Everything Hits At Once

I have a hard time keeping up with everyone's journal these days, so I don't know if this world has been playing the Sopranos countdown game all spring like the rest of the internet, and I don't know if there were tons of people already talking about the ending or not, but here's my opinion on it--which is worth absolutely nothing.

Even though I knew the last episode was coming, I think it took a while for it to really hit home. Today is the first day in like eight years where I can't look forward to another episode coming out someday (even if there was always a long delay between seasons). And I find that sad.

Over the past few seasons there has been a growing number of people who've made comments about the quality slipping or the show not being as good. Maybe they even trotted out the super-lame, overused "jump the shark" phrase. I've never been one of those people. Those people are mostly idiots. Go back and watch the first season. Not much has changed in the show, and the quality certainly hasn't slipped. Right up to the last episode it was still full of tiny details that made it great. The series always had it's annoying moments (like extended dream sequences), but it remained a consistently good show. If anything, the plots got slightly better after Tony's mom died and Uncle Junior became a minor character.

In the end, consisted is the best way to describe the show. Every episode had it's good points. There were plenty of quirky, droll moments. And you could count on a couple of shocking turns each season. The show never seemed to get completely lost for a long stretch (unlike Six Feet Under, which turned into a soap opera for a while). It's quite possibly the best TV drama ever made (though HBO's own The Wire is probably even better, even if it isn't as popular).

If I were going to make one complaint about the show it would be the long, long, long breaks. From what I've read, it's not because they were so busy coming up with great twists and turns in the plot. It's because they were busy doing nothing and because David Chase usually had to be pressed into writing again. I think that might have had some negative effects. For one, the viewers were waiting for a grand finale that couldn't possibly be achieved. Another thing is that it was hard to care about the show towards the end. When you go a year or two between seasons (or, in this case, a year break midseason before the final 9 episodes), you start to forget things and maybe lose interest. Personally, I'd gotten to the point where I wasn't on the edge of my seat waiting for something new (unlike with The Wire), and there was really no emotional impact when main characters started to die (unlike with Six Feet Under).

As for the somewhat controversial final episode, I may be in the minority, because I liked it. It could have been better. The show itself was fine (although I wouldn't have complained about more killing), but the ending was a bit annoying. [SPOILER COMING] Not that I mind the fact that Tony lived. That's actually what I wanted to happened. With the direction they chose, I just wish it would have ended with them sitting down to eat and the camera pulling back and that's it instead of the weird cut to black. The shows creators have always claimed this is a show about family, with the mafia as a backdrop, so it made sense to end it with Tony and his family together and having a happy moment, with the trial possibly looming in the future.

What I enjoyed is how the show included a lot of odd little moments that have been characteristic all along. Such as:
A) The way Phil got ran over.
B) Paulie with his tanning reflector.
C) Paulie complaining about his tough year and then opening his pants like Al Bundy.
D) AJ, once again getting together with a hot chick who inexplicably likes funny-looking pudgy guys, and then blowing up his car.

Things I might complain about:
A) Not enough emotion involving Bobby's funeral, though I did like that all the Feds were there.
B) Janis and Junior both survived.
C) That the guy who got Phil didn't make a comment first so we could see Phil panic and realize what was happening.
D) In general, I didn't like all the smoke and mirrors, especially at the end, designed to make you think that something big was going to happen, even though it didn't. That was kind of silly. They should have just played it straight.

In conclusion, I can't even imagine another show this good coming along. And there's only one more season of The Wire. And there is really nothing else out there even on this level. Nothing. And I don't see John From Cincinnati changing that.