The Sopranos ending explained

**Mogamedogz** · 06-15-2007, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by FranKieC

I have been following this series from the beginning and this is what I make of it and so do alot of people...

1. If you recall the first Episode this season, think back to when Tony and Bobby were on the boat. Bobby says to Tony "Do you think you hear it when it's coming?" Tony replies "Nope, Everything will just go black". Then if you recall episode 8 "The Blue Comment" when Tony is up in his room he has a flashback of when they said then in the boat.

2. Now knowing all of this you should know that there were about 5 people on that diner that would have a reason to kill Tony. The guy who walked in who looked like a truck driver was the brother of the Driver Christopher killed when jacking the dvd's. The two black guys that walked in were the same guys who tried whacking Tony and clipped his ear. Then the last person was the guy at the counter who was Nikki Leotardo (Phils brother) and he prob had the main reason to whack Tony being Phil just got clipped.

3. As the anxiety built up in the diner you keep seeing the camera focus on patrons in the room, this is from Tony's perspective. As the scene goes on you see Nikki leotardo slowly creep into the bathroom BEHIND Tony. As meadow walks in you focus on her from Tonys perspective, then BAM, a blank Screen.

Now think back to the flashback when they said "You won't even hear it, everything will just go black"

There is the end of the sopranos

No. This is a HORRIBLE take, and is based is rumors and misinformation. The guy at the counter was NOT related to Phil. Thats Bogus... he is the same guy who plays Tony's father (Johnny Soprano) in previous seasons. other than that...he has no link to the nj/ny beef (that we know of). The truck driver wasnt the guy who was jacked by Chris's "BOY" (not actually Chris). And the black guys were not the ones who tried to kill tony.

I think that you read this take on one of the many Soprano Rumor Mill messege boards and are trying to pawn it off as your own... Im not buying it.

Here is MY "ORIGINAL" take on the ending, as a HARDCORE Sopranos fan...

I think that the Soprano's ending could not have been more perfect for the series- It was, unfortunately, clearly inevitably marred for some people by the fact that they were only wrapped up in wanting to see “who's gonna get it, or “what kind of big finale they were gonna get”, and were ultimately disappointed because of it.

I'm not trying to preach to the choir, but if you don't think it was any good, please listen and read below, because I think it was amongst the most genius moments to ever be on television.

Obviously, the show is (really) about being inside the mind and the life of a gangster. It’s a strangely “enviable” (yet “repulsive”) lifestyle; which we so love to look at through a peephole; but would never enter into ourselves. It’s given to us through a medium that dramatizes family life; and connects us to it with the same amplitude that we view our own problems with.

The ending took these two basic issues, and resolved them the only way a good story should- By showing them as they are, truly.

For me, the ending really begins with Tony sweeping the leaves- It is a remarkably strange moment to highlight- So seemingly meaningless- And yet this is the key to it all.

Tony is clearly momentarily struck by some thought, some feeling, some element of his life coursing through his veins, as he looks up into the sun, and feels some emotion we can never fully understand, but can all (strangely) relate to. And this is exactly the root of the best moments in art, where we are drawn in to one another. Here, (in addition to the amusingly poignant sense of pride in his pile of dead leaves which he seems to take) is just a moment of simple content ness; the enjoyment of simply being alive. He is basking in something as mundane, as the sun through trees in North Jersey.

From here, of course, comes the crucial emotional climax, the real essence of the show rooted in the real question of it all- Is it right or wrong? Is it truly bad to live a life of crime, or is it as good as any other life?

Brilliantly, the show answers it with a question; if in the end you don't even know it happened, than what does it all mean? What has Junior gotten for all that he's done? He's just a man looking at birds, same as anyone.

We are then brought into the mind of Tony Soprano through a lovely subtle moment, (“what music should I play?”). Then the show addresses that deep question, “what does it all mean”?

