My Mom Called Me a Gangster-The Sopranos

My Mom Called Me a Gangster
and
I Loved Her for It!
My Thoughts on the Demise of The Sopranos
by
Robert N. Badner
Presented by
WordPaint
in association
with
Penny Ante Films
and
Sweet Works Creative
Registered with the WGA East – Reg. #: I52963 - Aug. 20, 2007

There’s no way to sugarcoat this. I was fuming at producer David Chase’s
decision to leave us all in black limbo. Having had time to reflect on the
final episode of The Sopranos, I still can’t believe it all came down to
nothing. From his final resting place, I could hear Johnny Sack’s voice
screaming bloody murder when the screen cut to black, furious at the lack of
finality. Being textbook old school, Johnny wouldn’t have tolerated any of
David Chase’s shenanigans, leaving everyone adrift in a black sea searching
for answers, while he quietly tiptoed to a chateau in Paris.
It was apparent early on that the show was going to throw all the rules out
the window. I loved The Sopranos so much that one new episode per week
didn’t come close to satisfying my Bada Bing hunger. David Chase had me
big time, just like the Feds had Adriana right where they wanted her. This
was one buffet that I couldn’t pull myself away from. Millions of loyal
Sopranos fans invested eight years into Tony Soprano’s psyche including an
endless twenty-one month hiatus between seasons five and six. Our love
and devotion to The Sopranos made it the success that it became.
Chase told HBO that he needed a long break to devise the ending. It’s hard
to believe that after twenty-one months of brainstorming the result was
nothing but a black screen. For such a brilliant, veteran writer as David
Chase, that’s the best he could come up with. You’ve got to be joking. If
the new Yankee Stadium can be built in a little more than twenty-one
months, then Chase could have penned an ending to satisfy the fans’
insatiable desire for a conclusion. Something, anything, but instead we got
zippo. It left me feeling hollow and empty much like the boardwalk does at
the Jersey shore in wintertime. What just happened? Did we get
sandbagged?
Like the rest of the world, I thought something happened to my cable as the
screen went black after Tony looked up. Chase built the tension in the last
scene with a maddening precision reaching a crescendo that yielded a big fat
zero. The scene featured a few ominous looking characters eyeballing Tony
including the guy at the counter with the Members Only jacket who stood up
and walked into the men’s room. I looked at the clock and time was running
dangerously out so something had to happen. My head felt like it was going
to burst from all the suspense. With precious few moments left, could Tony,
Carmela and A.J. get popped? Unlike The Godfather, nothing happened in
this soda shop except black, black and more black. Unfortunately, the only
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soda jerks in this ice cream parlor were the ones watching at home. I felt
like I was sucker punched and then it was Sayonara.
Don’t be fooled by what Bobby Baccala said to Tony while they were sitting
on Bobby’s boat on the lake. Do you really think that a guy who started as
Junior’s lackey as his driver/cook, who kept his deceased wife’s ziti in the
freezer for way too long, who didn’t lose his cherry until the very end and
who forked over eight grand for a Blue Comet Lionel train set would be the
key to solving the Sopranos’ mystery ending? Not a chance. It’s all smoke
and mirrors, just like any Vegas showgirl extravaganza. Bobby better hope
that he can get a chilled Negroni wherever he’s headed because it’s not
going to happen on The Blue Comet as he wished.
A session between Tony and Dr. Melfi early on gave a serious peek into
Tony’s mind and also provided a revelation regarding The Sopranos
endgame. Recalling memories as a kid, Tony said that there was this guy in
the neighborhood they called Jimmy Smash. The kids thought he was
retarded when in actuality he had a cleft palate, which made him talk funny.
When Jimmy spoke, everybody would bust out laughing. Jimmy didn’t care
because he just wanted to be part of a popular crew. Thing is, they only
called him when they were bored. If they asked him to sing “Mack the
Knife,” he would belt it out on cue and they’d be laughing their heads off.
