The Sopranos - Series 6

[ckny]

Just watched the final two episodes again. Incredible.

I loved how Phil's murder was made into a comedy, with one of the kids throwing up and the disabled guy going "oh shit!". Was a bit miffed at how easily Butch and the other capo gave up the fight though, it was only a few days earlier Butch was telling Tony and Little Carmine to go fuck themselves while at Phil's house. I don't think they'd have flipped so suddenly.

And that ending! I'm convinced nothing happened now. That was just an ordinary, even happy family outing which was littered by paranoia and the feeling of dread, just like Tony will be feeling for the rest of his life. From the guy who went to the toilet, the black guys who look like several other black gangs hired to do hits throughout the series, I even thought Meadow was going to get run over crossing the street. I may be reaching here but when Meadow ran across the street it was a mirror image of when she ran away from Jackie Jr.'s funeral. Then she was deserting the family, now she was fully reunited and reconciled.

Can't wait for my boxset to arrive, I'm going to start watching them all again immediately. I might start with Pine Barrens though.

[McFly]

It's as good, maybe not as good but it's still a remarkable show. Though I prefer The Shield over Sopranos, it's easier to watch and I find it more entertaining.

Sums it up pretty well, though i prefer the Shield myself aswell.

[Harry]

It's definitely the best thing to ever grace a television that's for sure.

Is there a Blu-ray series collection available?

[Spudulis]

Well I've just finished watching the final episode after working our way through from the start and I'm in awe of its greatness.

Stunning ending. I'm going to have to go back and read through this thread now. I've been avoiding anything Sopranos related completely as we've gone through as I didn't want any spoilers.

I want to go back and watch it all again now from the start but I guess I should leave it. One bonus of this is that my wife now wants to watch Mean Streets, Casino, Taxi Driver, Scarface etc etc (I made her watch the Godfather 1 and 2 and Goodfellas before we started the Sopranos). Also means I can start on the stack of films I have waiting for me including the unopened Coen Brothers collection. So end of Sopranos is sad and I think I'll leave TV for a bit and immerse myself in films. Any TV I watch now will just be shit by comparison.

[ckny]

Oh man I miss The Sopranos.

I got this book once I finished watching it. The text isn't particularly great (VERY season 6 orientated) but some brilliant art and photography.

[Spudulis]

Oh man I miss The Sopranos.

I got this book once I finished watching it. The text isn't particularly great (VERY season 6 orientated) but some brilliant art and photography.

Is that the one with maps and all sorts in it? I had a flick through in a book shop once but tried not to read any of it. Looked good and always thought I'd buy it after I finished the series.

[Harry]

Well I've just finished watching the final episode after working our way through from the start and I'm in awe of its greatness.

Stunning ending. I'm going to have to go back and read through this thread now. I've been avoiding anything Sopranos related completely as we've gone through as I didn't want any spoilers.

I want to go back and watch it all again now from the start but I guess I should leave it. One bonus of this is that my wife now wants to watch Mean Streets, Casino, Taxi Driver, Scarface etc etc (I made her watch the Godfather 1 and 2 and Goodfellas before we started the Sopranos). Also means I can start on the stack of films I have waiting for me including the unopened Coen Brothers collection. So end of Sopranos is sad and I think I'll leave TV for a bit and immerse myself in films. Any TV I watch now will just be shit by comparison.

I watched the last episode last night in HD and it looked amazing. The last one is a true masterpiece.

[ckny]

Is that the one with maps and all sorts in it? I had a flick through in a book shop once but tried not to read any of it. Looked good and always thought I'd buy it after I finished the series.

Yep that's the one. It's worth picking up there's some interesting stuff in it and like I said, the art design and photography is excellent.

[Spudulis]

Yep that's the one. It's worth picking up there's some interesting stuff in it and like I said, the art design and photography is excellent.

The book arrived today and I've not heard a peep out of my wife since. she's pretty much read it cover to cover already. I've not had a chance to even glance at it yet.

