well, my favorite tv show ever has ended and like every other media outlet in the world, it’s time to chime in on the series finale. close your eyes if you haven’t seen it yet. i’ll begin with my thoughts on the series overall, before going into show specifics, to spare those people who have delayed reading comprehension. just like every other loyal sopranos fan, i’m strongly unsettled and unfulfilled by the show’s ending. however, i wouldn’t ask for any other conclusion. being a new jersey resident, there’s a natural affinity for the show, kinda like with kevin smith movies. however, it’s not because new jersey is the setting that makes the show more likable, it’s that chase and his crew do it right. the show isn’t just set in new jersey, new jersey is set in the show. real estate, residents, daily life, scenery, even rutgers, my ISA of choice (though i was unaware that DKE was a recruitment tent for the mob). every aspect rings the ’that’s so true’ bell, but that’s just powdered cocoa on the tiramisu. the true glory of the show is in its amazing attention to realism and detail when crafting characters. while most shows draw up entertaining scripts convenient for plot movement, chase created characters so real that they became the plot, not just tools for the writers to express some gimmick-ridden plotlines. audience members understand why each character acts a certain way. there’s almost no need for suspension of disbelief. every decision is rooted in a personality, which is itself rooted in the story. blended into the realism are the good old philosophical themes that pop up every now and then, the kind of profound ruminating that only the rich can afford. references to psychoanalytic concepts and existential quagmires are scattered throughout the shows run, adding little treats for the millions of bored suburbanites who have often contemplated the very same questions.
now what is the deal with the series finale? many have panned it, some have praised it. i try not to fall under the influence of third-party opinions or my own fanatic loyalty, but i can’t help but believe that it just can’t be helped. while i have already voiced that the finale was unsettling and unfulfilling, it was in fact a very fitting ending. with all the profound undertones the show has set, it’s not difficult to see why chase would end with a ridiculously open-ended conclusion that leaves no one with closure, much like life itself. though the slightly cathartic, if not melodramatic scene of the family’s last sit down to ‘don’t stop believin” was a nice moment of nostalgia for fans, it was certainly restrained in its tearjerking by a stressful uneasiness about the still undetermined fate of tony. a potential bullet waiting to silence every houseshold in the tri-state area could’ve been looming just over the horizon for the connected family man, and yet after building more tension than a teenager about to pop his cherry, we never find out the ultimate fate of america’s favorite capicola consuming dad. but if there’s one thing that drew me to the sopranos more than anything else, it’s the uneasy portrait of life that is so accurately presented, the uncertainty and insecurity of the characters is just as much apart of the audience. whether it be impossibly difficult career decisions or pondering the ultimate purpose of life, none of us know any better than tony and his family. the commiseration between character and audience is nowhere stronger and more prevalent than on this show. disappointed at the ending? wish there were more to it? ultimately unfulfilled? who the fuck isn’t? that’s life and that is the genius of mr. chase and his landmark gangland masterpiece.
“a hundred years from now, we’re dead and gone, people will be watching this fucking thing” – tony soprano