After a while, they stopped calling him.
Years later, Tony found out that Jimmy would cry himself to sleep every
night. “T” said that he felt bad, but he never understood what it felt like to
be used for somebody else’s amusement like a ******’ dancing bear until he
played golf with his neighbor Cusamano and his friends. Cusamano’s
friends were toying with Tony, asking him mob related questions. “T” was
livid after being asked if you really have to cut your finger to take an oath.
Someone asked Tony if he ever saw the picture of wiseguy Gallante with a
cigar hanging out of his mouth after he got whacked. Cusamano chimed in
and said yeah, what a beautiful hit. “T” stared down the doctor. Tony was
placed on an imaginary pedestal when he told them that he knew John Gotti.
Dr. Melfi told Tony that you thought Cusamano was your friend. Tony said
that you live and you learn. Dr. Melfi asked Tony whatever happened to
Jimmy. Reflecting an almost bizarre sense of satisfaction and glee on his
face, Tony said he’s doing twenty for robbery. Tony seemed to get some
kind of perverse enjoyment knowing that poor Jimmy Smash was behind
bars. Livia Soprano did quite a job raising her son, don’t you think? Just

like Tony used Jimmy Smash as a punching bag and Cusamano’s friends
used Tony for entertainment, I feel that David Chase used his fans by setting
us up for some real fireworks, throwing in red herrings and then cutting us
loose.
P.S. You don’t have to worry about Tony crying himself to sleep on the
night of that golf outing. No doubt, “T” was drowning his sorrows with his
goomah and a bottle of scotch, no better way if you happen to be a New
Jersey mob boss. But, I’m just saying.
It must be like how Christopher Moltisanti felt when Tony passed him over
in favor of his cousin Tony Blundetto to run the Bloomfield casino. Tony B
got pinched in ’86 for a truckload of Betamax swag landing him in the
slammer for 17 years due to RICO predicates. Running the casino was
payback for Tony B as “T” felt guilty because he was supposed to be part of
the heist. Being next in line to run the casino, Christopher didn’t know what
hit him and he harbored hostility toward his mentor and Uncle. The fans
weren’t prepared either for what was going to hit them square in the face
when the final scene played out.
I was at a seminar that David Chase gave in New York City in 2002 in
which he said that directing scared him but didn’t know why. Chase said he
felt like he was driving off a cliff when directing. His dark ending felt like
he drove the audience off a cliff without even flinching.
It’s all darkness. Maybe that’s what Chase was trying to convey: the
darkness inside Tony’s mind, the darkness to life, the unknown. Seems
plausible but who really knows? By the way, Chase high-tailed it to France
just prior to the airing of the finale to escape the widely anticipated fan and
media uproar the morning after.
Chase said in an interview that everything was all there in the final scene
and that anyone could figure it out. As if adding salt to a fresh wound,
David Chase has refused to discuss or explain the final scene according to an
interview in The Star-Ledger. “I have no interest in explaining, defending,
reinterpreting, or adding to what is there,” said Chase. It seems harsh,
selfish, and practically a slap in the face to all Sopranos’ fans. After ending
the show the way he did, the least Chase could do is offer an explanation,
not abandon us. I put my heart and soul into this Bada-Bing world and I
deserve something more.

It almost feels like the fans were given the same treatment that Tony and
Silvio accorded that “old mustache” Feech LaManna. Feech, a classic hot
head, was set up and returned to prison, unable to adjust to his new life with
the family. Richie always said that Feech came before the electric light.
Feech’s major claim to fame was that he was “made” on the other side, so
he’s an original, a true dinosaur. It feels like the fans were framed and sent
packing in the finale.
Sopranos’ fans weren’t your typical television fans. Being so close to the
characters and material, I felt like I was actually there in the scenes just out
of camera range. You know those Verizon commercials where the Can you
hear me now guy walks into frame complete with a network cavalry to
ensure that a wireless caller maintains a robust connection. Sopranos’ fans
were just like that guy always present in the scene, just off camera, poised
for anything to happen and never missing a beat.
