“The Sopranos” series finale aired on Cable Television Channel HBO, leaving fans with more questions than answers.
I watched the finale twice now, and read some of the show’s community boards and blogs. I have some ideas about the ending of the show that I haven’t seen on the blogs, so I am publishing them here. This is not intended as a summary of the finale, but as a discussion of the meaning of the finale.
If you haven’t seen the series finale, this article may not interest you. Moreover, if you still intend to see the series on reruns on cable TV channel A&E;, or DD, when it comes out, you may not wish to read this spoiler.
There is a comment section at the bottom of this article. Please feel free to reply with thoughts and ideas about the show.
The finale of the long running HBO Cable Television show has been long anticipated. Fans of “The Sopranos” stepped into the life of a criminal and that of his family. In many ways the Soprano family resembled an average middle class family, with family issues and conflicts going on at home. Tony Soprano went into the family business, which was the New Jersey Mafia.
The series finale begins with Tony laying in bed, looking like a corpse in a casket. He snorts and wakes up. He is in hiding at the mob safe house, with what is left of his main crew downstairs.
The title of the series finale was “Made in America”. The title to the show. For example, in the episode that Christopher Moltisanti was killed in was named “Kennedy and Heidi”. The names of the girls that hit Christopher’s car were Kennedy and Heidi. In the episode named “The Blue Comet”, Bobby Bacala was shot and killed while purchasing a vintage model train called The Blue Comet.
There were references to America made throughout “Made in America”. The Feds talked about terrorism in America. AJ talked about the shallowness of the American way of life and terrorism. In the ending scene, there was a man sitting at the counter with a U.S.A. cap. “Made in America” could also have been a reference to the Soprano children, Meadow and AJ.
We see a piece of the home life of Tony’s FBI contact. We see another side of the coin with the apparent strained relationship between the agent and his wife or girlfriend. The FBI contact gives Tony a lead on the location of Phil Leotardo, presumably in exchange for a piece of information about terrorists. When Phil Leotardo gets shot and crushed the FBI agent exclaims “We’re going to win this thing”. Did he give Tony the lead knowing that Tony would take out the head of the New York family? The FBI agent also knows that the Feds are coming close to prosecuting Tony Soprano on gun charges and RICO charges. If he can connect Tony to the Phil Leotardo murder, there could be a murder charge looming.
A mysterious cat appears, which Paulie Walnuts takes as a bad omen. The cat spends hours staring at a picture of the dead Christopher Moltisanti on the wall, which Paulie finds creepy. Tony said there was probably a rat behind the wall. Paulie says he moved the picture and the cat still stared at it. Could the rat be Christopher?
Tony Soprano offers Paulie a promotion to take the former position that was occupied by Ralph Ciffaretto, Vito Spatafore and Christopher, Paulie is superstitious because the men in that position are all dead or MIA. Tony finally persuades Paulie to take the position that had wanted at one time. Paulie is left looking unhappy, with the cat sitting nearby.
AJ parks with his girlfriend with his big SUV. He parks on a pile of leaves which ignite. AJ and his girlfriend jump out of the SUV and watch it burn and explode. When his parents yell at him and tell him they are not going to buy him another car he accepts that, looking on the bright side because now he will have to take public transportation and save the environment. Later his parents buy him a sporty BMW, which suits AJ better than the SUV ever did. It makes me think that the SUV was symbolic of Tony, who was a big lumbering man, like the SUV. AJ is small and sleeker than his father, and zips around in his sleek car. I believe the burning of the SUV is symbolic of Tony and the mob’s old ways. The sporty BMW is symbolic of a different type of mafia.
There was a tour bus going through Little Italy. The tour guide announced that Little Italy used to cover 40 blocks, but that is was now one city block of shops and restaurants. Another reference to the alleged downsizing of the of the mafia.
When AJ finally tries to do something noble, by joining the army, his parents coax him into staying in New Jersey,. Tony procures a job for him, basically sending him to work for Little Carmine, the son of the former head of the New York family. Little Carmine produces porn movies, but Tony says he is branching out. Tony is effectively sending AJ to work for the mob, albeit in a different type of mob than Tony has known. Producer David Chase did an interview in Vanity Fair where he said that the mafia and Hollywood were both run by criminals. I think that this was a clever way of saying that AJ was going into an updated version of the family business. AJ is not going to escape the mob.
Meadow Soprano vacillated between medical school and law school until we were sick of hearing about it. When she met her family for dinner, she had trouble parking, much as she had trouble picking a career path. In the end she is going into law, probably defending criminals much like her father. She is also marrying the son of one of Tony’s crew, Patsy Parisi. Meadow Soprano is not going to escape her mob ties.
Carmella was mulling over house plans, for her development business. Carmella started her business with mob money and we have seen that she is not above building with inferior materials to make a buck. Carmella will take the easy way and continue to make money shortchanging people. Carmella is not going to escape the mob.
When I first saw the ending of The Sopranos and the screen went black, I though he had been hit. He was shot and the screen went black There were suspicious looking people milling around in the restaurant. It’s possible they were FBI Agents, or they could have been no one. In the other hits we have seen, the hit men came in quickly, did their dirty deed and left before anyone could get a good look at them. It’s possible that Tony was shot, never seeing what got him, but I doubt it.
Tony is under a lot of stress in the final episode. He has no security and has to protect his family, each going their own way. In the beginning of the first season of the series, Tony was suffering blackouts. The stress induced blackouts were the reason that Tony went into therapy with Dr. Melfi in the first place. Now that Dr. Melfi has fired him as a patient he doesn’t have the outlet to reduce stress. In the final scene, in the restaurant, Tony has to be suspicious of everyone. Tony cannot afford to trust anyone, with enemies all around. He blacks out.
I think that what David Chase is saying is that the mafia lives on, but in another form. The mafia today blends in with professions like the movie industry and the legal system. The new mafia is possibly even more insidious and dangerous than the old mafia.
The ending of “The Sopranos” is open to interpretation. These are just my thoughts. I would love to hear your input in the comment section.
