen and episode of All in the Family beginning to end. So for me the bloom has been off the rose for The Sopranos for some time. But its influence is unquestioned, and it's easy to forget what it once was.