It’s obvious now there was an ulterior motive at work. James Gandolfini
said many times that he was done playing Tony Soprano. Been there, done
that. David Chase said that he had done everything he wanted to do with
The Sopranos but wouldn’t rule out a movie if the right idea came along. So
by cutting to black, Chase allowed Tony to live and opened the door for a
Sopranos movie in the future. In a sense, saying that there was an ending to
the show is not entirely correct. The show was really put on hold, just like
pressing the “pause” button on a VCR or on a DVR and will re-emerge in a
retro movie version taking place in the ‘60s focusing on a younger Tony and
his parents, Johnny Boy and Livia Soprano. That also means a younger
Janice, way before her “Parvati” days.
Maybe it all goes back to the ducks that Tony loved so much, the ones that
lived in his pool. Those ducks were magic to Tony. You would never guess
that he suffered from depression while he doted over his ducks. He hoped
his family could be as happy as those quackers. One day they flew away for
good to start the next chapter of their lives. I guess we have to let go of
Tony Soprano much in the same way that he let go of his ducks. On one
hand, a Prozac popping Jersey mob boss prone to panic attacks who would
whack a rat in a heartbeat and then be balling his eyes out while telling his
shrink that his ducks deserted him. When you think about it, “T” always
seemed to be moving forward with survival as his primary motivation.

The only thing more ridiculous than Chase’s divisive ending was when those
two wannabe hoodlums, Matt Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte attempted to
clip Christopher Moltisanti hoping to elevate their mob status and street
cred. Big mistake. They elevated their status all right, but in the wrong
direction. Matt and Sean were guilty of not having very much on their upper
floors. Committing the worst and last strategic blunder of their short lives,
Bevilaqua and Gismonte ended up in their own black holes complete with
air-conditioned cabezas. Now that’s closure.
After the SUV crash, Tony didn’t hesitate to snuff out Christopher when he
became a liability to his freedom. After all he’d been through with Chris, it
didn’t mean squat. Tony suffocated his nephew so nonchalantly that it was
chilling. How was it that Christopher became to Tony what Adriana was to
Chris – nothing but a chapter that needed closing. Once Moltisanti said
rather defiantly that he was going to die for Tony Soprano. While accurately
predicting his own death, Christopher never could have imagined that it
would be at the hands of own uncle. His drug addiction made him
vulnerable to the Feds and would end any hope of his winning an Oscar.
Survival for “T” is paramount, Christopher’s just collateral damage.
Remember when the Feds raided Johnny Sack’s house, Tony ran like a bat
out of hell to escape. He was like a shark, only on land. They have to keep
moving, even while sleeping otherwise they die. It was at the core of Tony’s
character.
All due respect, I feel that the final scene was a cop-out. Come on enough
of the artistic stuff already, just end it. Our time window is only sixty
minutes. The dream sequences have been done out the wazoo. Remember
The Sopranos is a show where Ralphie Cifarreto’s head landed in a bowling
ball bag, where Janice blew away Richie, where Big Pussy literally sleeps
with the fishes, where Adriana was clipped, where Coco lost his pearly
whites, and where Phil Leotardo found out the hard way that the earth is
really flat. Everything is cause/effect and action/reaction in Tony’s
universe. Don’t **** with him or his family or there will be hell to pay.
Don’t just blow the fans off.
Paulie Walnuts wouldn’t take any crap, would he? Try to pull this nonsense
on him and he’d hit you in the back of the head with a shovel, just like he
did to that landscaper, Sal Vitro.

Any fan that is comfortable with or even likes the ending is being way too
lenient with David Chase and not being honest with themselves. Take the
story of Sil’s friend, Shlomo Teitelman, the Hasidic Jew who enlisted the
help of Tony to resolve his daughter’s problematic divorce. The image of
two Hasidic Jews speaking Yiddish and negotiating with Tony Soprano in
front of Satriale’s is arguably one of the most bizarre tableaus in the series.
