Written by:
Jonathan Kleier
Under the guidance of David Chase, The Sopranos as an epic has influenced the very fabric of television programming, and further. The NY Times reported shortly after the show's finale that "writers of other hot series were watching," and explicitly stated the extreme influence of cutting-to-black had on profound superstar writers of series like Lost, and many others.
But this isn't particularly the influence I refer to. I think writers of Lost see this as an opportunity to be lazy -- an opportunity to let the audience decide the show's ending, it's a cop-out. You, J.J. are the writer and I want you to decide the ending, I, as the audience, do not want that responsibility because simply, it is your show, story and vision. Not mine. Conclude definitively, please.
The Sopranos influence I refer to is far more profound. There's the cliche in writing stories, "if you show a gun in Act 1, that gun damn well better show up in Act 3, and preferably as a major plot point. In other words, the conventional thinking is that every word, every object, every action must -- no matter what -- ultimately effect the 3rd Act or effect the following scene, which must effect the next scene, until ultimately it ends at the same outcome of, it better relate to ACT 3.
The Sopranos, David Chase and HBO, I feel, both followed this convention, yet they broke it in ways not previously done in mainstream storytelling -- successfully. Underrated in The Sopranos was the meticulous, pacing, misdirection, etc.? How can you make the great scenes impact the audience without adequately pacing (whether slowly or not) previous scenes. The writers understood tension and they were superb. To bash certain episodes or certain parts of a given episode as too slow is to, in my opinion, not appreciate that the pacing and the craft of slowing and speeding it is tough. Perhaps the fast action scenes would not be as impactful as they were had certain other scenes not been "slow."
Showing posts with label jonathan kleier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jonathan kleier. Show all posts
8/17/2008
Chase's Cut-to-Black: 1 Year Later
Jonathan Kleier
08/15/2008
As is widely known, The Sopranos concluded with an obscure, rare, and maddening cut-to-black -- mid-scene. Indeed, at the time, Chase's bizarre choice of edit was baffling, meaningfully unclear, and confusing with respect to its intent.
But after one year of Chase's bizarre cut-to-black, after allowing that jarring moment its year to marinade in my brain, perhaps there is meaning. I intend to extract meaning from that infamous last scene, new meaning that most, myself included, didn't have the capacity to understand 1 year ago.
What did Chase intend to say when he abruptly and unconventional cut-to-black? Certainly, we the audience will never ever know the real answer – perhaps not even Chase himself has that solved. However, after a year of thoughts festering, the cut-to-black began seeping into my brain and it developed -- in a weird way -- in me, a somewhat life-changing outlook on the world.
While I do not believe that Tony is dead, I do believe that The Sopranos is dead -- and it dies abruptly and without warning.
Soon after, a close friend of mine died... abruptly, and without warning. Hit by a bus never to again exist in this world.
The world is indifferent and unknowable; it does not care about life or emotion, it just turns and turns as we go on day to day. Though it can be said that much of life is predictable, which it is, -- we wake up every day, go to work, sit at the same desk, do the same monotonous tasks, brush our teeth, take a shower, then go to bed. Then we wake 6 hours later and repeat. We go to lunch at places that we know what to expect and when we get the unexpected, we frown. And this is why McDonalds is what it is.
When one dines at McDonald's, no matter what state or country, we have an expectation that we can accurately predict that our Big Mac will always be the same Big Mac served to us locally -- and it always is the same. Predictability is comforting in this way, it is routine, it is knowing what to expect in a world that changes quickly and a world where we cannot always exert our control.
So, The Sopranos conclusion ruffled some feathers. It did not finish in any predictable way. If I were a betting person, I would bet that zero viewers in the whole world would have predicted Chase's ending. Thus, we as viewers felt a little uncomfortable. Chase did not give the typical happy Hollywood ending, the predictable one.
08/15/2008
As is widely known, The Sopranos concluded with an obscure, rare, and maddening cut-to-black -- mid-scene. Indeed, at the time, Chase's bizarre choice of edit was baffling, meaningfully unclear, and confusing with respect to its intent.
But after one year of Chase's bizarre cut-to-black, after allowing that jarring moment its year to marinade in my brain, perhaps there is meaning. I intend to extract meaning from that infamous last scene, new meaning that most, myself included, didn't have the capacity to understand 1 year ago.
What did Chase intend to say when he abruptly and unconventional cut-to-black? Certainly, we the audience will never ever know the real answer – perhaps not even Chase himself has that solved. However, after a year of thoughts festering, the cut-to-black began seeping into my brain and it developed -- in a weird way -- in me, a somewhat life-changing outlook on the world.
While I do not believe that Tony is dead, I do believe that The Sopranos is dead -- and it dies abruptly and without warning.
Soon after, a close friend of mine died... abruptly, and without warning. Hit by a bus never to again exist in this world.
The world is indifferent and unknowable; it does not care about life or emotion, it just turns and turns as we go on day to day. Though it can be said that much of life is predictable, which it is, -- we wake up every day, go to work, sit at the same desk, do the same monotonous tasks, brush our teeth, take a shower, then go to bed. Then we wake 6 hours later and repeat. We go to lunch at places that we know what to expect and when we get the unexpected, we frown. And this is why McDonalds is what it is.
When one dines at McDonald's, no matter what state or country, we have an expectation that we can accurately predict that our Big Mac will always be the same Big Mac served to us locally -- and it always is the same. Predictability is comforting in this way, it is routine, it is knowing what to expect in a world that changes quickly and a world where we cannot always exert our control.
So, The Sopranos conclusion ruffled some feathers. It did not finish in any predictable way. If I were a betting person, I would bet that zero viewers in the whole world would have predicted Chase's ending. Thus, we as viewers felt a little uncomfortable. Chase did not give the typical happy Hollywood ending, the predictable one.
The good guy did not win, per say. In fact, we have little idea who in fact did "win." Did anyone even "win"? Who exactly was the “good guy”? Tony? Because we know him, or Dr. Melfi? The F.B.I.? Try figuring it out.
And the lesson I learned from the abrupt conclusion is that anything in the world can come to an end. No warning, no indication. People sadly can just drop dead with a brain aneurism, undetectable to the best doctors. The Sopranos, autered by David Chase, is undoubtedly the greatest television show/novel/film yet to be written. College classes will form so that deeper readings can take place, and millions will, regardless of college, will engage in their own deep reading.
Thank you Mr. Chase for demonstrating with simply a canvas and words, multi-dimensional characters, and a show we love and cannot forget, thank you for instilling in me and millions that nothing is safe. To me, I have learned an important lesson: cherish every minute with your friends and your loved ones, because the world is simply too unpredictable and the cut-to-black can come to anyone and anytime, without warning, without indication or signal. It can just end, period.
Written by Jonathan Kleier
jonathankleier@gmail.com
2/12/2008
Why this Charade Exists
I'm Not Crazy. Adam Salm, future DDS, is... He's my ghostwriter. Anyone one offended, it was him. I'm a nice guy. So here's how this game came to be:
Many months ago, I googled my name, you know, to see what's out there. There wasn't much. In the top ten search results, only one of them was me. Well, apparently I owed a collection agency $10's and they decided to pursue a way to get that 10, though, I wonder why they neglected to just contact me. I mean, I contacted them which I thought the courteous thing to do. I only wish that this had been a legitimate company, oh well that could act in good faith; but they refused.
These are the things that can cause much unwanted effects. If I'm sending my resume to a few companies, I presume an obligatory googling of names. This $10 nightmare could kill me. If your hiring, what does this debt signal? Responsibility????
I was scared. So, I made a note to self: Get this thing off of Google and do it now with swift and decisive swordsmanlike movement. Rhis is not simple. I mean, Google isn't known as a company that's easy to get a phone call into. I could politely ask Google to help me, sure, but pragmatism is important.
So I took my own action. I'm on a mission they say is impossible, but once I swing my sword it's all choppable. Light Bulb... I know!
#2 Well The Sopranos final season was just underway and let's just say that the show is familiar to me. Or is it me who's familiar with the show? Yes.
