This Savage Art

What could have possibly satisfied the expectations of an audience that has dedicated itself to six seasons of a brilliant show with the blackest heart in the history of television? David Chase’s opus of us as he see us is the ultimate in social commentary. Not since Paddy Chayefsky or Budd Schulberg has a writer told an audience “you may not like it but this is the way I see it and this is the way it is.” The ones who cried for a greater body count when it got boring or to get rid of the mother way back when or to put an end to the soap opera romanticism are angry and dissatisfied but that is to be expected. You can’t please everyone and guess what, Chase and his team of writers, directors, crew members and actors never tried. No wonder some are pissed.

Theories abound. One that was brought to my attention by my girlfriend, a serious meta-researcher and internet detective, was that the final diner scene had people in it who had yet to settle a score with Tony especially “The Man in the Member’s Only Jacket” (I think this originated on the HBO boards):

Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil’s brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the brothas at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?).

That actor is Paolo Colandrea. He is credited as “The Man in the Member’s Only Jacket” and as far as I can see he is not credited in Episode 72 on the season 6 DVD (not on IMDb either) so as interesting as the theory may be from that character’s perspective I don’t know if it sticks and if that is the theory, where’s the Russian from the Pine Barrens episode or a friend or relative of the dancer that Ralphie killed? It could easily be written off as an internet rumor.

I have to say I was initially thrown off by the final scene. It comes off of the Uncle Jr. scene which has Tony leaving the facility that is keeping an eye his uncle. We jump right to the diner where Tony is dressed in different clothes to infer it’s later and he changed. Then, by the way of a cut, Tony looks at an empty seat then he appears in the seat as if he is looking at himself, his life from another person’s perspective. When I was watching it I jumped, “Oh no. He really is Tony’s coma-induced self/businessman from Episode 67 and this is some sort of fantasy.” That was quickly squashed after Carmela enters and they talk about Carlo Gervasi flipping and we are back in Sopranoland. Phhhheeeeewwww, that was close.

And with the cleverest/cruelest joke ever played on an audience Chase pulls the plug on us, literally, by hard cutting to black at that pivotal moment. Leaving it up to each and every one of us to piss and moan at our water coolers and on our blogs about what happened and more importantly what didn’t. His little mischievous game worked. We’re all talking.

I’m not sure it really matters in the end what everyone else thinks. If you stayed on board for all six seasons you got access to some insightful and unpredictable writing. The Sopranos, like life, doesn’t give us the answers, we have to find those out on our own. Chase gave us a gift though, our own individual ending. Those weaned on the tight and neat nature of network television are cursing up and down. As unsatisfying as it is to some, one day we might wake up in the middle of the night at 3:00 in the morning with our own ending, or maybe not. That’s the way Chase played it. Frustrating, perplexing but never boring. Stanley Kubrick is probably looking down and giving Chase a crooked smile and a quiet nod. Like his body of work, The Sopranos settles in and that’s where it takes over and never leaves. There are no simple answers but the answers are there.

Either way, I knew I was in good hands when I climbed on board and have no regrets for staying for the duration.