Chapter 61.9: Leaving on a Soft Note

As a lifelong New Jerseyan, I'm not ashamed to say I've enjoyed the Sopranos. I'm not Italian, so perhaps others can feel properly offended in how the show portrays people who are Italian. But we Jerseyans aren't always well thought of either, and the show didn't exactly make us out to look like the intelligent, fun-loving people we usually are. The show had its moments, of course.

But the final episode was somewhat disappointing. The chief complaint is that it left few things resolved. Sure Phil Leotardo is no more, and I'm not complaining about that. It was time to go, yaknowwhadI mean? And as he looked directly into the camera and waved goodbye to his grandkids in the back of the SUV, every viewer knew what was coming next.

The final moment, however, when the screen went black and the sound stopped, reminded me of an Andy Kaufman special from the late 70s. The screen went to a fuzz and I ended up trying to get the picture back in place by whacking the side of the TV. Then it came back on and in his Latka Gravas voice, Andy was doing the same thing and complaining about how he hates his television. We were all fooled, and we laughed uproariously.

But that was comedy. The Sopranos was more than a dramatic story of a criminal family living in New Jersey. It was a metaphor for life -- from the ducks on the swimming pool at the very beginning, to Christopher's fiance Adrianna puking on the table at the FBI (best vomit scene ever!), to AJ's Hummer catching fire and exploding, to Meadow having difficulty parallel parking as she hurries to meet her family for dinner. And always there's somebody hanging around who you're just not sure about.

Closure? Not in Jersey, apparently.

Ultimately, I'll miss the Sopranos. They were real life. Not my life, of course, but theirs. It was usually interesting. At times shocking. But what kept us coming back was that theirs was a family that kept trying, in spite of themselves. I don't mean the Family, but Carmella, Tony, and the kids. Seeing family relate to each other is always good.