Sopranos end with a whimper and a pizza

[+ purplekow]

I haven't been part of this much of an anti-climax since I started fucking men.

[+ purplekow]

I haven't been part of this much of an anti-climax since I started fucking men.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

I WOULD give a spoiler alert before you read this BUT there is nothing to spoil.

 

OMG. That was AWFUL. What upsets me most is that it sucked so much I can't think of a word more potent than awful right now.

 

I have just read some interesting posts on the HBO Forum. I think these people summed it up nicely.

 

http://boards.hbo.com/category.jspa?categoryID=2

 

David Chase is under the impression that he created something prolific here. Did he end with a blank screen to imply the audience was whacked? Did he end with a blank screen to imply Tony "never saw it coming" and he was shot in the head? Was there a bomb? Did Carmela and AJ get it too (breaking the rule of not harming family members)?

 

"Six Feet Under" had a creative approach with their ending. Every series I have seen end did so with some degree of creativity and effort. People may say that David Chase was being creative and innovative. I believe the show lost it when they had their long break. Contracts had to be honored and a series had to end. Chase OBVIOUSLY stopped caring sometime ago. I think he gave us, the audience, the finger with this ending. Maybe he didn't like the fact people were commenting on the shit he tried to pass off as a final season.

 

What the FUCK was this finale about? A cat that stares at dead people? An FBI employee that has disturbing chest hair? You should always put your car in park when at a gas station? A bowl of onion rings may very well cause you to die? OMG, that was GHASTLY!

 

If there is a movie I won't pay to see it. I will avoid anything with the name David Chase attached to it.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

I WOULD give a spoiler alert before you read this BUT there is nothing to spoil.

 

OMG. That was AWFUL. What upsets me most is that it sucked so much I can't think of a word more potent than awful right now.

 

I have just read some interesting posts on the HBO Forum. I think these people summed it up nicely.

 

http://boards.hbo.com/category.jspa?categoryID=2

 

David Chase is under the impression that he created something prolific here. Did he end with a blank screen to imply the audience was whacked? Did he end with a blank screen to imply Tony "never saw it coming" and he was shot in the head? Was there a bomb? Did Carmela and AJ get it too (breaking the rule of not harming family members)?

 

"Six Feet Under" had a creative approach with their ending. Every series I have seen end did so with some degree of creativity and effort. People may say that David Chase was being creative and innovative. I believe the show lost it when they had their long break. Contracts had to be honored and a series had to end. Chase OBVIOUSLY stopped caring sometime ago. I think he gave us, the audience, the finger with this ending. Maybe he didn't like the fact people were commenting on the shit he tried to pass off as a final season.

 

What the FUCK was this finale about? A cat that stares at dead people? An FBI employee that has disturbing chest hair? You should always put your car in park when at a gas station? A bowl of onion rings may very well cause you to die? OMG, that was GHASTLY!

 

If there is a movie I won't pay to see it. I will avoid anything with the name David Chase attached to it.

[latopdad]

I think you missed the whole point--

It was really a brilliant ending:

 

 

The point is that Chase has finally succeeded in getting us, the audience, to fully identify with Tony and his world - in which nothing can ever be totally safe.

[latopdad]

I think you missed the whole point--

It was really a brilliant ending:

 

 

The point is that Chase has finally succeeded in getting us, the audience, to fully identify with Tony and his world - in which nothing can ever be totally safe.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

>I think you missed the whole point--

>It was really a brilliant ending:

 

I think that's what Chase is hoping people believe. I respectfully submit the following:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

 

>The point is that Chase has finally succeeded in getting us,

>the audience, to fully identify with Tony and his world - in

>which nothing can ever be totally safe.

 

I pretty much new that being in organized crime doesn't foster a safe home life and a peaceful existence. Mr. Chase giving us a black screen is one way to end a painting, by throwing the pallet out the window.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

>I think you missed the whole point--

>It was really a brilliant ending:

 

I think that's what Chase is hoping people believe. I respectfully submit the following:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes

 

>The point is that Chase has finally succeeded in getting us,

>the audience, to fully identify with Tony and his world - in

>which nothing can ever be totally safe.

 

I pretty much new that being in organized crime doesn't foster a safe home life and a peaceful existence. Mr. Chase giving us a black screen is one way to end a painting, by throwing the pallet out the window.

[latopdad]

Well, just as a thought experiment, imagine the implications of other endings--

 

For example:

1. Tony dies--some one else takes over and life goes on.

 

2. Family members die but not Tony--same thing

 

3. Tony goes to jail--life goes on someone else takes over

 

 

So, it doesn't matter what happened to Tony--this is not a fairy tail or a Nancy Drew mystery--

 

Anyway, I can't think of how any other proposed ending would have been any better

 

Consider, for example the Godfather ending--the aging mafioso sitting lonely on his chair--but the whole world still goes on.