Needless to say, Mr. Teitelman wouldn’t be taking home any gabagool that
day. His son-in-law wouldn’t grant a divorce unless he received 50 percent
of Mr. Teitelman’s motel business, known as a “get.” After Tony resolved
the problem, Shlomo reneged on their agreement, which didn’t exactly make
Tony whistle Dixie. Tony wasn’t lenient with Shlomo as a deal is a deal, no
matter what faith you are. Tony knocked Teitelman’s black hat off and
slammed him against the wall demanding the agreed upon 25 percent.
Shlomo responded by calling “T” mud. “You’re a golem,” said Teitelman.
In Yiddish it means a monster, Frankenstein, the living dead. Tony didn’t
let Mr. Teitelman off the hook so why should we give David Chase a pass?
The trip to Naples that Tony, Paulie and Christopher took foreshadowed the
darkness that would end the series, albeit I had no idea at the time. Their
mission was to negotiate a car deal with Vittorio who had done business
with America previously. It was important to Paulie that the trip go well as
this was his first time on the other side. Paulie was enjoying an expresso at
an outdoor café taking in the sites. He noticed three guys sitting at a nearby
table and the man on the right had his back towards him. Paulie looks at
them and says Commendatori (commander) trying to be friendly. All three
men looked at Paulie as he raises his cup of expresso and says Buon Giorno.
The man on the right abruptly turns away from Paulie, taking a drag on his
cigarette without acknowledging him. The other two men gesture with their
hands implying that this American tourist has some nerve interrupting their
conversation. Ignored like some jadrool, Paulie is angry at their lack of
respect, calling them ****suckers under his breath. In his only Sopranos
cameo appearance, David Chase played the man on the right. Chase’s
thumbing his nose at Paulie could have foreshadowed that he was going to
diss the audience in the end.
In the end, Dr. Melfi told Tony to get lost. She said that she couldn’t treat
him anymore, but in reality, she was humiliated when her colleagues
informed her that sociopaths such as Tony use psychotherapy to hone their
criminal skills and they almost never get better. Jennifer Melfi didn’t want
to be played by “T” anymore. Another possibility is that Melfi’s ditching

Tony could be a cue foreshadowing that the fans were going to get thrown
under the bus in the end.
As far as the gangster reference in the title goes, one day my mother was
pretty upset with me. To this day, I have no idea what it was. At the top of
her lungs, she yelled out that I was a gangster, her voice reverberating
throughout the house. I couldn’t stop laughing at first, then realizing how
cool it was that my Mom just called me a gangster. I felt like a made guy. It
was as close as a Jewish guy could get to being made. My Mom hated The
Sopranos after all. She could care less whether Tony Soprano got whacked
or not, she’s only interested in who’s on Larry King. Unknowingly, my
Mom granted me a whole new status. I walk around town more confidently
now with a Tony Manero like strut and swagger. More importantly, the
ladies were beginning to take notice. I felt like I could hang with Paulie
Gualtieri and Tony and somehow connect even closer to the world that
captivated me for years. The Sopranos would never be the same for me, as I
felt like 50 large. I loved my Mom for it although she never could
understand why.
Once Tony grabbed Christopher by the collar and said, “What happens, I
decide, not you. You don’t love me anymore, well that breaks my heart, but
it’s too ******’ bad, cause you don’t got to love me but you will respect
me.” David Chase didn’t have to love his audience but I wish he had given
us more respect instead of sending us into a black wall. We deserve better!
