So there has been ALOT of controversy about the season finale of this beloved show. I am in the camp of brilliance while many others are in the camp that because there was no shoot 'em up action sequence it was a failure. First I have to say that is so lame. I look at the Sopranos as art. And ambigious endings are something that I am a big fan of as it makes you the viewer actually do some work and think about the show for far longer than you would say..the final episode of the OC. Also in the realm of tv and film as art odds are that the ending will lean towards ambiguity rather than guy gets girl or mob boss gets killed or goes to jail. I have not stopped thinking about how good the whole episode was, the totality of the series, and the potential future events. To paraphrase something I read over the internet this weekend . . .The Sopranos will still go on but we just will not be allowed to watch.
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Sopranos Season Finale
So there has been ALOT of controversy about the season finale of this beloved show. I am in the camp of brilliance while many others are in the camp that because there was no shoot 'em up action sequence it was a failure. First I have to say that is so lame. I look at the Sopranos as art. And ambigious endings are something that I am a big fan of as it makes you the viewer actually do some work and think about the show for far longer than you would say..the final episode of the OC. Also in the realm of tv and film as art odds are that the ending will lean towards ambiguity rather than guy gets girl or mob boss gets killed or goes to jail. I have not stopped thinking about how good the whole episode was, the totality of the series, and the potential future events. To paraphrase something I read over the internet this weekend . . .The Sopranos will still go on but we just will not be allowed to watch.
There was great artistic ambiguity in the finale, Lloyd, but for me the commercial ambiguity overwhelms the artistic. This ending leaves open the possibility of a continuing series or spinoff that was off-putting to me.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of Six Feet Under was brilliant and set a high standard for HBO.
I'm sorry The Sopranos couldn't have avoided the commercial ambiguity, not necessarily in the formula Six Feet Under found, but with the imagination that informed the rest of the series.
Oops, meant to sign off.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Bob
While I thought the ending was well done, for me the genius in the last episode was not the dramatic cut to black and the ambiguity (whether genius or commercial compromise), but how well Chase used the extreme level of tension inherent in the episode itself (forget the battling families! This was the *last* episode of a classic) to really hone in on what made the show not only great, but unique: The characters and this interplay between life/death and the banal and ludicrous details of the everyday.
ReplyDeleteThe part I savor the most: As the show comes to an end and EVERYONE is aware there's only a few minutes left, Meadow can't seem to parallel park. I remember feeling like I was going to pass out it was so intense - the possibilities for chaos were so tangible, so ripe... and yet. She just couldn't park. She tried again, she succeeded, and she arrived for dinner - albeit a bit late. That's it! Chase, in my humble opinion, showed a beautiful sense of restraint and let the show finish itself.
Additionally - I celebrated this series with a Sekthaus Raumland Triumvirate out of 6L.
ReplyDeleteStephen and Bob,
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis.
Bob,
Chase just said in an interview he is not interested in doing a movie.