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The Sopranos 6x21 Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-06-07 23:38:08
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

what a show, what an ending ❤️

we never did have the makings of a varsity athlete

Files

Previews only

The Sopranos 6x21

________________________ patreon - https://www.patreon.com/LMreactions twitter - https://twitter.com/LMreaction tv time - lola - skysstillblue, milena - oneofthe100

Comments

Damien Fenton

Thanks so much Lola and Milena for this incredible journey through The Sopranos. I've thoroughly enjoyed all your reactions and reviews. I recently wrote this in the Discord and now seems like appropriate time to post it here too: I first became aware that reaction channels existed around the time of the last season of Game of Thrones and watched some of them for that season but they never appealed to me enough to continue them for other shows. Youtube randomly recommended one of LM's Better Call Saul videos a few years ago and I've been a fan of LM ever since. I still have no interest in other reaction channels. There is something quite special and unique about LM.

mundanelotus

How bout dat (Sad but happy to have reached the end of this amazing show)

Michael M

"You probably don't even hear it when it happens. Everything just goes black"

TeaDrinker3000

Still haven't actually watched the sopranos but I'm old enough to remember the uproar that happened when those last 5 minutes aired so I am definitely going to watch this. Also incase it needs plugging we have channels set up already for discussing Mad Men with and without spoilers on the discord https://discord.gg/2WCQggyh

Cole

One of the best endings in any show. This is my view on the cut to black I’ve had written since you guys started the show: In the final scene, whether Tony dies or not is irrelevant, and that’s the point. The POV shots and bell cue might suggest death, but the real ending already happened. Carmela stays because comfort means more than conscience. She isn’t trapped, she’s bought. AJ is clinically depressed and is fading into the same hollow comfort and denial that consumed his parents. Meadow has become someone who defends people like her father. The idealistic girl who wanted to be a doctor ends up rehearsing legal justifications for mob tactics. She was the character most capable of breaking past the family, the smartest, the most sensitive, the most morally aware, and she chooses to become a shield for it. Tony has spent the entire show relentlessly poisoning every relationship in his life, his wife, his kids, Paulie, Hesh, and more, until there’s nothing left but rot. From the pilot to the finale, The sopranos has just been a series of choices made by Tony to further “drain his pool”, and he does it knowingly. His greatest fear wasn’t death; it was losing his family. And through apathy, violence, and cowardice, he guaranteed exactly that. From either killing or mentally breaking them, every piece of his family was damaged beyond repair, and he did it all. That’s Chase’s message: not that choices have consequences, but that people walk into those consequences with their eyes open, then act surprised and blame the world. He has no patience for characters, or viewers, who hide behind excuses. And Tony is nothing but excuses. Chase isn’t preaching that people can’t change, but rather that they won’t, not because they’re incapable, but because they’re selfish, cowardice, and full of contradiction. That’s his worldview. And the finale doesn’t offer closure because Chase doesn’t believe in it.

bartonovalis

You probably don’t even hear it when it happens, right?

Damien Fenton

I think Tony was killed by Members Only Jacket guy. That shot of him walking to the toilets where the camera tracks his movement is the most substantial camera motion in the entire scene which I think is the director communicating that he is important. That camera movement feels too deliberate to be ignored. That combined with the show's regular references to The Godfather (where Pacino goes to the toilet before the assassinations) and Bobby's line, "You probably don't even hear it when it happens"; I think there is more evidence for than against his death. Assuming he did die, the immediate aftermath is absolutely horrific to think about. Carm, AJ, and Meadow all witnessing Tony's head blown open, his blood everywhere, probably some splattered on Carm and AJ too. Just horrendous! In the long term, I think Meadow will be OK. Angie Bonpensiero is a good indicator of what will happen to Carm. With the NJ crew effectively wiped out, there is no way the NY crew will offer any kind of help to Carm. So she'll probably create her own business like Angie based on her real estate experience. AJ is the one I would worry about the most. He was already walking a thin line from a mental health point of view, and seeing his father getting shot dead inches in front of him would probably push him over the edge. Probably one of the best outcomes for him would be to take over the Bing now that Silvio is out of the picture. Probably not the career his parents would have wanted but it does fit a little with his ideas of event management.

Bernardo

Bobby Baccalieri in episode 6x13 "You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?" for me the ending was perfect (as was the whole show) peak of television.

My Toasty Toast

I can’t believe I never saw this show before the channel, what an amazing ride

LegacyFilms

Been a pleasure watching this with you guys. Hope you react to The Many Saints of Newark to truly bring this Sopranos journey to an end. It has mixed reactions amongst fans but is still a fun watch. “Wise Guy” is also a great documentary following the creator of the Sopranos, David Chase. Thanks for such a great journey guys. Don’t stop -

bondbond53

Girls please remember not to read TV Time's descriptions of Mad Men as to not get spoiled

Jack SV

Well.. we are here people. It’s been a fun ride. I’m sad it’s over…

Daniel_
>>176535467

Eugene was wearing a Members Only jacket when he whacked that guy in that restaurant of the first episode of season six

sand_fl

well, at the end of the day i couldn't keep up and still have +1 season and the reactions yet to watch. sad i couldn't watch along every week the last few months but on the bright sight i still have many episodes and reactions to enjoy

K

Can someone pls give me a run down on how to correctly sync the reaction since I’m in the US? There was a great comment on an episode in the past but I can’t find it right now

Darrach

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JsollGupzoEXbqnA5Tb27?si=8E65h3oiR1arv0JNeP5LXA&pi=-AoQCGUxSySV_ Here’s a Spotify playlist I’ve made of all my favourite songs used throughout the series if anyone’s interested!

