Don't Stop Believin!!

One of the most acclaimed and popular shows on HBO, The Sopranos, came to an end yesterday. After 8 glorious years, it was time to say good bye.  Although the show left a few viewers dissatisfied by its last season, but very few will question its "best ever" status. So it wasn't surprising to see every major news channel and publication talking about the Sopranos finale, and boy did it leave people divided....

I personally think that the creator David Chase did the right thing, by leaving it vague. People were going to be divided no matter what, there was no way he could have satisfied all the fans. So the best way is to follow your heart and in the process leave a few doors open, who knows there might be an opportunity for a Sopranos - Reunion Show or maybe a Movie.

For those who couldn't watch it and may not watch it and want to know what the hell am I talking about, can read the episode's summary here. Basically the show ends in a diner with Tony arriving first and he chooses the song, Don't Stop Believin' by Journey from the jukebox. As the song plays in the background, Tony keeps an eye at the door waiting for his family. The first one to arrive is his wife, followed by his son AJ. In the meanwhile a shady looking guy comes and sits at the bar, after a few minutes he walks over to the restroom. Meanwhile his daughter Meadow is trying to park her car outside, after a few tries she manages to park it and runs for the restaurant door. Just as we hear the sound of door open, the screen goes blank for a few moments and then the credits start rolling....

Now there are two things here, first a lot of people didn't like the way it ended, they wanted something concrete to come out of it. They wanted David Chase to tell them what happened, rather than leave them hanging and speculating. The other thing is whether Tony and his family gets killed at the end?

I'll tell you what I thought and then if you have seen the show, please feel free to leave your comments. I personally thought the ending was great. Like I mentioned before for David Chase this opens a lot of options and since people weren't going to be happy anyways so this was the best ending for him. It worked for me, because I would have hated to see Tony and his family die. I think the episode was shown as just another day in the life of Tony dealing with problems - whacking enemies, problem with feds, family drama etc., and yet he's the man who has not stopped believing and finally his problems seem to have worked out, his son is normal, his daughter is getting married and will go to a law school, his arch enemy is dead. So I think this was a normal conclusion.

The other school of thought which also makes sense, yet doesn't work for me is that he gets whacked in the end. If you guys remember in the season opener of this mini season, when Tony is boating with Bobby, he says "you don't really see it coming". Which is what happens here in the end, there is a build up so we all know something is going to happen. The shady guy walks into the restroom (reminding me of the scene from God Father) and few moments later, there is blank, nothing on the screen, which could signify that Tony was shot and died on the spot. Which basically tells us that no one in the mafia is safe and everyone has to die the same way, when they least expect it.

However controversies aside, I thought it was fitting finale to a great series and the tribute by HBO at the beginning of the show was pretty awesome too. Those of you who like mafia movies and drama should definitely get a hold of Sopranos DVD, it was one amazing ride!!