So I wrote and wrote, and as the writing piled up, so too did my name move up the ranks of Google's omniscient Search results. And I wrote more and more and more until that collection agency no longer existed in Google; just my Sopranos blog which rambled on and on, similar to what I'm doing here.
Anyway, future friends, I'm not a leech, I'm a psychotic H.B.O. Stalker, one who has been vindicated. Mission accomp...
Now I control my name for searches (well, to an extent). Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
I hope that all those who contributed had fun, and I hope we were able to provide insight. Thank you to anyone who read and participated, especially my beautiful and lovely sisters, Samantha Kleier Forbes and Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern.
Jonathan Kleier (Ghostwritten by Adam Salm, Clifford's Son)
Many months ago, I googled my name, you know, to see what's out there. There wasn't much. In the top ten search results, only one of them was me. Well, apparently I owed a collection agency $10's and they decided to pursue a way to get that 10, though, I wonder why they neglected to just contact me. I mean, I contacted them which I thought the courteous thing to do. I only wish that this had been a legitimate company, oh well that could act in good faith; but they refused.
These are the things that can cause much unwanted effects. If I'm sending my resume to a few companies, I presume an obligatory googling of names. This $10 nightmare could kill me. If your hiring, what does this debt signal? Responsibility????
I was scared. So, I made a note to self: Get this thing off of Google and do it now with swift and decisive swordsmanlike movement. Rhis is not simple. I mean, Google isn't known as a company that's easy to get a phone call into. I could politely ask Google to help me, sure, but pragmatism is important.
So I took my own action. I'm on a mission they say is impossible, but once I swing my sword it's all choppable. Light Bulb... I know!
#2 Well The Sopranos final season was just underway and let's just say that the show is familiar to me. Or is it me who's familiar with the show? Yes.
So I wrote and wrote, and as the writing piled up, so too did my name move up the ranks of Google's omniscient Search results. And I wrote more and more and more until that collection agency no longer existed in Google; just my Sopranos blog which rambled on and on, similar to what I'm doing here.
Anyway, future friends, I'm not a leech, I'm a psychotic H.B.O. Stalker, one who has been vindicated. Mission accomp...
Now I control my name for searches (well, to an extent). Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
I hope that all those who contributed had fun, and I hope we were able to provide insight. Thank you to anyone who read and participated, especially my beautiful and lovely sisters, Samantha Kleier Forbes and Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern.
Jonathan Kleier (Ghostwritten by Adam Salm, Clifford's Son)
6/18/2007
What is the Text? How Should The Sopranos be Read?
Jonathan Kleier
What can be considered the "text" of some work of art? Do the commentaries from The Sopranos DVDs -- from Chase, or other writers and directors -- does their commentary become part of the art? Certainly, I have heard "revelations" on these DVDs or at least statements that do add or alter some meaning of what is shown on screen. And, thus, must we purchase DVDs, lest we miss out on the "real" meanings? I don't think DVD purchase should be required. What happens on Sunday nights during that original airing, that is the text, because that is what viewers have bought. HBO never said that DVD purchases are required for full understanding. In other words, the author's commentary is meaningless in that it cannot add or alter anything.
Chase's day-after-finale interview he gave us, "Anybody who wants to watch it, it's all there." Well, I admire the hell out of David Chase and am grateful for what he has given us for 8 years, but his decision to conclude with a mid scene cut-to-black is a`bizarre gimmick ending. A story must end, I cannot understand otherwise. Is it acceptable for a novel in its final chapter to end mid sentence, followed by 4 blank pages? It needs to end, no matter how it does it, it needs to end somehow. The Sopranos does not end, and Chase's decision to do this needs to be scrutinized.
Especially,with that said, it is not all there in front of us, despite Chase's claim. There is not any ending. Arguments, plausibly, can be made for almost anything to have occurred in the blackout, and so fine, if it's all there, I guess perhaps his definition of "all" is that all possible outcomes are there -- choose one. Unfortunately, I had hoped that Chase would be the one to choose the ending, or an ending. I do not want to choose the ending; it is not my show and perhaps had HBO paid me millions, perhaps, I would have dreamed something up. It would not, however, be Chase's ending, the only one that matters.
While Chase's interview is interesting, it's irrelevant in terms of the show's meaning. Chase is not part of the show's text, and I don't believe most of his "insights," ever, nor many other author's. Partly because I think they deliberately lie or are vague, or because perhaps the author's subconscious is responsible for some of the text, and even he or she cannot know what is meant.
Anyway, Chase's first quotation from the article, about his final scene, "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there." Then why are doing an interview where you defend the end of the show?
Thanks for the help.Personally, I'm glad Chase said nothing, to me, the text should reveal its meaning, not the author. But why, why give an interview? Chase, with his bizarre cut to black sucked most attention away from the text, Tony, and aimed it at himself. So many wonder, why did you do that Chase? Why, Chase, didn't you provide something of some sort of ending? let Meadow walk in, perhaps sit, fade out with a nice dissolve over meaningful music, and life goes on. Or, show Tony dead, or show anything, just so long as a proper fade out is provided. Instead, he provided nothing. Black. The majority of viewers thought,rightfully so, that the cable went out. Why would Chase want the audience to not even realize. Just blackness without sound, perhaps there is symbolism in the black. Black is death, no?
In a way, Chase seems to have used symbols for the sake of using them and therefore abusing them. Throughout 6 seasons, so many seeming "clues." Symbolism is always risky to interpret, but it is used often and often by the best writers of literature, and these authors do it in some sort of honest way. But Chase gave symbolism, hinted some meaning, then later hinted some other meaning, then said, no I was kidding, first time I meant it. Actually, it wasn't symbols, it was part of the plot, and now people wonder what the cat symbolizes...
So what constitutes text? The show's end credits? Pointing out that the man in the "Members Only," obviously a "hint" (though, is it relevant because the show doesn't end and we will never know. The title episode of the 6th Season's Opener is "Member's Only." In that episode, outside Satriales, Vito (I think) asks one of the rats -- either Ray Curto or Eugene specifically about the "member's only" jacket.
So, then the cut to black was not the end of the series? If the end credits had information, pertinent to the scene, then that's part of the text? Almost the entirety of the theory that Tony dies is linked to that credit.
Since the end credit's are a part of the text, can we consider the "Scenes from Next Week" as well? How about HBO's spokesman, speaking to Reuters, said that the flashback in the penultimate episode is a very "legitimate" theory. As evidence, the article quotes, incorrectly, the flashback's dialogue, "At the end, you probably don't hear anything, everything just goes black." To be clear, this is a complete misquote. Bobby says, "You'll probably never hear it when it happens." No mention of anything going "black." Why is HBO deliberately misleading its audience?
It's so trendy to say at this point, but to quote the New York Magazine titled article, it seems like a "long con." In time, I hope that is found untrue. The Sopranos does stand as a series, with meaning, every episode, every season. Every scene written with craft and calculation, every gesture revealing intent. Even the final episode was quite wonderful,if only Chase would tell weather it ended. Cut-to-black, credits? Chase's interview??
What can be considered the "text" of some work of art? Do the commentaries from The Sopranos DVDs -- from Chase, or other writers and directors -- does their commentary become part of the art? Certainly, I have heard "revelations" on these DVDs or at least statements that do add or alter some meaning of what is shown on screen. And, thus, must we purchase DVDs, lest we miss out on the "real" meanings? I don't think DVD purchase should be required. What happens on Sunday nights during that original airing, that is the text, because that is what viewers have bought. HBO never said that DVD purchases are required for full understanding. In other words, the author's commentary is meaningless in that it cannot add or alter anything.
Chase's day-after-finale interview he gave us, "Anybody who wants to watch it, it's all there." Well, I admire the hell out of David Chase and am grateful for what he has given us for 8 years, but his decision to conclude with a mid scene cut-to-black is a`bizarre gimmick ending. A story must end, I cannot understand otherwise. Is it acceptable for a novel in its final chapter to end mid sentence, followed by 4 blank pages? It needs to end, no matter how it does it, it needs to end somehow. The Sopranos does not end, and Chase's decision to do this needs to be scrutinized.