Python

What a ride this has been

Nicholas

A few thoughts on the finale. There is if course some stuff that is speculative but in my opinion there are many things we can perhaps understand through . We can't know exactly who killed Tony but we can perhaps infer who it was. In my opinion It was the guy in the members only jacket that stood at the counter that whacked Tony. The assassin was most likely a relative of Eugene Pontecorvo who offed himself in episode one of season 6 as a result of tonys refusal to let him retire. Eugene Pontecorvo wore a members only jacket just like the assasin and bares a strong resemblance to him. You'll also remember the first episode of season six was about Eugene and his downfall, this episode was titled "Members Only. This was a foreshadowing of the finale and showing who will ultimately be responsible for the end of Tony's life. Furthermore, if you'll remmeber in season 2 episode 4, while in Italy, Tony and the hot woman mob boss are standing in the Ancient tunnels of the Sibylline Oracles, which are ancient oracles that people would go to have their fate given to them. The female mob boss gives tony his fate, like an ancient oracle would, telling him that "He is his own worse enemy and will cause his own downfall". To me this is further evidence that It wasnt an external factor that caused tonys end, like new york or the government but it was his own ego and unwillingness to let Eugune retire from the Mob life with his family. Finally to explain the meadow struggling to park bit. In the show many times, Meadow was shown to be Tony's Guardian Angel, saving him from danger and death. In season 1 episode 5 , Meadow inadvertently stops Tony from being shot by the rat, Fabian "Febby" Petrulio; In season 3 Episode 5, Meadow takes the lamp the FBI bugged back to college, saving Tony from their surveillance; Finally, in Season 6 episode 1, Meadow calls out and saves Tony from the brink of death in his coma. In the finale Meadow failing to park is showing that Tonys Guardian Angel isn't going to be there to save him this time. In my opinion In addition to driving home the idea of Meadow being Tonys Guardian angel, the scene of Meadow struggling to park also shows that she will be the sole Soprano to survive the killing. As in addition to Tony, Carmela and AJ both likely died. Some of these speculative theories are not just mine but many "Sopranos" fans have noticed a lot of these things. Also the "Sopranos" creator David Chase is not a dumb guy and in my opinion he laid these clues to foreshadow the end of the series.

Gaboxxy

Apparently when this episode came out, many people actually though their T.V stopped working lol. Probably the riskiest ending to a show I've ever seen.

mbds

Goodfellas is required to watch after seeing Sopranos, lol. The amount of influence towards this show from that film is incredible. Honestly, think it helps you understand the Sopranos even better. Fwiw, I hated this ending when it happened, and I'm still not the biggest fan. But damn if it wasn't brave. That's one thing you can say about Chase, one of the ballsiest people to ever run a TV show.

Jack SV

Funny enough one of my core memories was when I was in high school back in the day I remember waking up at night to my father and my uncle screaming at the TV pissed off as hell because they thought their cable went down went the screen went black lmaooo. Many years later I think I understood why my father and uncle were so pissed about the ending.. but I have to give it to the writers. This was a very unique and brilliant way to end the show. Many years later and people to this day are theorizing about the fate of Tony Soprano.. of course the creator just said that if you watch the last scene then you will get what happened to Tony at the end. It was never confirmed if he ever died or it was just his paranoia playing tricks with him. One of the aspects I feel I enjoy about this show in general is the fact that presents the audience with the simple question… are some people incapable of changing? Was his character doomed from the start due to his upbringing? Like McNulty from the Wire.. I feel like some people can’t never escape who they really are even if they try so hard to change. Overall I could go on and on about how this show is amazing. Ahh.. I haven’t watched Mad Men so I’m excited to go blind with you girls to that show next.

Michael M

In 2022, David Chase directed a 1 minute long Superbowl commercial featuring Meadow and AJ. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9BdttCfBTI&ab_channel=FirelandsChevroletVermilion). Despite it being totally innocuous on a surface level, a YouTuber does a 20 minute deep dive on why it explains the ending of The Sopranos. The analysis is so good that I choose to believe it. Don't stop believin' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWT5Rdy6MqM&ab_channel=ScenicMedia)

Gaboxxy

The reason agent Harris sold out Phil, besides the fact he kinda likes Tony and feels indebted to him due to his help with the terrorist stuff, is because Phil's family is much larger with more hands in different things. He knows both families are at war, so he'd rather choose the "lesser evil" to win while letting the more powerful family take a bigger hit.

Nicholas
>>176537222

Honestly I prefer ambitious and risky endings rather than playing it safe

Josip

paulie sitting there alone at satriales must be one of the most depressing scenes

Riff Michaels

Please stay away from The Many Saints of Newark! Another amazing series reaction, these girls have cemented themselves as the greatest.

