WASHINGTON — It was exactly 20 years ago on this date that television changed forever. HBO’s “The Sopranos” premiered on Jan. 10, 1999, a watershed moment that, along with its siblings “Oz” and “Sex and the City,” shifted viewers from network TV to must-see cable hits.
It’s easy to take for granted now, but the idea of waiting a full week for an hourlong, cinema-quality series was revolutionary.听Before “The Sopranos” (1999-2007), network TV won the Emmy for Best Drama every year on NBC (“The West Wing,” “ER,” Law & Order”), ABC (“The Practice,” “NYPD Blue,” “Lost”) or FOX (“24”). After “The Sopranos,” the networks haven’t won since, instead going to cable and streaming channels, such as AMC (“Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad”), Showtime (“Homeland”), HBO (“Game of Thrones”) and Hulu (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).
In other words, Tony Soprano came along and whacked the entire network TV model.听But beyond its legacy as a pioneer, which specific ingredients make it an all-time classic? And what exactly happened in the controversial “cut to black” in the series finale? Time for a deep dive:
The Premise
Imagine Michael Corleone seeing a shrink to vent his guilt over mob hits. That was the genius premise by creator David Chase to juxtapose bloody mafia murders with regular suburban life. This dichotomy was epitomized in the Season 1 episode “College” as Tony strangled a rat during a campus tour with daughter Meadow. How unique to see a character spill blood on the streets, then spill emotions to his therapist. The moral dilemma of doctor-patient privilege was never more delicious, as we wondered how long Dr. Melfi should keep Tony鈥檚 secrets.
The Writing
Stemming from this brilliant concept, the screenwriting in each episode was as good as it gets, voted听by听the Writers Guild of America as the ahead of “Seinfeld,” “The Twilight Zone,” “All in the Family,” “M*A*S*H” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Head writers Terence Winter and Matthew Weiner went on to create “Boardwalk Empire” and “Mad Men,” respectively, while recurring director Tim Van Patten went on to helm episodes of “The Wire,” “Deadwood,” “Rome,” “Game of Thrones” and “Black Mirror.”
The Cast
All the writing in the world wouldn’t mean a thing without the proper human vessels. Enter the late James Gandolfini as the brutish Tony and future “Nurse Jackie” star Edie Falco as no-nonsense wife Carmela. Their on-screen argument in the episode “Whitecaps” is an acting masterclass, planting the seeds of Don and Betty Draper’s infidelity implosion, Walter and Skyler White’s drug-dealing debates and Frank and Claire Underwood’s political posturing.
Surrounding them is a slew of familiar faces. Dominic Chianese followed his role as Johnny Ola in “The Godfather: Part II” by playing Uncle Junior across a gang of “Goodfellas” alums in Lorraine Bracco as Dr. Melfi, Michael Imperiolli as Christopher Moltisanti, Frank Vincent as听Phil Leotardo听and Tony Sirico as Paulie Walnuts. We also saw E Street Band mate Steven Van Zandt as Silvio Dante, Drea de Matteo as Adriana, Robert Iler as A.J. and Jamie-Lynn Sigler as Meadow. Even Julianna Margulies parlayed a bit part into the lead role of “The Good Wife.”
The Shock Value
We became so attached to these characters that each season offered stunning moments of peril.听Season 1 saw Tony nearly smother his own mother in a nursing home in 鈥淚 Dream of Jeannie Cusamano.”听Season 2 saw Tony’s sister Janice gun down Richie in听鈥淭he Knight in White Satin Armor” and Big Pussy sleep with the fishes in “Funhouse.”听Season 3 saw Christopher and Paulie chase a Russian gangster through the snowy woods in the Steve Buscemi-directed “Pine Barrens.” And Season 4 saw Ralphie’s head in a bowling bag in “Whoever Did This.”