Especially,with that said, it is not all there in front of us, despite Chase's claim. There is not any ending. Arguments, plausibly, can be made for almost anything to have occurred in the blackout, and so fine, if it's all there, I guess perhaps his definition of "all" is that all possible outcomes are there -- choose one. Unfortunately, I had hoped that Chase would be the one to choose the ending, or an ending. I do not want to choose the ending; it is not my show and perhaps had HBO paid me millions, perhaps, I would have dreamed something up. It would not, however, be Chase's ending, the only one that matters.
While Chase's interview is interesting, it's irrelevant in terms of the show's meaning. Chase is not part of the show's text, and I don't believe most of his "insights," ever, nor many other author's. Partly because I think they deliberately lie or are vague, or because perhaps the author's subconscious is responsible for some of the text, and even he or she cannot know what is meant.
Anyway, Chase's first quotation from the article, about his final scene, "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there." Then why are doing an interview where you defend the end of the show?
Thanks for the help.Personally, I'm glad Chase said nothing, to me, the text should reveal its meaning, not the author. But why, why give an interview? Chase, with his bizarre cut to black sucked most attention away from the text, Tony, and aimed it at himself. So many wonder, why did you do that Chase? Why, Chase, didn't you provide something of some sort of ending? let Meadow walk in, perhaps sit, fade out with a nice dissolve over meaningful music, and life goes on. Or, show Tony dead, or show anything, just so long as a proper fade out is provided. Instead, he provided nothing. Black. The majority of viewers thought,rightfully so, that the cable went out. Why would Chase want the audience to not even realize. Just blackness without sound, perhaps there is symbolism in the black. Black is death, no?
In a way, Chase seems to have used symbols for the sake of using them and therefore abusing them. Throughout 6 seasons, so many seeming "clues." Symbolism is always risky to interpret, but it is used often and often by the best writers of literature, and these authors do it in some sort of honest way. But Chase gave symbolism, hinted some meaning, then later hinted some other meaning, then said, no I was kidding, first time I meant it. Actually, it wasn't symbols, it was part of the plot, and now people wonder what the cat symbolizes...
So what constitutes text? The show's end credits? Pointing out that the man in the "Members Only," obviously a "hint" (though, is it relevant because the show doesn't end and we will never know. The title episode of the 6th Season's Opener is "Member's Only." In that episode, outside Satriales, Vito (I think) asks one of the rats -- either Ray Curto or Eugene specifically about the "member's only" jacket.
So, then the cut to black was not the end of the series? If the end credits had information, pertinent to the scene, then that's part of the text? Almost the entirety of the theory that Tony dies is linked to that credit.
Since the end credit's are a part of the text, can we consider the "Scenes from Next Week" as well? How about HBO's spokesman, speaking to Reuters, said that the flashback in the penultimate episode is a very "legitimate" theory. As evidence, the article quotes, incorrectly, the flashback's dialogue, "At the end, you probably don't hear anything, everything just goes black." To be clear, this is a complete misquote. Bobby says, "You'll probably never hear it when it happens." No mention of anything going "black." Why is HBO deliberately misleading its audience?
It's so trendy to say at this point, but to quote the New York Magazine titled article, it seems like a "long con." In time, I hope that is found untrue. The Sopranos does stand as a series, with meaning, every episode, every season. Every scene written with craft and calculation, every gesture revealing intent. Even the final episode was quite wonderful,if only Chase would tell weather it ended. Cut-to-black, credits? Chase's interview??
6/12/2007
The Cut to Black: Why?
Apparently every major newspaper and critic think that Chase's end cut to black, with no music or credits, is supposed to mean that Tony was shot and killed. This is in the New York Times, New York Post, and on.
OK, I guess this theory was well thought out (probably not, though), but I just don't think that's what happened.
The Sopranos has been using a lot of cinematic editing tricks lately, and I think that's all this scene was: some bizarre editing. Actually very bizarre...
In the last scene, Tony walks into the diner, wearing a dark colored jacket, and a shirt. The camera is on Tony, he looks around the diner where the camera shows Tony Soprano
sitting at a table, in a slightly different outfit.
In other words, Tony walks into diner, surveys the area, and Tony "sees"
Tony sitting at a table in the diner. I put "sees" like that because Tony doesn't necessarily see himself. But we do. This isn't novel in any way. It's standard shot-reverse-shot editing that viewers are "trained" to understand from the thousands of films we've watched. Chase subverts the tradition, and he edits to confuse, manipulate and play with the audience. How 'bout that? Were there actually two Tony's? An alternate universe as has been mentioned in this final season? Was Kevin Finnerty Tony Soprano's coma dream, or some meta-physical other world? It seems obvious those are ridiculous thoughts, and I think they are. Yet in the Sopranos universe they play with that idea, occasionally. Here it was with clever editing.
Back to the shady truck driver and the two black guys. I think there's nothing to it, they are nobodies, and Chase edits his shots to seem like they might be someones. So the shots of the guy going to the bathroom, the 2 black guys, sure, anything is possible. But they edit like this often, comparing and contrasting, etc. and many times it is a manipulation to increase tension, and nothing else. Other times, 1 of the black guy's guns might all of a sudden be edited into the back of Tony's head. But that was not going to happen here.
Then again, they also concluded the show with an edit that, to my knowledge has never
ever been used like that. They seem to like using editing to confuse our perceptions, and they've done that for the whole series. Only the final cut to black was beyond what anyone could have ever expected or understood, maybe never will it be made clear what Chase meant. The end.
Jonathan Kleier
OK, I guess this theory was well thought out (probably not, though), but I just don't think that's what happened.
The Sopranos has been using a lot of cinematic editing tricks lately, and I think that's all this scene was: some bizarre editing. Actually very bizarre...
In the last scene, Tony walks into the diner, wearing a dark colored jacket, and a shirt. The camera is on Tony, he looks around the diner where the camera shows Tony Soprano
sitting at a table, in a slightly different outfit.
In other words, Tony walks into diner, surveys the area, and Tony "sees"
Tony sitting at a table in the diner. I put "sees" like that because Tony doesn't necessarily see himself. But we do. This isn't novel in any way. It's standard shot-reverse-shot editing that viewers are "trained" to understand from the thousands of films we've watched. Chase subverts the tradition, and he edits to confuse, manipulate and play with the audience. How 'bout that? Were there actually two Tony's? An alternate universe as has been mentioned in this final season? Was Kevin Finnerty Tony Soprano's coma dream, or some meta-physical other world? It seems obvious those are ridiculous thoughts, and I think they are. Yet in the Sopranos universe they play with that idea, occasionally. Here it was with clever editing.
Back to the shady truck driver and the two black guys. I think there's nothing to it, they are nobodies, and Chase edits his shots to seem like they might be someones. So the shots of the guy going to the bathroom, the 2 black guys, sure, anything is possible. But they edit like this often, comparing and contrasting, etc. and many times it is a manipulation to increase tension, and nothing else. Other times, 1 of the black guy's guns might all of a sudden be edited into the back of Tony's head. But that was not going to happen here.
Then again, they also concluded the show with an edit that, to my knowledge has never
ever been used like that. They seem to like using editing to confuse our perceptions, and they've done that for the whole series. Only the final cut to black was beyond what anyone could have ever expected or understood, maybe never will it be made clear what Chase meant. The end.
Jonathan Kleier
Nearly Identical to Last Season... Here's that Analysis
Jonathan Kleier
June 5th 2006This was written last year immediately following the season's finale (or as HBO calls it, Season 6A) It seems Season 6B was just a repeat. Sorry, I couldn't help putting this up. Chase is a mysterious man.
For the most recent Finale, here.
The Sopranos is essentially the only film or T.V. show with the balls to set-up major things and leave those things unresolved. And that's part of what makes this show so spectacular. But this time it was different. Maybe for the reasons of wasted time on unimportant characters, maybe because the show is winding down to its end, and here with the season finale, NOTHING happens, NOTHING important gets paid off. Not only not paid-off, but in fact nullified... War with New York? Nah, Phil has a heart attack. Fine, these things happen in real life. But drama need not and should not be reality, it does, though, need to be authentic. Such a coincidence is an unacceptable plot device. It's one thing if this were the first time a heart attack saved the day, but it's the 3rd that I count -- Carmine senior, the rat in the first episode of this season, and Phil. Each conveniently averting major disaster for Tony.