Glenn Higgins

https://www.youtube.com/@TalkingSopranos

Mike

Wow, I'm so glad they weren't spoiled at all on that finale scene. Probably the most famous ending in TV history, and for good reason. I'll say first: Yeah, it's possible, even probable, that Tony died in that diner. The clues are definitely there. The shot-reverse shot pattern with the doorbell, where Tony looks up and then we see his POV. The Bobby scene (and the pretty unusual-for-this-series flashback in the previous episode) about not hearing it when you go. The Members Only guy heading into the bathroom for the gun ala The Godfather... But having said all that, you can't tell me that it isn't also ambiguous. This is a show that *never* shied away from deglamorizing violence. David Chase spent the last few years making the series screaming at his audience that Tony is a bad guy, and you think he would shy away from showing Tony getting his just desserts? No, instead we get a 50-50 coin flip, where Tony lives and Tony dies, and the coin suspended in mid-air. Where Tony spends the rest of his existence on the edge of a knife, because this is the life he chose and the doom he signed up for. The point of laying all the groundwork for "Tony dies" is to create the *possibility* that he dies. If you don't do that, it's just a cut to black. Instead, with all the hidden clues and whatever else people want to analyze for another 20 years (more power to them), you have this perfect ambiguous ending. I want to talk about the ending as a whole, because I think people get hung up on those final moments (understandably). That scene in Holsten's is such a gorgeous little diorama of American life, with the happy couple, and the Boy Scouts, the old guy in the USA hat, and the Black guys coming through the door, and Journey, and the milkshakes & onion rings, and the family breaking bread together -- and the mafia is there, with the looming spectre of death and violence. Because for this show, the mafia has always a metonym for the American experience. This thing of ours. Tony might have died in Holstens and he might have lived to see another day, but he has said all series that there are only two endings for guys like him. He exists on that knife's edge. And even though the scene is incredibly tense, and might even the moments leading up to the execution of the main character, I think it's oddly hopeful for the American experience. The episodes leading up to the finale, and the finale itself, have been a total indictment of the state of that experience. Chase has been unambiguous: The dream is dead. But if Tony's life is a 50-50 coin toss in that cut to black, and Tony's life is a microcosm for the broader American experience... Maybe it still has a 50-50 shot after all? Or maybe Don't Stop Believin' is just *that* good of a song. Edit: One more thought -- AJ becoming a "creative executive" for a porn producer is truly a perfect ending for that dingus.

Glenn Higgins
>>176539831

Michael Imperioli and Steve Schiripa did a great podcast where they went through every episode! Highly recommend.

DaMoezar

The Many Saints of Newark, whatevah happened there?

Glenn Higgins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxxpS9sCCLI. Here is the Podcast with David Chase!

Glenn Higgins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkLwUZeKmBc. This is fantastic behind the scenes.

Octavio

Back in 2008, David Simon, creator of The Wire, visited the university I was attending to show the penultimate episode of his series and do a Q&A in one of the film classes. This was like days before The Wire finale aired, so nobody in the audience had seen how that show ended. I still vividly remember that during the Q&A, a young woman asked furiously if Simon would have a “real ending to his show and not a bullshit cut to black”. Feelings were still raw back then, months after The Sopranos ended, about that famous ending.

Knot

Now that this is posted I can finally say how perfect it is how in the last reaction the camera cut to black right before it ended

Ken

I never felt that sadness when I finished Sopranos, like I have with over shows because it is the most rewatchable show and has gotten better and better every time I've seen it. I'm up to five or six times now and I always notice something new, some new theme or nuance that I missed previously. I recommend you rewatch it someday, its a fine wine!

sleepyhead

It's sad to think that he wanted to see meadow more than anything in that moment and it was taken from him yet he doesn't even know it. Just nothing.

Marcus Cato

The scene where Agent Harris says "we're gonna win this thing" is based on a real life FBI agent named Roy Lindley DeVecchio, who became a little too close to the Colombo family, and began feeding them information.

Bolt G
>>176538882

in the end you d--- nah i won't say cause it's not true

Mike
>>176538126

I alway saw Harris cheering on Tony -- a moment that is so obviously wrong and immoral -- as Chase's final middle-finger at the audience for liking Tony and watching the series for the mob violence. There's nothing strategic happening here for Harris. He is watching The Sopranos show and cheering for Phil getting his head exploded in front of his grandkids.

John Collins

It doesn’t matter; Tony dies. Maybe right there in the diner, maybe in yet another car accident on the way home, maybe years later in prison like Johnny Sack, maybe even later peacefully at home after lasting way longer than anyone ever thought he would. We know Tony dies, because we all do. Unlike everyone, however, we also know that however much time Tony has left, he’ll never change. He’ll still be miserable, depressed, complaining about his mother (which he does in the very first episode and the last). This is who Tony is, when his life ends and how is pretty much beside the point. In Sopranos world, it’s pretty clear there’s something after life, so the question isn’t really does Tony die, it’s what’s gonna happen to his soul when he does. I think everyone can venture a pretty good guess how that’s gonna go for him.

enchantertim

Wait, am I tripping or the version they watched had just a couple of seconds of black screen at the end? It was supposed to last 10 seconds. Or did you guys edited in a way that it seemed like less than 10 seconds? It may not be an important detail to some, but it's crucial for the experience. I remember watching it for the first time and waiting for that 10 second black screen to end felt like a lifetime while adrenalin rushing through my body. It was an excruciating 10 seconds but a brilliant payoff. Oh well...

Marcus Cato
>>176536187

There is a comment on the Pilot episode Sopranos 1x01 Full Reaction that explains it. Sorry, but I wasn't able to figure how to copy the comment on an iPad.

