The final series of the Sopranos

[J70]

Not long to go now...

[J70]

[Mayo4Sam]

Hah?

[Balboa]

Anyone watch the final episode on RTE tonight? What a f**king ending, was hoping big T wouldnt get it but was great the way they had you thinking it was various ones in the restaurant waiting to do it.

[aontroim]

And they all lived unhappily ever after 

The ending annoyed me a little so i had a look at what the Yanks thought it meant and most are presuming the lights going out at the end was Tony getting killed - not so sure about that one but you never know.

[clarshack]

tony wasnt killed. have look at this:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1562298/20070612/journey.jhtml

for me it was the worst ending to a tv show ever. not really surprising as the show had gradually been going downhill since season 4.

[goldenyears]

terrible ending, so disappointing....

in a sick way, i didnt wanna see them getting whacked, but then again I did.....!

i think it leaves the way for another series somewhere down the line

[bridgegael]

or a sopranos movie!!!

[Dinny Breen]

On reflection it was a great ending, we all expected Tony to get whacked, which is how he lives his life, it's just one continous loop with T and it will only end when he dies..

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/james_gandolfini_shot_by_closure

[An Gaeilgoir]

A super ending to a super show.I for one am sorry its all over... one of the best dramas to grace T.V

[thewobbler]

Saw this about a month ago. Initially I was disappointed, but in retrospect it was a good way to end things. If Tony had have been whacked, people would have been disappointed not to see who took over, who went to the funeral, what happened to his family, the house, his crew etc. The other benefit is that it leaves the door open for a new episode/film.

[spiritof91and94]

Poor ending but the money will talk them into a sequel - possibly a movie.

[An Fhairche Abu]

I disagree that it was a terrible ending, this is "The Sopranos" after all, not some CSI everything neatly wrapped up in an hour rubbish.

I watched the last episode prior to the RTE showing and have had some time to mull over it, initially I was shocked at the abrupt ending and was thinking "Chase you bastard", but on reflection what other way to end it would have been better?

If you wanted retribution for Tony, he's going to be indicted, the clues were there that he got whacked at the end if you want to believe that also; Tony and Bobby talking about what it's like to killed at the start of the season "you probably never see it coming" "everything just goes to black", there was a flashback to this conversation in the penultimate episode, also the sinister looking man who the camera follows as he made his way to the bathroom was wearing a "Members Only" jacket and in the credits was listed as Guy In Members Only Jacket, "Members Only" is the title of the episode where Uncle Junior shoots Tony! If you want to imagine that Meadow walks in the door and they sit down, have dinner and all's well you can have it that way also.

Personally I think it was a brilliant, unreal tense (who would have thought that the inability to parallel park quickly would add unbearable tension to a scene!) last few minutes that showed the constant fear that Tony has that he could be whacked at any minute, dispite being in an ordinary situation, in a resturant surrounded by family, because of the choices he made with regards to the life he leads, he cannot ever truly be happy and is doomed to a life of prison or of constant vigilance to the fact that he could die at any minute.

Ultimately, it's left to the viewers to make up their own minds, something that most series who spoon feed every single detail to the audience as if they have no brain to think for themselves, would never be capable of or even risk doing. Whether it worked for you or not is all a matter of personal opinion, but I applaud David Chase and the whole team behind the series for confounding expectations to the very end.

"The Sopranos" will be talked about for years to come as a ground breaking, seminal piece of TV that was at it's best simply amazing to watch. It's sad that there will be no more of it (I'd be gutted if they did a cash-in movie or further episodes, hopefully all involved can resist the huge amounts of money that would be thrown at them to do this) but buy the dvds and cherish the 86 episodes that we have, it's unlikely another TV series will have it's impact again.

[SuperMac]

the way they had you thinking it was various ones in the restaurant waiting to do it.

Disappointed with the ending myself. Think it left the door open for another series myself. Failing that, I think a new series could start featuring
Paulie 'Walnuts'. I really like Paula's character, he's quite funny/quirky, but boy, do you know if he's going use a meat clever on ya or what  The real Paulie Walnuts, Tony Sirico, actually spent time in prison relating to an extortion racket in the early 70's for the Mafia - serious. He once gave this description of his extortion technique: " I hit them over the head with a baseball bat, and they come around."

I actually think that a new series could start but be revovled around Paulie, after all, just near then end, Tony suggested he take over from the fella shot at the garage