[ThreeHeadedMonkey]

Just watched the entire sopranos over the past 8 weeks or so, and I love it, but not like I expected to. Midway through I never thought I'd never rewatch any of it for the amount I disliked some of the characters (as intended I expect) and when Tony killed the gladiator guy over the horse, that when I really had it in for him. But that last scence. Wow. So caught up in the tension, the mounting paranoia. I felt like I was in the place experiencing life as Tony was. Enjoying the scence but the mounting tension and dread was almost unberable. Got a whole new interest in the show again, i'll be watching the first season again later tonight i'm sure.

Thought the train scence from the previous episode was awful though, but then they made up for it with the kids in the car, CHHHRRRRWWWWWUNNNNCCCHHHH

[ckny]

The train scene was spectacular! Just amazing, one of my favourite from the entire show.

I like how the top three topics in Film & TV (at the time of writing) are Dexter, Mock the Week and Sopranos - probably my three favourite TV programmes.

Edit - and now The Wire's at the top! Someone bump the 24 thread and I'll have the whole set!

[mercenarri]

Holy shit guys, what a show. 6 seasons in 2 months I think, and I wanna start again from season 1 already.

I seriously cant find a single thing to complain about. I'm only gutted there's no more to see.

[Magoo]

Nothing vast to add, watched the Sopranos from Season 2 on Channel 4 and dipped in and out before properly catching up via torrent from Season 5. The last 6 to 9 episodes are just staggering, the brooding melancholic atmosphere (the agent sitting in Satriales "the end times") really makes it one of the few pieces of pop culture to capture a sense of the current period.

[Salsa Party Animal]

Checked Sopranos Blu Ray price at amazon.com 181 dollars for both boxset for series six. That about 100 quids. Sod off. I will wait for price fall until I can get both for about 80 dollars or less.

[ckny]

The DVD boxset is holding firm at ~£100, has been since March when I first started looking for it. I suspect it'll be a long wait before the Blu-Ray boxset drops.

Edit - misread that price as being for the complete collection, not just for Season Six. Oops.

[Meh]

Holy shit guys, what a show. 6 seasons in 2 months I think, and I wanna start again from season 1 already.

I seriously cant find a single thing to complain about. I'm only gutted there's no more to see.

I felt exactly the same. Thursday nights with a shit-ton of beer and The Sopranos to plough through were just something else.

[Uzi]

Thought I'd bump this thread over others as it was interesting to read peoples discussion over the ending when it first aired.

I always meant to watch the sopranos, but never get around to it until about a month and a bit ago. I've spent a lot less timing gaming (pretty much just street fighter) over the last few weeks because I've shot through seasons 1 - 6. It was a masterpiece- the best TV show I've ever watched (yes, I've seen and loved all of The Wire). I watched the last episode the other night- and the funny thing was, I didn't know there were 21 episodes- for some strange reason I thought there were 22. So you can imagine my confusion when the credits first roleld.

I'm going to spoiler what I thought of the ending in case some poor sods who haven't finished the show see why the thread has been bumped

Like I said, I thought the last episode was the penultimate one for some reason, so the scene in the diner really had me uneasy. I could feel like everything was gonna end in this scene even though I really did think there was another episode to follow- my gut was telling my brain it was totally mistaken.

The first thing that threw me off was when Tony entered, looked at a table, and he was suddenly there. He seemed like a ghost, or someone that was about to become one or something. It freaked the fuck out of me because the camerawork made this relatively normal american diner seem really fucking freaky- like some invisible dark cloud was on there. Tony selected the music, Journey, and it came on, and then the bells ringing and people coming on- Tony looking up each time, he looked half asleep, as if he was some kinda drugged dude or animal who had no idea something bad was gonna happen.

