Dear Mr. Chase

(SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU MISSED "THE SOPRANOS" FINALE AND YOU DON"T WANT THE ENDING SPOILED, STOP READING!)

Three cheers for an ending to "The Sopranos" that will keep fans debating, loving, hating, analyzing for generations – or until "The Sopranos" movie.

HBO.COM

For those who saw the show, the last five minutes were a tantalyzing montage featuring the family gathering at a local restaurant. Tony arrives first, and chooses Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" over Tony Bennett's "I Gotta Be Me" on the jukebox. Then a man with a "USA" ball cap has a seat in a booth near him. Carm arrives for some small talk in the booth with Tony. Then A.J. walks in to take his seat, flanked by a made-looking guy who chooses a seat at the nearby counter. Outside, Meadow makes several attempts to parallel park her car. She finally runs into the restaurant, as the made guy in the Member's Only jacket makes his way into the bathroom. Tony looks up and then...

Fade to black. For agonizing moments.

I grabbed my remote, sure that the HD channel was experiencing one of those annoying flubs. It wasn't. It was Sopranos creator (and finale writer and director) David Chase having fun. Soon, the final credits rolled. So what happened?

Some fans on the the various boards and chat rooms say Tony is dead; that Bobby was right and you don't see that last one when it is coming your way. Others say that Chase was just setting one more table for America's favorite mob family (after all, the episode's title is "Made in America").

Some fans were outraged. Others content. All vocal.

I thought the genius was in cleverly provoking one more response from audience. A "Sopranos" episode generally ran from 47-55 minutes; this one ran about 64. So, we weren't sure when it was going to end. And I did grab the remote. I thought, like Tony, that the situation as it appeared was something that could be easily controlled, when the reality was quite different. How many times did Tony face that situation? How many times did he fail to learn the lesson? How many times did we fail right along with him for seven seasons?

"Made in America," for sure.

More later,


Mark