Il Grande Finale

Every one seems to be furious about the ending of HBO's The Sopranos.

"What the . . .?!"

"I want closure!"

"After eight years you give us this?!"

"That's a cop-out!"

And to these naysayers, I say nay to you! Wake the fuck up and appreciate the gift that David Chase (in his infinite brilliance) has given us.

The Sopranos was a trail-blazing television drama. It took the mythos of the Italian mafia and modernized it, and gave a more intimate look into the personal lives of its members. It was extremely brutal and unpredictable. Unlike other television dramas, the characters met their end in shockingly bloody ways. It was always a little sad when one of your favorite characters got "whacked," but by that same token, it was EXTREMELY satisfying when one of your LEAST favorite characters got what he deserved. The threat of death was imminent, and helped the show remain true to its source material.

Tony was the heart of the show. A complex anti-hero that over years has proved himself a liar, murderer, adulterer, drug-user, gambler, racist, and misogynist. Seems like he certainly deserves to die, doesn't it?

Yeah, he probably does. Or maybe all the good things he has done, and all the good things he may still do means that he shouldn't die.

There is no right or wrong or answer here, and the ending that Mr. Chase chose let's us make up our minds about the future of Tony Soprano.

As fans, we become extremely attached to fictional characters. We relate to them, empathize and sympathize with them, and enjoy watching their growth over the course of a series. But we are always at the mercy of the invisible Hollywood writers as to what happens to our favorite characters. And why is that? How come a group of creative writing majors that sit in a room all night smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee together get to decide how everything will end?

The ending is a fair one. It's a realistic one. It deftly avoided dramatic cliches as it set them up. The mysterious angry guy in the windbreaker? Meadow out in the street? All the pieces were there for a catastrophe . . . or not.

I was shocked by the abruptness of the finale, and given the medium I thought that perhaps the cable had gone out at the worst possible moment. But after dwelling on it for a while I realized that ending was the smartest possible way for the show to end.

Kudos to you, Mr. Chase. Now it's time to start buying the rest of the DVDs.