Because he died in real life, he was assasinated. If he was still alive, it was open. With Gandolfini around, the show could’ve started again bringing back no other actors. Without him, they couldn’t restart it with everyone else back.
More Soprano Talk
- Thread starter zappaa
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Our pediatricians recommend St Barnabas, we end up there most of the time now.
Hospitals are just good awful places to be, I don’t care where you go
Best show ever imho. Pretty sure Chase has said that the idea of the ending was to be left to the interpretation of the audience. I am sure he was also thinking of a movie pay off. Would have been huge. God I miss watching Gandolfini. Gone way too soon. What a talent.
My Sister did her R.N. training at Mountainside many years ago.As a rookie,she was told one night,to bring a dead body on a gurney, to their morgue.Late at night,body covered with a sheet,no one around, dimly lit corridors.Halfway there the "body moans and sits up".What ever you think her reaction was,is most likely correct.(I know what mine would have been).Nurses came out of no where ,laughing and yelling "welcome to the club", or its equivalent. Initiation over but never forgotten.
This is the best answer.. But they left it open ended, so that people could make the ending whatever they wanted it to be. And to allow the possibility of future movies. Who wouldn’t pay money to see a sopranos movie these days. But unfortunately James Gandolfinis untimely demise put an end to those possibilities.
My neighbor was Dr on sight there and she told me to go to St Barnabas as well especially card is issues. Nurses way way overworked in cardiac unit. Service was terrible when I was there....beyond terrible which i made sure i tikd them on way out. but great for deliveries very satisfied with my wife and child care there
Whacked, absolutely. Severe head trauma, they might have taken him to UMDNJ trauma center in Newark.
Tony lives. The entire series was about a man with 2 families. With his mob family dead and the war over, Tony is left with his home family. After war comes peace (at least for a while). The made man is gives way to the family man. Life goes on.
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Not to get off point, but after now living in FL the past 3 years I’m convinced that the best way to catch an infectious disease is to get checked into a hospital. Is there a better place for bacteria to meet ?
Have heard too many stories about poor outcomes at FL hospitals, and witnessed one up close with my Dad’s passing here in 08. If any medical event happens to my wife or me beyond Normal wear and tear, I am heading to NJ/NY/PA/Boston for surgery. Gainesville is a candidate for minor procedures, maybe.
Sorry for the rant but zaps comment got me fired up.
Michael C Hall (Dexter Morgan)?
Brain Cranston (Walter White)?
Great call... Dexter, another show with a "controversial" ending.
Breaking Bad might have had the all time best last show finale, leading up to the epic final scene !
Sons of Anarchy another tremendous final show with epic final scene.
PS- Any Michael Imperioli (Christopher) fans, he co stars in Amazon Prime's 'Mad Dogs' , an original 10 part series . 4 friends from Chicago go down to Belize to party with their good friend who hit it big and bought a mansion on the beach. Action packed, strange plot twists, gorgeous girls, and lots of drugs. Binge watch worthy.
Sons of Anarchy another tremendous final show with epic final scene.
PS- Any Michael Imperioli (Christopher) fans, he co stars in Amazon Prime's 'Mad Dogs' , an original 10 part series . 4 friends from Chicago go down to Belize to party with their good friend who hit it big and bought a mansion on the beach. Action packed, strange plot twists, gorgeous girls, and lots of drugs. Binge watch worthy.
The list of people who meet this criteria is long enough to be a drinking game.
Off the top of my head: Lucille Ball, Carroll O'Connor, Raymond Burr (Ironside), Robin Williams, Bea Arthur, Dick van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore (her show, not Dick's), Gabe Kaplan, Lee Majors, Bob Newhart (twice), Barbara Eden, Jerry Seinfeld, Kelsey Grammer...
Off the top of my head: Lucille Ball, Carroll O'Connor, Raymond Burr (Ironside), Robin Williams, Bea Arthur, Dick van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore (her show, not Dick's), Gabe Kaplan, Lee Majors, Bob Newhart (twice), Barbara Eden, Jerry Seinfeld, Kelsey Grammer...
Tremendous talent. He made playing Tony seemed so damned easy. Met him at Greasy Tony's West in Tempe after the 2005 Insight Bowl. Was very disappointed that he refused my request to have a photo taken with him.
Tony did not get whacked in the finale......When have you ever heard of a mobster getting killed in front of his family? It never happens....
The screen went blank as we no longer had access to Tony's life....
The guy in the jacket "Members Only" (great title) was to reflect Tony's attentiveness to the risk of getting whacked
Had James Gandolofini lived, I'm sure a movie or a Pay Per View type of event would have occurred.
One of my all time favorite shows...
The screen went blank as we no longer had access to Tony's life....
The guy in the jacket "Members Only" (great title) was to reflect Tony's attentiveness to the risk of getting whacked
Had James Gandolofini lived, I'm sure a movie or a Pay Per View type of event would have occurred.
One of my all time favorite shows...
Thanks for that link. I haven't really thought much about it since the time of that episode.. but apparently I agree with Chase.. it is not the point.. alive or dead... I always thought it was a commentary on the paranoia.
And even the Tony POV going to black.. does that mean he watched himself get shot in the head? Watched his family get shot before he got shot? Maybe he thought the guy was a threat but came out of the bathroom and was just a guy.., just a customer who recognized him and his nefarious notoriety... maybe it was someone whose family he had killed...
going to black probably meant nothing.. and everything..
All I know is I now want a scene where Paulie is arguing with Paulie Jr. if Tony is at Hackensack or Clara Maass!!!!
I was thinking about that list of Dexter and Breaking Bad.. I did immediately think of Kelsey Grammer.. and Better Call Saul..