When carmella came in, I felt a bit relieved- she usually represented "a family scene"- a scene where Tony is usually in a safe enviroment- not always warm due to his domestic issues, but usually always safe- carm represented his soft family side and seeing her there took some of the weight off the freaky places and tony's half asleep look- he looked like he had some life in him again. The sick feeling in my gut sort of went away, phew

Then the man walked in, with AJ behind. What the fuck. As soon as I saw this guy, I knew he was a hitman. I don't know how David Chase did it, but that mans purpose struck me immediately with nothing more than a glance- and AJ behind him. AJ should have brought me a bit of relief again, more family represented more safety- but having the man and AJ walk in so close together made me feel like the world of safety and danger wern't so seperated anymore as they had always been. It really felt like the family wasn't the shield or barrier anymore, and having the man sitting behind AJ giving Tony that look made it even more tense for me

Then fucking meadow came along and made me feel even more uneasy with her parking, every second she took in the car felt important for some reason, it felt critical, it felt dangerous even though she was just parking a car! I felt like something really horrible was going to happen and meadows delay would have some part of it. Then the guy stood up, oh fuck, oh fuck, OH FUCK- but his hand didn't make the move I thought he was going to, tony wasn't looking at him, neither were carm or Aj, he could have pulled out a piece safely- only the audience were watching him- everyone else seemed preoccupied so I didn't know why he walked past- then the camera turned.

It was so weird- as soon as I saw the bathroom, I immediately thought of the godfather- it was such a deliberate shot, and that famous scene had been referenced in the show in such a heavy handed way twice- both through tonys dream which always stuck with me, where he got the gun from the toilet, and when AJ failed to kill Junior and he blurted out to Tony about that being his fave scene of all time. David Chase is a fucking genius- anyone can disagree with me here, thats the beauty of leaving it open and ambigious- but I'm 100 percent convinced that it a deliberate blurring between the fantasy of the mob movies tony and we have watched and the reality he was going to face- I fucking could SEE the man in the bathroom getting a gun ready- whether it was from behind the toilet base or he just had to take it out to calm his nerves and ready himself- whatever the reason, I saw a man in a cubicle getting a gun ready. Of course it could just be a shifty looking guy going to the toilet, I don't deny that, but I genuinely am certain of otherwise, you know just cos, it felt that way so strongly.

Then back to meadow- oh fuck, the guy is in the bathroom, meadow is coming in, I know this is the peak of this fucking situation, something is going to happen now, I expect a scream, a shot, a reaction, ANYTHING. She's about to come to the door, OHMYGODIFEELSICKWHATSGOINGTOHAPPEN

Black. Darkness. Silence.

What the fuck. Did the episode crash or something- at this very moment? For a sec I genuinely thought it was a technical fault or something, but no way it could have happened at that moment. NO WAY. It's still black. It's still quiet. It's gone. The longest ten seconds or so of my life pass, I'm sitting there in the dark at 1am staring at a black screen when seconds ago I expected chaos to thrust through the ground in the most explosive way- then the credits came on. Was that a cliffhanger? What the fuck was that? So maybe there is another episode? What? No, no there isn't. That's it. That was the last one. That was it.

I rewinded back, I played the last two mins again. Darkness again- my mind is disorientated when it comes on, any theories or thoughts I have float anyway when that fucking black screen comes on. Silence too, the music just stops. I go back again, watch the entire last scene AGAIN. Things stick out even more than they did before, why do they all eat their onion rings like that- where is the dip- why ARE YOU EATING THEM WHOLE- WHATS GOING ON? Hold on, two black dudes walked in that I didn't notice much before- made me remember when Junior hired some black guys to kill Tony and they failed, thinking of Junior reminded me that Junior shot tony- ha I had believed mostly that Tony being around his family (his blood family) implied safety. Seeing those two black guys reminded me that both times when Tony had almost been killed, it was from his family- his mother and his uncle- and the second time especially he was in a family home, the home tony grew up in. And THAT reminded me that this guy had cheated death, more than once, he was in a coma and almost stepped away and what stopped him was going to meadow. I watched it again. Now meadow was running towards him when she left the car before the ending sunk on...hmm.