I'll say this, in retrospect, the only way this episode could have provided satisfaction is if either Chris, Paulie, Silvio, or Tony had died or been murdered. Not because of some primal urge for blood and guts as a lot of other fans might want, but because one of their deaths is both the logical climax, and the ultimate set-up for this bullshit "bonus" season.
This episode had no dramatic tension. No consequences (negative or positive). Just more of the same. More of the same bullshit. Christopher's identical 30 minutes of drug induced coma a month ago was boring, but because it was early in the season, there was potential for it to have meaning because of what it would eventually lead to, yet it didn't. Nothing happened.
And so on, no consequences for anyone. No consequences for Tony’s shooting, no mention of it. Tony has not changed. He has not and will not. He’s a Mob Boss, and that’s how he likes it.
It all comes down to Tony as he's the only character that matters. What defines a protagonist are the decisions he makes in the face of pressure or crisis. There was none of that last night. As opposed to, for example, season 5. Some would argue that the main dramatic tension was the penultimate episode where Adrianna is murdered. But really, that season's finale is what this show is all about, and the manifestation of it with Tony's coming to understand that he must act on his cousin or else face severe consequences from his crew, or from NY. He quarreled with it for a lot of the season, and completely resisted it up to the penultimate episode where he told Johny Sack to "go fuck himself." Then in the finale, after seeing his mistakes, and the mounting pressure from all sides, he makes a choice that goes against everything he wants, and blows a hole in his cousin's face.
This is similar to the Vito situation, but he got to keep his hands clean for that one. Which is fine, because the Vito thing was not the necessarily the drive of the season, but in light of the season finale, one wonders what was the point? Just to demonstrate more inaction by the only character, Tony, who by definition must be the one who perpetrates the action, yet does not. Phil does.
Chase has painted himself into a corner now. He set us up to think Christopher was gonna get it. It wouldn't have mattered if the set-up made it somewhat predictable, because no matter what, if Christopher were killed, it would have been utterly tragic and surprising no matter how much he has become irrelevant lately, he is 1 of 4 of the original crew that we have known for 7 years.
Paulie has faded into irrelevancy as well, but more tragically as he has cancer and looks to be dying anyway. Silvio is still a major player, and one who has always been loyal to Tony. So if he gets killed, that would be big, same with Tony. But that ship has sailed.
Now Phil is either dead, and thus the only connection we know of between NY and NJ is dead. Or Phil recovers, and his heart attack becomes a joke of a plot device. They might as well tell us that the whole show was a dream. Tony Soprano is really Kevin Finnerty, a patio salesman. There's misdirection (good film-making), and there's utterly fake, and inauthentic (the worst film making possible). (Bold below was added today).
Maybe that's how it will end, like it began. Tony's own family cannibalizing itself... Junior's ordering the hit on Tony, Tony retaliating and taking out Junior's entire crew, ultimately concluding the first season with a quaint family dinner on a stormy night.
6/11/2007
Samantha's Idea of Finale's Meaning
From: Samantha Kleier Forbes
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 12:30 PM
To: Jonathan Kleier; Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern; Robert Morgenstern; 'jpforbes@sunshinegroup.com'
Subject: Re: Sopranos ending...
I think that it actually did end, with the family back together, Phil being killed, Tony announcing he is to be indicted... But the key was that the family was back together. Then suddenly, with the fade to black, Chase makes us question whether it did indeed end (and it seemed, then, in light of the blackness, that it didn't... That meadow seemed to be running in to tell them something, or that they were going to be killed (all the weird angles, tony sitting there by himself, the focus on each character at the restaurant - as though chase was telling us to watch those people, they have some significance - the air was so heavy in the final scene. I felt when that scene began, and he was scrolling the juke box, and he puts on "don't stop believing" and then Carmela comes in, and then AJ (and I didn't look at the time the whole episode because I didn't want to be focused on the fact that there was 20 or 1 minute left - what was going to happen?) - I felt and even said to JP this is the end. But then all the focus on meadow not being able to park, and then her running in with that look, and then the very last shot of chase looking at her, and then the sudden blackness - well that seemed to say this didn't end. Maybe what chase was doing was saying - yours - the viewers- experience with the sopranos is ending- but theirs is not ending. Their life is going on. (Hopefully also he left us open for a movie...)
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 12:30 PM
To: Jonathan Kleier; Sabrina Kleier Morgenstern; Robert Morgenstern; 'jpforbes@sunshinegroup.com'
Subject: Re: Sopranos ending...
I think that it actually did end, with the family back together, Phil being killed, Tony announcing he is to be indicted... But the key was that the family was back together. Then suddenly, with the fade to black, Chase makes us question whether it did indeed end (and it seemed, then, in light of the blackness, that it didn't... That meadow seemed to be running in to tell them something, or that they were going to be killed (all the weird angles, tony sitting there by himself, the focus on each character at the restaurant - as though chase was telling us to watch those people, they have some significance - the air was so heavy in the final scene. I felt when that scene began, and he was scrolling the juke box, and he puts on "don't stop believing" and then Carmela comes in, and then AJ (and I didn't look at the time the whole episode because I didn't want to be focused on the fact that there was 20 or 1 minute left - what was going to happen?) - I felt and even said to JP this is the end. But then all the focus on meadow not being able to park, and then her running in with that look, and then the very last shot of chase looking at her, and then the sudden blackness - well that seemed to say this didn't end. Maybe what chase was doing was saying - yours - the viewers- experience with the sopranos is ending- but theirs is not ending. Their life is going on. (Hopefully also he left us open for a movie...)
5/11/2007
"Remember When" as end of Act 1 Season 7
Jonathan Kleier
Originally written following week 3 of the season, "Remember When." However, for posterity...
With this episode, I think The Sopranos end is shaping up. I see obvious connections to the season's first episode, and the ripples that follow all the way back. No doubt complexities abound, but there is an emerging theme we cannot ignore.
Very deliberately in 7.1 "Sopranos Home Movies" we're told that Bobby has not popped his cherry, and then that point is driven home when we witness Bobbie's popping his cherry. In 7.3 we are for the first time made aware of Tony's cherry popping. More importantly, the circumstance: Tony's father orchestrating it. In 3.13 Tony expresses sincerely that he A.J. will not be lead down this path. In somewhat parallel, Tony decides that his (other) son, Chris will take the Family into the new Millennium.
Chris is a drug addict. He was even high when Tony told him that he would become Boss. He was high later when Tony called him to dispose of Ralphie. That was, more or less, the end of Chris as potential leader. Not that Tony explicitally telegraphs it, but I'm sure Chris still believes that he can be Boss. For us the audience, it's assumed Tony simply reassessed the situation, checked his mental list, and moved on.
In parallel Tony began to lose interest in A.J. In season 6 there was a glimmer of "I want a better life for my son" in his quite sincere speech post A.J.'s botched attempt at revenge on Junior. Then, Tony explicitly hates A.J. which is followed by A.J. landing a construction job. If Finn is any indicator, construction is bad news. Now A.J. works at a pizza parlor but doesn't go to work. As Carmela says in Test Dream, "the dye is cast."
So with issues of legacy, Tony must find someone that he can trust. Tony only trusts blood relatives, and unfortunately the only blood relative available is A.J.Tony is going to orchestrate a situation that will allow A.J.'s cherry to pop. Afterall, the ducks are back. Tony's greatest fear is losing his family (not clear blood or other) and his bread and butter is hooking "degenerates" and then milking them for the rest of their lives.
It's difficult to tell if Tony is malicious or simply a victim of circumstance. Tony's genes have mafia written all over them. Obviously, nurture considered, he had a pretty bleak and narrow path. He enjoys violence, he loves being on T.V., he loves that his kid's friends compare him to The Godfather. Tony is sinister, he likes being sinister, and will always be.
While Tony's moral compass has been eroding, it has stayed its lane. Tony mostly plays in his own walled garden of a universe. But increasingly, Tony is knowingly harming innocent civilians. I fear it will begin to and I fear Tony will maliciously punish A.J. in a way described above.
