Sopranos chat

[Zeuslax]

Don't expect to find out what happened to the Russian in the Pine Barrens.

One of the best episodes ever. Paulie and Christopher stuck and lost in the woods. Too many great lines to quote.

[Sonny]

Column: Appearance on 'The Sopranos' an offer Jets coach Eric Mangini couldn't refuse

As if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn't have enough wayward players to worry about, Jets coach Eric Mangini was caught on camera in a New Jersey restaurant last week meeting a known mob boss who has wagered large sums of money on his team.

Fishy, no?

Yet a call to league headquarters Thursday to find out how Goodell planned to deal with Mangini generated this kind of response:

Fuhgedaboutit.

Before going any further, let's clear up a few things.

That was indeed Mangini and his wife, Julie, on HBO last Sunday night dining out, and the plates of food set out in front of them were real, too. Everybody and everything else, from Tony Soprano to the restaurant itself, the Nuovo Vesuvio, was fictional.

After a cameo on "Sesame Street" last year, Mangini decided to add some dramatic bona fides to his resume by playing himself on last Sunday night's episode of "The Sopranos." That's one of the show's rules. Lauren Bacall, Ben Kingsley, Nancy Sinatra and Lawrence Taylor all went along. So did Mangini.

And so in the next-to-last show of the long-running series, the Jets coach is glimpsed dining at a restaurant owned by Soprano's childhood friend, Artie Bucco.

[Sonny]

"The Sopranos" heads for highly anticipated climax

By Arthur Spiegelman and Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - His pompadoured henchman, Silvio Dante, is barely breathing and full of holes; his brother-in-law Bobby is dead and Tony Soprano himself is left in a darkened bedroom, clutching a machine-gun -- like a frightened child holding a teddy bear.

He is so abandoned that even his long-conflicted therapist has dropped him as a patient after being convinced by colleagues that "the talking cure" doesn't work on sociopaths.

In case you haven't figured it out, the end is near -- on Sunday, to be exact -- for one of television's most riveting programs and maybe for its chief character, North Jersey mob boss and all around family man, Tony

The HBO series concludes after six seasons spanning 8 1/2 years, having broken new ground for television: portraying a hero who is thoroughly evil, a man who corrupts everyone he comes into contact with while appearing perfectly ordinary to his neighbors.

And he suffers from the same worries and fears the rest of us do -- even if he occasionally relieves the tension by killing someone.

Actor James Gandolfini's performance as Tony Soprano has been hailed as a tour de force, as has the acting of other cast members.

LINK:
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertai ... RSS&rpc=22

[Sonny]

From the article above:

With New York gang rival Phil Leotardo getting the jump on Tony's crew as warfare erupts between them in last Sunday's penultimate episode, Tony sends his family into hiding and huddles with his dwindling cadre of underlings in a New Jersey safe house.

By most reckonings, Tony appears likely to end up either face down in the proverbial plate of spaghetti or in the federal government's witness protection program.

A seemingly less probable outcome would have him killing Phil first and consolidating power as a mob super boss; Tony has proven very resourceful in tight spots before.

[Jay Wisnieski]

Odds are set as to whether Tony lives or dies.

The odds on Bodog are 1 to 3 that he lives and 2 to 1 that he dies.

More of the article can be read at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... zfront-hed

[Sonny]

Start Your Own Sopranos Finale Office Pool:
http://www.graphpaper.com/2007/06-06_st ... ffice-pool

[KnoxVegas]

I heard that Tony moves the family to Milan and at the end of the show, they are seen exiting LaScala. Meadow gets gunned down by Phil's goons and dies in Tony's arms.

[Baller1]

Well?????????? Thoughts?

[Sonny]

Well?????????? Thoughts?

I enjoyed the way Phil L. met his maker.

I did not enjoy the way the show ended. I thought DirecTV went out.

[Danny Hogan]

expectedly weak ending. I understand and appreciate the "artful" angle but i wanted resolution.

[laxative]

I thought the ending was pretty good even though I initially thought my cable went out. A few notes:

It seems like every season ends up with the penultimate episode being the most action packed and climactic.

The tension build up in the final scene was amazing. "Don't Stop Believing" was a great choice of music with Tony flipping through the series soundtrack in the little jukebox.

I finally saw AJ as a gangster. When he first walked through the door of the restaurant, I thought he was a member of a hit squad. Normally I would have thought of this as typical Chase forshadowing, but since it is over...we'll never know.

The cat= Big Pussy

Loved the FBI guy (WE'RE GONNA WIN THIS THING!)

Is Tony dead? I think so, but who knows? Its up to us. I think the sudden fade to black is Tony getting whacked. I remember earlier this season when Tony and Bobby were on the boat and and Bobby asks "what do you think happens when you die?" and Tony replies, "nothing, it just goes black."

I really didn't like the ending at first. I was really pissed! But the more I think about it the more I like it.

[Danny Hogan]

i agree that it will be one of the most memorable endings and people will value it more with time, the last scene had my heart rate up

but i still think it is somewhat of a cop-out and would have preferred to see it all unfold.

[Sonny]

All this does is set up Chase's future Soprano's movie and/or return of the series. It didn't really resolve anything other then Phil leaving the mob a bit earlier then expected.

[Baller1]

The last five minutes, I was worried that each member of the Sopranos was gonna get it. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, then jumped up because I thought Comcast was acting up again. The ending leaves the interpretation up to us, which is alright sometimes, but I wanted a little more resolution. How does Tony stand with New York? Is Little Carmine going to take over, is Tony getting indicted? Hmmm.

[Adam Gamradt]

Not all narratives end with resolution, no matter what Jerry Bruckheimer tells you.

That said, I think Schrödinger's Cat did it.