Season 5 saw a shotgun send Buscemi flying into firewood in “All Due Respect” and Adriana’s heartbreaking demise in “Long Term Parking.” Season 6 put Tony in a coma for trippy dream sequences in “Join the Club” and听Bobby听derailed on toy train tracks in “The Blue Comet.”听And Season 7 saw Christopher’s car accident in “Kennedy and Heidi” and A.J.’s botched suicide attempt in “The Second Coming,” fittingly cutting his rope too short to drown in the pool.
The Soundtrack
Each of these episodes opened with the unforgettable听title theme,听“Woke Up This Morning,” with Alabama 3 gruffly crooning the refrain “got yourself a gun.” It was the perfect sinister track for the opening credits, which serendipitously showed the Twin Towers disappear in the rearview mirror during Tony’s drive home on the Jersey Turnpike into a suburban driveway.
Even within the episodes, Chase chose a number of soundtrack selections with symbolic lyrics, including The Kinks’ “Living on a Thin Line” at the Bada Bing strip club (“All the stories have been told of听kings and days of old”), Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” during Tony farewell to Christopher (“the child is grown, the dream is gone”) and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” on the series finale jukebox (“paying anything to roll the dice just one more time”).
The Finale
This controversial finale triggered a collective panic attack, causing viewers to fear their cable feeds had cut out and sending couch potatoes to Dr. Melfi鈥檚 therapist couch to cope.听While 鈥淒allas鈥� famously revealed who shot J.R. Ewing, 鈥淭he听Sopranos鈥� offered no such closure. This was no cliffhanger; this was an artistic stroke of finality. Thus, the debate remains to this day.
In 2014, Vox听asked Chase point blank whether Tony is dead, to which he reportedly replied, 鈥淣o, he isn鈥檛.” Chase鈥檚 reps听pushed back: 鈥淭here is a much larger context for听that statement and as such, it is not true. As David Chase has said numerous times on the record,听鈥榃hether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point.鈥� To continue to search for this answer is听fruitless. The final scene 鈥� raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong听answer.鈥�
To me, it’s pretty clear that Tony is whacked. Yes,听we never see him physically shot, we never hear gunfire and we never even see a gun. But the evidence is all there if you look closely:
1) At the start of the final season, Tony chats with brother-in-law Bobby in a Fredo-style boat. They听discuss听what it鈥檚 like to be whacked:听鈥淵ou probably don鈥檛 even hear it when it happens.鈥�
2) Tony enters a coma in the final season premiere, 鈥淢embers Only,鈥� foreshadowing Tony鈥檚 eventual killer, who’s listed in the credits of the finale as 鈥淢an in the Members Only Jacket.鈥�
3) While in the coma, Tony enters听purgatory听at the heavenly Inn at the Oaks estate. Here, Tony鈥檚 dead mother waits in听the doorway in silhouette; Buscemi tries to take his briefcase (i.e. his soul) and Meadow鈥檚 voice calls out from the woods, 鈥淒on鈥檛 go, Daddy!鈥澨齓ou鈥檒l notice that this estate even resembles the painting on the rear wall of the restaurant during听the finale.
4) Everyone remembers 鈥淒on鈥檛 Stop Believin’鈥� playing on the听restaurant jukebox, but pay close attention to the lyrics.听Note how the lyrics 鈥渏ust a small town girl鈥� play over a shot of Carmela,听while 鈥渏ust a city boy鈥� play over a shot of Tony. If Chase is careful enough听to time these lyrics, it stands to reason that he would also match the lyrics of听the killer, who enters the restaurant to the听lyrics, 鈥淪trangers waiting up and down the boulevard.鈥� Waiting to kill.
5) Tony studies each patron with extreme paranoia — except for his killer. He’s distracted because the Man in听the Member鈥檚 Only Jacket enters at the same time as A.J. How beautifully ironic that this corrupt family man is distracted by the love for his son in his final moments.