..but perhaps the best way to think about this topic is to try to come up with an exaple where teh main lead was replaced and the show went on.
Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen for Ashton Kucher?
The Office? James Spader for Steve Carrel?
Here's a link with other examples..
Jimmy was such a good actor and yet a natural for the part. His mannerisms were so perfect that be really didn't have to act but just be himself and fit the part. He passed away way too soon. One has to believe that if he were alive today some type of a movie or sequel would be done much like the Godfather series.
Always up for a Sopranos discussion.
He’s neither alive or dead. Show ended, story is over, that world no longer exists. I love the idea that Sopranos is happening in some parallel universe and that the show was just our window into it and it is ongoing even without us watching but that’s not the case. Over. Done. Fin.
Chase has said “it’s all there” which I believe he means literally. It is all there. Nothing left to figure out, no more conslusions to draw. Think about it, that show was never about twists and turns and reveals the way that say a Lost or Mr Robot, where there is stuff to figure out. It’s about a story and these characters. And when it cuts to black and the story is over, the story is over.
I get the Tony, Bell ring, Tony pov theory, it makes sense, but I’m still not convinced. Chase was very much into style, and that cadence built a very nice rhythm and tension for the last scene. I don’t necessarily believe that it meant anything though (same with the oranges - Tony is holding a bottle of OJ during the attempted wacking in s1, and is peeling an orange early on in the finale - homage to The Godfather, but not a “clue” in my opinion).
Related to OP, Christopher is the one character worthy of a spin off. His arc from beginning to end is interesting. As Tony put it “capable” but couldn’t get out of his own way.
He’s neither alive or dead. Show ended, story is over, that world no longer exists. I love the idea that Sopranos is happening in some parallel universe and that the show was just our window into it and it is ongoing even without us watching but that’s not the case. Over. Done. Fin.
Chase has said “it’s all there” which I believe he means literally. It is all there. Nothing left to figure out, no more conslusions to draw. Think about it, that show was never about twists and turns and reveals the way that say a Lost or Mr Robot, where there is stuff to figure out. It’s about a story and these characters. And when it cuts to black and the story is over, the story is over.
I get the Tony, Bell ring, Tony pov theory, it makes sense, but I’m still not convinced. Chase was very much into style, and that cadence built a very nice rhythm and tension for the last scene. I don’t necessarily believe that it meant anything though (same with the oranges - Tony is holding a bottle of OJ during the attempted wacking in s1, and is peeling an orange early on in the finale - homage to The Godfather, but not a “clue” in my opinion).
Related to OP, Christopher is the one character worthy of a spin off. His arc from beginning to end is interesting. As Tony put it “capable” but couldn’t get out of his own way.
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So we know how it ends, then. I meant his own series, sort of a sopranos reimagined with Christopher as the main character instead of Tony. not a continuation of series that already exists.
I hate hospitals too, pretty much everybody does. With one exception.
Memorial Sloane Kettering on the upper East side. Despite being there over several days for a relative in serious condition, the overall experience was amazingly good. Great even. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.
More importantly, Don't Stop Believing became a huge hit.... for a 2nd time and is now the ultimate drunk karaoke song getting butchered in Korean joints everywhere to this day
I actually didn’t either until I watched the series for the second time a few years ago.
Phil Leotardo got whacked at the gas station while with his family... and that happened at the very end also.
So, I will chime in, as I was mentioned a couple of times in this thread. First of all, and not to disappoint, but of the myriad things that Jim and I would talk about, the ending to the show was something that I don't believe we ever discussed. I always just figured that the ending was whatever the individual viewer decided it was. Nothing more...nothing less. Just like life, we are not always afforded the luxury of closure.
For the poster who met Jim at Greasy Tony's in Tempe, I too was there. Honestly, I don't remember Jim denying you a photo. However, just because I don't recall, certainly does not mean it didn't happen. In my experience Jim was always incredibly gracious and willing to stop for a picture at almost any time for anyone. We left for the game very early that morning and you may have just caught a very sleepy Jim Gandolfini.
Lastly, I just want to make a comment about the earlier post that said (and I'm paraphrasing) all Jim had to do was step into the roll and play himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jim was almost the antithesis of Tony Soprano. Jim was extraordinarily bright, a voracious reader, and one of the kindest, most giving most gentle people I will ever know. Jim had to work his *** off, on a daily basis, to transform himself into the character of Tony Soprano. It was the fact that he was so brilliant at his craft that made it seem natural and seamless. Believe me, transforming into that dark character was not easy and definitely not a simple feat.
Wow...longest post I've ever written
For the poster who met Jim at Greasy Tony's in Tempe, I too was there. Honestly, I don't remember Jim denying you a photo. However, just because I don't recall, certainly does not mean it didn't happen. In my experience Jim was always incredibly gracious and willing to stop for a picture at almost any time for anyone. We left for the game very early that morning and you may have just caught a very sleepy Jim Gandolfini.
Lastly, I just want to make a comment about the earlier post that said (and I'm paraphrasing) all Jim had to do was step into the roll and play himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jim was almost the antithesis of Tony Soprano. Jim was extraordinarily bright, a voracious reader, and one of the kindest, most giving most gentle people I will ever know. Jim had to work his *** off, on a daily basis, to transform himself into the character of Tony Soprano. It was the fact that he was so brilliant at his craft that made it seem natural and seamless. Believe me, transforming into that dark character was not easy and definitely not a simple feat.
Wow...longest post I've ever written
Out of curiosity, who was your teammate?.Just his first name. Thanks. Might have been a roommate of mine too.