STIRRING UP THE SUPRISING SOPRANOS STORM
The only statement I can make with great certainty is that The Sopranos was one of the best shows ever to hit the small screen. For that reason, I am not surprised by the overwhelmingly irate feedback about the series finale.
As I stated in my last blog entry, I loved the last ever episode of The Sopranos. I have not experienced this much vitriol about my opinion from other pop culture fans since the time I asserted that Crash was the worst Best Picture winner ever (and far inferior to Brokeback Mountain, I might add).
In my eyes, The Sopranos finale was creator David Chase’s big F YOU. Although it might seem strange to aim to piss off a loyal audience, keep in mind that this is the same man who made us wait for almost a year between each season. And we did. Patiently and quietly for the most part. (For what it’s worth, people seem to be bickering more about the Lost hiatus than they ever did about the agonizing lag between seasons of The Sopranos.) So I understand the outrage. We each dedicated eight years of our lives to a program that aired inconsistently, and were rewarded with a vague ending that left us with far more questions than answers.
Listen, Chase is not an accessible Hollywood type, nor is he one of those producers/writers who either reads or cares about viewer blogs and actual audience opinion. He made the show he wanted to make from start to finish, and we ate it up. And really, The Sopranos was of those rare series where major cliffhangers were not prominent features of season finales.
The Six Feet Under series finale set the bar very high. We were not expecting closure when that series ended, but were pleasantly surprised to be offered it in the form of a future flash forward. It was neat and clean, a far cry from the abrupt and heart-stopping ending to The Sopranos.
The expectations for The Sopranos series finale were astronomical, because characters we’d grown to love (despite the fact that they were cold-blooded murders and blatant philanderers) were being killed off one by one. It seems that just about everyone wanted to see Tony either get indicted or die. Personally, I was all for the easier target, AJ. His storyline was intolerably grating this season (except for that phenomenal pool scene a few episodes ago).
Frankly, I thought that the comedic moments that permeated the series finale of The Sopranos were more unexpected than that last scene. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Phil Leotardo met his end in the very way he’d recently ordered the hit on Tony – a decapitation of sorts. And the quick transformation of the depressed, save-the-world-and-environment AJ into AJ the BMW-driving-movie-producer with not a worry in the world? Brilliant.
I am not defending the series finale of The Sopranos. I don’t need to or have to. But just as I have said about the first three seasons of Lost, we have been spoiled by absolutely stellar and high quality programming over the last few years. It is natural for the dedicated masses to hold their favorite shows to very high standards.
So if you still feel robbed, angry and/or empty after that finale, I recommend that you watch it again with all six seasons in mind. Regardless of how you initially felt about the last episode ever, if you are a true fan of The Sopranos, I know that you’ll remember and recognize the entire series as a very entertaining and satisfying show fueled by jaw-dropping performances and incredible scripts.
And trust me when I tell you that we will NEVER see The Sopranos Movie or spin-off series. David Chase is as done as the blown away Bacala on his beloved train set.