A quick word on the The Sopranos finale

I have written before about The Sopranos (here) but was aware at the time that the series finale had yet to air in the UK so I decided to keep schtum. But with the episode going out tonight on E4 I can finally say what a fantastic finish to the series it was. Now, you may not be feeling that way yourself right now, I was certainly a little bemused the first time I watched it, even thinking for a moment that something had gone wrong with the TV but everything you need to know is there.

But before we get to the final scene let's talk about the episode as a whole. Starting with a shot of Tony looking like a corpse in a coffin is a pretty bold start. He is only sleeping but it sets a certain tone, don't you think? There is a storm blowing outside and a real sense that the pressure is building. The colour palette has gone very blue and muted, everyone's breath is frozen and as Tony and his crew are moving pieces in this high stakes game an incredible atmosphere of foreboding surrounds everything. The sit-down scene between Tony and New York is an amazing example of how this show has brought film style set design and lighting to the small screen; what an incredible set filled with twisted, junked metal lit beautifully with bright light and dark shadows crossing over the faces of these men who, in taught sentences, thrash out the peace. Their skin looks like dry paper, all of them freezing, their gloves only removed to shake on the deal. Brilliant stuff.

Then things are suddenly quiet. With Phil Leotardo gone, Tony rakes leaves in his back garden and looks into the bare branches of the trees as a small breeze makes them sway ever so slightly, a beautiful image, a calm before the real storm? That evening Tony and his family meet for dinner and we have the scene that has got so many tongues wagging. I am not going to get into a heated discussion about whether that is The Last Supper being visually recreated or if there is any relevance to the way they eat their onion rings. I have watched it several times now and it seems pretty clear to me what happens. When Tony and Bobby were fishing together Bobby, when talking about the end for guys like them, says 'You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?'. David Chase himself (who wanted to end the episode with no credits at all, just a black screen for 30 seconds) has recently said:

There are no esoteric clues in there. No Da Vinci Code. Everything that pertains to that episode was in that episode. And it was in the episode before that and the one before that and seasons before this one and so on. There had been indications of what the end is like. Remember when Jerry Toricano was killed? Silvio was not aware that the gun had been fired until after Jerry was on his way down to the floor. That's the way things happen: It's already going on by the time you even notice it.

Are you saying...?

I'm not saying anything. And I'm not trying to be coy. It's just that I think that to explain it would diminish it.

Need I say more?

For a slightly different take on the phenomenon go to the brilliant Stereogum where you have the opportunity to put which ever piece of music you like in place of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing'. You can score the final scene of The Sopranos here.

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The Sopranos

Over the last couple of months I have watched The Sopranos in its entirety. All 86 episodes from the pilot to the controversial ending (which I will not reveal for those still watching) and I am, frankly, shattered. Not only exhausted after the experience of watching almost a decades worth of television on demand, but also now bereft of something truly special. I only wish that I had watched it in 'real time' so as to have really deserved it all, to have earned the right each week to see another instalment rather than simply pressing play every time I fancied another hit like some kind of junkie. Is it the best TV series ever made? Are you watching too much if you start to have Sopranos dreams? Is it suitable viewing for your wife if she's eight months pregnant?

David Chase had originally written a movie script about a mobster in therapy who discovers that his mother wants him whacked. He was persuaded by his agents to show it to broadcasters as his time on Northern Exposure was coming to an end. HBO picked it up and asked him to play the story out over 13 episodes. Chase said he only expected a small cult following but the critics rallied around it and not only did the programme return for another series but it began to influence the medium of television as a whole. Increased budgets, cinematic lighting and effects, but most importantly scripts which continued to push the boundaries of what was acceptable on TV. Not only did this drama place the criminal at the forefront of the action with the police and authorities trying vainly in the background to exert their influence, but the level of violence, profanity, sex, even the haunting images of its dream sequences placed it at the vanguard of a new approach to TV and its audience.

To call The Sopranos a family drama is not just a wry crack. It is all about the relationships between those that consider themselves part of a family unit. Whether that is the immediate members in the Soprano household, the extended members outside of it, those 'cousins', 'nephews' and 'uncles' that orbit around it, the many members of Tony's other 'family' or even the other Italian American characters whose very cultural identity is affected by the exploits of Tony and his crew, all these lives are linked together by the values that hold any family together; honour, loyalty, forgiveness, love. And the strongest of these is love.