BND

I swear it feels like you started this show a week ago, it went by so fast. What an experience, I was happy to share it with you.

JBK405

Depressing as it was, it was a GREAT journey! There's so many analyses and commentaries on the ending that I'm not even going to bother chiming in on that front. I will give more of the usual Jersey-specific commentary and general background that I always bring to the conversation: Holsten's, the restaurant from the final scene, is a real restaurant in Bloomfield, NJ. They got a major popularity boost after this episode, and now sell Sopranos-themed merchandise. When James Gandolfini passed away, fans left offerings at the booth which the owners gave to his son. The gas station where Phil was killed, despite supposedly being in Long Island, was actually filmed at a NJ gas station. You can locate it precisely by the Barnes & Noble bookstore which you can see in the background across the street. Dwight Harris's line "Damn! We're gonna win this thing!" after being informed of Phil Leotardo's death, is quoted from former FBI supervisor Lindley DeVecchio. DeVecchio said the line after being told Lorenzo Lampasi had been killed in front of his Brooklyn home. DeVecchio was later charged with passing information to the Mafia, just like Harris did here. Despite everything else, the one thing that Junior remembers about Tony is that they played catch, and he smiles as he says it. With the rest of his memory gone, he really DID remember "the times that were good". It is overshadowed by the rest of the episode, but I think the scene of Butchie on the phone with Phil might be the real standout. He starts walking in Little Italy in New York City, which used to be a major chunk of the city, but it has shrunk over the years to a mere shadow of itself. He walks through its entire length in the course of the phone call, and winds up in the neighboring Chinatown. When he realizes where he is he looks around in confusion. That is the story of the Mafia in a nutshell. Shrinking, overtaken by changing society, and despite still ruining lives it no longer fills it up the world like its members think it should. And I'm shocked you didn't recognize Frank John Hughes, the guy who killed Phil. That's Bill Guarnere from "Band of Brothers"!

Mike

"Carmela didn't directly kill anybody" wait until you see the deleted scene of Brian's house collapsing on him and his newborn

Kara
>>176535616

+1. Don't log Mad Men episodes on TV Time until after you've watched the first few, basically (I'm being vague on purpose)

Michael M
>>176540039

A disappointing movie with a single bright spot that is James Gandolfini's son playing a very good young Tony.

Diego Castillo

Best ending even seen, my head hurt when it happen,,

Kara

"Inside spotlight Fire is burning in my eyes 2025" - the song AJ is listening to in his new car (Noisettes - Scratch Your Name) It's a good show with a great ending. I'm glad you got to experience it essentially unspoiled. I don't have much else to add except it's been fun rewatching it for the first time via the channel. PS: TV Time's description for Mad Men spoils something for some reason lol, its stupid. "Scratch your name into the fabric of this world Before you go"

Marcus Cato

Lola's observation that Tony looks dead in that first scene jogged my memory about a way left field fan theory. That Tony is in fact dead already and this whole episode is a dream sequence. I'm not into this one. Not enough dream logic. Another fav fan theory is that the cat is the reincarnated spirit of Adriana.

Michael M
>>176543378

Adriana wore cat-print clothing from time to time for sure.

Rynsen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSL-zRHfyss Lola was talking about the ending being controversial when it originally aired. This is a clip from CNN news in the USA reporting on the reaction to the finale. It shows just how massive that show was culturally back then, and how the ending was generally not well liked. It's definitely one that people have come to appreciate more with time.

Jack Hoff

At least the last thing Tony saw was his daughter who he probably loved the most. His last emotion was joy to see his daughter.

Damien Fenton
>>176542121

They didn't recognise David Strathairn from The Expanse either. I was sure they would but they did say they aren't good at remembering faces.

Running red

The Wire or The Sopranos?

lambo

The final scene between Junior and Tony is the most profound moment in the series, or from any show really. Junior didn't remember shit about the mob, but remembered how they spent time together playing catch. Shows you what's really important. And works so well in the combination with the last scene of the show. At some point Tony stopped caring about those little moments. That's why you should not stop-

Veya
>>176544899

The final Junior scene a good example of subtext in the show being so transseasonal and how the connective tissue in this show is deceptively deep for how episodic it is. In season five Tony asks Junior if he loved him and why he only repeats mean things when he becomes forgetful. Then here, as you've said, Junior has forgotten everything, even the fact that he was a mobster, except for the fact that he and Tony used to play catch, implying that he does love him. The same with AJ and Livia's conversation all the way back in season two being a catalyst for AJ's nihilistic outlook and paying off in the final episodes.

Solomon Wong

damn it really feels like just yesterday i was so thrilled you two were watching The Sopranos. now i get to be thrilled you're watching Mad Men :p

Mitchell

Old man here who lived through it. Just interested by them talking about popularity of these shows. The Sopranos was borderline revolutionary in its popularity. Put cable shows on the map. Was a monster cultural force. The wire was not at all widely watched and that is a bummer. Nobody will admit this now but Breaking Bad was not very popular (small cable network) until it went on Netflix before its last two seasons, and then was hugely popular. Mad Men felt popular but was not on the level of Sopranos (same small network as Breaking Bad). Deadwood was mildly popular but got straight up canceled (was also very expensive).

lambo

It's interesting that you said you felt more hate towards Chris betraying Adriana than Livia conspiring to kill Tony. I guess Adriana is more innocent and Livia is funny, but still trying to kill your own child is insane to me.

