No End in This End To ‘The Sopranos'

After eight years and 86 episodes, "The Sopranos" creator David Chase can't be accused of being explicit.

Sure, the Brooklyn boss Phil Leotardo stopped a moving car with his skull in the series' finale last night, thereby freeing Tony Soprano from the expectation that he would be hit next. But little else was settled with any certainty.

Those viewers who have remained loyal to Tony Soprano and his crew through the years have come to expect a heavy dose of symbolism, metaphor, and other dramatic devices from Mr. Chase and his team of writers. "Less talking, more whacking" was an oft-heard rejoinder on couches across America each Sunday night. But those who took each episode not as a mob movie but rather a piece in the puzzle found added pleasure in the minutia, and enhanced humanity in each of the characters.

Still, not many fans can be satisfied with the outcome of the series after eight years of emotional investment. The big question coming into this series finale was: Will Tony die? Well, he didn't, which must lead one to wonder if all of the murdering, stealing, and lying wasn't somehow validated.

But beyond that, when considering all of the peripheral characters we have come to love and hate, where was the beef? What of Carmela's self-hatred, of Anthony Jr's festering clinical depression, of Paulie Gaultieri's fragile loyalty? What of the impending indictment, and of the rat Carlo? What of the concept of psychoanalysis, on which the show was founded?

In the end, there was no end. In the final moments of the show, as a nefarious-looking trucker sat at the bar as Tony and his wife and kids ordered dinner, Mr. Chase had his viewing minions in the palm of his hand. Was this the moment? Was Tony finally to answer for his crimes? Mr. Chase certainly wanted us to think so, as he has for years. But, like so many times before — nothing happened. Perhaps this was his message to us: The suspicious looks, the worried minds, the close calls —the Sopranos will live with them forever, and that is their punishment.

But for fans, the punishment was being led down the path of no resistance for a final time. All appeared well in Sopranoland as the screen went black, but those who know these characters know better. Life is never as great or as terrible as it seems. But figuring that out is not why we watch television.

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