The original post: /r/television by /u/MrGittz on 2024-06-12 22:15:09.

I mean no disrespect to the other great shows & movies created within the last 50 or so years. But The Sopranos, that finale, that final moment, it’s operating on a whole other level.

Even if you take all of the theories and analysis out of the equation, forget about the “Does Tony Live or Die”, just the fact that the show creates this massive amount of tension, in its final moments, the audience is expecting something MAJOR from the television show that changed TV as we know it. And…

Blackness. Nothingness. Then credits. 99% of people thought their cable went out. It’s almost a troll job. Almost. But it’s not. It’s something so much more and on so many different levels.

This is the show that defied expectations. The Sopranos NEVER did what you thought it was going to do. A major civil war is brewing between New York families? Here, have a 30 minute dream sequence with Tony exploring his sub conscious.

The Sopranos is one of the few shows where you could never guess where it was heading. Something that would seem important in one episode, like an entire episode dedicated to the FBI planting a wire in The Sopranos household, would be hilariously brushed aside with a casual shrug. When we expected the show to zig, it zagged. Something as inconsequential as Meadows boyfriend showing up to work early would impact the show going forward in a massive way.

But that final moment. That cut to black? You can go as deep as you want with regard to what it means, what happened, how it happened and who was responsible. And it’s all there in the show. Which just adds to its beauty and artistic merit.

How many finales are still debated about, talked about and analyzed like the freakin Zapruder film 15-20 years after they aired? Not many. Sure we complain about the Seinfeld finale or LOST. But we don’t discuss their meaning, their significance.

How many finales leave you extremely frustrated & a little confused, yet the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. How many finales have gone from one of the most hated the day after it aired to one of the most appreciated years after?

What David Chase achieved in that final sequence with its editing, directing, and even the song choice, is as potent as any symphony, any marble statue or any painting hanging in the Louvre. It’s something that will stand the test of time.

It’s one of the greatest artistic statements of the 21st century.