TV show 'The Sopranos' is heading for a finale. Washington Post reports:
Final Look at 'The Sopranos' Characters
By JAKE COYLE
The Associated Press
Monday, June 11, 2007; 3:32 AM
NEW YORK -- The eruption heard across the country Sunday night at
10:03 p.m. EDT: Collective exclamations of "What?" "Are you kidding
me?" and " $&!?"
The choose-your-own-adventure ending of "The Sopranos" left endless
loose ends that seemed to parody the typical audience expectations for
a series finale. If you were bothered by the never-heard-from-again
Russian who escaped assassination in the Pine Barrens, well, you're
probably not very happy now.
Meanwhile, "Sopranos" creator David Chase was in France, unreachable
to all press, according to an HBO publicist. You might call it a safe
house, far away from the giant hit he just ordered on "Sopranos"
watchers.
But as ambiguous as the conclusion of the HBO drama was, the 86th
episode _ titled "Made in America" _ still left us with final,
indelible images of the main characters.
TONY SOPRANO: Many expected Tony to die, but the mob boss managed to
live through the episode; whether he lives much past that is a matter
of subjectivity. Were the shady-looking characters hanging around the
diner in the final scene there to kill Tony? Were they undercover
cops? Neither? With a likely indictment hanging over his head, our
last impression of Tony (James Gandolfini) was of a relatively
peaceful family man who had come to terms with many of his headaches,
including Uncle Junior (whom he had disavowed after Junior shot him)
and therapy (which he disavowed after Dr. Melfi ended their sessions).
He showed interest in both in the finale. His kids continue to
disappoint, but perhaps not too much. Any judgment of Tony's lasting
mental state, though, would take pages and pages, and still leave
unresolved issues.
PHIL LEOTARDO: In the battle of Tony vs. Phil, New Jersey vs. New
York, Tony won. Phil (Frank Vincent) met his fate at a gas station
where he was shot, and then had his skull accidentally run over for
good measure. Tony was able to turn Leotardo's crew after even they
acknowledged that the New York boss had gone "too far" in his war.
Tony blamed the "tension" partly on Leotardo's inherited insecurity
from the deceased New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, a veiled
reference to Johnny Sack's sensitivity to his wife's weight. As
always, slight comments linger, even beyond the grave.
A.J. SOPRANO: Tony's son was his old self. He didn't kill himself, his
dad or figure prominently in the mob war fallout. Instead, A.J.
(Robert Iler) griped about America and quoted "Yeets." He accidentally
burned his SUV to a crisp, but also finally kissed his model friend
Rhiannon. He decided he wanted to join the Army, but was dissuaded
when his parents got him a job on a movie, which was put into
production after "Danny" Baldwin passed a script to Tony. That future
seemed no more likely to last for A.J. than any other, but it was he
who warmed his family in the final scene by quoting Tony in wanting to
"remember the times that were good."
MEADOW SOPRANO: Tony's daughter (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) mainly remained on
the sidelines in the finale, as she had for much of the season. She
and Patrick Parisi are headed for marriage, and he might be getting
her a job at his law firm once she's completed law school. When Tony
pressed her on why she wasn't still going to medical school, Meadow
said she became interested in law only after seeing the police badger
her family _ perhaps furthering Tony's guilt. We also learned that
Meadow is an absolutely terrible parallel parker.
AGENT DWIGHT HARRIS: We learned more about the FBI agent (Matt
Servitto) in the final episode than in all those before it: His job is
hurting his relationship, and he's having an affair with another
agent. Harris also supplied Tony with the approximate location of
Leotardo. Working terrorism, he clearly misses the more
understandable, exciting world of the Mafia. When told of Leotardo's
death, he cheered: "We're gonna win this thing!" There were, though,
several reveals of FBI surveillance on Tony, including phone taps. And
Carlo Gervasi was rumored to have flipped after his son was arrested
for selling ecstasy.
CARMELA SOPRANO: Carmela (Edie Falco) remained a faithful wife to Tony
and was seen flipping through real estate brochures, suggesting real
estate remained her devotion. She also grown tired of Tony's use of
his depression as a crutch _ similar to how Tony viewed Christopher
Moltisanti's alcoholism. When Tony spoke to A.J.'s therapist about the
hurt his mother caused, Carmela's eyes rolled.
PAULIE "WALNUTS" GUALTIERI: The Soprano soldier (Tony Sirico) proved
both his allegiance to Tony and his deep distrust of felines. A cat
adopted by the crew that sat and stared at a photo of Christopher
particularly bugged Paulie, who thought it might signify a "jinx"
following Christopher's death. Though Paulie was suspected of
cooperating with the New York family, he proved loyal to Tony. When
Tony offered Paulie Carlo's job, Paulie hesitated, but eventually took
it. In between, he showed he was feeling his age, and was haunted by
sighting of the Virgin Mary _ in the Bada Bing, of all places.
SILVIO DANTE: After being shot last week on orders from Leotardo,
Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) was only shown briefly laid up unconscious
in a hospital bed, his wife quietly filing his toenails. No mention
was made of any recovery for Tony's second in command.
JANICE SOPRANO: Tony's sister and the wife of the late Bobby Bacala
was shown in mourning, but feeling relatively resilient. Janice (Aida
Turturro) joked to Tony: "I need to watch my weight. I need to snag
another husband."
CORRADO "JUNIOR" SOPRANO: Tony had long abandoned his increasingly
senile uncle and former head of the family after Junior (Dominic
Chianese) accidentally shot Tony at the start of the sixth season. But
Tony visited Junior at what appeared to be a state-run old-age home,
to tell him to leave his money (if he can remember where he buried it)
to Bacala's children. Junior didn't recognize Tony; when Tony reminded
Junior that he once ran Northern New Jersey with Tony's father, Junior
replied: "We did? That's nice."
DR. JENNIFER MELFI: Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) was a no-show in the
finale after her abrupt termination of therapy with Tony in the
penultimate episode. Tony appeared to use A.J.'s therapist as a Melfi
stand-in, divulging, "You see, I never could please my mother." You
can take the mobster out of therapy, but you can't take therapy out of
the mobster.
