Sopranos Final Disapointment

As a follow up to Lawhawk's recap of the Sopranos ending, I needed to add my own disappointment.

The Sopranos series ending was one of the most disappointing series finales I have ever seen. I rank it right down there with the ending of Seinfeld. I agree that ending a series like this is tough, but again, as Lawhawk said, it was successfully done in MASH, Cheers and The Bob Newheart Show. I would add Friends, and Sex in the City to that list (come on who didn't want to learn Mr. Big's first name?) The fade to black moment had me wondering whether Cablevision had lost signal at the worst time.

Yeah, I liked the way Phil was killed, and AJ's SUV blowing up was cool. Enough with Paulie Walnuts and the damn cat already. And again Janis trying to find hidden money from Uncle Junior was to reminiscent of her destroying her mothers house looking for buried treasure. And what was with Agent Harris? Was that a dead pool thing or is he in bed with Tony, in addition to that cute brunette?

However, the final scene was ridiculous. It was completely anti-climatic. One theory (posited by my mother-in-law) is that Tony entered witness protection. Given credence to that theory is that he was talking to Carmella about "family business", i.e. Carlo giving testimony to the Grand Jury, something he NEVER did in the entire series (remember, once he even said to Carmello with respect to Richie's death "after all these years don't make me make you a witness after the fact.") Also, when did the Soprano Family ever eat dinner at a diner? Never!!! Moreover, the song "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey has lines like "just a small town boy" and "they took the midnight train going anywhere", reference to the small town life that they would lead in witness protection (but come on, can you imagine Tony ordering some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and getting egg noodles and ketchup?)

Another theory is that Tony was killed in that final moment. Remember back to the first episode of the season where Tony and Bobby where in the boat fishing and Bobby says something like "they say you don't hear the one that gets you", a reference to the fact that you won't hear the bullet that kills you, thus the reason for the silent ending (also, the fade to black is usually a theatrical reference to death.) Could it be one of Phill's guys who didn't get the message that there was a truce? Was it one of Phill's family members getting revenge? Was it the Russian left in the woods? Furio come back for revenge? The Ukranian's family? UPDATE: Mrs. Legalbgl has jsut told me that accoridng to MSNBC, if you watch the credits tot he episode, you will see Phil Leotardo's nephew listed as being in the diner. That gives more credit to Tony being wacked in the final scene.

What about the theory that Tony was arrested at that moment and that it faded to silence and black because his life was over in a dramatic, not literal, sense.

Yet another theory is that Tony is alive and well and that the series was just a brief glimpse into the life of a mobster, and that our "glimpse" was just over.

Personally, I think it was a cop out. The writers didn't know how to end the series in any meaningful and dramatic way, so, they just ended it. Maybe we will see a Soprano movie. Maybe it will air after Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer get released from Prison? Or maybe the Sopranos are just over.

Time to turn my attention to Big Love and Entourage. Anyone know when Larry David will be back on?