Hey, Mabus!

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How'd ya like the last Sopranos?
I didn't see it, but I read a little about it.

[Mabus]

1. I liked it ***SPOILERS**** (spoilers are at the bottom and marked)

I was stunned for a moment when it ended abruptly but I really liked it. I think the show had a great and appropriate ending. Of course, I liked the ending to Seinfeld when I first saw it and everyone else was panning it. (An aside on Seinfeld: I think I was one of the few that saw the full circle that Seinfeld had when George asked about the button on Jerry's shirt and Jerry looked at him and said, "Did we already have this conversation?" When Jerry said that, I cried. I saw it as pure genius on the part of Larry David. I thought, we've come back to the beginning. I thought it was a beautiful ending.)

I was much more sated with the ending than most people. I heard some commentators that said David Chase doesn't follow the typical plot arcs (read: commerical formula) but, in some ways he did. There has been resolutions of major plots this season:

Tony's a survivor. Life goes on. He'll always be looking over his shoulder but at least he will always have his families.

AJ's grown up. He's not a sociopath. He's benefitting from therapy. He's got a hot girlfriend (albeit minor girlfriend) and a promising career that's he's willing to start at the bottom for.

Meadow's getting married and will have a job waiting for her. She credits her dad for helping her choose her career path. She's accepted and settled with who she is. She's marrying into another mob family! Her future husband, like her, is taking full advantage of the opportunites she's been given and is making the most of it.

Carmela is a good mom (her kids aren't going to be gangsters!) and she's a good Catholic (she stayed with her marriage and it is working out, for now at least). Carmela's new in-laws are "below" them. Mrs. Parisi was checking out the fineprint on the back of the china. Carm will have plenty to be snippy about with Ro over a glass of wine and dinner at Vesuvio's. She'll be there for Gabi (Sil's wife). She knows how it feels to have a husband in the hospital clinging to life. Carm is also a business woman now. She's a realtor. If anything happens to Tony and he goes to jail or gets wacked Carm's in a much better position financially and emotionally than before. That was a big thing for her character for a number of seasons.

Janice and Bobby were actually happy (or at least as happy as you can be if you're Bobby and you're married to Janice). Janice showed some geniune feelings. And for once her scheming wasn't just for her own benefit. She was thinking about her daughter and maybe, just maybe Bobby's kids.

Junior's lost it. He doesn't even remember being a mob boss. Tony's fears about Junior babbling some information is way down, as Junior appears to be happy looking out the window and listening to birds chirp. When Tony walked away from him with a tear in his eye I thought, "he's going to get Junior moved to some place nicer." To me, Tony forgave Junior in some way and saw him as a helpless old man.

Anyway, I liked it. Read below if you don't mind spoilers:












Carm's happy. She and Tony worked together to find a solution that would keep AJ out of the army. She's been validated. She's a successful mother. Both of her kids are going to have what look like lucrative futures and they look like they are happy with their choices (at least for now). Moreover, she's probably decided that she made the right decision to stay with Tony. Remember when she the psycharitist told her to leave the blood money behind and she stopped therapy? The mob, in more ways than one, is responsible for providing the opportunities that her children have right now. Even better, neither of them will be "mobbed up". And, like most Republicans, she's all for supporting the troops but her kid doesn't need to go there.

AJ's character was more spot-on than it has been credit for. I mean, AJ had more opportunities than other people have. He went through live alternatively using his father's name to his own advantage (ala Jackie Junior) and wanting to make his own name. During the series, AJ used the name Soprano to intimidate and to impress. When he fell in love he found a purpose in life. He finally found someone who loved him for him. When they broke up, he was self-centered and affluent enough that he could act out and do nothing but feel sorry for himself. Anyway, I finally saw an AJ that looked like he was emotionally maturing and was also being responsible. He grew up.

Meadow's going to get married to Paulie Parisi's son. Parisi's son works at a large law firm and once Meadow finishes school she'll go to work there too. Even better, she credits the FBI's treatment of her father as the deciding factor to go into law. What parent wouldn't be proud? She's not going to end up in the mob.