Now when Tony stepped in and warped to the table, he seemed like more of a dead man than ever, the place felt even weirder, it had some limbo style essence to it, just felt so unnatural. This time, I just thought, Tony's gonna die. The entire time but I was still totally disorentiated to what the blackness meant- if Chase had wanted an ending where it was a simple "Did that man kill him, or did he not? Did tony survive? Was that a normal guy just going to the bathroom?" then I feel like the show would have just ended- it would have gone right to credits- or faded into credits- or something. If you want an ending that can go either way- then you give people the clues to think those different ways and end it.Why the darkness for such an exaggerated period? The nearest example I could think of sitting there was 24. In 24 when someone dies at the end of an episode- you get a silent clock countdown. It rarely happens, but when it does- you know someone is dead. No coming back from the grave, no faking a death, no ambiguity or vagueness. It's uiltmate utter certainty that someone had died and that the death MEANT something. The silent countdown is far more important than how the person actually died in the show- because people in 24 die all the time, via bullets, explosions, a virus, Jack's pinkie. Death is no stranger to the show, several people die probably every episode, but that countdown- THAT means something. This black "nothing" ending was the same in the sopranos- it meant death- what else could mean death more, and it had never happened before in any episode in all of the seasons despite all the death. That's when I knew it, it meant Tony was dead. The darkness couldn't mean anything else to me- the whole scene felt like death was floating over it with his scythe ready to come down at any second, tony looked like a ghost to me, and bang- fucking darkness.

I watched the last two episodes again the next day as soon as I could and noticed Tony's flashback with Bobby and I think he said something like you never know or hear its coming- I thought that had been thrown in because Bobby had died and tony was thinking back to a good time with him on the lake, but nope- those damn words- spelling it all out so clearly to me. The guy had shot him, we all expected to hear the bell of the door- and we thought thats what had been silenced when the black ending came in- the sound of that bell and meadow, it was taken away from us. But that wasn't the case IMO, we didn't hear the gunshot because Tony didn't. Tony was the show- if he doesn't hear it, or see it coming, we didn't either. I googled around and read this long ass theory that agreed with that, and man, there were so many dozens or hundreds of signs almost pointing to things- like Syl being in that restaurant and that guy getting shot, can't believe I didn't remember that because it was amazing at the time, seeing syl talk, then some weird noise, and the shooting had happened before syl or we had any idea what the fuck was going on

It took me hours of rewatching, thinking and finally reading other peoples stuff online to finally piece it all together of what I think of it- absolutely incredible. That final scene was utterly majestic. Words can't describe it

Best tv show ever

[DeadRussian]

I still don't buy the whole Tony dying part of it. I guess it's the most obvious answer, but there's no reason for him being killed at that point. The plot doesn't lean in that direction. In fact, it leans in completely the opposite direction.

David Chase just needs to tell us what the fuck he was thinking. He did say the flashback to Bobby saying "you don't see it coming" was a clue though.

Meh!

[Uzi]

I still don't buy the whole Tony dying part of it. I guess it's the most obvious answer, but there's no reason for him being killed at that point. The plot doesn't lean in that direction. In fact, it leans in completely the opposite direction.

David Chase just needs to tell us what the fuck he was thinking. He did say the flashback to Bobby saying "you don't see it coming" was a clue though.

Meh!

Ah one thing I was scared about posting my thoughts was getting into a debate about it. It could go on forever!

Tony has been an evil cunt at times throughout all the seasons. He's killed peoples relatives, fathers, sons. He's ruined lives- AND he is the boss of people who have ruined peoples lives- he's famous for it. Everyone knew who Tony Soprano was and a lot of people knew what he did.

Lots of folks could have wanted him dead- his own uncle and mother tried to kill him at one point- and Tony even never seemed to accept or could even explain why his own mother had a hand in anything like that, or the nearest thing he had left to a father after he no longer had his. Bobby said in the same boat ride that it came with the job.

Not to mention the shifty fuck that made a truce with Tony that was Phil's no 2. I didn't believe that cunt for a second, I forgot his name but it could have been him, could have been anyone. NY might have been utterly fed up of Tony, a full on war almost broke out and business is business- they said themselves- remove the head and absorb the family. If anything we learnt about the mafia, it's that people are very easily expendable if it means better business and less hassle. Death is cheap. They couldn't find him- how do they call him out of hiding? Easy- call a truce.

