Sopranos, So What?

…so this is what those of us who have watched The Sopranos for eight years have to show for our time? An enigmatic ending so open to interpretation? So David Chase can't figure out how to end it so he just cuts it off and lets us figure it out?

As far as I'm concerned, HBO has trouble with finishing off series'. I hated the ending to Six Feet Under. At least we had some warning with that, because Nate's death was set up a couple of years before with the episodes about his brain condition. Where Six Feet Under failed was having that 15 minute "closer" with all of the tricky and self-indulgent deaths of the rest of the cast.

It's like David Chase looked at that and said, "I don't want that! I don't want to show all of the Sopranos knocked off in the last episode." So we got Bobby and Silvio in the penultimate episode, and then in the ultimate we're left with an ending that is set up well, at least. The family in a diner, camera showing different guys coming in the door, us thinking, "Is this the shooter?" and then having it cut off just as Steve Perry sings "Don't stop."

Well, we've put up with a lot of crap in The Sopranos hoping some of it would make sense later. The past few episodes, with the exception of Bobby's and Silvio's shootings, and the very satisfying shot of Phil Leotardo getting whacked and having his head run over (!!!) by an SUV, have been very boring. The second -to-last season, with Tony lying in the hospital after being shot by Junior, and the dreams of himself with an identity of someone named Kevin Finnerty, was not only boring, but pointless.

The stuff about A.J. has been excruciating. Very little Meadow, but a lot of my least favorite Soprano, A.J., sniveling, whining and kvetching. I wanted his head to be under the front wheel of the SUV.

C'mon…we as fans deserved better than this. I feel with HBO series that are such fan favorites that it's better to quit them about a year before they end. That way we'd have been some good memories of them.

Hey, HBO…hey, David Chase, how about this idea? You have an "epilogue season." You bring back the cast for six more episodes, only this time the season is about Tony fighting off racketeering and murder indictments. At the end he could walk, Teflon Don-style, or end up saying goodbye to his family from the slam.

Oh, yeah…almost forgot. It's the season premiere tonight of Big Love. I apparently haven't had enough punishment from HBO. So I'll be there.

Ciao for now.