Sopranos Ending

Apparently the hot thing to do is try to guess who The Sopranos will end. I have no idea, so I'll just try to come up with a scenario I haven't already seen before. The FBI pinches Tony. It turns out they've had what they need to make a solid RICO case against him for some time.

The reason they haven't arrested him is that they think he and his "glorified crew" are small time. Their interest in arresting Tony is to get him to flip on Phil and the New York mob and they've been biding their time until relations between Tony and Phil get so bad that they think it's realistic to think Tony will be willing to be a witness -- after all, what does he have left to lose? Show ends with Tony broken and friendless in Arizona.

Comments

So will Harry Potter die in the final volume?

Posted by otto | June 9, 2007 10:37 AM

Actually I seem to remember (either in Slate or Salon) a critic predicting much the same ending as you, Matt....

I hope Tony and Carmela survive (if for nothing else the sake of a future movie). But going into witness protection may be too much of a Goodfellas rip-off.

Posted by scott | June 9, 2007 10:53 AM

Maybe they throw him into a jail cell next to the cast of Seinfeld.

Posted by Delicious Pundit | June 9, 2007 11:13 AM

Ross has a sensitive take on the show.

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 11:14 AM

i made essentially the same prediction at the start of the season (i didn't necessarily think he would roll on phil) at the start of the season, and i have witnesses!

admittedly, i said it somewhat kiddingly (in the same conversation, my friend's conclusion, which i've seen elsewhere as well, was that janice would whack him) but i'm taking full credit if this turns out to be accurate in any way.

Posted by howard | June 9, 2007 11:15 AM

And may I also say that I've found the Slate panel on the show to be incredibly annoying. I finally find myself disliking Jeffery Goldberg as much as Matthew does.

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 11:15 AM

Finally, to copy and paste from Ezra's joint:

I'm of the opinion that the finale of the show was the episode where Tony killed Christopher and went driving around Vegas in taxicabs. We're strictly in epilogue territory now.

The final three episodes feel flat because there are no more stakes. There is no longer a chance of redemption after Kennedy and Heidi. The roadrunner has already gone off the cliff, and we're just waiting for him to hit the bottom of the canyon.

In other words, it doesn't matter if Tony lives or dies. We already know we've got an unhappy ending.

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 11:18 AM

Show ends with Tony broken and friendless in Arizona.

Final line: "And look at this damn cosmetic surgery scar..."

Posted by chris y | June 9, 2007 11:47 AM

He get appointed as Bush's national security adviser. Or the UN ambassador. Or one of those new US attorneys. How 'bout that?

Posted by abb1 | June 9, 2007 11:52 AM

Anthony junior is going to kill someone, maybe Tony. That is the only possible end for his arc this season. He can't die so soon after being rescued. There is no time for a believable recovery.

Posted by Grogor | June 9, 2007 12:07 PM

I've found the Slate panel on the show to be incredibly annoying.

I'll second that. Goldberg, Noah, and Brian Williams are incredibly tedious, self-indulgent, and criminally uninsightful.

Posted by Chris Conway | June 9, 2007 12:12 PM

This is a tough one to figure out. I really don't think that Tony flips. He said his "laters" to the FBI outside of Satriales, just as he and Melfi ended it in her office in the last session.

Tony finally figures out that Paulie is on Phil's payroll - that's been coming for a long time, and the botched hit on Phil was just the capper (it was not Patsy). Yes, it was Paulie that set up the bad address.

With Sil now out of action, and Bobby and Christopher dead, it comes down to Paulie and Tony. Paulie ends up dead by Tony in the safe house. Word comes that Sil's recovering. Phil stays hidden. Fade to black.

Cue the movie, July 4th week, 2009.

Posted by Richard Blair | June 9, 2007 12:27 PM

Folks expecting a movie really don't have a clue about Chase.

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 12:37 PM

Tony goes to sleep in the safe house. The rest of the show is a dream sequence where he is a disoriented salesman.

Posted by theCoach | June 9, 2007 12:49 PM

And may I also say that I've found the Slate panel on the show to be incredibly annoying.

Oh, God, yeah. It has exactly the kind of over the top hyperbole that makes it impossible for me to really enjoy the show. I mean, "to tire of the Sopranos is to tire of life"? The only reasonable response to that statement is "Fuck you."

Posted by Freddie | June 9, 2007 12:55 PM

Tony has been dehumanized over the last several episodes - his murder of Christopher and the total lack of remorse thereafter as well as the bit about how he has been conning Melfi, thereby suggesting that he never actually bared his soul in therapy. This suggests he will be hit.

Yes, Pauli probably is a traitor. The earlier episode where Tony chooses not to off him suggests that was a "lost opportunity."

Meadow's switch to criminal law from medicine is significant. This suggests that she will ultimately emerge as a criminal prosecutor, thereby effecting the revenge of the Sopranos upon the Mafia.

Posted by Duncan Kinder | June 9, 2007 2:10 PM

You guys were a little hard on the Slate panel: yeah, they were over-the-top, but such is Slate. I'm guessing no one here read Peggy Noonan's column kissing the show's ass yesterday?

It's a good show, but I have found the key to enjoying it is to have low expectations generally and zero expectations of any closure.

IMHO, Showtime has The Sopranos beat with Brotherhood.

Posted by Fred | June 9, 2007 2:44 PM

Why MY is mistaken:
his ending seems imitative of Goodfellas. Chase will come up with something different, seeming more original.

Posted by Nebby | June 9, 2007 2:47 PM

"It's a good show, but I have found the key to enjoying it is to have low expectations generally and zero expectations of any closure."

