- Dec 15, 2002
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I contend that Sopranos is the single greatest piece of American art ever made, although I admit to be a bit of a biased fan. But about that final scene...when it first aired, I was convinced that Tony doesn't die and that the window to the store just closed and we were left to guess on our own what happens in that world when the window we are looking in closes. It goes on and on and on and on...
But then a few years later, a guy created a website explaining in very exact detail why Tony Soprano did, in fact, get murdered in the final scene. It changed my mind...I fully accepted that the Members Only guy came out of the bathroom at Holstens and shot Tony Soprano, which immediately ended his consciousness and the story ended. He didn't know what happened and neither did we. Here's the story if you haven' read it...it's gospel: https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/1147-2/
He even accidentally slipped and called it a "death scene" in an interview with the guys who wrote the Sopranos book. So, yeah...Tony Soprano died in the final scene.
Or did he?
Answer: Yes and No. And it's not just "he didn't die on camera so he didn't die". He actually died on camera, that's when it went black. But...that's not the ACTUAL death scene. It's a dream, and Tony is having to witness it. Over and over. For eternity.
Remember...the scene starts out dark and he walks in, and you hear the Little Feat song "All That You Dream" playing in the background exactly when he steps foot in the door. It shows his face, then shows the scene he's looking at, then a closeup of Tony's face, and then it's a jump cut to him sitting there. Very jumpy and awkward, right?
If you'll recall, the entire series opens up with Tony going into an MRI machine and Carmella telling him, "You are going to Hell when you die."
Then, jump to S2 E9: From Where To Eternity, where Chris Moltisanti is shot and tells Tony and Paulie that he went to Hell and saw his father there. Hell was an Irish bar where his dad plays cards every night and loses every hand, and he has to relive the same night over and over forever. He tells them that Mikey Palmice sent a message: 3 o'clock. The 3 o'clock thing I think is a bit vague but might refer to a specific detail, but don't get bogged down. The point is that Chris saw his dad in Hell, and it was like a dream, and his dad had to relive the same thing every night over and over.
"...it goes on and on and on and on..."
So...the final scene of The Sopranos was Tony's death. But it wasn't the actual moment when it happened. Tony has to witness his own death over and over, which is what happens when he walks into Holstens. He's witnessing the scene, setup like so many of the previous dream sequences we watched throughout the series.
We can get into who ordered the hit and why separately (there's definite hints at who does it in the episode), however that's a different conversation to an explanation of that final scene. David Chase has said repeatedly over the years that "its' all there if you look close enough". He also has expressed admiration for 2001: A Space Odyssey which uses the exact same artistic tool as well as David Lynch's Mulholland Drive that uses a similar jump cut. He actually uses the jump cut himself in S3 E4 Employee Of The Month during Melfi's dream sequence when it shows her looking into the reception area of her office in the exact same way. It shows her opening the door and then it jumps to her looking back at herself from the soda machine.
Oddly enough, that dream scene is shot in the same artistic style as the Holsten's scene.
It's high minded art, and David Chase uses philosophical existentialism perfectly here. It's Schrodinger's Cat...he dies, but he doesn't die. Or, he lives forever, but he dies over and over every night.
It goes on and on and on and on...
But then a few years later, a guy created a website explaining in very exact detail why Tony Soprano did, in fact, get murdered in the final scene. It changed my mind...I fully accepted that the Members Only guy came out of the bathroom at Holstens and shot Tony Soprano, which immediately ended his consciousness and the story ended. He didn't know what happened and neither did we. Here's the story if you haven' read it...it's gospel: https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/1147-2/
He even accidentally slipped and called it a "death scene" in an interview with the guys who wrote the Sopranos book. So, yeah...Tony Soprano died in the final scene.
Or did he?
Answer: Yes and No. And it's not just "he didn't die on camera so he didn't die". He actually died on camera, that's when it went black. But...that's not the ACTUAL death scene. It's a dream, and Tony is having to witness it. Over and over. For eternity.
Remember...the scene starts out dark and he walks in, and you hear the Little Feat song "All That You Dream" playing in the background exactly when he steps foot in the door. It shows his face, then shows the scene he's looking at, then a closeup of Tony's face, and then it's a jump cut to him sitting there. Very jumpy and awkward, right?
If you'll recall, the entire series opens up with Tony going into an MRI machine and Carmella telling him, "You are going to Hell when you die."
Then, jump to S2 E9: From Where To Eternity, where Chris Moltisanti is shot and tells Tony and Paulie that he went to Hell and saw his father there. Hell was an Irish bar where his dad plays cards every night and loses every hand, and he has to relive the same night over and over forever. He tells them that Mikey Palmice sent a message: 3 o'clock. The 3 o'clock thing I think is a bit vague but might refer to a specific detail, but don't get bogged down. The point is that Chris saw his dad in Hell, and it was like a dream, and his dad had to relive the same thing every night over and over.
"...it goes on and on and on and on..."
So...the final scene of The Sopranos was Tony's death. But it wasn't the actual moment when it happened. Tony has to witness his own death over and over, which is what happens when he walks into Holstens. He's witnessing the scene, setup like so many of the previous dream sequences we watched throughout the series.
We can get into who ordered the hit and why separately (there's definite hints at who does it in the episode), however that's a different conversation to an explanation of that final scene. David Chase has said repeatedly over the years that "its' all there if you look close enough". He also has expressed admiration for 2001: A Space Odyssey which uses the exact same artistic tool as well as David Lynch's Mulholland Drive that uses a similar jump cut. He actually uses the jump cut himself in S3 E4 Employee Of The Month during Melfi's dream sequence when it shows her looking into the reception area of her office in the exact same way. It shows her opening the door and then it jumps to her looking back at herself from the soda machine.
Oddly enough, that dream scene is shot in the same artistic style as the Holsten's scene.
It's high minded art, and David Chase uses philosophical existentialism perfectly here. It's Schrodinger's Cat...he dies, but he doesn't die. Or, he lives forever, but he dies over and over every night.
It goes on and on and on and on...
