» Heartache: The Sopranos Deep Bitterness Thread Options

[hothead]

I know this is the bitterness thread, but I'll just say I liked the ending because he got his family back- all together and that's what matters. He ended up showing love to Paulie, love to Silvio and being true to himself and I think that Tony will actually have a better more honest future. Even in talking to AJ's therapist, he showed a lot of growth.

[tobecontinued]

Growth? He was supposed to be there to help AJ, and he turned the whole therapy session into his own — bitching about how shitty Livia was as a mother. Carmela wasn't the only person rolling her eyes at that.

[richie246]

I can't believe that some of the critics out there are (predictably) defending that ending. I feel like that ending ruined the entire series for me. All of the analyzing on this thread feels for nothing. Where the hell was Carmela this season?? This was the ending Chase was planning for 3 years? There is much speculation as to why Chase chose this ending. I have 3 scenarios b/c I do not believe that Chase actually believes this was a justifiable conclusion 1)Total contempt for the fans (and people in general) 2)Just in case he wants to make a movie or HBO begged him not to kill Tony or 3)He just couldn't decide how to end it or just didn't have the courage to end it. Chase, you may be a genuis but you outsmarted yourself this time and tainted your legacy. This is coming from a fan who LOVED most of season 6. The Kevin Finnerty stuff, Chris's arc and AJ's depression were all great. What a shame. Your nihilism destroyed your vision.

[mattoz85]

There really needed to be a satisfying conclusion.

This wasn't some 2 hour movie that we spent a few bucks on. This wasn't a generic sitcom where nothing exciting ever happened to the characters.

This was an 8-year, 86-episode story that we were all emotionally invested in due to the compelling characters and their stories.

I really hope there isn't a Sopranos movie, because I would feel even more cheated as a viewer. Why did they even bother with 6B, then? It could've been a 10 minute prologue in a movie.

I think all the people calling it "brilliant" are just trying to sound like they get it. They also need a thesaurus, because that seems to be the only word these people know.

[richie246]

Well said Matt. I always felt it was one long 86 hour story presumably with a beginning, middle and and end. I am not saying I needed a neat conclusion but I needed SOME KIND of conclusion. Now think about watching all 86 episodes from the beginning again, the back of your mind will always tell you that there was no ending. To me the whole experience is ruined.

[morgankobi]

I have only watched the last few seasons. I was going to start with Season 1 next week, and work my way up. But now, I really don't want to. That ending really made that much of an impression on me.

Someone in the episode thread said something to the effect of: This is fiction. It's not up to us to make up our own ending. If the writer doesn't write that Tony flipped, or Tony was arrested, or that Tony was shot, then none of these things exist! These people do not exist outside or beyond what the creator creates for them.

Maybe Chase should take a lesson that George Lucas learned (and then forgot again recently). Let other people direct! There were too many odd edits/jumps, and maybe his "message" at the end wasn't clear. There's an awful lot of debate about what happened, and if he really wanted to just say, "Life goes on" it could have been done in a much clearer way.

The whole thing reminds me of some art teachers my mom had in school. They would look at a painting, and say, "I really like how you commented on society's struggle with ________". She'd later tell me that she hadn't been trying to comment on anything! People will force meaning into this ending, and think Chase is brilliant when he's just a schmuck who was scared to end his narrative.
For example, there are already posts in the episode thread attempting to explain why Little Miss Sunshine is playing in Sil's room. Chase doesn't need to have a deep meaning because he knows we'll attach one for him!

It's great that he doesn't like traditional storytelling, but can he explain why plot structure has been around for thousands of years? (And then he can go explain it to Shakespeare, Dickens, Dante, Gogol, and Euripides!)

"Your money's on the dresser. I'm done wit you!"

This post has been edited by morgankobi: Jun 11, 2007 @ 5:39 am.

[moblawyah]

Do you feel the finale ruined the show as a whole? Talk about it here.

Knowing how it ended, I am really questioning how I'll ever be able to watch another episode - I have them all - again. Pure bullshit. Even though I seem to be alone in believing Tony died in the safehouse bedroom on the bed with SHEETS and all of that was his Owl Creek dying dream.

This post has been edited by moblawyah: Jun 11, 2007 @ 8:12 am.

