06.12.07
The end of The Sopranos - CUT TO: Black
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the ending to The Sopranos finale. I have to say at first I wasn’t pleased with it. But I also have to give them credit for doing something completely unexpected. The abrupt ending in the finale when they cut to black sent millions flocking to call their cable operators and even caused HBO.com to crash for a while. Anytime you can cause accidental mass hysteria with a TV show, kudos.
I can’t say that I’m really happy with the way it ended. But the more I think about it, it could have been sheer genius on their part. Because while they didn’t technically kill Tony off, they sort of did. They left it up to everyone to figure out what happened and at any point they can just say that’s what they were trying to do all along.
The best explanation I’ve seen so far is that when they replayed the scene with Bobby in the boat they were foreshadowing that when your time finally comes you don’t even see it, it just cuts to black. Whether or not that’s what they meant by that ending still hasn’t been said.
They now have a number of options:
- A Sopranos movie - Since Tony isn’t technically dead they have the freedom to do a movie now. Although I’ve heard they haven’t really thought about going that route. Once they’re not getting the Sopranos cash they were getting, this could be a pretty sweet gig.
- A spinoff? - Ok, spinoffs are usually pretty lame (Jake and the Fatman, Joanie Loves Chachi), but what about a show that goes back to the days when Johnny and Junior ruled North Jersey. “That’d be nice” And I’m sure they could get all kinds of storylines, they already have some scenes written for them in older episodes.
- Bring it back later - Probably even less likely to happen, but with everybody that will be dropping their HBO subscriptions and if Chase can’t cut it in movies, could be a decent option for both of them. A downside to this though is that they have gotten rid of a lot of their more interesting characters (Christopher could have had his own show).
- Actually call it quits - Don’t know if it’s just the denial that the show is actually over, but I still hold a glimmer of hope that there’s something. Granted some of the episodes were getting a little lack-luster. And they definitely jumped the shark with the whole Vito storyline.
For now it’s the end of an era. The Sopranos has been one of those shows you kind of got used to having around. Even when there was nothing but complete schlock on TV, they were always there to remind you what good television was like.