And for the first time in a long time I actually felt like Janice was human. I'm not discounting Aida Turturro's excellent performance in any way. On the contrary, Aida's performance as Janice was nothing short of brilliant. From the brassy, holier-than-thou Parvardi to the woman who lost her husband and was still struggling to find herself, Aida's performances were spectacular. She visited Junior at the facility he's kept in and I think it scared the living shit out of her. She saw what could be her future, if she keeps using and alienating everyone. Last night, I felt so sorry for Janice, she seemed human.

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2. Best summary I've read yet.

And a not a drop of blood.

[Mabus]

3. I saw old plots resolving and new ones opening up

Another typical Sopranos episode.

[evlbstrd]

4. Setting us up for a movie?

On a side note, I told Jim Hermann today that I'm not doing any more for him.
Quote:
About the CD: I have a huge problem with you completely ignoring all of my photography and instead sending me what appeared to be a cell phone shot of lousy quality. You paid no attention to any of my legitimate concerns and instead insulted me with "You're an artist, make art!"
Nope.
For now, I'm concentrating on Draft Al Gore and purchasing a school bus to convert. I can send you the Photoshop files and fonts for the poster for future shows.

I am done with him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. In a way, the last scene did a better job of showing the viewer

what Tony's life was really like. As I was sitting there waiting for Meadow's car to blow up or that guy walking to the bathroom to turn and shoot Tony, I realized that was an everyday thing for Tony. Everywhere he goes, he has to look over his shoulder. And watching that last scene, I realized how truly brilliant the show was. And to be able to catch the whole theme for the show in that one last scene was one of the more brilliant things the writers ever did.

I also think Tony is headed for prison. But as you said, Carm will get along just fine without him.

[Mabus]

6. Well said

That last scene was just incredible in its richness. One of the things I've loved about the show is its visuals. The composition, the colors, the angles and the interplay, it's always been incredible.

One of the things I noticed were the muted colors at the diner. It's like all the color has been sucked out. The Sopranos are pretty much dressed in black. Most everyone else in the place is in brown/tan. Carmela and Meadow are are wearing mostly black with gold bling (is it to help symbolize that they are keeping themselves in the dark while donning themselves with jewelry brought with mob money?). AJ's shirt is grey and black (just like AJ's personality, he's either up or down). Tony's shirt are distinct black, white and grey panels (symbolizing Tony's personality spectrum?). Also, AJ was driving a black car (after his yellow SUV burned) while Meadow is shown trying to park a white/light colored car. Tony was being chauffeured around in a black van. I really need to re-watch it and take more note of the black/white theme. Or maybe I'm making too much of it.

And those camera angles. Are we seeing the Sopranos from a random distance or are we seeing them at a distance through the eyes of the guy in the cap? The guys at the jukebox? Which are random shots and which are the ones that are "important".

And what about where the characters were sitting? Nothing is random with David Chase. I remember the episode when Christopher was in the hospital. As the camera panned the waiting room it told so much. The characters who would later turn informants (Pussy and Adrianne) were physically distant from the rest of the characters.

I love the show.

[Mabus]

7. Just had another thought

People keep talking about Tony's conversation with Bobby and how it relates to the last scene. Specifically people have talked about the conversation's conclusion that everything just goes black and you don't hear anything when you've whacked. Well, the camera showed Tony. If he was getting whacked and everything went black shouldn't we have been looking through Tony's eyes? Add to that, the hit men in the bar included one of Phil Leotardi's nephews. What if it was him that got hit when he was looking at Tony (with the intent to either tell him off or to kill him).

I dunno. What do you think?

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8. At this point,

I need to have actually seen the entire last season. And maybe just go tthrough the entire series on DVD. I missed large chunks of it.
The whole POV argument, was any of it ever really from his actual POV? Yes, he was the star and central character, but I don't recall it ever being strictly from Tony's point of view.