[latopdad]

Well, just as a thought experiment, imagine the implications of other endings--

 

For example:

1. Tony dies--some one else takes over and life goes on.

 

2. Family members die but not Tony--same thing

 

3. Tony goes to jail--life goes on someone else takes over

 

 

So, it doesn't matter what happened to Tony--this is not a fairy tail or a Nancy Drew mystery--

 

Anyway, I can't think of how any other proposed ending would have been any better

 

Consider, for example the Godfather ending--the aging mafioso sitting lonely on his chair--but the whole world still goes on.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

>imagine the implications of other endings

 

>1. Tony dies--some one else takes over and life goes on.

>

>2. Family members die but not Tony--same thing

>

>3. Tony goes to jail--life goes on someone else takes over

 

 

Well, with the ending we were given, if Chase is showing us nothing in Tony's world is safe then he is also showing us that there is no closure in life either? Years of therapy end because his therapist knee-jerk reacts to one study? We are to believe that AJ has made such a miraculous recovery that he goes from doing a Suicide Susie in the pool and LOATHING the world materialistic that he now reluctantly drives a very sassy car and SPEEDS through a school zone with no consequence to pick up his new trim?

 

>So, it doesn't matter what happened to Tony--this is not a

>fairy tail or a Nancy Drew mystery--

 

But what makes Fairy Tales classics and Nancy Drew stories re-readable is that they have a beginning, middle and end with character development.

 

>Anyway, I can't think of how any other proposed ending would

>have been any better

 

I guess an ending PERIOD would have been nice.

 

http://www.kansas.com/473/story/93007.html

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

>imagine the implications of other endings

 

>1. Tony dies--some one else takes over and life goes on.

>

>2. Family members die but not Tony--same thing

>

>3. Tony goes to jail--life goes on someone else takes over

 

 

Well, with the ending we were given, if Chase is showing us nothing in Tony's world is safe then he is also showing us that there is no closure in life either? Years of therapy end because his therapist knee-jerk reacts to one study? We are to believe that AJ has made such a miraculous recovery that he goes from doing a Suicide Susie in the pool and LOATHING the world materialistic that he now reluctantly drives a very sassy car and SPEEDS through a school zone with no consequence to pick up his new trim?

 

>So, it doesn't matter what happened to Tony--this is not a

>fairy tail or a Nancy Drew mystery--

 

But what makes Fairy Tales classics and Nancy Drew stories re-readable is that they have a beginning, middle and end with character development.

 

>Anyway, I can't think of how any other proposed ending would

>have been any better

 

I guess an ending PERIOD would have been nice.

 

http://www.kansas.com/473/story/93007.html

[JT Brooklyn]

IMHO..It was a good thing my Fav Character "Janice" got to make a Final Appearance last night! She was to me, the only thing that made the 45 MINS WORTH WATCHING!

 

Apparently she will get a nice "Widows Pension" out of all of this! She now can AFFORD to go to her Local Weight Watcher's in Jersey! She's already planning on her next Hubby! The Broad is a Survivour as Paulie would say! LOL

 

I for one got absolutely NADA out of this last Season! Except like all other's a Ridiculous Cable Bill! This calls for NO L O L !

 

x( x( x( x( x(

[JT Brooklyn]

IMHO..It was a good thing my Fav Character "Janice" got to make a Final Appearance last night! She was to me, the only thing that made the 45 MINS WORTH WATCHING!

 

Apparently she will get a nice "Widows Pension" out of all of this! She now can AFFORD to go to her Local Weight Watcher's in Jersey! She's already planning on her next Hubby! The Broad is a Survivour as Paulie would say! LOL

 

I for one got absolutely NADA out of this last Season! Except like all other's a Ridiculous Cable Bill! This calls for NO L O L !

 

x( x( x( x( x(

[Guest Merlin]

One explanation is that, in the end, producers were not so sure they wanted to burn their bridges and forclose a return or reunion. As is is, only Bobby and Chris died. Tony, Pauli, and the family are alive, Sil could recover, and the show could go on. If Tony had died, it would be hard to revive it. Notice that Bobby was killed because he was said to be the number three man in the gang, when surely Pauli was number three. The producers thought Bobby was more expendible if they choose to revive it. A show this popular must be very hard to give up.

[Guest Merlin]

One explanation is that, in the end, producers were not so sure they wanted to burn their bridges and forclose a return or reunion. As is is, only Bobby and Chris died. Tony, Pauli, and the family are alive, Sil could recover, and the show could go on. If Tony had died, it would be hard to revive it. Notice that Bobby was killed because he was said to be the number three man in the gang, when surely Pauli was number three. The producers thought Bobby was more expendible if they choose to revive it. A show this popular must be very hard to give up.