Paulie’s inability to negotiate his cut or “payoff” from a heist that Ralphie
pulled off may best symbolize the lack of a “payoff” in David Chase’s so-
called ending. Paulie felt that he was owed 50k for providing the codes that
opened the safe that Ralphie hijacked. Ralphie refused to pay Paulie saying
that it’s his territory and Paulie deserved nothing (maybe a 5 percent finder’s
fee). Paulie requested a sit-down with Tony. Despite being angry at the
paltry amount of compensation (12k) that Tony decided upon, Paulie was
heard out by Tony. Can I request a sit-down with David Chase to be heard
out? At least Paulie had a chain of command to turn to and address his
grievance. What I am supposed to do, write my Congressman?
Meanwhile, David Chase is strolling down the Champs-Elysees in Paris and
he’s not talking, at least not until The Emmy Awards in September. Real
wiseguys would marvel at Chase’s ability to keep his mouth shut. Unlike
today, where the Feds routinely plea bargain with mob canaries, who will

sing just about any song they request, just like selecting a song on a karaoke
machine. These wiseguys are selling out everybody quicker than Donald
Trump trashed Rosie O’Donnell last year. Whatever happened to the never
be a rat and never sell out your friends loyalty oath known as Omerta, in
today’s mob? It’s gone by way of the Internet dial-up connection: dead and
buried.
Richie Aprile may have best expressed what David Chase’s was thinking
about the fans when he wrote the finale. Richie, Tony, Dick Barone and
Jackie Jr. were discussing divvying up the garbage routes when Richie
declared Fairfield his. Tony denied Richie the route because he disobeyed a
direct order not to sell coke on the route. Jackie Jr. says that those were his
father’s routes, Giacamo “Jackie” Aprile Sr. who was head of the DiMeo
family prior to getting the cancer and succumbing. Jackie Jr. tells Tony that
Richie is just asking for what his father would’ve given him. “You
respected my father, you should respect Richie,” he tells Tony. Tony
responds, “Those who want respect, give respect.” Having spent ten years in
the can, Richie tells Jackie, “He just told you to shut the **** up, kid. And
he told me to go **** myself.” Ritchie’s translation of Tony’s comment just
might have been what Chase was saying to the fans at the bitter end.
Much like David Chase bolted to Paris to escape, Tony headed to Vegas on
a private jet to get away from grieving Christopher’s death any longer. “T”
had enough and he was actually happy that a gigantic weight was lifted off
his shoulders. He hooked up with a stripper named Sonja who was a friend
of Chris’s. Tony and Sonja embarked on an evening of wine, pot, peyote
and sex. Apparently, Molitsanti’s death had the same effect on Sonja as it
did Tony. They ended up high atop a canyon in the Nevadan desert with a
breathtaking view. While still sitting, Tony says softly, “I get it.” “T” then
stands with his arms outstretched, and shouts “I get it.” As The Sopranos
rode into the sunset, I threw my up my arms and shouted, “I don’t get it.”
Tony’s psychedelic desert adventure with Sonja apparently freed up his yap
as he told everyone at the Bing that he hooked up with Sonja and did peyote
with her. And “T” complains about Paulie’s unending yap. Even James
Gandolfini told The Daily News that he had no idea what the ending meant.
Maybe, that little devil image on the Vegas slot machine that Tony was so
fascinated by triggered something in his mind.
Tony Soprano must have been talking for David Chase when “T” was
discussing Jackie Jr.’s death with Dr. Melfi. Jackie Jr.’s stupid decision led

to his getting clipped at the projects in Boonton where he had gone to
ground. You can’t help but feel awful for Rosalie Aprile, Jackie Jr.’s
mother and Carmela’s best friend. First, she loses her husband Jackie Sr. to
the cancer as Tony calls it and now her son is killed by friendly fire or by
not so friendly fire. Sadly enough, Ro’s new man, Ralphie Cifaretto is the
one who wanted to give the kid a pass at first, but green lighted the hit after
all. Ralphie tried to overlook Jackie Jr.’s killing of Sunshine, the card dealer
and his attempt to kill two made men, Christopher and Furio. In the end,
Ralphie couldn’t let Sunshine’s death go unpunished. Tony told Dr. Melfi, “
In the end, I failed him. What the **** you gonna do, the world today.” In
my mind, David Chase failed all The Sopranos’ fans with his whimsical
finale.
