PSA: Sopranos on tonight

[embiggen]

Chase mentioning that Tony "doesn't get killed" in there kinda kills a liotta theories, hah?

 

that just ruins the communal onion ring theory.

[Papillon Parade]

Thought it was great. A little unexpected how it just ended like that with Meadow walking in, but I'll get over it.

[MattZ]

David Chase doesn't know what he is talking about.

[Sir Stewart]

[Spawn's dad]

Chase mentioning that Tony "doesn't get killed" in there kinda kills a liotta theories, hah?

 

 

Another problem with a movie is that so many characters died in the last season. Chase said he has considered "going back to a day in 2006 that you didn't see, but then (Tony's children) would be older than they were then and you would know that Tony doesn't get killed. It's got problems."

 

 

does that sentence even make sense? if they go back in time doesn't it render irrelevant whether he dies in the future or not?

[embiggen]

EVERYBODY DIES!

[Sir Stewart]

EVERYBODY HURTS!

That could be another song in the extras version of that scene.

[aricandover]

here's more from that Star Ledger interview

 

Meanwhile, remember that 21-month hiatus between Seasons Five and Six? That was Chase thinking up the ending. HBO chairman Chris Albrecht came to him after Season Five and suggested thinking up a conclusion to the series; Chase agreed, on the condition that he get "a long break" to decide on an ending.

 

Originally, that ending was supposed to occur last year, but midway through production, the number of episodes was increased, and Chase stretched out certain plot elements while saving the major climaxes for this final batch of 9.

 

"If this had been one season, the Vito storyline would not have been so important," he says.

 

Much of this final season has featured Tony bullying, killing or otherwise alienating the members of his inner circle. After all those years viewing him as "the sympathetic mob boss," were we supposed to, like his therapist Dr. Melfi, finally wake up and smell the sociopath?

 

"From my perspective, there's nothing different about Tony in this season than there ever was," insists Chase. "To me, that's Tony."

 

Chase has had an ambivalent relationship with his fans, particularly the bloodthirsty whacking crowd who seemed to tune in only for the chance to see someone's head get blown off (or run over by an SUV). So was he reluctant to fill last week's penultimate episode, "The Blue Comet," with so many vivid death scenes?

 

"I'm the Number One fan of gangster movies," he says. "Martin Scorsese has no greater devotee than me. Like everyone else, I get off partly on the betrayals, the retributions, the swift justice. But what you come to realize when you do a series is you could be killing straw men all day long. Those murders only have any meaning when you've invested story in them. Otherwise, you might as well watch 'Cleaver.'"

 

One detail about the final scene that he'll discuss, however tentatively: the selection of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as the song on the jukebox.

 

"It didn't take much time at all to pick it, but there was a lot of conversation after the fact. I did something I'd never done before: in the location van, with the crew, I was saying, 'What do you think?' When I said, 'Don't Stop Believin',' people went, 'What? Oh my god!' I said, 'I know, I know, just give a listen,' and little by little, people started coming around."

 

Whether viewers will have a similar time-delayed reaction to the finale as a whole, Chase doesn't know. ("I hear some people were very angry, and others were not, which is what I expected.") He's relaxing in France, then he'll try to make movies.

 

"It's been the greatest career experience of my life," he says. "There's nothing more in TV that I could say or would want to say."

 

Here's Chase on some other points about the finale and the season:

 

-After all the speculation that Agent Harris might turn Tony, instead we saw that Harris had turned, passing along info on Phil's whereabouts and cheering, "We're going to win this thing!" when learning of Phil's demise.

 

"This is based on an actual case of an FBI agent who got a little bit too partisan and excited during the Colombo wars of the '70s," says Chase of the story of Lindley DeVecchio, who supplied Harris' line.

 

-Speaking of Harris, Chase had no problem with never revealing what -- if anything -- terror suspects Muhammed and Ahmed were up to.

