Political Punch

Im very late to this discussion and to my knowledge someone probably hundreds of people have already added this bit of opinion but since im a slow learner it took me months to figure things out in my head. The finale of the Sopranos was truly a work of art and now having figured out the most logical reason for the ending I have to put it out there for others to comment on.

Every last person I have spoken with has had the same similar opinion of how Tony did or didn’t get whacked but I never really bought into Tony getting killed. I also remember reading an interview with David Chase the morning after the episode aired and he made the comment that if we were watching the last scene everything was right there as clear as day to tell us what happened.

Having only watched the scene three times I have to come to the conclusion, with risk of pissing some people off that Meadow was the one to get whacked not Tony! There I said it.

If you have researched even somewhat into how symbolic the screen going black is you have to realize that more times than not the screen goes black from the point of view of the person getting killed. This leads back to earlier in the episode when Meadow was the target of two of New Yorks hinchman and Tony had to go exact some punishment on one of them.

I think Meadow was purposely highlighted in this way as a brilliant move by Chase because he wanted us to remember Meadow and how special she was to Tony because she hadn’t been featured very much in the last season. In the final scene its important to point out that Tony wasn’t wearing a different shirt when he sat down in the diner and there was such a emphasis put on Meadow parking because it was the lead up to daddy’s little girls dramatic end.

The important things to remember about the last few seconds of the scene is that the person everyone points out as being the most likely to have whacked Tony went into the restroom directly to Tony’s right so if we were watching Tony get whacked from some strange first person view he would have turned to his right however he looked directly over AJ’s head toward the door. Secondly if you look into Tony’s eyes just after the door bell chimes his eyes tell it all, he looks startled and even flinches as someone would do if they were trying to get up very quickly. He reacts this way because he sees the hitman putting the gun up to the back of Meadows head and he is helpless to do nothing at all. The screen goes black from Meadows point of view as it should if we are looking at Tony through her eyes. Whats the best way to get back at Tony Soprano? Kill his daughter right in front of him.

This is my opinion and im sticking to it.

Comment by J. C. D. from georgia — October 1, 2007 @ 2:46 pm

I think Chase made it clear in the last season that death is the only way out for the senior--and most of the junior--mobsters. You either die in jail, get snuffed out by a good friend, relative or rival, or you get a bullet to the brain while enjoying onion rings with your family. Or, as in Goodfellas your gang persona dies in the WPP as you dine on canned lasagna. Every great mob movie ends with some sort of major death. Chase had to find a clever, original way to make it happen. I don't think he spent over a year working on äll these obvious death clues just for kicks. I think he wanted us to have to use our brains a little.

Chase is clever, and didn't want anyone disappointed with how it ended. It's open to the viewers interpetation. He planted various scenarios and left it up to the viewer/fan to decide. Those who wanted him dead, he's dead. I would have to say he's getting a lap dance right now.

Not mentioned yet is that every episode or at least the vast majority of them ends and music starts as soon as they go to credits. In this episode, Tony plays the jukebox and the music is playing, then when the episode ends, the music stops. Totally opposite from all the others.

Anyone remember the movie Donnie Brasco? When Lefty gets "sent for", he removes his personal belongings and then closes the door behind him as he leaves, the screen goes black for about 2 seconds then BANG!. The implication being he was whacked. I hate that it ended that way for Tony, BUT, it left the door open for a movie...possibly

One other thing that people haven't pick up on is when Tony walks into the diner It goes from a tight shot of his face to a shot of him sitting at the table. So Tony is watching himself. In movie talk this is a jump cut That nevers happens unless his dead and watching himself.

Just my 2 cents

The only person who knew the family was going to the restaurant was Rhiannon, A.J. part-time model friend. She heard Carmella tell A.J. they were going there that night. It is also ironic that earlier in the episode Tony quells Carmella's doubts about Rhiannon by asking, "Who would she tell?"

i think warren is right on, the audience got whacked, not tony. brilliant.

i don't know about the shot of tony in his coffin.. he is wearing a fleece.. dont u think he would be in a suit?

