Sopranos Season Starts!!!

[Harold_Z]

Good closer. Too bad the whole season wasn't as good as the last 2 weeks.

[JSngry]

First impression was that the ending was a major cop-out.

But that's not my final answer...

[Dmitry]

Good closer. Too bad the whole season wasn't as good as the last 2 weeks.

Definitely a good closer.

To be honest I was getting a little tired with marginalizing of the characters that used to occupy central positions in the previous years.

But I'll be tuning back in next year for sure! I hope there'll be some real action!

[Harold_Z]

An unforseen twist with Johnny Sack getting taken down by an informant who was just involved with the Brooklyn side of things. OUR THING is really going to shit...and nobody has a glimmer about Ray Curto yet.

VERY black humor with Melfi's psychology being the catalyst that lets Tony S. realize that he really has to get rid of Tony B.

AJ is such a shit head. For a second I was thinking Phil would take AJ out. I thought it was Phil's brother who was killed, not his son.

Jim, why is it a copout?

Edited June 7, 2004 by Harold_Z

[JSngry]

Every major loose end tied up too neatly, with nothing lingering, and no serious repercussions, especially emotionally. Think that Tony's going to get freaked about how he ended up killing his cousin for nothing? Nah, by next season that'll all be forgotten. All the other tensions were pretty much cleared up. Time to start over.

Might be a necessity for the writers, not knowing who's coming back, etc, or maybe they're angling towards making it a "long running" show, which I think would be a drag (it was with Wiseguy, that's for sure), but hey, money talks, right?

All I know is that I was on edge until the Feds busted Johnny Sac, and Tony walks home, finds out that he's home free, and gets greeted by his loving and concerned wife, and it's "Honey I'm home" (I halfway expected him to morph into Carl Betz!), game over, period.

I'd have liked to see an ending that was as heavy as what led up to it. All I feel that I got was a TV show. Not fair!

[catesta]

I'd have liked to see an ending that was as heavy as what led up to it. All I feel that I got was a TV show. Not fair!

Same here.

I would have preffered something a little more heavy.

On the other hand, it could have been much worse.

The writers have done their job, as I will be watching when the show picks up again in the next 1-2 years. A.J. will probably be boss.

[kulu se mama]

in the first episode of this season (tony's first out of the house), a bear comes out of the woods in back and carmella throws a fit.

that might have even been the first scene this year.

the last scene of the year has tony coming out of the very same woods and being welcomed home by carmella.

also, tony told melfi that he is always making the wrong decision, and then he goes and makes the wrong decision on tony b.

[Dmitry]

1. With Johnny Sac under indictement Tony is bound to have aspirations of taking New York under his control.

2. Why didn't the feds chase after an overweight guy in oxford shoes, running through half a foot of snow?

[kdd]

Isn't it just a bit ironic that he killed his cousin to make peace with Johnny Sack who then is arrested. If he waited another day he might not have had to do it.

Edited June 8, 2004 by kdd

[SEK]

Isn't it just a bit ironic that he killed his cousin to make peace with Johnny Sack who then is arrested. If he waited another day he might not have had to do it.

Indeed!

[Harold_Z]

They're filming The Sopranos in Paterson yesterday and today - a couple of blocks from where I work.

I can't wait for the new season.

[Gary]

I hope the finale isn't too well publicised over here when its screened over there. We will not see the new series for a few months after its finished for you.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

All I know is that I was on edge until the Feds busted Johnny Sac, and Tony walks home, finds out that he's home free, and gets greeted by his loving and concerned wife, and it's "Honey I'm home"

That final scene with the goobers charging out of the woods, advancing through the snow w/rifles in hand was really lame. Simpler to just walk around the corner of the house and say 'Hello, Sunshine!'

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I can't wait for the new season.

Me too. I hope the bear returns and scarfs down AJ for supper.

[Harold_Z]

That final scene with the goobers charging out of the woods, advancing through the snow w/rifles in hand was really lame.  Simpler to just walk around the corner of the house and say 'Hello, Sunshine!' 

←

Yeah...agreed.

In general the show has deteriorated - but it's still among my favorite shows...Plus there are a lot of exteriors filmed near whem I work and live, so I often recognize locations.

[Guest akanalog]

you ever go to the pizza place in the opening credits?

i mapquested it from my parents place and it is only like 15 minutes away.

i am going out there this weekend...thinking about stopping by.

[Harold_Z]

I know I've driven past it...I can't remember where it is, but I keep thinking Lyndhurst.

[catesta]

I can't wait for the new season.

Me too. I hope the bear returns and scarfs down AJ for supper.

