Sopranos Series Finale

Posted by Kate Luther Jun 10, 2007

Done. Finished. As in, Sopranos no more. But if you watched the series finale, then you know that it was anything but final. (Spoiler warning: I'm going to give away the gold here).

This is so wrong. Granted the whole point was to find out who got it in the end - Tony or Phil. And bravo to the writer's for adding in that lovely little extra dig to Phil after he was shot, complete with a sickening audio for full effect (if you watched, you know what I'm talking about). But after Phil's gone, there's a full 30 minutes more of build up. Everything seems to be normal, everyone's acting normal, but.... obviously, something is still up. Something's about to happen. It always does. This is after all, The Sopranos.

Five minutes left and the family gathers at a restaurant for some grub. In walks a fisherman-looking guy and the creators make a point of showing him to us a few more times. Then in walk two more guys - they've got "hit man" written all over them. Meadow arrives but has trouble parking her car. The camera clips back to the fisherman and then to the two hit men sitting at the counter. They eye Tony. He glances back. The camera clips to Meadow. Still can't quite parallel park that car, huh? Back to the restaurant. Two more guys walk in and they hang out by a display case. Back to Meadow and her unbelievably bad driving. Any minute now... its coming, I tell you. Can't you feel the tension? One of the guys from the counter gets up and walks Tony's way. Tony sees him but then goes back to his menu. Are you crazy? Pay attention, man! You're about to get shot! Another glimpse of the fisherman guy and then, well, whatd'ya know? Meadow parked the car and she's running across the street. The hit man passes Tony and heads to the restroom. Meadow reaches the door. The little bell rings. Tony looks up and ....

That's it.

Can you believe it? That's it???! You can't leave us hanging like that... its just not right. This is the series finale, guys, not the season finale. You were supposed to give us some closure, something that would let us sleep at night. Sure, we'll miss the Sopranos either way, but at least we'd know that Tony and his family had gotten a new start. Or not. But at least we'd know.

All we have now is that stupid little doorbell and the chaotic workings of our own imagination.

Ah well.. you know what they say... its not TV... its HBO.