I think your comments are right on target. But I don't think that Tony got whacked in the diner.

Watching the last episode again, I'm struck by a couple of things. First, in the sitdown with Butchie, you hear a noise, for quite a while, that sounds like an industrial door being opened. It abruptly cuts off when Tony says that he wants something for his sister after Bobby's murder.

After this, the rest of the show is all about how the loose ends in Tony's life come together (A.J., Meadow, back to work at the Bing). Phil's murder is obviously important as well, but there's something unususal about that, besides getting run over by a car. He gets shot in the head - no blood. He then gets shot in the chest, only once,
but also no blood. Of all the whackings on the show, that was the most bloodless, and therefore the most strange.

I think, that Tony got hit at the sitdown with Butchie and the rest of the show was a dream sequence until the finale, when he dies.

> My biggest beef...who had motive, means, and opportunity to kill Tony at that juncture? Nobody.

How about Phil. In his last call to Butchie he was very unhappy with the progress to hit Tony, and unhappy with Butchie. Then Butchie wanted to suggest making a deal and ending it. Phil hung uop on him. So Phil could have put out his own contract. And Phil being so determined that this was his position he would have made sure the job got done even if he died.

Since Tony thought the hit was off he would have relaxed and could have been followed. The two black guys at the juke box remind me of when Phil hit the guy that took food from his plate.

Regarding the Members Only man walking into the men's room ala the Sollozzo murder scene in The Godfather, if it's not a red herring (which I think it is) it really doesn't make sense. Remember that the reason Michael Corleone went into the men's room was that he had been checked for weapons before meeting Sollozzo and hence had to retrieve a gun he had previously stashed there. No need for that this time.

I have one problem with Tony being killed. No one knew he was going to that restaurant other than his family. We no evidence that his phone was tapped, etc.

These hits always seemed to be well planned. If the shooter was Members Only, he had to do the job in a place where he wasn't familiar with the setup. Seems unlikely.

The ending was a book mark, if you look at the first episode it began with the screen being black and then the story began, the reason that the last episode goes blacek is to book end the series. this way every one knows that although the story goes on this is the last episode.

The "something shocking" was an alternative ending, probably always a red herring, that had Meadow being killed by a car.

I read Harris' post. 80% of what he cites is just evidence of SOMEONE dying. Some of the rest is evidence Tony got whacked, and some of the rest is evidence that the viewer got whacked. For example, if it's a funeral for Tony, why didn't Tony (who begged off a spicy sandwich a few episodes back) say something like, "not for me, my stomach." That way, Carm and AJ only are taking communion with the onion rings. But Tony is attending the funeral mass too...because it's not his funeral, it's ours. Or the reference to what Bobby said in the boat. If TONY got whacked, why isn't that shot from Tony's POV? It's from the viewer's POV. Again, because it's our funeral, not Tony's.

My biggest beef...who had motive, means, and opportunity to kill Tony at that juncture? Nobody. If Tony got killed within a few seconds of the camera going off, Chase is not just a meticulous poet using wonderful allusions to outline Tony's fate with shadows and smoke, he's also a really terrible storyteller who has relied on the hoariest deus ex machina ending imaginable.

I think this whole determination, all over the internet, that it HAD to be Tony who got whacked is because some people insist on full closure. Tony has thoroughly corrupted his family. Chase makes that clear. Tony is a failure as the head of his nuclear family. People want closure for Tony's professional life too. Well, guess what, you get the same closure as the fans of Everybody Loves Raymond. There's a tomorrow, just like a yesterday, but you won't be there.

I think every season ended with Tony dodging one threat in his career, but with a new one looming. This season was no different. Don't stop.

Let's not forget that the precipitating event in the genesis of the Sicilian mafia was an attempt to corner the citrus market in Northern Sicily in the late 19th century.

You've summarized the genius of the series and of its creator, David Chase: the ending is open enough for you to continue imagining what happened next. Mr. Chase is simply following the oldest maxim in entertainment: leave 'em wanting more. Thank you, Mr. Chase, for such great drama!