6) Upon sitting at the table, A.J. reminds Tony of something he once听said: 鈥淔ocus on the good times.鈥� This line is spoken just as the killer sits听鈥渙ut of focus鈥� in the background at the bar.
7) As the gunman gets up from the bar, we cut to a very deliberate pan showing him enter the bathroom to 鈥渉iding somewhere in the night.鈥澨齇ur pop-culture听memory听reminds us that Al Pacino grabbed a gun from the听bathroom to whack a mob boss in 鈥淭he Godfather.鈥� Similarly, one of the听show鈥檚 dream sequences showed Tony grab a gun in a restaurant听bathroom.
8) As the family chows down on onion rings, the circular shape of the听food symbolizes bullet holes: one bullet for Tony, one for Carmela and one for A.J. Why not just have Tony order french fries? It has to be rings, just as Warren Beatty shot the rings听in 鈥淏onnie and Clyde.” Or, perhaps they’ll be resurrected, eating the onion rings like Catholic Church communion wafers.
9) Tony鈥檚 daughter, Meadow, is spared because she鈥檚 late to arrive, struggling听to parallel park just like in the show鈥檚 early seasons. The restaurant听geography suggests Meadow should have been sitting next to Tony in the听gunman鈥檚 path from the bathroom. Instead, she arrives late and tragically watches her own听father鈥檚 murder, as the screen cuts to black just as she enters.
10) Finally, each time the doorbell rings, we get two shots: (a)听an objective听shot of Tony looking up, followed by (b) a subjective shot from Tony鈥檚 point of view. According to this pattern, the听screen cuts to black听within听Tony鈥檚 P.O.V., suggesting that he is in fact dead.
Behold — the moment that the cinematic shot became a shot.
The above clues are enough to conclude that Tony is whacked. Still, if you’re looking for hope, Chase鈥檚 favorite poem is Edgar Allan Poe’s 鈥淎 Dream Within a Dream鈥� (鈥淚s all we see or seem but a dream within a dream?鈥�). As Tony enters, we hear, Little Feat’s 鈥淎ll That You Dream.鈥� As he stares across the room at the empty table, we hear, 鈥淐louds change the scene.鈥� It鈥檚 at this precise point that Tony sees himself sitting across the room, entering his own P.O.V. in a jarring cut reminiscent of Kubrick’s transcendent finale of 鈥�2001: A Space Odyssey鈥� (1968).
Tony is no longer in reality. He’s watching a vision of himself. The dream theory doesn鈥檛 rule out the life or death theories; it expands upon them. After all, we don鈥檛 know if Tony wakes up in a cold sweat or if he鈥檚 fated to live out this ominous premonition. It’s layers upon layers.
Taking it a step further with Poe鈥檚 poem in mind, maybe we鈥檝e all been here before and life is a recurring set听of 鈥淒reams Within Dreams.鈥� Just as Dr. Melfi danced in 鈥淕oodfellas鈥� to the lyrics, 鈥淟ife is but a dream, it鈥檚 what听you make it,鈥� the 鈥淪opranos鈥� finale is truly 鈥淎ny Way You Want It,鈥� which just happens to be the jukebox B-side of 鈥淒on鈥檛 Stop Believin鈥�” on screen.
For all of this,听we see the true genius of its masterful creator, who demonstrates a degree of听visual storytelling that听is rare for movies, let alone television. Chase deserves to go down in history as听an equal to 2007 peers Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen Brothers, who offered their own abrupt 鈥渃uts to black鈥� in 鈥淭here Will Be Blood鈥� and 鈥淣o Country for Old Men.鈥�
Regardless of whether you loved or hated the 鈥淪opranos鈥� finale initially, repeat viewings prove that it is one of the most masterfully constructed scenes in entertainment history. As he cuts to black, Chase signs his masterpiece with a line that captures our longing听for it: 鈥淒on鈥檛 stop.鈥�
And yet, we鈥檙e still talking about it. The movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on.
