I know that many people feel ripped off and mad because not much happened in the Sopranos finale. But I loved it. Here’s why…
Comment #55 on the Gothamist post says:
Tony dies. Its all about looking at the earlier episodes in the series. The guy at the bar is Nick Leotardo, Phils brother or cousin. He was in one of the earlier episodes. The black guys who walk in are the guys who tried to kill tony but shot him in the ear in an earlier episode. Then if you notice tony walks into the diner and looks at the booth then the view changes to his perspective. As everyone walks in theres chimes. Carmella walks in and theres chimes, A.J. walks in and chimes, medow walks in and no chimes and it goes black. But rememer when tony and bobby are talking about what it feels like when someone gets “wacked” They say its like you dont even feel it everything probably just goes black. And thats what happened everything went black. So tony dies.
I think that the genius of it is that everyone was expecting Tony to die, but then at the same time they were enjoying the great music and how happy the family was eating onion rings. And then how horrible it would be to end that happiness with Tony getting shot. And he (David Chase) didn’t. He set it up so either his daughter came in or he was shot. It’s so genius!!!
And then the guy walking into the bathroom is like what happened in the Godfather before he killed someone (thanks dad.) All of it was set up so well, and the finale seriously wouldn’t have been the same if anyone had died. Although Tony’s fate was left a bit unclear…
Here’s the best clip that I can find on YouTube, but it unforunately comes with a bunch of MSNBC stuff…
UPDATE: Can’t find a clip on YouTube. HBO keeps taking them down.
UPDATE: OMG THEY TOOK IT DOWN AGAIN!!!!!!
(Yes, like many people I also thought that the cable went out.)
The perspective of the series has largely been 3rd person. That is we watch the characters and plot from an outsiders point of view. For the most part this is the perspective. However, every once in while it becomes a sort of 1st and 2nd person perspective. Every once in while we are thrust into the perspective (usually just visually) of Tony. There are many instances which I will bring up later, but this has been the basic pattern of perspectives for the series. Let us say that those 11 seconds of nothing was really being suddenly thrust into that Tony perspective. What would this nothing mean? Well, it would mean he is dead. Suddenly, without warning, Tony is dead. Well, how would he have a died? I don’t know about you, but did you notice that guy who barely touched his food at the counter go to the bathroom? We know how they do it. Inconspicuous. Methodical. Without warning. Headshot. Dead. So, Tony is killed in front of his entire family. Some may say how do I know if this is what the nothingness is? Okay, let’s say you’re right and Tony is killed, why wouldn’t they just show it. My reply is that I guess I’m not as heartless as you. I really don’t want to see Tony get offed. It seems a little perverse. And for you fans who would want to see it just to know, you really aren’t fans. A real fan would relish the opportunity to experience that last moment rather than merely witnessing it. A real fan (unlike Dr. Melfi) believes there’s something good in Tony worth experiencing. And for those fans who refuse to step into Tony’s world, David Chase gave you the ending you deserved: nothing. As for the true believers who have made it a habit to empathize and understand, we have the special treat of truly experiencing who the man is, his essence, and his purpose. And if you need any further encouragement to accept this interpretation, remember what Bobby said to Tony on the boat: When you die, all you see is blankness. Coincidence–probably not. For those who are now ready to step inside the world of Tony, remember that at the heart of understanding The Sopranos lies the viewers’ willingness to infer. (check out more on my blog jakjonsun.wordpress.com)
Was that guy in the diner really creditted as “Nick Leotardo”?? I know that this is being claimed around the net, but it’d be interesting if this is a baseless “urban legend.” Somewhere I saw the claim that the “Nick Leotardo” reference came from hbo.com, but I search there and found nothing.
There are certainly enough clues to believe that Tony was whacked. Everyone is talking about the conversation with Bobby in the row boat, about how when you get killed, you never see it coming. But also… a few episodes ago there was that hit in the restaurant where Sil got splattered with blood. Recall that when that hit took place, the sound eerily went dead, and you didn’t know what happened till you saw the red on Sil’s shirt. Later, Sil told the guys that he didn’t even hear it when it happened. Right?
I don’t know what to think. The black screen could just be a way to allow the viewer to look at our own expectations, which can now create the consequences we like. Others have noted that when Tony selected “Don’t Stop Believing” on the jukebox, the song just under was “Any Way You Want It.”
Stuart
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/
The comment about “Nick Leotardo” may well already be debunked. What if there’s really no such reference to a “Nick Leotardo”? It’d be a beautiful example of an urban legend, where people report a fantasy as fact, since they’re more comfortable with certainty than with the ambiguous reality.
Stuart
http://home.comcast.net/~sresnick2/socalled.h...
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/