The vast mass at the centre of this swirling universe is of course Tony Soprano. One of the amazing things about watching the series in the way I did was that it allowed me to look again at the pilot as soon as the credits had finished rolling on the finale and it is simply staggering to see how James Gandolfini has transformed. Over the seasons the voice has lowered, the stature increased, the girth widened, the breathing laboured. He has steadily grown into the imposing figure at the head of all these families but all along of course there are the fragility's that contradict his simple bulk; the panic attacks that fell him like a tree, the medication that slows him like a drugged elephant, and, later, the gunshot which almost takes him. It is whilst he is in the resultant coma near the start of the final season that you can see what a fine actor he is. A slight change in his accent and bearing and Tony Soprano becomes a different man entirely in this coma/dream world as he works his way back to consciousness and his waiting family. Then you realise what work has gone into creating this iconic character. That we can feel sympathy at all for a man who displays such hatred and violence, especially when it is towards the women in his life, requires huge skill from writers and actor.

And it is the women in his life who do exert such huge influence. As he discusses with Dr Melfi his mother has the power to cause so much damage, to create such turmoil. She is such a poisonous character that my wife and I found ourselves hissing like cats whenever she appeared. Her influence affects his relationships with all women. The gumars, the other women Tony sleeps with or fantasises about, all of them dark haired and surely reminiscent Livia, as difficult as he finds this to accept. Even his feelings for Dr Melfi, as she points out, are part of this pattern. Lorraine Bracco, so brilliant in Goodfellas, plays Dr Melfi with such dignity. That rigid posture in her chair displays so clearly her wish to seem relaxed and in control despite her very real fear of Tony. Through everything she tries and keeps trying to help him, professional at all times even when, after a brutal rape, she knows that she need only ask him and Tony would 'squash' her attacker 'like a bug'. Edie Falco recently said that she was convinced that those watching the programme would see through her and realise that she wasn't a mother in real life. But let's be honest, the family she takes care of is not leading an ordinary life by any standards. The failure of her and Tony to exert discipline over their children is hilarious, and I'm not sure that I've ever watched a programme where I'm willing the woman to commit adultery. It seemed so unfair that whilst Tony was fending off the nubile lovelies who were throwing themselves at him, Carmella was putting herself through the wringer for looking at Furio or that painter chap.

I have always had a soft spot for the two goons Paulie and Silvio. Like two Shakespearean supporting characters they have always been around the action making comments in their own inimitable way (or in Sil's case irresistibly imitable). I don't know how the guitarist from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band gets cast in a TV drama but it looks to be the most inspired piece of casting since Mos Def turned up as Ford Prefect.And then there's Christopher, Tony's surrogate son. We have watched him rise and fall, rise and fall and all the time that special connection to Tony has been tested to breaking point. The natural heir to the throne?

Character is created jointly by writer and actor and it is important to realise just how good the writing in the Sopranos is. Not only has Chase created a cast of characters that are memorable, individual and idiomatic but also a group of people who continue to surprise. It is amazing to watch a narrative unfold and to find yourself, mouth open in astonishment, dumbstruck at the twist that has just occurred. And I don't mean an 'Ooh, it was them' kind of twist but those moments that happen in life when you don't realise what someone is capable of.

This is not to say that The Sopranos is faultless. There is a period around season 4 where everything slows a little and becomes a bit miserable but the series recovers and the final season is made with such energy, bravery and love that you cannot fail to be in awe of its creators. So, is it the best TV series ever made? Well, best is a rather silly word and I've never been able to do that ordering thing with books or films so let's not go there (but yes it is, probably). Are you watching too much if you start having Sopranos dreams? Undoubtedly. Is it suitable viewing for your wife if she's eight months pregnant? Well, there was no early onset of labour, but she won't mind me telling you that she watched most of the more violent parts from behind her hand.

The Sopranos is essential viewing for anyone who wants to appreciate what television is capable of (and therefore what we should demand from those who make it). Granted, with each episode costing millions of dollars not all TV can look like it, but the quality of writing and acting is something to which all TV should aspire. The only problem is how do I go back to normal television now? What do I watch next? Any suggestions?

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