Veya

David Chase on AJ: *"Almost everybody hates AJ [laughs], and I have never understood it. He’s very relatable, a typical teenage kid. Obviously he’s not gonna be the valedictorian of his class, and he’s got some problems. When you say that his father was a murderer — of course he was. I never understood this disgust with AJ. I don’t know how he could have turned out any differently than he did. And he’s to be commended, and so are his parents, because it’s pretty obvious at the end of the show that AJ is not gonna be a killer like his father, and not gonna be a thief and a liar. Maybe a liar. We all lie. But he’s not gonna be a thief, a bully, and a murderer. That’s progress."* The endings for the kids are one of the best and most nuanced part of the episode and series overall. I agree completely he's likely going to be a jackass, but at the very least he likely won't murder people for a living. If he brings nothing positive to people around, he's at least not being an active cancer. It's telling that he's working under Carmine Jr.'s company. Carmine Jr. is similarly seen as an idiot and not cut out for the life and pretty removed overall (being mostly a mediator now). He's not in the violence and is benign, a direct contrast to all of the other cancers. Carmine Jr. also showed awareness of his station in life and said as much to Tony about choosing happiness over being boss. Maybe AJ can achieve similar self-reflection one day (he's starting therapy sooner). He's at least echoing Tony's "remember the good times", on the back of accepting his entry level job. Meadow's ending is also coated with similar nuance and some degree of openness (less than AJ's I'd say, but still). She's seemingly down the path of being another mob lawyer but has still talked about how the system oppresses people and has expressed the desire to help new immigrants (real life 2025 parallel anyone?) and doesn't share her father's (and Carmela's) racist views towards other races even if she bought into his propaganda for Italians. We've seen her helping middle-eastern people multiple times during the show. There's always some degree of good with the bad.

Mitchell
>>176535548

I hate to be this contrarian guy, but I liked Many Saints and thought it fit pretty well into the world

Mitchell
>>176535477

Also Sylvio's reaction to the shooting in the restaurant and his explanation after...

Veya
>>176545812

Yeah Sopranos was the original Game of Thrones for HBO. The most popular (well maybe after Sex and the City), but certainly the most popular that was also the most prestigious and critically acclaimed. It pretty much built HBO into what it is today and contributed HEAVILY to it's reputation for TV as more akin to cinema than primarily slot filling time to show TV ads (not that there weren't artistic shows prior, but HBO was far more hands off compared to network studios, so the degree of artistic freedom was different). It's the grandfather of modern TV for a reason as modern TV shows are far more open in terms of artistic direction and style than pre-Sopranos TV. It's always going have extra aura akin to stuff like Citizen Kane or The Godfather because it's influence is literally among the greatest (across all TV eras, probably only I Love Lucy and Hill Street Blues are more influential). It's also uniquely in the center of the venn diagram of quality and influence. Because even if those other shows are just as if not more influential, nobody is really going to compare the depth of the characters from those shows to stuff like Mad Men or Breaking Bad. Sopranos absolutely has that but also a significantly higher effect on the television landscape compared to other prestige dramas. That is why it's generally #1 on critics list, because I think mostly critics and TVphiles care more about that stuff. It's just such a strong blend of a lot of things in general.

Bernardo
>>176546209

the way people interpret the character and his storyline is very strange, the actor himself has already stated on the podcast with Chase that he thinks AJ is an idiot and that sometimes he asked himself "what's up with this kid?" and for me it was always very clear that he didn't have enough opportunity to be someone different from who he was, but a good part of the show's audience never understood that

Veya
>>176541490

Yeah this is why I think most people involved in the making of the show echo the ambiguity. People can point to all of the cinematography clues that are definitely there (and there's A LOT more than one would think on a first watch, Meadow not being there while previously pulling Tony out of the coma as well as the possible hitman coming from Tony's three-oclock is masterful), but it's not like the show never did foreshadowing and build up to things, only to pivot (I haven't seen a single reaction that thought Janice would be the one to kill Ritchie, for instance). There also weren't many strong plot reasons for Tony to die at that point. The war was over. Would Butchie really think Paulie of all people would bring in a bigger flow of cash? Also why would the members only jacket guy need to head to the bathroom first like Michael Corleone. He doesn't need to grab a smuggled gun behind the toilet. He could just walk up. Most tellingly, even among a lot of hints towards his physical death, they also deliberately established so many other ways he can end (literally a line about Carlos testifying is in that same scene). Also, the prequel movie (**spoilers** if you ever care to watch it, Chris is seeing and narrating the story from hell, so is the death POV pitch black or do you see things play out?). If it's ambiguous, it wouldn't really matter. Bottom line, Tony is fucked regardless. If he doesn't die there, he can die elsewhere. He's spiritually dead anyways, he's never gonna change. Him not remembering what he once said also may foreshadow him ending up like Junior in some capacity even if he somehow dodges both jail and immediate death. All he can do is enjoy what good moments he can.

Zach D

PLEASE react to the Sopranos movie Many Saints of Newark PLEASE

Zach D

Lola’s nervous/confused laugh is the best

JayFi

You guys nailed it in the moment. GREAT JOB! Hope you loved the series.

Benjamin Dodds

It's a miracle the ending wasn't spoiled for you. Since it aired, it has been referenced a million times by television shows and popular media.

