The Sopranos Fade To Black

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The Sopranos Fade To Black — Jun 11th 2007

By James Marcus

After seven years of backstabbing, Byzantine fun, The Sopranos ended not with bang but with an onion-ring-scented whimper. In this sense, series creator David Chase--who stepped in to write and direct the final installment--toyed with our expectations to the very last frame. Obviously the attrition rate had been pretty steep during the concluding episodes. Anticipating Tony Soprano's death became a kind of national sport, the main question being whether he would be done in by a blood relative or by part of his extended, pistol-packing family, whose thinning ranks seemed to narrow down the list of candidates.

Chase did keep us guessing throughout the valedictory hour. In the first half, James Gandolfini popped out of his safe house for a series of courtesy calls, including an appearance at his brother-in-law's funeral. Looking paunchier than ever in his leather jacket, and with much of the crinkly satisfaction gone from his small eyes, he resembled a walking (or perhaps lumbering) target. Surely Tony was no longer at the top of the food chain--note the jump cut from Bobby's graveside to the generalized pig-out at his funeral reception--and would soon be devoured by some pinky-ring-wearing predator.

Nope. He survived. And this upset not only the narrative momentum but a moral calculus that many viewers had been counting on. For all his charm, for all his neurotic ambivalence, Tony Soprano was ultimately a serial murderer. That recognition, alternately obscured and shoved in our faces for the past seven years, was what caused Dr. Melfi to wash her hands of him in the penultimate episode. (Nothing like having Lorraine Bracco as your superego!)

In the end, however, Tony dodges the bullet--in every sense of the term. The years of therapy, with their glimmers of self-recognition, he writes off as a joke: "My mother was a borderline personality. So what?" He urges his sister to "form a new nuclear family," having personally killed or dismembered at least two of her previous mates. And he exits the long march of The Sopranos with his corruption gloriously intact.

True to form, it's the other characters--especially the men--who get contaminated. FBI Agent Dwight Harris, who's been playing footsie with Tony throughout the entire season, finally fingers Phil Leotardo for him. It's another one of those furtive cell phone calls, made from a motel room where Matt Servitto's balding fed has plainly been cheating on his wife. This may be the first specimen of adultery in Sopranos history that could make you wince--the others were impersonal acts, like an unusually exciting manicure. Harris knows he's screwed up (with a fellow agent, no less) and the scene sticks with you.

Which is more than you can say for Anthony Junior. The moment he emerged from his depression, Robert Iler's AJ reverted to cartoonish idealism. Now, having accidentally destroyed his SUV (and shaking off the Oedipal shackles), he decides to join the U.S. Army and serve his country. Shades of Michael Corleone, no? But this rebellious son is swiftly bought off by his parents, who hook him up with an idiotic film production gig and replace the smoldering SUV with a sportier BMW. Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in!

If David Chase relented and gave us one more season, I suppose something could darken Tony's skies. There's a potential indictment, since a thug named Carlo has flipped, and there's always the putrefying past, the "dead rat in the wall" that seems to attract that stray cat at Satriale's. But we'll never know: it's over. I feel sorry for James Gandolfini, because this intensely physical actor with the V-shaped furrow in his brow will never, ever be handed a role half as good as Tony Soprano. I feel sorry for the state of New Jersey, which has lost one of its signature franchises. And I feel sorry for me, too, and for the millions of fans who reveled in the show's exquisite detail and freaky three-dimensionality, which approached and sometimes briefly surpassed the illusionism of a great novel. What will we do next Sunday night?

Tags: David Chase, DavidChase, james gandolfini, JamesGandolfini, sopranos

26 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

David Bennett — 10:07AM on Jun 11th 2007

1. Before Tony sits down, a man in a green jacket can be seen walking to the left of the screen. Six feet are visible, the two feet of the man and four feet of two cub scouts in the background. There is a sound like Carmella screaming, you hear this same sound again as the woman in black comes through the door. After Tony is seated, no ones feet are visible for the rest of the scene.

The shooter is the guy who only ordered coffee, sat at the bar and entered the men’s room to Tony’s right directly before the end of the scene. He had the perfect shot. The guy in the cap was busy reading his paper, the black guys were there to eat (they were interested in the pie and not Tony).

Death Symbols in final Soprano’s episode:

Safe House – Twilight Episode “The Bard” where a writer evokes Shakespeare to write TV scripts. The question you here is “Julius what do I have to do, what do I have to say to get you out of here?”. This is a Caesar reference.

Safe house / Satriale's - The Cat, In the East the cat is said to bear away the souls of the dead, and in some parts of West Africa, is is accepted that the human soul passes into the body of a cat at death.

Burning SUV – Final lyric of Dylan song “It’s Alright, Ma” that plays as SUV burns. You hear “While one who sings with his tongue on fire”, the lyric continues, “Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in.”

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Only Six feet can be seen, two of the man in the green jacket, four of the cub scouts.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Carmella’s screams can be heard as Tony enters the diner and the woman in black enters the diner.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Carmella and kids are wearing black.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Tony orders onion rings, someone on forum’s mentioned tears. Onions always accompanied the dead in ancient Egypt. They symbolized eternity.

James Marcus — 10:38AM on Jun 11th 2007

2. I noticed some of the hints you mention (I didn't know onion rings were the great Appetizer of the Dead). For me, the question is still whether Chase is teasing the viewer with these clues or actually suggesting that Tony got gunned down right after the episode concluded.

Sundog — 12:23PM on Jun 11th 2007

3. I wasn't a huge fan, but this sounds right to me. Yeah, it violates TV ideas of "completing the story" - but so what? The Sopranos violated a LOT of TV ideas. That's why it works.

