The Sopranos

Since I still don't have my computer (I should get it back in time for my next post), and not much computer time, I'll spend this post in a bit of levity, which is always good.



I was very disappointed in the Sopranos finale. It's funny that a lot of people, I hear, were disappointed with the Seinfeld finale some years ago--but I loved it. It had the selfish characters in jail, getting their just deserts. It was perfect.

I hated the Sopranos finale though. I thought it was, forgive the expression, a "copout". I hear that most people are disappointed like me, but you can always get some in the the intellectual crowd who say things like "it ended ambiguously", which is, they say, appropriate. They explain that Tony always lived in Purgatory, and so it is good that he ended the show in Purgatory--not in heaven, and not in hell.

I can understand why they didn't want Tony to get whacked. This way, they can do a sequel or a movie, and so on. But something big should have happened to the principles. Yes, Tony is likely to be indicted, as we learned. He could be killed any day. He could even have been killed at that last dinner out.

The old Hollywood formula, though, is that crime doesn't pay. This principle holds true in great literature, too. I think something major should have happened to Tony, or his family. Or, they should have had a narrow escape that made them regret the life they have invited on themselves.

I'm not just talking about a "moral," "just" ending tied up in ribbons and bows. I'm also speaking about drama. The drama in the piece was unbearable, which was good--but it ended with a whimper. Nothing happened. It sucked.

What do you think?

Rock