On the other hand, Tony has made some pretty good progress in his therapy. He has learned to control impulses (violent, at least) at that is the 2nd reason Tony continued the therapy. Panic attacks disappeared other than the David Chase psyche out blowjob.
I really do not want this because I really like Tony. Chase would damage my feelings, but dramatically it's all clean.
ADE Matters A lot:
Carmela will not drop the Adriana issue. Morality not the issue, if Carmela can prod enough and ultimately piece together Adriana's story, it will bring down the thin veil of "knowing" and now she will know murders, specifics. Tony has specifically never given Carmela any detail at all that could ever "make you an accessory after the fact."
She would now know details of Adriana's death, and in that process, becomes what Adriana was. A federal target. A candidate for murder, to prevent her becoming a federal target. FBI wanted Ade for much less.
If Carmela discovers that, an outsider like Adriana, who Carmela is almost the same as, is murdered; then Carmela realizes that Carmela can be murdered. Changes the whole dynamic I think.
She is already paranoid. In Season 6's premiere we see the montage sequence with William Burroughs "7 Souls" on top. Close to the end, Adriana and Carmela, with Ade puffing a cig and passing it to Carmela. Yeah, it's symbolism bullshit that I usually like to not discuss, but this time I cannot, given Carmela's persistence on the subject.
5/03/2007
Salm's Response:
"radam@pobox.upenn.edu"
to: Jonathan Kleier
date: May 1, 2007 11:32 AM
subject : Re: sopranos
Anyone who enjoys Sopranos does so cause they love Tony Soprano. Very little
could undo that at this point. My take on this episode is that Tony is lacking
excitement in his life, and also his crime family is not meeting his
expectations. Both of these things will contribute to his willingness to
enter into a war with Phill and the NY family (especially the resurfacing
resentment he has to what phill did to the gay guy)
to: Jonathan Kleier
date: May 1, 2007 11:32 AM
subject : Re: sopranos
Anyone who enjoys Sopranos does so cause they love Tony Soprano. Very little
could undo that at this point. My take on this episode is that Tony is lacking
excitement in his life, and also his crime family is not meeting his
expectations. Both of these things will contribute to his willingness to
enter into a war with Phill and the NY family (especially the resurfacing
resentment he has to what phill did to the gay guy)
5/02/2007
Elliciting Response from Salm
Jonathan Kleier
to: radam@dental.upenn.edu
date: May 1, 2007 3:51 AM
subject sopranos
mailed-by klizer47@gmail.com
I'm gonna take a stab at how things might turn out... risky, but risk
is what's exciting right? I'll have some fun...
I have a thought that Tony is NOT falling apart. He is, in fact, very
tuned in and very very aware. "All my friends, Paulie, Chris, my
brother in law are murders" and they have an "agenda" that Tony seems
concerned with.
Also, the episode ends with what seems Tony settling his debt with
Hesh. A degenerate gambler doesn't pay in full that quickly. Tony
"chased it" while it was fun, got his high, then rethought things, got
himself together and wiped out his entire debt. That's the smart move.
He could have continued paying the vig each week, but that's what the
degenerate gambler would do. Tony is not.
Here's how things will unravel: we will be made to dislike Tony more
and more. We will see more and more "innocents" (Vito Jr., A.J., the
victims from the expired cancer medication that Tony bought from the
Canadians, etc.) whose life has been ruined by Tony, the mafia or
both. The writers started turning the audience against Tony in the
season premiere, and that has continued I think. By the end, I see
Chase turning the audience on Tony to a point where people will
strongly dislike TS.
At that point, Tony will walk away smiling, the big winner.
to: radam@dental.upenn.edu
date: May 1, 2007 3:51 AM
subject sopranos
mailed-by klizer47@gmail.com
I'm gonna take a stab at how things might turn out... risky, but risk
is what's exciting right? I'll have some fun...
I have a thought that Tony is NOT falling apart. He is, in fact, very
tuned in and very very aware. "All my friends, Paulie, Chris, my
brother in law are murders" and they have an "agenda" that Tony seems
concerned with.
Also, the episode ends with what seems Tony settling his debt with
Hesh. A degenerate gambler doesn't pay in full that quickly. Tony
"chased it" while it was fun, got his high, then rethought things, got
himself together and wiped out his entire debt. That's the smart move.
He could have continued paying the vig each week, but that's what the
degenerate gambler would do. Tony is not.
Here's how things will unravel: we will be made to dislike Tony more
and more. We will see more and more "innocents" (Vito Jr., A.J., the
victims from the expired cancer medication that Tony bought from the
Canadians, etc.) whose life has been ruined by Tony, the mafia or
both. The writers started turning the audience against Tony in the
season premiere, and that has continued I think. By the end, I see
Chase turning the audience on Tony to a point where people will
strongly dislike TS.
At that point, Tony will walk away smiling, the big winner.
4/23/2007
The Sopranos "Remember When"
The Sopranos Episode 80 “Remember When”: An Analysis
Jonathan Kleier
04/23/07
Jonathan Kleier
04/23/07
Why is it nerve racking to see Tony fight Bobby? Or even Tony fight Ralph in Season 4? Why did Paulie immediately begin lifting weights after he’s made aware of his possible demise on the boat? At the end of the day, they’re all “just assholes in the woods.” There was the Russian who may or may not be dead in the woods, but that seems irrelevant. After all, what if he did, in fact, die? Then how could that story line comeback -- he's dead. But maybe he's not, and for Christopher and Paulie, the uncertainty rooted in "Pine Barrens" is visible in every episode, especially #82.
It reminds us that so much of what we do everyday is heavily reliant on established social rules and norms. Tony should be able to walk down his driveway peacefully, but with the rules breaking down, it’s too dangerous. Without these social norms we are vulnerable to threats everywhere. When Tony kills Ralph he is, in the scene, vulnerable because all established customs are irrelevant. Tony’s status as Boss, usually protection enough, is not protection. Ironically, his only protection is the medium that he comes to us through, television and its established rules. So, his only protection in his fight scene is because it is in the middle of the 4th season, in the middle-to second act of (at the time) a 5 or 6 season T.V. show. Tony being our protagonist is the olny comfort the audience has. Also, no matter how much Chase has and will mind fuck us, we were reasonably confident Tony would remain alive in the Bobby fight scene… after all, there’s 8 more episodes left, and you cannot kill the most interesting character that early, can you?
Some of the biggest critisisms shot at David Chase is "What happened to the Russian? We all know the rules of film, right? You wouldn't dare show the gun in Act 1 but not pay it off in Act 3 when that gun is the murder weapon?" How dare Chase.
But then there are the stories, or more accurately, the one liners, that Chase does quickly pay-off. Tony coming up the driveway, "it's too dangerous to pick up the newspaper, has been for years" is felt as Paulie brings Tony the morning paper.
So for the mob, appearances are so important because they are indicative of larger implications: will this person follow established protocol in the more important situation? Ralphie turned down Tony’s offer for a drink, a seemingly minor if meaningless issue, yet this plot-line became the focus of at least a full episode plus. The espresso maker Paulie sends tonight speaks volumes, as does his “hey skip” as Tony walks into The Bing. Likewise, when Doc asked Phil for a bite of food off of Phil’s plate, we knew something was awry. These little social norms that say so much, seem meaningless alone, yet without them, what would we have?
But what is the mafia? If it is nothing else, it’s a deliberately anti-establishment, anti-social norm structure. Yet, it is dependent on mostly the exact same need for “rules” as any other organization. Tony reminds Ralph in S3.13, “Chain of command is very important in our thing," yet the so-called chain of command is ignored numerous times.
So we must keep in mind, at any moment, any random "jerk-off" could pull the trigger on Tony and end it all. That is, if Chase chooses to deliberately buck the medium. Tony is so vulnerable, which he knows, yet so brazen. Does that Miami gang respect who Tony is? Tony and Paulie were outnumbered like 8 to 2.