The only incident more horrible than what Jackie Jr. did was what Ralphie
Cifaretto did to Pie-O-My, the racehorse that Tony loved. Ralphie did the
unthinkable and torched the stable and Pie-O-My for the insurance money.
In some ways, Tony loved that horse like he loved his ducks. Tony became
incensed upon learning that Ralphie was the cause of Pie-O-My’s demise.
Ralphie lost his head, literally over this. Whereby Ralphie may have been
inclined to give Jackie Jr. a pass, there was no way that Tony was going to
extend the same privilege to Ralphie. He sleeps with the fishes now. How
could I in good conscious give David Chase a pass for his non-ending? It
just wouldn’t be right.
In David Chase’s defense, an article written by a screenwriting professor
from UCLA said something very astute that caught my attention. The
Associated Press article appeared two days after the final episode. Richard
Walter, of the UCLA Film School said that brilliant wasn’t enough to
describe the finale. “That’s too tame, this was genius. Sure, I was
frustrated. But you don’t want everything tied up with a neat ribbon on it. I
don’t know what’s going to happen in my life. Do you know what’s going
to happen in yours?” Walter said. I thought it was the single best
explanation of the cut-to-black ending.
If it’s any consolation, there was one guy who was treated even worse than
The Sopranos’ fans were, the final scene, notwithstanding. Tony named
Gigi Cestone as Richie Aprile’s successor when the novelty of having sex
with a gun pointed at her head had worn off of Janice. The only problem was
that David Chase decided that Gigi would die of a heart attack while on the
throne in the men’s room. Janice did something that David Chase didn’t do,

she brought finality and closure to her situation by terminating her
relationship with Richie Aprile, literally. On the up side, Janice could stop
paying those huge fees to her wedding planner that she kept complaining
about.
Hold on a second, my phone is ringing. Hey, Paulie. You need my help at
the Bing. Sure thing. OK, I’ll bring half-dozen burlap sacks. I won’t tell
anybody I’m coming. What’s that, you can’t find “T” and he won’t answer
his phone. Don’t worry, Tony’s around, he’s not going anywhere. He’s a
survivor! Holy **** Paulie, something really ****** just happened - I
can’t see a thing, everything just went black!
My guess is that in real life wiseguys wouldn’t be very pleased with the
choice that David Chase made. They don’t want dreams where Livia’s voice
is coming out of Dr. Melfi’s mouth or Big Pussy as a talking fish. They
want their vig (vigorish) paid on time and their “shy” business to run
smoothly. No stutter steps like our old friend, Davey Scatino tried to pull on
Richie Aprile. Securing no-show jobs that provide health insurance are a
necessity. They live in the here and now and want a more concrete ending
and heaven knows these guys know concrete better than anybody, especially
when it comes to a shoe fitting.
It’s no secret that real life shrinks and therapists went gaga for The Sopranos
and specifically for the electricity and sexual tension between Tony and Dr.
Melfi. How will they come to terms with David Chase’s finish line? One
thing’s for sure, that after every episode, every season finale and now after
the final scene, these shrinks were e-mailing and text messaging each other
as rapidly as a hungry school of piranha were cleaning the flesh off their
latest victim, bringing computer servers and the Blackberry networks to their
knees.
Tony’s relationship with Dr. Melfi is a critical aspect of The Sopranos. Late
in the game, we learn that psychotherapy helps Tony become a better
criminal according to The Criminal Personality. Sociopaths nonchalantly
bring up issues such as mother and family. If the foundation of Tony’s
relationship with Jennifer Melfi is disingenuous, then it follows that all the
sessions and therapy were nothing but hot air. After spending years
cultivating this relationship, David Chase just throws Dr. Melfi right under
the bus. It sure is baffling to me. This topic needs to be explored in much
more depth on a separate stage. Talk about a bombshell. Can’t imagine

how the shrinks feel being bamboozled like this. The really fascinating
aspect is that we haven’t heard a word from the therapist community as a
whole on this topic, probably because they don’t want to draw any further
attention to them being played like fiddles. No wonder Chase took off for
France.