I say (hang with me on this) it is the root of the “human dilemma”; which is that we all know we're going to die- But what does “life” mean, in the face of that awareness for yourself? Well… it means whatever WE (personally) make of it; and we are left with a simple portrayal. Not of what a “mobster’s” life seems to be-- not some “over-the-top bloodbath” that WE may think of it as; but just an “everyday life”. It's the “Human Experience”- its LIVING which really matters in the end.

The core issue with a “life of crime” is of what you are willing to sacrifice, in order to get what you want. Would you do what you KNOW that one should (morally) NEVER do?

And, (in relation to everyone) will trying to get what you want by those repulsive means, inevitably make you lose what you already have? Because that is what we all do, in little ways, every single day; we lose the answers to "if I were to die today, what would I miss?" And suddenly, here, by fearing for Tony-- through Tony Soprano, and the “fear” that HE may die, WE suddenly can empathize with what it means to see someone you love “walk through the door” (Meadow).

The real genius is that they don't force a melodramatic family moment on us- They show a real, everyday, universal family moment- Eating dinner, with idle disinterested conversation and a good 80s power ballad, and give you a window to see into it. To see that it's what we make of this moment which REALLY matters most- A truth we all see but can never live up to.

Word on the street is that the guy who goes in the bathroom is going whack Tony, or maybe try to and shoot his daughter. Orrr… maybe not.

Leaving with this question only reinforces the answer they give with this moment, of what really matters? Cinematically, accomplishing this with a subtle moment raking leaves, a slight grin and a wistful look; to being told “you used to run North Jersey”, and the skimming eyes of Tony looking into the strangers (shadows) around the diner, that we all see but never REALLY look at.

This is unquestionably brilliant, and it is what really made the show great. You can argue all you want about if the final cut was too abrupt, but people will be talking about it forever…

I've heard countless people say, "I've wasted 8 years of my life!" then talk about how perfect the first three seasons were- I find it fantastically ironic that it is those people, who, to my mind, so wanted an incredible over the top ending that they couldn't appreciate the “subtle” beauty in what they got, that needed the exact message which they missed.

One last thing that I think the ending gave us was the chance to actually “FEEL” what it was like to actually BE Tony Soprano.

From the time he walks into the diner, and scans the room for the best seat possible (one with a clear view of the door). It gave us a chance to walk in Tony's shoes.

For the 4 minutes at the end, every single one of us was on the edge of our chairs. We were looking ever so suspiciously at everyone and everything that was going on around the Diner. The sounds were magnified; every patron’s look seemed strange and ever so suspicious... In short, we were paranoid, nervous, and completely on edge; not having ANY idea of what might be coming next, or even from which direction it may be coming.

For those short 4 minutes, we the viewers had an opportunity to feel what Tony must feel like every single day; constantly looking over his shoulder for an assassin (or federal agents). It puts picking up the paper from the end of his driveway into REAL perspective.

So whatever your interpretation... (Note Journey's song "Anyway you want it" on the Jukebox, right under the song he selected), you get to draw your own conclusion. After all, real life doesn’t have closure.

I guess I am satisfied with this ending... Hope you all were too!

**brewerpi** · 06-15-2007, 05:45 PM

I hate to call in to question your status as a "hardcore" fan but the actor who portrayed Tony's father, "Johnny Boy" Soprano is named Joseph Siravo and he is NOT the man at the counter.You can look him up on IMDB.

[QUOTE=Mogamedogz]No. This is a HORRIBLE take, and is based is rumors and misinformation. The guy at the counter was NOT related to Phil. Thats Bogus... he is the same guy who plays Tony's father (Johnny Soprano) in previous seasons."

**Mogamedogz** · 06-15-2007, 06:09 PM

Your right the guy was Paolo Colandrea.... but he was DEF. not a Leotardo. He was listed in the credits as the guy in the members Only Jacket. He is a 47-year old Pizza parlor owner from PA. this is the only episode he ever played in.