There were lots of reasons for Tony to die and for many many people to kill him, they're there in every other episode probably in every season

[Pekoe]

I've always viewed the ending as just a representation of the fact that Tony's life is always in the balance, that even if he wasn't shot then, there was always the likelihood of it happening somewhere down the line. Even in the mundane natural way of life of a family meal together, he always had this threat hanging over him.

This is how he would be taken out, maybe not in the same circumstances; but as part of his mafia way of life, the rules of engagement would mean that at some point a hit order would be given. I don't believe he was actually shot in that scene there and then, but that ending was an indication of how his end would come about.

[Wintermute]

Spot on, moodymann. That's what I took from it.

[Uzi]

I've always viewed the ending as just a representation of the fact that Tony's life is always in the balance, that even if he wasn't shot then, there was always the likelihood of it happening somewhere down the line. Even in the mundane natural way of life of a family meal together, he always had this threat hanging over him.

This is how he would be taken out, maybe not in the same circumstances; but as part of his mafia way of life, the rules of engagement would mean that at some point a hit order would be given. I don't believe he was actually shot in that scene there and then, but that ending was an indication of how his end would come about.

I can see what you mean there and would even agree with the general sentiment of it- it's totally right but

the black ending meant too much to me. Sure, it could be the ultimate red herring, but it was the most pure representation of death and I couldn't see it as some kind of fake out or an image saying tony might die here or tomorrow. People believe in religion and the afterlife to counter the ultimate fear of darkness and nothingness when they do die. That 10 seconds said everything to me by doing nothing- it was the strongest statement to finish with. If the show ended at the exact same point without the extended black- I would think the same as you

Reading back in the thread I can see loads disagree with me, baffles me but only because I believe so heavily in the signs and imagery that lead to me think what I do, but thats the cool thing about endings like that. Differing opinions.

[Wintermute]

Those signs and imagery

are how Tony sees the world anyway, everyday. You're given an insight into his perspective where, even though he's momentarily safe, death is just around the corner and there's a gun in every hand.

As for the blackness, I see what you mean but that death could be anywhere, anytime. Or maybe it marks the death of the series as a whole, or maybe just a quiet moment of reflection after six series of Fucking Awesome.

Great ending, certainly. I'd have been disappointed with anything else I think.

[Meh]

Didn't David Chase say that if you can't figure out the ending, you're a fucking idiot?

[Uzi]

Well I figured it out IMO lol

[Meh]

Those signs and imagery

are how Tony sees the world anyway, everyday. You're given an insight into his perspective where, even though he's momentarily safe, death is just around the corner and there's a gun in every hand.

As for the blackness, I see what you mean but that death could be anywhere, anytime. Or maybe it marks the death of the series as a whole, or maybe just a quiet moment of reflection after six series of Fucking Awesome.

Great ending, certainly. I'd have been disappointed with anything else I think.

The ending was amazing. Absolutely astounding. As soon as the screen went back I thought, "where's the rest?" and I just started to think of how much I'd miss seeing their lives go on. It's the perfect ending to the greatest piece of television ever made.

[Meh]

Well I figured it out IMO lol

That would be awesome as an avatar.

[Fusty Gusset]

I've got a rock-solid stomach for most things but I reckon

if Tony + family had been shot in that restaurant

I'd have been sick.

The only TV/Movie or anything I've ever seen that could do it. Incredible entertainment.

[DeadRussian]

I've got a rock-solid stomach for most things but I reckon

if Tony + family had been shot in that restaurant

I'd have been sick.

You don't touch the wife & kids! Mafia rule #1.

[Pete]

Through the whole last 10 minutes you are constantly waiting for something to happen, and this makes the ending even better as it puts you in tony's shoes. So yeah, a proper ending.

I asumme this has been bumped because of lost?