 

"This, to me, feels very real," he says. "The majority of these suspects, it's very hard for anybody to know what these people are doing. I don't even think Harris might know where they are. That was sort of the point of it: who knows if they are terrorists or if they're innocent pistachio salesmen? That's the fear that we are living with now."

 

Also, the apocryphal story -- repeated by me, unfortunately -- that Fox, when "Sopranos" was in development there, wanted Chase to have Tony help the FBI catch terrorists, wasn't true.

 

"What I said was, if I had done it at Fox, Tony would have been a gangster by day and helping the FBI by night, but we weren't there long enough for anyone to make that suggestion."

 

-I spent the last couple of weeks wrapping my brain around a theory supplied by reader Sam Lorber (and his daughter Emily) that the nine episodes of this season were each supposed to represent one of the nine circles of Hell from Dante's "The Divine Comedy." Told of the theory, Chase laughed and said, "No."

 

-Since Butchie was introduced as a guy who was pushing Phil to take out Tony, why did he turn on Phil and negotiate peace with Tony?

 

"I think Butch was an intelligent guy, he began to see that there was no need for it, that Phil's feelings were all caught up in what was esentially a convoluted personal grudge."

 

-Not from Chase, but I feel the need to debunk the e-mail that's making the rounds about all the Holsten's patrons being characters from earlier in the series. The actor playing Member's Only guy had never been on the show before, Tony killed at least, one if not both of his carjackers, and there are about 17 other things wrong with this popular but incorrect theory.

 

Alan Sepinwall may be reached at asepinwall@starledger.com

[Atticus]

this is making my brain hurt. It was easier taking sides about whether wilco was a sellout

[embiggen]

for all you Journey fans...

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The songwriters of Journey's power ballad "Don't Stop Believin"' were "jumping up and down" when they learned a few weeks ago it had been licensed for use in the final episode of "The Sopranos."

 

But even they couldn't believe how it would prove so integral to one of the most memorable final scenes in television history.

 

"It was better than anything I would have ever hoped for," said Jonathan Cain, Journey keyboard player, who watched at home with his wife and family.

 

Tony Soprano chose the song after flipping through a jukebox at a New Jersey restaurant where he dined with his family. The song played in the background as ominous characters flitted about and, right as Steve Perry was singing "don't stop," the HBO series did exactly that, for good. The ending infuriated some fans, amused others and intrigued all.

 

Cain, who wrote the song with Perry and Neal Schon, didn't know how it would be used when they agreed to the licensing. Cain kept the fact that it was going to be in at all a secret, then watched the episode with his family.

 

"I didn't want to blow it," he told The Associated Press on Monday. "Even my wife didn't know. She looked at me and said, 'You knew that and you didn't tell me?"'

 

Journey released the song in 1981, and it reached No. 9 on the singles chart. It has taken a life of its own since then, often reflecting the attitude people had toward Journey itself. "Don't Stop Believin"' brings back fond memories for many, is unbearably cheesy for others.

 

It's easy to imagine Tony Soprano, back in the day, taking a young Carmela to a Journey concert.

 

David Chase, creator of "The Sopranos," has an eclectic musical taste. He's curated two songtrack albums for his series, and made music a key part of the stories, particularly as the ending credits rolled. It's possible "Don't Stop Believin' " was part of the elaborate inside joke he made of the final episode.

 

It's also possible he found the end of the last verse too hard to resist: "Some will win, some will lose," Perry sings. "Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on ... "

 

"Don't Stop Believin' " has been featured in a several television and movie scenes. It crept onto an iTunes top-10 list when, during the same week, it was on Fox's "Family Guy" and in a romantic scene on MTV's "Laguna Beach."

 

Sports teams have adopted it, too. After the Chicago White Sox used it in 2005, Perry sang it at the parade to celebrate the team's World Series victory.

 

Cain, who has a 13-year-old and twins aged 11, said the songwriters are careful about how they license the song, and have resisted several advertising campaigns. They debated its use in the film "Monster" with Charlize Theron but, in the end, "she's too cute to say no to," he said.