Tony said that things are going great and he wonders if all his worry is just a matter of his “Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Are things going great? I was under the impression that there is a building crisis. In S7.1, Tony is beaten by Bobby. As we learned in S6.5, appearance is quite important in the mob (and real life, clearly). So Tony appears like a weak boos as a result of physical shortcomings, and what recourse does he have? Chris writes a fantasy film ending in Tony’s death. How does Tony deal with that? Kill Chris for a subconscious unconfirmed desire? Let him live knowing Chris, at any moment wants Tony dead and that could manifest anytime? Then, Tony probably mean by saying, "things are going great," that "things are deteriorating." Tony lies. A lot.
Tony’s using a new cell phone which we can assume is just a “dumb” phone to be used in the interim.
Watching Paulie laughing, alone, laughing at Three's Company, a look of disgust graces T's face. Tony hates people who laugh at inanimate objects. He told Melfi in “Cold Stones,” “How about the fact that I hate my fucking son? I come home, and he's sitting on the computer in his fucking underwear, wasting his time in some chitchat room, going back and forth with some other jerk-off, giggling like a little schoolgirl. I wanna fucking smash his fucking face in. My son. What do you think about that?” Paulie laughing maniacally at the T.V. triggered that feeling.
Tony is now, for the second week in a row, placing sporting bets (I just read this is a big part of the coming attractions. I fucking hate coming attractions, goddammit). Isn’t he too smart to be a degenerate gambler? That's certainly possible given the high level of stress lately. However, I think Tony is "gambling" away his money to some possible offshore spot to be laundered. It's not a matter of if, but when will the FBI finally get its case, and Tony is extra aware of this.
Beansie’s name is Peter, Paulie’s name is Peter. There may have been some confusion by the girl Tony slept with, since both the characters are Peter.
Tony is as complex a hero as television/film has shown. The past means a lot to Tony, he/it carries a certain sentimentality that oh so delicately can be eradicated if needed, yet still carries meaning. He had serious problems killing Big Pussy, but Pussy was a rat so rat outmatches sentimentality. He hates Paulie in so many ways, but kill him? Possible, but not an easy choice. We could argue Tony's reasons all day though and if his hatred warrant Paul's murder.
Also, Paulie is ruthless as they come and one would think once he realized that his life was in danger (immediately once Tony mentioned to go fishing) that he would maybe kill Tony in self-defense. In retrospect he seemed accepting of his possible end. Paulie is old school. However, his big mouth is antithetical to everything Tony believes as good traits, i.e. Gary Cooper, "the strong silent type."
Chase's instincts are usually perfect. He releases and withholds information better than most, however, sometimes he reveals more than I think he needs to. I’m not the normal viewer, so perhaps I cannot comment here, but I needed nothing more than Tony’s asking Paulie to go fishing to know what was going on. Paulie’s uneasiness is a nice touch as well. But why the flashbacks to Big Pussy? We got the intended parallels already. Ultimately, in Chase I trust. Far be it for me to criticize this most brilliant art of our time, but it’s still curious why he wraps up major plot-lines with a couple of words, while treating others so differently. Of course, each strand stands on its own merits and thus needs to be treated uniquely, but I’m just thinking aloud here.
Tony said the one thing that bothered him is that he was never sure where he stood with his father. In Season 1, Vin, the crooked cop who commits suicide, said that at least with Tony, you know where you stand (Vin was also Finn’s father, Annette Benning’s husband and AJ’s “father” in “The Test Dream,” Season 5 episode 10). Tony once wished Paulie was his father, and until last week considered Christopher his son. Junior calls the Asian kid Anthony.
Tony doesn’t seem at all concerned with all the recent New York activity, but how could he not? If all these high level people are eligible for killing, then what is he? And Jesus, we just witnessed 2 potential bosses assassinated, and really is New York any weaker? Imagine Silvio and Paulie gone. What remains, Tony, Christopher, Carlo? How could there ever be a war between New York and NJ when it is so obvious that NJ is just a “glorified crew.” The highest earning Soprano Family crew no longer exists (The Aprile crew, with Ralphie gone, Eugene, then Vito), anyway.
Side note, everything in this final season is an allusion or reference to events occurring earlier in the series. Paulie at the buffet taking the rolls to some might be meaningless, but to others we might remember that butter roles were his mother’s favorite left overs. Tony Mentions Gary Cooper, Tony's long time hero for his "strong, silent, type" qualities. It had been a while since hearing Tony mention Gary Cooper. More obvious is the Ginny Sack 90 pound mole joke. I mean, I could go on, but finding them oneself is more fun.
Oh and Junior’s letter to Dick, come on, if The Sopranos isn’t the best comedy on T.V., I don’t know what's better (besides Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Jon Kleier with help from Samantha Kleier
4/08/2007
The Sopranos Season Highlights and Important Events
Jonathan Kleier
04/07/2007
From my analysis, here are the events that can or will play roles in this final season:
SEASON 6:
We are quickly reminded that the Mafia offers few options for getting out via the powerful and difficult to watch scene where Eugene hangs himself.
Paulie gets bad cancer, Tony smashes AJ’s windshield and threatens him to get his act together. Everyone has a heart attack, and this is a possibility for Tony as well in the end.
Tony does lots of favors for Johnny Sack, but that’s all thrown out the window since Sack plead guilty. The Mafia is falling apart and Tony reminds us that things are increasingly difficult for them with all the new competition from other mediums – DVDs, the Internet, digital music, etc. We see a growth of Corporate
Meadow has moved to California and (I think) is becoming a lawyer and she will be the first Soprano that is “legit.” Silvio gets to be acting boss while Tony’s in his coma and it is blatantly obvious he is not good at it. In fact other than Tony, it doesn’t seem that anyone in the family is capable of being the leader. Paulie finds out his mother is not his mother. A rapper pays Bobby to shoot the rapper in “the fleshy part of the thigh” so as to raise the rappers street credibility. This brings up the idea that Tony may have arranged for something similar, which would explain Junior shooting him (though that is very unlikely).
Arabs show up from time to time and it seems like this might come up somehow in the final season, or Chase is using them as a red herring and the terrorism stuff will be not factor in. Christopher sells them guns, and does some credit card fraud with them, so if those guns are used for something nefarious or terror related, the FBI could tie it to the Family.
We also find out that some from the New York family would like to “wipe the Soprano family off the face of the earth,” which Phil responds “whack a boss? Never.” With Phil’s health unknown, the new New York boss might make that happen. But that’s unlikely because, in my opinion, it would be far more tragic an ending if any characters are murdered by their own crew.
Chris dates Tony’s love interest, and Tony is not happy about that.
I think that in the end, one of the major characters will be murdered by another major character. Silvio, Paulie, Christopher or Tony and it will not be easy. Sylvio has only been disloyal to Tony 1 time which was in the fourth season, and it was not a huge deal. It was related to the Columbus Day Parade which was more of a topical episode addressing some of the show’s critics. Paulie has been disloyal too many times to list, but he is dying anyway. Christopher is generally loyal, but he’s drug addict and therefore a wild card and a risk to Tony.
SEASON 1:
Jackie Aprile is Boss, but at the show’s beginning, he is already in the hospital and near death. Tony and Uncle Junior are Capos, and with Jackie dying from cancer, Tony and Junior are the two next in line to take over.
After a lot of consideration, Tony decides, for strategic reasons, to hand over power to his uncle. But Tony plans to run the family silently, and figures that with Junior as Boss, Junior is the FBI’s target.
Meanwhile, Tony puts Livia into Green Grove retirement home, and he discovers that Green Grove is a good F.B.I.-free zone, like a doctor’s office or lawyer’s. This is where he meets with the other Capos, including Junior’s. Livia knows about Tony’s working behind Junior’s back, and she spills the beans to Junior.
The F.B.I., though, has bugged Green Grove and they hear everything, including Junior and Livia’s conversation where Junior says that this means he must assassinate Tony.
Meanwhile, Big Pussy has disappeared and The Gang worries that he’s either dead or has flipped. Tony becomes very depressed. Very depressed, and keeps repeating, “Nobody knows anything,” which they do not.
Junior hires a couple of Black guys to do Tony’s murder. As Tony is getting into his car, he sees the reflection of the murders, and is quick enough to dodge the first bullet. He quickly pulls out his gun as he starts the car and shoots the Black guy in the face, and escapes.