[Guest roadhoundnyc]

"An FBI employee that has disturbing chest hair?"

 

OK, that made me almost spit coffee all over my keyboard. I was truly

disturbed when I saw that shot of that guy in bed. One of those TOO MUCH

INFORMATION moments.

 

The point of this episode IMHO: Fuck you all! We aren't ending anything,

this is about the all mighty dollar....

 

I think there will be a movie or maybe even a spinoff series of some kind.

[Guest EWC]

>I haven't been part of this much of an anti-climax since I

>started fucking men.

>

To digress, I'm not clear from the above whether fucking men was a big anti-climax, or your experience prior to fucking men was anti-climactic; and the time since has not been. Just curious.

 

As to the other, didn't watch it.

[+ purplekow]

>>I haven't been part of this much of an anti-climax since I

>>started fucking men.

>>

>To digress, I'm not clear from the above whether fucking men

>was a big anti-climax, or your experience prior to fucking men

>was anti-climactic; and the time since has not been. Just

>curious.

>

>As to the other, didn't watch it.

 

 

Perhaps it would be better stated: Thankfully, since I started fucking men, I do not have not had to suffer this kind of anticlimax, other than this one. Clearer but not as pithy.

[GloriousGodfrey]

Here's an ending. Tony gets busted by the feds and ends up in Oz. Tell me that wouldnt make a good new combo series...

[+ purplekow]

Over the last few weeks there have been obvious and veiled references to many people who were assassinated. Kennedy was the name of the driver that forced Christopher off the road. Someone was gossiped about by calling them a Jackie Kennedy wannabe. Tony scarfed down a Lincoln log sandwich before saving his drowning son and that same son is shown later in a psychiatric facility watching one of those Lincoln commercials for sleep, your dreams are missing you. There were also references to Martin Luthur King, Caeser and last night when Janice told Junior her husband was dead. Unlce Junior's reply to Janice's "Bobby is dead" is "Shot at the Ambassador Hotel." With all this forshadowing of an assassination, why no payoff?

Were they all red herrings or was there a last minute reprieve for Tony Soprano?

[samhexum]

The iconic New Jersey strip club that was the model for the Bada Bing hangout in HBO’s hit show “The Sopranos” served its last drink on Sunday.

 

Satin Dolls in Lodi, N.J., was shuttered under a court order after New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino and the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control moved against the club.

 

A.J.’s Gentleman Club, which has the same owners, was also shut down.

 

Actors playing Garden State mobsters regularly filmed at the Route 17 jiggle joint, and memorials to James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini were erected there after the star’s untimely death in 2013.

 

Both clubs have to either sell or transfer their liquor licenses by Jan. 3, Porrino said.

 

Anthony Cardinalle, a convicted racketeer from Saddle River, is barred from having a liquor license.

 

But authorities alleged he continued to run the clubs despite that. They also allege that a large amount of cash flowing in and out of the business was not accounted for.

 

Other members of the Cardinalle family tried to retain ownership of the licenses and continued to operate the businesses, Porrino alleged.

 

On Nov. 20, the division’s director David Rible signed the order barring the Cardinalle’s involvement with the club.

 

“The Cardinalles may have wanted to keep the business in the family, but that’s not how it works. Their continued flouting of Alcoholic Beverage Control laws cannot and will not be tolerated,” Porrino said in a statement.

 

“Illegal activity was glorified at the ‘Bada Bing’ in the fictional world of Tony Soprano, but it has no place in modern-day New Jersey. It’s time to shut it down.”

 

In May 2017, the division charged the club with prostitution and lewd activity.

 

A 2011 consent order for Cardinalle’s company, Route 17 Entertainment, said Luceen Cardinalle, who was listed as the owner, had to turn over the licenses to her daughter, Loren.

 

The Cardinalles also had to pay $1.25 million in penalties.

 

“The Cardinalles, quite simply, have not played by the rules despite many opportunities to correct their behavior, and it’s time to get them out of the alcohol business once and for all,” Rible said.

 

In 1995, Anthony Cardinalle pleaded guilty to federal income tax evasion for not reporting cash payments from “gentleman’s clubs” in which he held undisclosed interests.

 

In 2013, he was indicted by the feds for involvement in a waste disposal company controlled by the Genovese crime family.

 

He pleaded guilty in December 2013 to racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit extortion. He spent 30 days in jail and was ordered to pay a fine and restitution.

 

Lodi police claim that Anthony Cardinalle continued to be the contact person for the club.

 

When the cops came to the club on a burglary report, he was the club’s representative.

 

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.3707018.1513613056!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/badabing19n-1-web.jpg