6/10/2007 The Sopranos : Made In America (final episode)

The Sopranos, as I can best describe it, has been a series of glimpses into the life of one man, Anthony Soprano and the immediate members of his "families". The dual nature of the word "family" provides the impetus for the events that transpire in the brief glimpses we are allowed. Modern life and its myriad trappings provide the panoramic backdrop for the dealings of this man and his families in and around Northern New Jersey, as well as provide heavy dialogue fodder for the many characters to trash, celebrate, question, marvel at, dismiss, aspire to, etc. Point blank: we have followed a 3rd trimester baby boomer (born 1960) gangster, his relatives and cohorts, through a series of episodes and watched them try to do what we all do: make sense of the world and our place in it.



If you watched to see mobsters be mobsters, you got that. If you watched to see a dramatization of the modern American upper-middle-class family, you got that. If you watched to see debate and deconstruction of what it means to be a human being in 1999-2007, you got that. The Sopranos had the ability to be all and everything at once, making fans of so many differing, and seemingly un-mixable, genres happy with the knowledge that such quality television was being brought to us.



The Sopranos also had the ability to be nothing at all like anybody recognized nor expected, unnerving innumerable viewers as the show somehow gleefully failed to, or was deliberately unwilling to, deliver on promising storylines. Any time a character had the opportunity to learn a lesson and really expand their personality in a positive direction; they'd eschew the challenge and revert, happily, to their previous pattern of behavior. When fans wanted to devour mafia beef, they got served Johnny Cakes. When they ached for resolutions in the form of final answers, they were puzzled and confused by test dreams. When I myself wanted the well written and conceived show I had been following for 7 years, I was treated to the debacle that was the first half of Season 6.



Whatever the show was or wasn’t; however it delivered or disappointed, it was most definitely original. It was also something that belonged to absolutely nobody except David Chase. This point was driven home repeatedly throughout the series run, proven true by both the masterful storytelling weaving great scenes into fantastic episodes into amazing seasons as well as the strict adherence to pleasing no one but himself. I am not among the many who think David Chase "hates" his audience and delights in their torture through deliberate sabotage of his greatest, and most financially rewarding, creative achievement. That makes no sense to me. I am, however, among the howevermanyofusthereare who thinks that Mr. Chase pities his audience and feels he needs to break us of our dependence upon Hollywood and old-fashioned "The Biz" type entertainment.** I can attribute the decision to end the episode the way he did to this and I can do that without rancor or offense. For me, the decision to end it that way was great and it was executed (pardon the pun) brilliantly. It sparkled with the same subversive sensationalism he has brought to the whole series and will go down as one of the greatest series enders ever just for the sheer "talkability" of it. Love it or hate it, you have an opinion on it. Unlike the pedestrian finales of once-great series' like Family Ties, Cheers, or, the poster-child for "BLAND FINALES", Seinfeld, this was an ending aimed to satisfy one person and one person only. However, the majority of the discussion, and the focus of much of the heated discussion, seems to focus on the actual "cut-to-blank-screen" definition of "ending" and not the "last glimpse into this man's life" ending. That's a real shame.



In my opinion, Sopranos Season 6 Episode 21 "Made In America" was as satisfying a season finale as Season 1 Episode 11 "I Dream If Jeanne Cusamano", an episode often cited as the season finale that best tied up its particular season. Not only was it as good as "IDOJC", but during the final scene at Holstein's that episode was referenced in a way that best encapsulates why the show doesn't need to tie everything up in a neat little package. AJ remembers his father's passionate insistence from Season 1 that his family savors the smaller happier moments in life, to "focus on the good times". All of us that have been following the show since the beginning know immediately what he's talking about. We can identify the conversation and name the episode it came from. We saw it, we remember it. Tony, on the other hand, has no recollection of this conversation. He thinks AJ is chiding him at first, then when he recognizes it as good advice that he might have actually tried to impart he acknowledges and accepts it. For him, this made-up man in this made-up universe, it was just one lesson of many millions he tried to teach his kids. One of many millions that we didn't get to see. Why should that lesson, or for that matter that whole rainy night when they were stuck out in a storm and had nowhere to eat but a candle lit Vesuvio's, have been any thing special he would have remembered? It was only special for us because it was a memorable episode that ended the first season. As I said previously, these episodes that are the canon of The Sopranos universe are merely "glimpses" into a life. They are not the entirety of that life. Everything we witnessed during these glimpses happened, sure, but some were important enough to further explore and perhaps "wrap up", and some, simply, weren't.