In the Season 1 Finale, the FBI, in an attempt to flip Tony, plays him a recording from Green Grove where Livia and Junior Discuss the murder (this is actually similar to what Agent Harris did in Season 6’s season Finale where he warns Tony that New York is planning on taking out someone in Tony’s crew.) Tony takes the information and launches a “war” on Junior’s crew, murdering almost all of Jun’s Capos and underlings, including Junior’s top advisor, Mikey Palmice.
Before Tony’s crew can get to Junior, the FBI arrests Jun and his life spared.
SEASON 2:
This season is very important, I think, in what will be the ultimate outcome to the series.
If we break the series into the traditional 3-act structure, Season 2 is basically the end of Act 1. This means that in theory, this is the basis and set-up for everything else to come, and it is what is supposed to come back in the 3rd act. The 3rd act began with the sixth season, and the first lines of dialogue in season 6 was Junior asking Tony about Little Pussy Malanga who Junior murdered in Season 1 and the reason Tony torched Vesuvio’s. Also, when Junior shoots Tony, he says something like “fuck you Malanga.” Anyway, sorry for that tangent.
In this season, Tony makes some of huge mistakes, and Big Pussy is feeding all the info to the government.
Midway through the season, a couple of Christopher’s lackeys try to murder Chris. Chris ends up in a coma and loses his spleen.
The shooting really upsets Tony because he really does love Chris. So after finding out where the shooter, Mathew Bevaloca, is, Tony shoots him to death. But he fucked up because there was an eye witness who identified Tony and this is where Tony starts to unravel.
Eventually, after the witness discovers that case is mob related, he recants his testimony, and Tony dodges the homicide case.
But the FBI really wants to get Tony. The FBI agent working with Big Pussy tells him very forcefully to get, on tape, Tony admitting he murdered Matt. While Tony is normally very careful, he does discuss the murder in Pussy’s presence more than one time. However, we the audience, never find out if Pussy got the admission on tape as he was told to do.
This might come back in the final season.
Also, in Season 3 or 4 Tony and crew figure out that Pussy had been an FBI informant all the way back to 1995, which until then, they had only believed Pussy was working for the govt. for about a year.
In the Season 2 finale, Tony gives his mother stolen airline tickets. She gets busted, and Tony is arrested. Tony has a near breakdown because it’s this type of sloppiness that he thinks will bring him down. He reminds his lawyer that Al Capone was brought down for tax stuff, nothing mafia related. The airline tickets are federal charges. The FAA, wire fraud, etc. Tony makes bail, but to this day, we do not know the legal outcome of this event. Especially because the FBI got its info from Pussy, and we do not know how much more he gave them.
Again, this could come back.
This is also the episode where they kill Pussy in a very emotional scene.
The penultimate episode, Janice shoots Richie Aprile, killing him. They were engaged. Earlier in this episode, Janice makes it clear that Richie should go after Tony and kill him. Richie says he will not do it, he’s old-school. Janice persists, and even brings up precedent of Paul Castellano, a real-world mafia boss who was assassinated by John Gotti outside of Sparks steak house.
I think Janice is intent on having Tony killed and the reason she murdered Richie is that she realized he wouldn’t do it. It makes me wonder what kind of influence she has on Bobby and what role she may have played in Junior’s shooting Tony.
SEASON 3:
Major plot lines:
The season begins with the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” playing behind the FBI plotting to bug Tony’s house.
Ralph (Joe Panteleone) is introduced as a major character.
Jackie Jr. (Jackie Aprile, former boss’s son) is a big character this season. He dates Meadow, cheats on her, and robs a card game, shooting Furio in the leg, shooting at Chris, and murdering an associate. In the Season Finale, Jackie is shot to death, by the then young and unknown to us, Vito. The shooting is blamed on Black Drug dealers, which it seems is a common thing for the Sopranos.
Tony is very affected by Jackie Jr. because it points out to Tony that unless he intervenes, A.J. will meet the same fate as Jackie. Tony makes it very very clear that he does not want A.J. to go into the mob, and as he tells Melfi, A.J. would never make it anyway.
In the same session, Tony explains that he wants Meadow to get as far away from him as possible. He would like her to be a doctor, or a lawyer, anything legit. Tony views Meadow as very bright, and very loyal to the family, which she is.
Meadow is very much like Tony in her street smarts. She has a tight mouth, and she never discusses her father’s business with “outsiders.” Meadow, I think, knows what’s going on and what her dad really does and she respects it.
This is in stark contrast to A.J. In the finale, he is caught cheating on a test and he rats out his friend who cheated with him. Chase shows this to us because it is such an obvious contrast to the ideals of the mafia, and also shows the differences between him and Meadow.
AJ is expelled, and Tony decides that he’s gotta get AJ away from the Soprano environment. Tony insists on sending AJ to Military school, and is ready to until AJ has a Panick Attack and faints. Turns out he inherited it from Tony. Military school is no longer an option and Tony is very shaken up. He knows that unless AJ is shipped away, he’ll end up dead like Jackie Jr.
Very emotional Tony asks Melfi, “How are we gonna save this kid?” He really means it, and he really does not know the answer. He is scared.
SEASON 4:
Christopher becomes a Captain, Carmella and Furio fall in love, and by the end of the season Tony and Carmella divorce. This whole season there was building tension between New York and Tony’s Family and for most of the season it seemed like there would be an all out war between the families, which never happened.
This also happened in Season 5, and Season 6, which a lot of fans criticize this because they do not like that Chase leads down this road every season yet never provides the war that seemed inevitable.
SEASON 5:
Tony B (Steve Bushemi) murders Bill Leotardo, Phil’s brother. Tony, in the Season finale shoots Tony, his cousin, in the face with a shotgun.
Tony is a pragmatist. He really did not want to kill his cousin. But he knew that had he not, New York would have (and they already did) retaliated. Tony also realized that within his own family there was unrest. There was a building mutiny, and Tony made the wise decision and saved himself.
This is also why Tony ultimately had to decide to kill Vito, though he strongly did not want to. Tony understood that, from a business perspective, he had no choice. Tony does generally make good decisions when it comes to these things. He is very principled, and though usually he will not be told what to do, when he needs to, though, he makes those smart decisions. Not to mention that Vito is Tony's Tony's top earner.
Also, at the end of season 5, the FBI came after Johnny Sack while he and Tony were meeting. Tony escaped (the FBI wasn’t after Tony, anyway). And that’s where Season 6 begins.
04/07/2007
From my analysis, here are the events that can or will play roles in this final season:
SEASON 6:
We are quickly reminded that the Mafia offers few options for getting out via the powerful and difficult to watch scene where Eugene hangs himself.
Paulie gets bad cancer, Tony smashes AJ’s windshield and threatens him to get his act together. Everyone has a heart attack, and this is a possibility for Tony as well in the end.
Tony does lots of favors for Johnny Sack, but that’s all thrown out the window since Sack plead guilty. The Mafia is falling apart and Tony reminds us that things are increasingly difficult for them with all the new competition from other mediums – DVDs, the Internet, digital music, etc. We see a growth of Corporate
Meadow has moved to California and (I think) is becoming a lawyer and she will be the first Soprano that is “legit.” Silvio gets to be acting boss while Tony’s in his coma and it is blatantly obvious he is not good at it. In fact other than Tony, it doesn’t seem that anyone in the family is capable of being the leader. Paulie finds out his mother is not his mother. A rapper pays Bobby to shoot the rapper in “the fleshy part of the thigh” so as to raise the rappers street credibility. This brings up the idea that Tony may have arranged for something similar, which would explain Junior shooting him (though that is very unlikely).
Arabs show up from time to time and it seems like this might come up somehow in the final season, or Chase is using them as a red herring and the terrorism stuff will be not factor in. Christopher sells them guns, and does some credit card fraud with them, so if those guns are used for something nefarious or terror related, the FBI could tie it to the Family.
We also find out that some from the New York family would like to “wipe the Soprano family off the face of the earth,” which Phil responds “whack a boss? Never.” With Phil’s health unknown, the new New York boss might make that happen. But that’s unlikely because, in my opinion, it would be far more tragic an ending if any characters are murdered by their own crew.
Chris dates Tony’s love interest, and Tony is not happy about that.