Dimitron
>>176545905

It's probably because Tony is a bad person too, so they wouldn't feel as much sympathy to Tony as they would with Ade. It's more natural to hate Chris more for doing something bad to Ade, a character they sympathize with and to hate Livia less for doing something bad to Tony, a character they don't sympathize with as much as Ade. Ade also really trusted Chris and told him about her working with the police and she also made sure that she said nothing about Chris to the police, just for Chris to betray her like that. Chris is my favorite character but I was also mad at him for that.

Gaba Gool

It was Noah. He came back to Jersey and punched Tony’s lights out.

Abacus
>>176547902

No please avoid crappy spinoff movie. If watching any movie it should be Goodfellas

Eric Viola

I think after watching so many great TV dramas, the bar is set so high for Mad Men, and that's reflected in their closing remarks. But I believe it will be a show that will be in LM's pantheon after they finish it. Can't wait!

Dimitron
>>176540865

Well the last thing he saw was Meadow when she entered.

Abacus

The cut to black, whatever happened there...

Nazım Metin

Now I can't wait for Mad Men...

Robert
>>176552106

The fundamental question is, will I be as effective as a boss like my dad was? And I will be, even more so? But until I am, it's going to be hard to verify that I think I'll be more effective.

Robert

I was pretty much AJ's age during this time and to have that M3 in that year... you were like king of the city if you had that one then.

Robert

I will say this as well, Mad Men is a show that i did not see until several years until after it came out. I basically had run out of shows and watched it, and I was really glad to find out a show like it was created. I can't imagine things without it. For me it's a beautiful and twisted portrait of a time and place in the United States, and just a gem of a show. I had no interest whatsoever in it when it was out and I thought I was not the audience, older people I thought wanted it. Nonetheless, it was like having my first drink. I'm not saying the show influences my personal life, but there's something familiar and mysterious about it. Like seeing something youre not supposed to see, but you find out about it later in life. I hope you enjoy and look foward to the watch.

Kenneth thomas

I was watching the finale the night it aired on tv. Lots of people thought their tv was messed up or something and I think more casual tv watchers just didn't really appreciate, or want an ambiguous endng. Thats kind of why I love the ending though, as Matthew Weiner one of the writers (and creator of Mad Men) said, "It kind of is an F you" to the part of the audience that wanted Tony's blood. It's just like you guys said though, if not this night, then the next day the next week, its not going to end well for Tony. And we didn't need to see a bloodbath to know that.

Nicholas

AJ wanting to be a CIA operative when he can't even hold down a job at a pizza restaurant is the funniest thing.

mapo picker

This whole show was around Tony so if it's the case that he died, it makes sense for the show to go to black. We're basically his perspective. When his lights instantly go off, so will ours. The cool thing is that the world keeps going on, we just don't know how, we're no longer part of it as a viewer. Gives you an interesting perspective over life and death.

Patrick

‘I bet you don’t even hear it when it happens’ And many people didn’t get what the ending even was at the time. Probably still don’t even now.

Simon M. y Atana Sumi

I think Chase started with death (after all, he basically referred to the original, discarded idea for an ending as a "death scene" that wouldn't be shown directly, but you would know he was not making it out alive), and realized that by cutting to black he was also allowing other meanings while still evoking the idea of death: "even if he comes out of here alive, he's spiritually dead, he will solve none of his issues, etc." My favorite "clue" is the whole thing about the man in a Member's Only jacket that enters before AJ paralleling Eugene Pentecorvo in a Member's Only killing some random guy named Teddy Spirodakis (TS) in a diner, right before he kills himself in the first episode of season 6. It connects with all that Buddhist symbolism they introduced at the beginning of the season: Tony denying someone else the option to get out of the mob becomes a karmic debt that comes back to bite him at the end.

Ruben Welsh

You should check out the documentary about the show that came out a few months ago

Abacus

I was only subscribed to LM for Sopranos so will be cancelling after this. Just wanted to say I've really enjoyed your discussions, it is far and away the best reactions to anything I've ever seen. Having 20-30 minute intelligent conversations about each episode has been amazing and I'll miss it as part of my week, but this has been a really satisfying way to re-watch my fav show. Thanks also to the many regular and insightful commenters, I've learned a coupla-tree things from you guys about this thing of ours, and—*sudden cut to black*

Marcus Cato

It's interesting to watch some of the dream sequences now that the show is over. In the Test Dream, Carmela points to the television and says to Tony, "this is your life". I like that the movie they are watching is a version of Dickens' Christmas Carol. Like Scrooge, Tony gets another chance at life after seeing people long passed from his life during the Test Dream. But unlike Scrooge, he fails to thrn his life around. Carmela's dream at the very beginning of season 6 is also interesting. There's a reference to the idea of a guardian angel in that scene is we see Meadow. A lot of people have noticed lits of scenes of characters noticing the wind in various scenes throughout the shole series. In Paulie's last scene, we see the wind picking up as Tony walks away. Before Tony goes to visit Junior he looks up at the sky but sees nothing. I've yet to hear a fully convincing theory about this, but it seems way too deliberate to be coincidental.

Devil_pls

I haven't watched all of your guys reactions so I don't know how much you guys have talked about this before up until now, but I actually am suprised that you guys didn't really mention James Gandolfini's performance in this. His entire performances throughout the entire show in my opinion is they key for the show that brought it to this insanely high level of quality. He embodies that character so much to perfection that you cannot help but try to see that glimmer of humanity in his character's eyes from the first scene to the very last scene of the show. It might still be the best display of acting in any TV show ever. Alot of high praise coming from me here right now I know but this show and specifically James Gandolfini really deserve it more than people sometimes realize I think.