I was perfectly satisfied even before the final scene with the last visits we were allowed with the most important characters. I liked the way it was done, as if we got to go along with Tony for one last visit with Janice, Sil, Paulie, and Uncle Junior. They successfully conveyed how these characters were going to go on from here, from this "just another glimpse".



Janice: Or perhaps should I call her "Livia Jr."? She out and out admitted that she is going to hold Bobby's daughter hostage because Domenica is so attached to her big sister. Bobby's son has expressed the desire to live elsewhere (who can blame him?), and Janice seems to take this completely reasonable expression from a child who has lost both parents in 4 years as some sort of insult. Yet another reason to go about in pity for herself. Barbara got out, Tony looks like he's finally accepted it and put it in its proper place, but Janice is a walking, talking, three dimensional example of the havoc wrought by the mother from Hell. Is she even aware of how much she now emulates her mother? True she never offered up any "Oh, poor you"s but she most certainly has begun to channel her late mother by pointing out how the hard work and effort she puts forth continues to go unappreciated. Meanwhile we have yet to see any scene, I mean even one, in which Janice is doing anything besides handing her child off to someone else. Usually with an admonishment of the child, the babysitter, or perhaps both. The thing I found most telling about just how much she has become her mother was when Tony suggested that perhaps Harpo could come to live in this huge house with her and the kids. Janice appears to mull it over and then spits that Harpo has changed his name to Hal now. This conversation came up once before between these two only then she relayed the Harpo/Hal information regretfully, sad that her son lives away from her and also to show Tony how out of step he is with her life. Now she says it with a bitter finality. "Harpo" becoming "Hal" has somehow become Janice's reason for staying separated from him and his life. Just like Livia once tearfully scolded her for going from "Janice" to "Parvati", I'm willing to bet that Janice considers her son's name change a betrayal, a rebuking of her as a mother. Perhaps she knows from her own experience that's exactly what it is.



Sil: Tony's number two from day one, the without-a-doubt most loyal of the Soprano clan. Spent his last waking days solidifying his position of who he supports and ended up paying the price for that loyalty. Tony seemed reticent to go and visit Silvio, something his underlings didn't appreciate. However I don't think they appreciated that he wanted to do this alone, on his own terms. Having been near death himself recently it had to be hard for him not to think "There but for the grace of Chase go I..." That scene was perhaps the most touching scene in the entire series run between two of "da guys". Didn't Sil look weird with his hair down too? I like the way that was composed, first from the right with his hair looking like it normally does, like Vanilla Ice circa 1990, and then from the front-left where we see it down and relaxed, like Dru Down circa 2000.



Paulie: Finally rewarded with what he probably feels he's deserved all along, the lucrative "Altieri/Aprile/Cestone/Cifaretto/Spatafore/Gervasi" crew. From T's own mouth, "Paulie's always has been a little quirky" and his reluctance to accept the bump up stayed true to his character. His revealing that he once saw the Virgin Mary at the Bing was the second funniest thing in the episode, just behind Agent Harris' exultation of "Hot Damn we're gonna win this thing!"*. We got the "Paulie" episode earlier this half-season during the spate of episodes that seemed to be focused on tertiary characters: "Paulie", "Hesh", "Chrissey", etc. Looking back now, I recognize those episodes were more about defining Tony than any of those characters. Paulie and Tony's relationship, while strong and full of mutual respect and affinity for each other, will never be as great as it once was. I get the feeling that these two are tight due mainly to circumstance and that they will never truly understand each other. A relationship centered on convenience, comfort, and familiar repetition...hmmm...sounds a lot like Tony’s marriage.