[Siara]

I'm glad it didn't have a "tidy" ending. I'm so resigned to saccharine endings I was waiting for.... Tony gets shot, a bunch of gauzey flashbacks to good times with his family (Italian opera music in the background), credits. I thought the ending was jarring and bizarre-- at first we thought something had gone wrong with our tv-- but at least it wasn't tragic or sentimental.

My biggest problem with the last few episodes was that I didn't like the way things ended with Dr. Melfi. It felt artificial. Like, three shows before the end they began suggesting that "new studies suggested" that therapy for psychopaths is counterproductive". After years of making this relationship more and more complex, the idea that Jennifer would kick him out without bringing his sessions to a close didn't work for me. I was hoping shed get killed by Phil in an assassination attempt aimed at Tony.

[tribema]

I did love the final scene, truly, but I'm a little bitter that the central character in the final episode ever was...AJ? Wah huh? Carmela was shafted, as she has been all season and Melfi, well, she had The Blue Comet but I was hoping for her to pop up here. I just don't care about AJ and I didn't need this episode to tell me that he's fickle and hypocritical. I didn't need to see everyone whacked or Carmela decapitated but...something more substantial.

[Teesa]

I REALLY hated the "ending". Especially since my mother yelled at me thinking they cut the cable again due to non-payment. I thought some pizza delivery guy spilled beer on the HBO broadcasting console and now aliens will attack earth in 2000 years because they never got to see the ending (that was a Futurama reference for the curious ;p). And DC? "Family Guy" already used that Journey song and did it much better.
I would have even preferred a fade to black over the sudden black out, which *may* have worked, *posssibly although I highly doubt it*, if it was done at a different point. Having the screen go black just as Meadow walks in makes no sense; that's why so many people thought their cable went out. I will not be wasting any money on the Season 6 DVD, although I'd love to hear commentary on the ending.

[Tyberius]

Amen people!!!, you guys are very rightly and accurately pinpointing the problem. Chase was just lazy. I think the guy is too afraid to write an ending or flat doesn't know how. He figured he would be universally hailed as a genius because people think they are some kind of super intelligent literary guru who "understands" his rationale for doing this.


If he did it for a movie, he can keep it, because I'm not flopping down more dough at a theater for his inability to tell a complete story. Also, if he is doing a movie he's a hypocrite. All of his rambling and jabbing at the capitalistic, money-making, greed of Americans, constantly using Tony's hedonistic ways to comment on how pathetically ensnared with material wealth Americans are all so he can leave his cash cow open ended for a future movie and income stream? What's a matter chase, Tony too much of a cash cow for you to write his final fate? Still planning on milking him more so you can buy another country chateau in France?

[birdman]

There were only three "satisfying" possible endings from the start and this hasn't changed during six and a half seasons...
What's the point in seeing Tony getting whacked instead of going in the program or to jail?
Pick one...

This post has been edited by birdman: Jun 11, 2007 @ 10:52 am.

[Amyspaulding]

Ok, still processing, still posting. Bitterness Thread. Bitter.Ness.

I thought the cat was a good way of playing off of Paulie. Paulie hated Chris. The cat loved Chris. Paulie hates cat.
The ending? I think it's significant that everyone-EVERYONE-was waiting for guns to start blazing in that diner. Everyone walking in/out and around that diner was a potential hitter. Maybe we're supposed to ponder how being "Made in America" means that everyone is suspect in that diner (the guy at the bar, walking in in front of AJ, the 2 guys at the end"...its a reflection of us.
The cut off at the end? Choose your own Adventure? I dont think so. I think it's a play on our anticipation and what we expect from an uberviolent show. I think Chase did mindfuck us all and he's laughing all the way to the bank.
Also, I still think the title refers to Phil being run over by a Ford.

I am a bit bitter though. I never liked Tony. I thought that maybe everyone in his family would get shot, leaving him with the pain of having to live without them. I don't know....ugh.

[mattoz85]

"Family Guy" already used that Journey song and did it much better.

I always think of "Scrubs" whenever I hear Journey. I think Zach Braff's character sang "Don't Stop Believing" in one episode.

[BicycleMom]

I'm just going to erase "Made in America" from my head and think of "Blue Comet" as the finale. Works a lot better that way.