ProXy124c41

Thank you ladies for the journey that was my tenth sopranos re-watch :) Boardwalk Empire is a logical follow-up because many of the same writers are involved.

Abacus
>>176571339

Wind symbolism seems very deliberate, but I've never been sure if it has a simple, solid meaning. The end of the coma dream with Meadow's calling voice, and when Tony's recovering in the garden looking at the wind in the trees stand out as the most overt uses. As you say, this is contrasted with Tony looking up at the bare, still trees without wind before his final visit to Junior. Isabella s1e12 uses wind very prominently, but it's such an early episode I wouldn't really consider them together. Regarding the Test Dream Scrooge/TV "this is your life" thing — I never bothered to write this before as I wasn't sure what I wanted to say, but you reminded me of it so I'll say it anyway: Throughout season 6, there are a hell of a lot of "fourth wall breaks" in which there is some reference made to another level of reality. Like in this episode when they're telling AJ about Carmine's movie project, it's about a man being sucked into a virtual world to solve virtual crimes. The whole Cleaver project which is like a meta-Sopranos within The Sopranos. Carmela in Paris talking about all those people on the other side of the world who didn't seem to exist before you went there, as if they're characters in a TV progrum who don't exist until you switch it on. The alt-version of Tony in the coma dream seeing the beacon, and then the light from the beacon being replicated by the Eiffel Tower. The weird first shot in Junior's asylum which is close-up of a man looking directly into the camera, before the camera pans over to Tony. It's like a constant hinting of a kind of self-awareness that the show isn't real and it's a different layer of reality to us in the real world, and it will come to an end. I know all that sounds pretty loose. Like the girl at the funeral says, "you're all over the place, I don't know what you're trying to say". I'll discontinue the lithium.

Dogman

David Chase actually made a prequel movie that released in 2021 'The Many Saints of Newark'. Its generally regarded as not great by the fans. It feels kinda messy and all over the place, I think it would have worked better as a mini series. There are some fun moments though, and seeing younger versions of characters is neat (Vera Farmiga as Livia is honestly great imo). Also young Tony is played by James Gandolfini's son Michael gandolfini, who not only looks so much like his dad, but can actually really act. I would def check out a reaction if you guys watched it.

IanJ

If we look at the background in the diner, we can see a painting of the white colonial-style house that appears in the dream sequence in "Calling All Cars" and "Mayham". In my previous comment, I put forth the theory that it's where the souls of all the people that died either indirectly or directly by Tony, the mob life, or Tony's greatest failures reside. Here, it's much bigger now, the bodies have piled up. The painting is also flanked by a picture of a football player, the path Tony never took, the one that will prevent the house from being built in the first place. It's also interesting that in Mayham, Tony being brought to life engulfs the screen in white, while here the screen turns black. The black screen can also work even if Tony lives. The Sopranos is always about the slow decline of life in America. The black screen shows us that there is nothing else for Tony after this. Paulie is now alone in front of Satriale's, and Carlo's testimony will get Tony in jail. Even if Tony avoids death or jail, Junior's fate is what awaits him in this life. Or it's just Noah Tannenbaum punching his fucking lights out.

Bernardo

I went to TV Time and saw that Milena has already added Mad Men to "watching" it's coming my friends 🥳🥳

Octavio
>>176570244

Back at you; I’m in the same boat, just subscribed for Sopranos; it’s been fun rewatching and re-examining the series

Darrach

https://youtu.be/NMymT8hEMjU?si=oZfuLOluhDPCermg https://youtu.be/KWisK3iZvLY?si=D2fPMHhSqlesRfGI These are a couple links to my favourite Sopranos compilations I’ve seen. Both are beautifully edited and put together, real works of art.

Gaboxxy
>>176542620

Also the way she stirred up conflict between Chris and Tony, knowing full well the consequences that could bring. But well, technically they’re right, she has never directly killed anyone.

Kara
>>176571456

They often don't touch on things like actor performance or cinematography in depth in discussions, it's just not that sort of channel. Gandolfini absolutely gave a generational performance though for sure. Wish he lived longer but happy we got what we got (he's great in other stuff too like In the Loop).

Darrach

There’s a thousand nuances and frame-by-frame analyses you can dive into to glean more from the final scene. Tony’s close up face is shown every time the door opens as he glances up, and the next shot is his point of view. If Meadow was coming through the door, and the next shot is black nothing, it follows that we are seeing what Tony saw in that moment: a big nothing, as Livia would say. Throughout the show, Meadow has acted as somewhat of a guardian angel for Tony. In the intro to Season 6, she is referred to as such by the opening song ‘Seven Souls’. She saved Tony in S1E5, by blocking the informants shot when Tony was carrying her into the motel. She took the FBIs bugged lamp from the basement in S3E5, which would 100% have caught Tony saying something incriminating soon afterwards. Then, we have S6E3, where it is Meadows voice that stops Tony from entering the house. And here, at the end, Meadow was late. We see the man in the members only jacket go to the bathroom, to Tony’s direct right. If Meadow had arrived at the table, the only spot left for her would have been in between the theoretical gunman and Tony, once again obscuring the shot, potentially saving Tony’s life again. But she wasn’t there this time. Chris’s message to Tony and Paulie from S2E8 was a beyond-the-grave warning from Mikey Palmice, with just the words “3 o’clock”. If that man was an assassin, he would have been coming from Tony’s right side, his ‘3 o’clock’. There are other elements to dissect, such as a picture on the wall to Tony’s left which closely resembles the house from S4E11, where Tony dreams of a dark figure in the stairs, which of course ties to the far larger house we see in S6E3. All of this and more pulls together to form a pretty damning conclusion that Tony was indeed killed, but as others have said, it doesn’t truly matter. Either he died here in front of Carmela and AJ, with Meadow in the doorway, or he didn’t. He will one day, or he will go to trial and be in jail for the rest of his life. His fate is sealed. “It’s all a big nothing.”