Uncle Junior - David Chase has never been afraid to go dark on us. I don't think he's been any darker than he has with his treatment of the elderly. Watching Uncle Junior's journey through the run of this series has been a bleak endeavor, one I would like to have seen end differently. The wily cunning and creepy antagonist of season one has descended into senile abandonment. He is confused, lonely, and afraid. He speaks of men from other planets coming to see him. He confuses his niece with his sister-in-law and speaks gibberish Italian to her. The cold and wintry gusts seen throughout the episode may signify the Winter of Tony's reign but they most certainly signify the harsh finality that we are in the Winter of Corrado Soprano's life. I think it’s worthy to note that Junior's dementia is profoundly more pronounced now that he's in a state-funded home rather than a costly private facility. Chase can find almost any tool with which to comment and critique on contemporary America. Tony's final visit with his once intimidating uncle after writing him off for the entire final season, was not played for sentimentality. Far from it. These two did not romanticize the past, laughing through tears at days gone by. Junior offered no inspiring insights to his nephew, nothing to show that even as we get old we still have room to grow. There was no final reconciliation between the two, no mutual understanding of wrongs committed and forgiveness given. Basically nothing that Hollywood would EVER have for a final good-bye scene between two heavyweight characters. None of that to be found here. Instead, what we were given was startling real, dark as dark can get. Tony implores Uncle Junior to remember where his hidden stash of money is so that Bobby's kids may be taken care of properly. This money, the only evidence left of Corrado Soprano's entire life of crime, is as forgotten and lost to the old man as the life itself. Upon realizing that not only does his uncle not remember where the money is hid, he doesn't even know who Tony is and can only remember that they played baseball together. Tony tries to get Junior to remember his kid brother, Tony's father. Sensing that even family ties no longer ring any bells for him, Tony with focused intimacy speaks of "this thing of ours". Junior recognizes the inference and for a slight second I hold out hope that perhaps there will be some acknowledgement and recognition. My hopes are then dashed by Uncle Joon's non-committal "that's nice" after being informed that he and his brother once ran North Jersey. Tony backs away, somewhat horrified that this was once the great "Uncle Joon", and I don't think any of us have to wonder if he will ever see him again. As much as I would have loved to see a Corrado/Tony reconciliation, or even a final showdown between the two, I loved that Tony recognizes that as senile and confused as his uncle or any made men might become, "the life" could still possibly hold a place somewhere in their diseased mind. Tony intrinsically knows that somehow "the life" is more personal, more intense, more cemented in the fiber of these men than any friend or family could ever be. Great bit of dialogue, done so subtly yet still powerful.


Some more thoughts: I think David Chase basically told all of the viewers who tune in each week for mob hits what he thinks of you. Phil Leotardo's gruesome ending Sunday night was the coup de gras for a season chock full of truly shocking displays of the grotesque. With only two exceptions I can think of, Philly's death was administered the same way all the hits have come this year. With a calculated cold efficiency common throughout all the hits, gunmen casually walked up on the intended target and pumped round after round into people. We then were treated to close-up shots of exploded eyeballs, heads exploding over plates of pasta and red sauce, gut shot women screaming for their fathers, and lifeless corpses twitching with each new bullet slamming into them. So what does David Chase think of you? For this I point you to last week's episode "The Blue Comet". Immediately after the two zips massacre Phil’s Russian cumare and her father, it cuts directly to a women getting her vaginations mouthified by some man or woman while another woman behind her caresses her enormous breasts. The zips’ American contact, Corky (shout-out?), is in the porno shop he presumably runs for the Family staring intently at the action on the screen. Just like all of you clamoring for more and more mob violence were staring at your screens not 2 seconds before. The graphic mob violence is simple pornography. Its obscenely graphic titillation for titillation’s sake in the eyes of David Chase and with that simple edit he called all of you perverts.



Looking back at the hits in the final season of the show, I'm noticing an interesting trend. Please remember, I didn't see the season opener "Sopranos Home Movies" so I may be off on this but if I remember what I read about it correctly Tony got picked up on a gun charge stemming from the gun he ditched during his mad scramble from the FBI raid on the Sacramoni home back in the Season 5 finale. One notable thing that seemed to be featured this year was how often the hitmen dropped their firearms at the scene, indeed making a point of doing so. Going from memory, and getting names from wikipedia, the hits this year were:

Bobby whacks Rene LaCours. (drops piece according to wiki)
Gerry the Hairdo getting it at the restaurant with Sil. (don't know if he did)
Doc Santoro doing his Paul Catsellano impression and getting it in the eye. (can't remember if the hitmen dropped their guns or not)
JT Dolan killed by Chrissey (I don't remember if he takes the gun or not)
Tony killed Chrissey. Fucker. (dropped peyote)
Sil garroted Carlo's cousin Burt. (dropped piano wire)
Dudes whacked Bobby. Fuckers. (dropped guns)
Danny Aiello's kid and some other guy (character names are Petey B. & Ray-Ray, I shit you not) did Sil. Mother Fuckers. (dropped guns)
Guy driving in from of the Bing! squished the motorcycle rider. (he may have dropped a load in his pants)
Yrena (Phil's cumare) (dropped guns)
Yrena's dad (Phil's cumare's dad) (dropped guns)
Walden whacked Phil Leotardo. Bye-Bye PopPop!! (dropped gun)


So is there any relevance to the discarding of guns and Mink's revelation that Tony is 80-90% likely to be indicted, quite possible for ditching a gun? Maybe it’s a version of the old "live by the gun, blah blah the blah" saying: You cannot escape your past murderous deeds, they will definitely be revisited upon you.