←

haha

[catesta]

They're filming The Sopranos in Paterson yesterday and today - a couple of blocks from where I work.

I can't wait for the new season.

←

They were filming some scenes in Whitestone, Queens over the summer.

I missed it by a few days.

[ghost of miles]

For all those fans of James Gandolfini (I am one!), one of his very first movie part was in a film made in France by Alain Corneau back in 1995. Some of you may be aware that Corneau is a great connaisseur of jazz and a former drummer himself.

The film 'Le Nouveau Monde' is a semi-autobiographic account of Corneau's youth. It tells the story of a 16-year old French highschooler who lives near a US military base in central France in the early '60s. The highschooler befriends a US Army sergeant played by Gandolfini. The Sergeant offers the youth a drumkit so he can play with his highschool friends in a jazz quintet.

Read about Corneau's film:

http://www.videoretailer.com/Title.asp?sku=10063

Corneau was very disappointed when the film died at the box office. I don't think it's been seen released in movie houses outside France.

One of the musicians in the US army base near where Corneau grew up was Albert Ayler.

Gandolfini also played Bear, the stuntman/muscle in the film adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty:

Get Shorty clip

Came out around the same time as Le Nouveau Monde, I think.

[EyeSpeech]

He also had a small role in the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There--one of the few Coen bros movies I didn't care for. Getting cast as Tony Soprano was the best thing that could have possibly happened to him as an actor. Sure, he'll always be seen as that character but given the quality of acting and writing, that's not a bad thing.

[Dave James]

I came late to The Sopranos, but once I got into it, I was completely hooked. I think my wife and I mainlined the first three seasons in one weekend. Couldn't get enough of it. IMHO, the very best television that has yet been made. I love Mad Men, Six Feet Under and others that rise nearly to its level, but The Sopranos is at least a whole head taller than all the rest.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon what may be the most thorough analysis of the final scene in the final episode that you're likely to run into. It's quite lengthly, a virtual frame by frame exegesis, with lots of extras, but if you're at all interested in what may have happened at the restaurant that night, here's a pretty good look:

http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

Edited February 26, 2011 by Dave James

[EyeSpeech]

I agree, Dave. For starters, the mafia genre is great to explore sociological and psychological themes like honor, loyalty and family. Then there was the writing. I never saw a TV series so well conceived that you live inside the head of the protagonist. Mad Men has at times risen to the level of Sopranos in my opinion. The way it looks at identity through the crucible of rapidly changing social norms of the '60s is just so well done. The writing in certain episodes pays off subplots in ways even stronger than Sopranos. Matt Weiner is a genius. I'll check out that link you posted.

[ghost of miles]

I came late to The Sopranos, but once I got into it, I was completely hooked. I think my wife and I mainlined the first three seasons in one weekend. Couldn't get enough of it. IMHO, the very best television that has yet been made. I love Mad Men, Six Feet Under and others that rise nearly to its level, but The Sopranos is at least a whole head taller than all the rest.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon what may be the most thorough analysis of the final scene in the final episode that you're likely to run into. It's quite lengthly, a virtual frame by frame exegesis, with lots of extras, but if you're at all interested in what may have happened at the restaurant that night, here's a pretty good look:

http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

Dave, I came across that link myself not too long ago. It's a day's work to look into, but it certainly does make a compelling case that the last scene in the finale is a hit on Tony. And if that's what Chase is telling us, it's yet another reason why I doubt we'll ever see a Sopranos movie (that and Gandolfini's ongoing reluctance to participate in such a project). I suppose they could try to do some kind of prequel (will become more difficult as actors and actresses age), or go with the notion that Tony was indeed hit in the last scene but somehow survived...but I actually hope that they don't try to make any kind of movie and simply let the series rest on the legacy of its 86 episodes.

[Chicago Expat]

Thanks for the link to the site, Dave James. I found that interesting. There's a compelling argument to be made regarding the POV pattern and what that signifies about the darkness at the end. I buy it.

I still think it was a mediocre finale to a great series. The last few seasons were tragically weak when compared to the standard set by the first three seasons, which were brilliant. It seemed like there were some good ideas there at the end, but most everything fell flat, writing and acting alike. It just seemed like they never really fleshed out Soprano's character. I liked the ambiguity of the character, but they got sorta wishy-washy at the end in exposing how truly evil Tony was. As a point of comparison, the way the Shield wrapped up, and how the writers made the viewer feel dirty for ever having cheered for Vic Mackey and crew for all those seasons by taking away the soft lens and shining the spotlight on how evil Vic was, that's how you wrap up a show with a charismatic bad guy. I still can't watch a re-run of the Shield and it's been over for years.

I hope there's no Sopranos movie.