News / Entertainment
“The Sopranos” Ends Eight Year Run with Class
The eight year run of “The Sopranos” ended on Sunday without the clean hit many felt would come. No apocalyptic bloodbath, no hiding behind the government in the witness protection program, in short, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that happened in the show’s final episode that would have taken away from its brilliance over the past eight years.
Hailed by TV Guide as the fifth greatest show to hit television, “The Sopranos” ended its run in the same manner that led to it winning 18 Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes, true to itself.
While there was the execution death of rival mob boss Phil Leotardo at a gas station, the eerie absence of chaos throughout the hour left many sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for something that would never come. For those fans who have invested eight years of their lives following Tony Soprano and the underworld of New Jersey mobsters, the final episode offered no concrete ending, no final exhale, nothing to suggest that Tony and his boys won’t be on next week. In a sense it remained true to itself. David Chase, the man responsible for creating cable televisions most successful show, didn’t cave in to temptation, he respected his faithful viewer’s enough not to insult them with a “Scarface” ending or a “Goodfellas” wrap up.
Of course there were the few scenes that brought some sense of closure; Bobby Bacala’s funeral, Tony visiting a dying Silvio Dante in the hospital, and A.J.’s decision to drop plans for the Army and pursue film but these scenarios could have happened in episode 46 rather than 86 and it wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary.
Now that its over Tony can rest easy, having allowed his family’s business be filmed for the past eight year’s like a Fox reality show he can go back to the more comfortable life of being an enigma rather than an Emmy winner.