I cracked up HOARD at the way Agent Harris excitedly reacted to the news of Phil Leotardo's death. You gotta feel for this guy. He clearly did not sign up to do battle with the Taliban and spend his days watching video of Muslim fundamentalist terrorists, trying to get a bead on which one of a million guys who look the same to him is the real bad guy. Not too mention the job is literally killing him with intestinal parasites. That fellow agent he had his little tryst with...was SHE the Brooklyn source? She seemed pissed off for some reason and I think it may be because she feels he's going to get her snitch killed or he's getting too close to Tony. Whatever’s going on, all I know is FBI must stand for Fuck Buddies Inc.


Another great bit of true to form mafia culture: seeing "Uncle Pat" come visit Tony after Janice's tearful begging for Uncle Junior's money. Pat is an old-school Mafiosi, a good loyal soldier. Remember him and Beppy were trying to figure out a way to spring Junior out of his nursing home in "Remember When". I liked that when he came to sit with Tony and implore him to see Junior that he came with a suit on. Even at his advanced age, nearly double that of Tony's, he still respects that he is going to see the Boss and he gets natted up. This just another one of those little things that The Sopranos could always be relied upon to get right, and is one of those little things that really hooked me.


Great commentary on the changing face of America and of the strength of the mafia today when Butchie is talking to Phil on the cell phone. As the call goes on, with Butchie imploring that Phil come back and bring back some stability here, Butchie walks on oblivious to the direction he's going or what is around him. At the beginning of this scene, we're exposited that we're now in Little Italy and that the area has gone from 40 blocks now down to one square mile or some shit. Once Butchie's call is completed, and he now looks up to see where he is at, he finds he is a stranger in a strange land, far from home. True it’s only Chinatown and he knows how to get back to Little Italy but the message is there. I think it also represents Butchie's bewilderment at, and feeling of disassociation from, Phil. Unlike most of the posters here, I didn't think Phil threatened Butchie when he promised to meet up with him when he returned. I think the exact opposite, that it was a promise they would sit down and square everything out smoothly once he got back. Remember from Big Pussy's disappearance and the sudden alarm with which Paulie related a missing Carlo, these guys HATE when people go missing or break established routines. Nothing disrupts the regularity of business like the uneasiness setting in from guys going "off the reservation". Phil, being a fuckin Boss and going under, creates more anarchy and disruption than any Soprano clan attack could. He signed his own death warrant with that.


Carlo: I've liked Arthur Nascarella in The Cooler, Running Scared, and this real shitty low budget movie with Mira Sorvino and Mariah Carey. He was one of the latter-day crew members I really liked. Was it his cousin getting iced by Sil? Was it Jason getting busted and probably implicating his dad? Was it the "power vacuum" he mentioned at the beginning of the episode? Probably all of the above. I wonder how long he was a rat for or if he flipped and went under immediately after getting busted. If he's been wearing a wire for a while then he's got the goods on Tony. Shits his testimony alone places Tony at Fat Dom's murder as well as ordering that he be chopped up and his head dropped down a storm drain.



I'm still trying to figure out that look Carmela was murdering Tony with when he turned the session with AJ's shrink to himself. Was that an "Oh-oh, here we go again" thing, is she just that tired of hearing it, or was it because this was supposed to be about AJ and not him? Or is it something I'm totally missing?



Meadow & AJ, children absolutely MADE IN AMERICA, have definitely become carbon copies of the adult influences they grew up with. All this time Meadow seemed to be the one to escape, but she has willfully put the blinders on and decided that the Federal Government is a big bad institution that unfairly persecutes Italian-Americans. Tony's con job and Carmella's self delusion succeeded. The thing is though, I don't think Tony is happy about it. I think he KNOWS the truth and liked it a lot better when meadow did too. He seemed somehow disappointed in what she was saying. AJ looked like he could actually turn into a decent human being for a whole 15 minutes until his parents dangled something shiny in front of his face. New car? Cush Job? Model girlfriend? What terrorists? I also loved how when they sat down to talk him out of the Army, Tony asks AJ what "Rahooney" thought of him going of to war. When he reluctantly replies that she didn't like the idea, Tony all of a sudden celebrates this 16 year old girl's opinion like it matters and like he wasn't just summarily dismissing their relationship. Any port in a storm I guess.