 

He was a little nervous Sunday when, as he watched with his children, the mob boss Phil was shot and viewers heard his head crunched as it was run over by an SUV. But he loved the final scene.

 

"It was very smart writing," he said. "I always love movies where you don't see the guy whacked. You wonder whether he's going to get whacked."

 

It could help Journey's visibility, too, as it did for singer Nick Lowe when his song "The Beast in Me" was used over the closing credits for "The Sopranos" very first episode. There had been some speculation that Chase would return to it for the finale.

 

"A lot more people knew Johnny Cash's version (of 'The Beast in Me') and this put Nick's version on the map," said Jake Guralnick, Lowe's American manager. "Nick's version is a lot more vulnerable."

 

Cain said it indicated that a wish he and Perry had -- that their songs would have a long life -- was coming true.

 

"It puts our feet in the cement," he said. "We're a staple in the American music culture. Like us or not, we're here to stay."

[benjamin]

What is it about "Don't Stop Believing" that I've always loved? I can't stand Journey, but I love that song.

 

Maybe it has to do with South Detroit, AKA Windsor, Canada. Stupid head, there is no south Detroit.

 

I for one liked the ending. I'm sorry that the general public doesn't like to think for themselves. People move in and out of your life, sometimes abruptly. Simple as that.

[tv200]

Chase mentioning that Tony "doesn't get killed" in there kinda kills a liotta theories, hah?

He means doing an episode set in the past would hold little suspense regarding Tony as we know he's alive in future episodes.

[Sir Stewart]

He means doing an episode set in the past would hold little suspense regarding Tony as we know he's alive in future episodes.

You sure about that? He actually says he "doesn't get killed", not just "he is alive in future episodes."

[embiggen]

there's future episodes???

[Sir Stewart]

yes - HBO just announced a deal with David Chase that includes ten more years of that final scene.

[Analogman]

I heard they are doing a spin-off called Tony's Place - where he owns a bar.

[cryptique]

I heard they are doing a spin-off called Tony's Place - where he owns a bar.

I'm holding out for alison's idea of a spinoff featuring Paulie and the cat.

[aricandover]

I heard they are doing a spin-off called Tony's Place - where he owns a bar.

 

 

does he adopt an annoying kid?

 

I'm holding out for alison's idea of a spinoff featuring Paulie and the cat.

 

 

I'd pay to see that.

[Sir Stewart]

The spinoff should be Sil's dreamworld in that coma.

[cryptique]

The spinoff should be Sil's dreamworld in that coma.

If nothing else, the soundtrack would be fantastic.

[tv200]

there's future episodes???

Future as in the ones we just watched

[embiggen]

Future as in the ones we just watched

 

thanks for clearing that up.

[Sir Stewart]

The HBO discussion page has reached a new level of theory - poisoned onion rings.

[embiggen]

> > > > THERE IS NO NORTH OR SOUTH CHICAGO BUT IF ASK

> A

> > > > CHICAGOIAN WHERE THEY ARE FROM THEY WILL TELL

> > YOU

> > > > NORTH SIDE OR SOUTH SIDE. IF THERE IS A

> DETROIT

> > > > THERE IS A SOUTH DETROIT

> > >

> > >

> > > Wrong, fuck face.

> > >

> > > Read my follow up post

> >

> > You're an idiot...every area has a north, south,

> east

> > and west side, except to morons with an IQ under

> 100.

> > You can rationalize it, and explain no one calls

> it

> > that, but it does exist, despite your protests to

> the

> > contrary.

> >

> >

>

> Sigh....another fucking retard who thinks he knows

> more than someone from the Great Lakes region. Send

> me your address so I can come over with a lead pipe

> and crack your empty fucking skull open

>

> Jesus, what a dunce

 

 

BRING IT ON, YOU COCKSUCKER!!!!!!

 

christ.

[aricandover]

wow. that was awesome.