Corruption doesn't end. Evil doesn't lose just because it's evil. A little light of reality in the hollywood plastic.

cyndie — 12:24PM on Jun 11th 2007

4. It sucked........I heard they taped three different endings; it felt like they forgot to put any of them at the end. As for all the symbolism, there's some there, but I think you're reading too much into it. The end says, he's never really safe, it's never really over. And I for one, am frustrated as hell by that.

william eckert — 1:57PM on Jun 11th 2007

5. ... it's a fucking T.V. show...read a book and talk about that..

Mikey — 2:58PM on Jun 11th 2007

6. We all wanted more but I will admit it is original and somewhat clever. I like the symbolism. It kept us salivating til the very end. And when it didnt deliver...well...I remember thinking "dull, but smart".

Tony — 3:45PM on Jun 11th 2007

7. I know the difference between a cut and a fade, David Chase obviously does too, but James Marcus does not.

James Marcus — 4:34PM on Jun 11th 2007

8. The title of the post ("The Sopranos Fade To Black") is meant to be metaphorical, not a description of the last shot. So, yes, I do know the difference between a cut and fade.

Bob Horsham — 6:01PM on Jun 11th 2007

9. In the first episode this season,Bobby and Tony are sitting in the boat talking.Bobby says I hear you don't even hear it coming and every thing turns to black.Guy at counter was Phil's nephew,and going into bathroom to get gun.Ala "The Godfather".Last thing Tony sees is Meadow before all turns to black.

James Marcus — 6:07PM on Jun 11th 2007

10. I didn't recognize the guy at the counter as Phil's nephew. If you're right, then things look a little bleak for Tony, but we'll never know for sure--not unless they launch a short-lived, ill-advised Paulie Walnuts spinoff.

Paul — 8:17PM on Jun 11th 2007

11. Great Ending!
The music was always a major part of each Sopranos Episode.

Watch the last 5 minutes again, and each lyric seems to match up with the actions on the screen (camera on Carmela, when he sings "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world"). And the reason they kept showing Meadow parking, was the tension it caused but also because everytime they sang "Street Lights, People..." they would show the car outside in under the street lights. And the "Strangers..." line showed the strange guy in the members only jacket walking in. The bottom line is that as the song says, "The movie never ends, it goes on and on...."

We were watching the private lives of these people and just because the show has ended, doesn't mean that the characters lives won't go on an on.

But on a side note, the guy in the USA ball cap looked just like "Robert Patrick" the actor that played Tony's gambling friend "Davey Scatino".

James Marcus — 8:28PM on Jun 11th 2007

12. I agree that the producers have always been very deliberate about the music they chose for each episode. (Martin Scorsese is just as meticulous in this department, and David Chase has basically called "Goodfellas" a template for "The Sopranos.") Two choices that struck me during the last episode: Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," an amusing jab at the show's ongoing mommy fixation, and the instrumental passage from the Creedence version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." You could just make out the latter while Tony and Paulie were chatting at one point, and it cleverly underlined the smiling paranoia that had crept into their relationship.

Kevin — 10:10PM on Jun 11th 2007

13. I have to admit I hated it when I saw it but it is starting to grow on me. The guy at the bar is Phil's nephew as it is stated in the credits. Also, there is another Godfather tribute. Tony is eating an orange when A.J and his girlfriend are coming from the downstairs. He states "who is she going to tell?" Oranges always preceeded betrayal in the Godfather films. So maybe that girl is involved somewhat. However, I highly doubt it.

The bottom line is, he obviously left it up to the viewers to decide and I am not sure I would of been happy with any ending. Tony dying...no
Tony turning into a rat....no way. Tony killing everyone and becoming head of the New York family...nah. Fitting end to a somewhat quirky show
show.

Ro — 10:11PM on Jun 11th 2007

14. James, I think you're confusing that sound that you think is Carmela screaming for the noise that the door is making when it closes. Sounds like just a squeeky door to me...

miami — 11:06PM on Jun 11th 2007

15. Guy at the counter is not Phil's nephew. He is a random pizza-restaurant owner from NJ. He is not an actor and has NOT been in the series before.

James Marcus — 11:17PM on Jun 11th 2007

16. Fascinating. Do you have an inside source for that info, or did I simply fall asleep while the credits were rolling?

ares — 11:29PM on Jun 11th 2007

17. http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06092007-1360360.html

Here's one source that shows it was a totally new actor who played the man at the bar of the diner, and that it wasn't Leotardo who is NOT even credited in the finale.

Some pot-smoking HS kid made that up and now 10 million people are falling for it, I guess they didn't watch the credits either.

miami — 1:03AM on Jun 12th 2007

18. Paolo Colandrea - 'Man in Members Only Jacket.'

Not Nikki Leotardo. There is, in fact, NO Nikki Leotardo in the credits in the finale. Way to fall victim to a dork who made up some story to try to be famous.

ares — 1:04AM on Jun 12th 2007

19. The credits very clearly say the actor is 'Man in Members Only Jacket,' not Nikki Leotardo.

prof44us — 8:43AM on Jun 12th 2007

20. His choice of endings while somewhat empty for many makes some sense. I suppose one could say that he left it for every viewer to decide, was Tony gunned down by the woman walking in or did he once against escape death. It leaves the viewer to draw his own ending and conclusions. Not the most popular as viewers who faithfully watch the Soprano's need closure, but it does keep it alive for possible tv movies of the week. Maybe there is more to come.

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