Johnny_Raincloud

Season 1 - Tony as a son. The main conflicts are with his mother and Junior, his father figure. Season 2 - Tony as a brother. The main conflicts are with his sister (who much like his mother tries to manipulate a mobster into killing T), his best friend/brother figure Pussy (who betrays him and forces T into committing a murder that actually bothers him), and his dead best friend's brother, who is a like a big brother to him in a way, or at least his Dutch Uncle. Season 3 - Tony as a father. Jackie Jr. being the tragic son figure that tries to emulate T and Jack Sr. There is much focus this season with AJ being like his dad leading to him not being able to go to military school bc of panic attacks. Season 4 - Tony as a husband. The season opens with Carmella scolding Tony that all things come to an end. By the end of the season, it is not a war with NY that erupts but a war with Carmella. Season 5 - Tony as a leader. This is the first season that Tony really starts to fall apart as a leader. When it comes to delaying dealing with Tony B (the main conflict), Tony severely fucks up. He loses a lot of respect with his men, which he never fully gains back. Season 6a - Tony as a human. The first 12 deal with Tony trying to be a better person in light of his near death experience and ultimately falling back into his worse habits and in the last 9 (6b), becoming worse than ever. Season 6b - Tony as Tony Soprano. Great reactions y'all. Enjoyed the ride with this GOATED show!

Johnny_Raincloud

Agent Harris even started looking like Season 2 Tony lol. Laying in bed with another broad.....balding. 😂

Johnny_Raincloud

The website Sopranos Autopsy is probably the very best episode by episode breakdown.

Veya

A prominent idea of the show that isn't talked about as much considering how many themes the show bounces between, is the idea that love and family are a light in a cold nihilistic world. The fact that almost every season ends with a family gathering, even among all of the awful things that has happened (and that these people cause) is a subdued way of echoing this. David Chase based Tony's therapy and mental illnesses on himself. Livia was also based on his own mother. I think if one views the show partially through the lens of someone who struggles with dark thoughts, the cynical lens on what's supposed to be ultimately a warm idea will make more sense. Some viewers have pushed back and pointed to how the family should not be together, and the show doesn't really shy away from showing how toxic they can be for each other. Or how the love can be twisted and dysfunctional and partially marred by selfishness. But at the end of the day, a very small light is still a light in a dark world. It's reflected even in the very small gradual progress happening, as opposed to giving us bigger sweeping shifts. It's part of what makes the show more challenging, the unorthodox portrayal of these things informed by a pretty cynical outlook, but with just a tinge of hope. On the ending, Chase: “Time here is precious, and it could end at any moment, and somehow, love is the only defense against this very, very cold universe. That’s what I meant to say.”

Daniel_

Meadow in the very first episode of the series she mentioned that she aced her parallel parking test. We get to the finale and we see her struggling the parking job. Who knows if she would have saved her father’s life unintentionally again for the third time?!

Julien

Quick question for everyone: in my recollection, there was a bigger gap between the end and the credits, than shown here, no? In other words, the black screen lasted several seconds before the credits appeared. Which is why so many viewers back then thought their cable had gone out. Did HBO shorten the duration of the black screen on streaming? Or am I’m just misremembering?

Abacus
>>176685308

There's supposed to be 10 seconds of black before the credits start. It looks like their streaming service (not HBO) edited it down to hardly anything.

Gaboxxy
>>176616878

I’ve also talked before about how the show portrays each generation becoming slightly better than the ones before. Maybe people don’t change that much in their lifetime, but they can set a path within their means for the next generation to do a little better and have a little less trauma. Tony was very flawed but he was a much better father than his own parents, and subsequently AJ and Meadow are also very fucked up people in their own ways but they won’t be anywhere as evil as their father, and hopefully their future kids will become better than them. There’s a podcast episode between Imperioli, Steve Schirripa and David Chase in which they discuss the last episode, and Imperioli even talks about how after a second re-watch in many ways it felt a lot more hopeful towards the future than he remembered, to which Chase answered that even when he didn’t consciously think about it that way he was completely right. Meadow overall turned into a fine, goal-oriented woman, and AJ maybe won’t become a nuclear scientist but he’ll be fine as well. I feel like the girls were sometimes a bit too cynic about Sopranos’s universe and I understand why, but not all of it is as bleak. The show has many moments of genuine hope.

Veya
>>176618173

That parking spot was also huge lol. I thought it was meant to be a visual gag.

ryler05

You two are my absolute queens

Tall Paul

I've finally caught up! Thanks very much for these reactions. I enjoyed your perspectives on the characters.