Bada Bing

For the last eight years, I’ve been a dedicated fan of The Sopranos. I’ve seen all 86 episodes at least once. I’ve closely followed the travails of Tony Soprano and his two families, his personal family and his Mafia family. I believe that The Sopranos is quite possibly the finest television drama ever, as do many critics.

Tonight was the final new episode of the show. It was a moment that I’ve both looked forward to and dreaded all at the same time. In typical David Chase fashion, some loose ends were tied up, but many were left hanging. We will never know what happened to the Russian mobster from the Pine Barrens. We don’t know whether Sil will ever recover from his wounds. We don’t know whether Tony got indicted. We will never know whether the mysterious looking guy who goes into the men’s room at the end of the final epiosde was there to kill Tony. We will never get the answers to a lot of questions. But it wouldn’t have been an appropriate ending to this great show otherwise.

Having said that, I have to say that I was really glad to see Little Carmine step up the plate and broker a deal to end the war between the New York and New Jersey families. And Phil Leotardo definitely got what he deserved. Good riddance–if ever someone deserved to be whacked it was Phil.

The only thing missing was the ducks. It would have been appropriate if Tony had seen the ducks again while searching the winter sky a few minutes before the end of the episode. It would have brought the story full circle. But alas, there were no ducks to be seen.

I will miss The Sopranos. As a family, they put the fun in dysfunctional. 🙂 In the end, though, this great show was always all about family. So, it’s appropriate that it ended that way: with Tony’s family all together at the dinner table. What happens to them after that, we will never know. And perhaps it’s best that way.