So, there seems to be a large faction of folks distressed with last night’s final episode ever of HBO’s monster hit The Sopranos. Here in New York, both local tabloids, the Post ("Chase will have to live with what he did last night") and Daily News ("It didn't end. It just stopped"), have respectively given us their venomous 2 pennies on the matter, while the Times called it "a perfectly imperfect finish”, which only goes to show that like much of the audience, those at the Post and the News have not really been paying attention to this show. For if they had, they’d known that Sopranos creator David Chase is not a man prone to tidy and predictable conclusions. The man does not believe in closure. (Did we ever find out what happened to Furio or the Russian in the woods?)
Even though he teased us up until the very end with numerous possible scenarios for violence, Chase did not succumb to a big massive bloodbath or a redemptive epiphany in this last episode. (Which, by the way, could’ve benefited from an extra half hour or so, just to improve the flow a little better. It does seem rushed at times.) Not much in the way of death and mayhem, although New York crime boss Phil Leotardo did get whacked and deservedly so. It was just business as usual, nothing major. Another day in the life of a Mob boss and his peeps.
That is why, despite Chase having Tony Soprano play Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” at his table’s mini jukebox—as he waits for the family to show up for dinner at an old hangout—the end credits rolling with no musical backdrop is significant. He clearly did not want whatever song they used in this closely scrutinized and always welcome spot to be mined for clues or interpretations. Life goes on, pure and simple. Say what you will about the final installment of one of the most brilliant TV shows in history, but please, don’t call it unexpected.
Even though he teased us up until the very end with numerous possible scenarios for violence, Chase did not succumb to a big massive bloodbath or a redemptive epiphany in this last episode. (Which, by the way, could’ve benefited from an extra half hour or so, just to improve the flow a little better. It does seem rushed at times.) Not much in the way of death and mayhem, although New York crime boss Phil Leotardo did get whacked and deservedly so. It was just business as usual, nothing major. Another day in the life of a Mob boss and his peeps.
That is why, despite Chase having Tony Soprano play Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” at his table’s mini jukebox—as he waits for the family to show up for dinner at an old hangout—the end credits rolling with no musical backdrop is significant. He clearly did not want whatever song they used in this closely scrutinized and always welcome spot to be mined for clues or interpretations. Life goes on, pure and simple. Say what you will about the final installment of one of the most brilliant TV shows in history, but please, don’t call it unexpected.
Meanwhile, Jersey native, main Scrub and alleged Sopranos fan Zach Braff was a presenter at the Tony Awards, which had the misfortune of taking place the same night as the last stand of that other Tony. Despite defensive little quips by Braff ("I haven't seen any of the last four episodes") and newly, self-outed—whoa, big surprise!—former Frasier star and Tony nominee David Hyde-Pierce (“Please, who would ever think of watching The Sopranos?”), those assembled to honor the dreadfully corny, anachronistic, tourist trap nonsense also known as Broadway musicals—the good plays rarely get as much, um, play as the cheesy song-and-dance crap—knew what was up: "I think the ratings are gonna be very low this year, especially between nine and ten," said actress Jane Krakowski, one of the evenings presenters. We don’t know how that actually turned out, but the answer to Mr. Hyde-Pierce’s question is: people uninterested in the nauseatingly silly form of entertainment you purvey, who instead crave well-written drama by one of the shining lights of the genre. That’s who.
John From Cincinnati? Um, dunno…