I think that in the end, one of the major characters will be murdered by another major character. Silvio, Paulie, Christopher or Tony and it will not be easy. Sylvio has only been disloyal to Tony 1 time which was in the fourth season, and it was not a huge deal. It was related to the Columbus Day Parade which was more of a topical episode addressing some of the show’s critics. Paulie has been disloyal too many times to list, but he is dying anyway. Christopher is generally loyal, but he’s drug addict and therefore a wild card and a risk to Tony.
SEASON 1:
Jackie Aprile is Boss, but at the show’s beginning, he is already in the hospital and near death. Tony and Uncle Junior are Capos, and with Jackie dying from cancer, Tony and Junior are the two next in line to take over.
After a lot of consideration, Tony decides, for strategic reasons, to hand over power to his uncle. But Tony plans to run the family silently, and figures that with Junior as Boss, Junior is the FBI’s target.
Meanwhile, Tony puts Livia into Green Grove retirement home, and he discovers that Green Grove is a good F.B.I.-free zone, like a doctor’s office or lawyer’s. This is where he meets with the other Capos, including Junior’s. Livia knows about Tony’s working behind Junior’s back, and she spills the beans to Junior.
The F.B.I., though, has bugged Green Grove and they hear everything, including Junior and Livia’s conversation where Junior says that this means he must assassinate Tony.
Meanwhile, Big Pussy has disappeared and The Gang worries that he’s either dead or has flipped. Tony becomes very depressed. Very depressed, and keeps repeating, “Nobody knows anything,” which they do not.
Junior hires a couple of Black guys to do Tony’s murder. As Tony is getting into his car, he sees the reflection of the murders, and is quick enough to dodge the first bullet. He quickly pulls out his gun as he starts the car and shoots the Black guy in the face, and escapes.
In the Season 1 Finale, the FBI, in an attempt to flip Tony, plays him a recording from Green Grove where Livia and Junior Discuss the murder (this is actually similar to what Agent Harris did in Season 6’s season Finale where he warns Tony that New York is planning on taking out someone in Tony’s crew.) Tony takes the information and launches a “war” on Junior’s crew, murdering almost all of Jun’s Capos and underlings, including Junior’s top advisor, Mikey Palmice.
Before Tony’s crew can get to Junior, the FBI arrests Jun and his life spared.
SEASON 2:
This season is very important, I think, in what will be the ultimate outcome to the series.
If we break the series into the traditional 3-act structure, Season 2 is basically the end of Act 1. This means that in theory, this is the basis and set-up for everything else to come, and it is what is supposed to come back in the 3rd act. The 3rd act began with the sixth season, and the first lines of dialogue in season 6 was Junior asking Tony about Little Pussy Malanga who Junior murdered in Season 1 and the reason Tony torched Vesuvio’s. Also, when Junior shoots Tony, he says something like “fuck you Malanga.” Anyway, sorry for that tangent.
In this season, Tony makes some of huge mistakes, and Big Pussy is feeding all the info to the government.
Midway through the season, a couple of Christopher’s lackeys try to murder Chris. Chris ends up in a coma and loses his spleen.
The shooting really upsets Tony because he really does love Chris. So after finding out where the shooter, Mathew Bevaloca, is, Tony shoots him to death. But he fucked up because there was an eye witness who identified Tony and this is where Tony starts to unravel.
Eventually, after the witness discovers that case is mob related, he recants his testimony, and Tony dodges the homicide case.
But the FBI really wants to get Tony. The FBI agent working with Big Pussy tells him very forcefully to get, on tape, Tony admitting he murdered Matt. While Tony is normally very careful, he does discuss the murder in Pussy’s presence more than one time. However, we the audience, never find out if Pussy got the admission on tape as he was told to do.
This might come back in the final season.
Also, in Season 3 or 4 Tony and crew figure out that Pussy had been an FBI informant all the way back to 1995, which until then, they had only believed Pussy was working for the govt. for about a year.
In the Season 2 finale, Tony gives his mother stolen airline tickets. She gets busted, and Tony is arrested. Tony has a near breakdown because it’s this type of sloppiness that he thinks will bring him down. He reminds his lawyer that Al Capone was brought down for tax stuff, nothing mafia related. The airline tickets are federal charges. The FAA, wire fraud, etc. Tony makes bail, but to this day, we do not know the legal outcome of this event. Especially because the FBI got its info from Pussy, and we do not know how much more he gave them.
Again, this could come back.
This is also the episode where they kill Pussy in a very emotional scene.
The penultimate episode, Janice shoots Richie Aprile, killing him. They were engaged. Earlier in this episode, Janice makes it clear that Richie should go after Tony and kill him. Richie says he will not do it, he’s old-school. Janice persists, and even brings up precedent of Paul Castellano, a real-world mafia boss who was assassinated by John Gotti outside of Sparks steak house.
I think Janice is intent on having Tony killed and the reason she murdered Richie is that she realized he wouldn’t do it. It makes me wonder what kind of influence she has on Bobby and what role she may have played in Junior’s shooting Tony.
SEASON 3:
Major plot lines:
The season begins with the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” playing behind the FBI plotting to bug Tony’s house.
Ralph (Joe Panteleone) is introduced as a major character.
Jackie Jr. (Jackie Aprile, former boss’s son) is a big character this season. He dates Meadow, cheats on her, and robs a card game, shooting Furio in the leg, shooting at Chris, and murdering an associate. In the Season Finale, Jackie is shot to death, by the then young and unknown to us, Vito. The shooting is blamed on Black Drug dealers, which it seems is a common thing for the Sopranos.
Tony is very affected by Jackie Jr. because it points out to Tony that unless he intervenes, A.J. will meet the same fate as Jackie. Tony makes it very very clear that he does not want A.J. to go into the mob, and as he tells Melfi, A.J. would never make it anyway.
In the same session, Tony explains that he wants Meadow to get as far away from him as possible. He would like her to be a doctor, or a lawyer, anything legit. Tony views Meadow as very bright, and very loyal to the family, which she is.
Meadow is very much like Tony in her street smarts. She has a tight mouth, and she never discusses her father’s business with “outsiders.” Meadow, I think, knows what’s going on and what her dad really does and she respects it.
This is in stark contrast to A.J. In the finale, he is caught cheating on a test and he rats out his friend who cheated with him. Chase shows this to us because it is such an obvious contrast to the ideals of the mafia, and also shows the differences between him and Meadow.
AJ is expelled, and Tony decides that he’s gotta get AJ away from the Soprano environment. Tony insists on sending AJ to Military school, and is ready to until AJ has a Panick Attack and faints. Turns out he inherited it from Tony. Military school is no longer an option and Tony is very shaken up. He knows that unless AJ is shipped away, he’ll end up dead like Jackie Jr.
Very emotional Tony asks Melfi, “How are we gonna save this kid?” He really means it, and he really does not know the answer. He is scared.
SEASON 4:
Christopher becomes a Captain, Carmella and Furio fall in love, and by the end of the season Tony and Carmella divorce. This whole season there was building tension between New York and Tony’s Family and for most of the season it seemed like there would be an all out war between the families, which never happened.
This also happened in Season 5, and Season 6, which a lot of fans criticize this because they do not like that Chase leads down this road every season yet never provides the war that seemed inevitable.
SEASON 5:
Tony B (Steve Bushemi) murders Bill Leotardo, Phil’s brother. Tony, in the Season finale shoots Tony, his cousin, in the face with a shotgun.
Tony is a pragmatist. He really did not want to kill his cousin. But he knew that had he not, New York would have (and they already did) retaliated. Tony also realized that within his own family there was unrest. There was a building mutiny, and Tony made the wise decision and saved himself.
This is also why Tony ultimately had to decide to kill Vito, though he strongly did not want to. Tony understood that, from a business perspective, he had no choice. Tony does generally make good decisions when it comes to these things. He is very principled, and though usually he will not be told what to do, when he needs to, though, he makes those smart decisions. Not to mention that Vito is Tony's Tony's top earner.
Also, at the end of season 5, the FBI came after Johnny Sack while he and Tony were meeting. Tony escaped (the FBI wasn’t after Tony, anyway). And that’s where Season 6 begins.
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