Yup. One of the things I love about the show is Chase's refusal to pander to the legions of morons who watch the show to find out "who's gonna get whacked."

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 2:50 PM

Anyone read any reviews of the show following the Sopranos finale Sunday night, John from Cincinnatti? The TV reviewer in the WSJ hammered it.

Posted by Fred | June 9, 2007 3:26 PM

"The final three episodes feel flat because there are no more stakes."

Petey, why does Tony killing Christopher mean nothing else is at stake? By that logic, when he killed Tony Blundetto, wouldn't that also mean nothing else is at stake?

Also, I don't think it's a good thing to call people morons for like the show for a particular reason. Who cares if it's watchable to them because of the killings? Let people enjoy what they want to enjoy and how they wish to do it. Don't insult them for how they do it.

Posted by Brian | June 9, 2007 6:25 PM

"Let people enjoy what they want to enjoy and how they wish to do it. Don't insult them for how they do it."

I'm not proposing that stupid people be barred from watching the show.

For all I care, stupid people are free to shoot meth and eat cheez whiz while they watch.

But that doesn't mean I have to think they're smart.

-----

"Petey, why does Tony killing Christopher mean nothing else is at stake? By that logic, when he killed Tony Blundetto, wouldn't that also mean nothing else is at stake?"

If the show were a math problem, you'd be correct. Unfortunately, it's a narrative drama, which has different rules.

Posted by Petey | June 9, 2007 6:36 PM

Whatever, however, as long as it's actually and permanently over and done with. Chase should have wrapped things up the moment Nancy Marchand died: everything after her has been one slow march of turgid melodrama and oversold guest star stints. (Nevermind inflicting "Drea" DeMatteo on an unsuspecting and undeservng nation-- every generation gets its Fran Drescher, I guess.) I'm glad (seriously) y'all still find something worthwhile here, but I gave up on this show years ago, and dear god am I looking forward to no longer hearing about it. When does The Wire start back up again?

Posted by Doctor Memory | June 9, 2007 10:44 PM

This is how Sopranos ends - true facts:

Tony gets all his family with janice together to go underground. Carmela goes to her car and bang it blows up in front of tony, aj and meadow. Tony send Meadow to go with Janice. Tony goes to see a mob boss whom we have never seen before. Aj and benny join tony to go for revenge. Tony hesitated and then is ok for aj to join. Paulie gets inside info on Phil's location. Aj and benny get there and benny kills phil and the rest of the crew. agent harris tells tony that the hit on him was called off at the end. Aj comes out with a gun pointing towards tony - yelling that he killed mon, christopher, adriana and his life. Before aj could shoot tony, agent harris steps in and shoots AJ. Last scene - aj dying in the arm of Tony.

Posted by Pranoop | June 10, 2007 12:53 AM

This is how Sopranos ends - true facts:

Tony gets all his family with janice together to go underground. Carmela goes to her car and bang it blows up in front of tony, aj and meadow. Tony send Meadow to go with Janice. Tony goes to see a mob boss whom we have never seen before. Aj and benny join tony to go for revenge. Tony hesitated and then is ok for aj to join. Paulie gets inside info on Phil's location. Aj and benny get there and benny kills phil and the rest of the crew. agent harris tells tony that the hit on him was called off at the end. Aj comes out with a gun pointing towards tony - yelling that he killed mon, christopher, adriana and his life. Before aj could shoot tony, agent harris steps in and shoots AJ. Last scene - aj dying in the arm of Tony.

Posted by Pranoop | June 10, 2007 12:54 AM

This is how Sopranos ends - true facts:

Tony gets all his family with janice together to go underground. Carmela goes to her car and bang it blows up in front of tony, aj and meadow. Tony send Meadow to go with Janice. Tony goes to see a mob boss whom we have never seen before. Aj and benny join tony to go for revenge. Tony hesitated and then is ok for aj to join. Paulie gets inside info on Phil's location. Aj and benny get there and benny kills phil and the rest of the crew. agent harris tells tony that the hit on him was called off at the end. Aj comes out with a gun pointing towards tony - yelling that he killed mon, christopher, adriana and his life. Before aj could shoot tony, agent harris steps in and shoots AJ. Last scene - aj dying in the arm of Tony.

Posted by Pranoop | June 10, 2007 12:54 AM

Richard Blair, you made a good point about Paulie giving the hitmen the wrong address. Very interesting. I also agree that there is something very fishy about Paulie. He was the one that went and told John Sacramone about the joke that was made about his wife.I do believe that Paulie is on the New York families pay roll. If you remember at the beginning of the last episode, when Syl choked that dude to death , he later told Tony that he found out that the guy was "playing both sides of then fences", Syl got the wrong guy, it was supposed to be Paulie.Paulie always felt that after Tonys' father died, he was supposed to have a shot at "the big chair". Great series ! can't wait to see the finale.

Posted by Kenyan Buche | June 10, 2007 12:51 PM

Just ended - I would not have called it.

Posted by theCoach | June 10, 2007 9:59 PM

So what happened?

Posted by Freddie | June 10, 2007 10:26 PM

So what happened?

Exactly.

Posted by Al | June 10, 2007 10:52 PM

So what happened?

Exactly.

Don't stop believing.

Posted by theCoach | June 10, 2007 11:07 PM

i have been watching the sopranos since the first show. it really grows on you. when i was treated for cancer twice while the soranos was on, the one thing i was worried about was seeing the end of the show. well, i made it!!! now if they have a movie, i have someting else to look forward to. in cancer, you have these goals to make you life as normal as possible!!

Posted by bev's /soprano | June 12, 2007 12:58 AM