At least we can count our blessings that Tony Soprano was real and Kevin
Finnerty was not. My worst nightmare was that Kevin Finnerty would turn
out to be the real character and Tony Soprano was buried somewhere deep in
his subconscious. To say that I didn’t like Kevin Finnerty would be putting
it mildly. I don’t think that Tony Soprano would have cared much for him
either.
Did David Chase have anyone to bounce his finale ideas off of when he
devised the ending for The Sopranos? Did he have an advisor to confide in
whose judgment he trusted? I don’t know the answers to these questions as
Chase’s lips are sealed. Perhaps, if David had a Silvio Dante to consult
with, we may never have wandered into this unpleasant territory.
Tony and Paulie had to high-step it to Florida’s gold coast due to a Federal
investigation that could implicate Tony. The skeletal remains of Willie
Overalls, Tony’s first can of peaches, were uncovered so “T” and Paulie
took off for the land of oranges, early bird dinners and AARP.
Having started out in the life in Johnny Boy Soprano’s crew, Paulie Walnuts
Gualtieri was with Tony when “T” broke his cherry, rubbing out Willie
Overalls in Newark. Tony was just 24 when his father gave him the green
light. Paulie is like a brother to Tony as they’ve been tight forever.
Sipping after dinner cocktails poolside at Beansie’s house, Tony and his old
friend relaxed as calmness slowly crept over the steamy Florida night.
Appearing cool as cucumbers, Beansie and Tony seemed as if they were in
the eye of a hurricane, always aware that the other shoe could drop in a
heartbeat. No doubt, the Mojitos they were nursing contributed to their
euphoria.
Tony mentioned that Paulie’s non-stop yapping is beginning to concern him.
Beansie told Tony that he couldn’t be more wrong about Paulie. “T” tells
Beansie about a picture Paulie had of Tony dressed up to look like a general.
Tony was not amused at Paulie’s gesture. Beansie says he heard about that.

“Paulie loves you. He’s like that because he lives alone and has no wife or
kids. You’re all he’s got. He has you, the guys and his image.” Tony says
that he loves Paulie. Beansie responds, “You always did.”
Tony asks, “But has he ever been put to the test?” Beansie doesn’t have the
answer, he can only stare at Tony.
It was obvious that Tony had some reservations with Paulie while they were
out on a fishing trip. Close-ups of an ax and a bait knife telegraphed what
Tony was contemplating.
The meaningful back and forth between these two old friends was obvious.
Was there any back and forth between David Chase and the producers or his
advisor in crafting the ending? The powwow between Beansie and Tony
illustrates the value of having someone to provide valuable advice and
counsel when making a major decision.
Beansie helped Tony review the situation and dispel any negative waves that
he may have harbored about Paulie. David Chase could have used Beansie’s
advice in figuring out how to best end the series.
Here’s a possible ending that I came up with in less than 60 seconds,
considerably less than the 21 months that David Chase had. Furio Giunta
decides that he wants to be with Carmela after all, no matter the
consequences. Removing Tony from the Jersey landscape is the only way
that it could work. He assembles a team on the other side and returns to
America. There will be no kneading mozzarella balls at Artie Bucco’s
Nuevo Vesuvio this time around. Keep in mind, Furio has not spoken with
Carm since he said goodbye some years back. He decides not to send her
any advance warning, no communications whatsoever. Furio knows that
only one person will remain alive.
Furio and his crew arrive in Atlanta not taking any chances on being seen
at Newark Liberty Int’l Airport. They rent a car and make their way up to
Jersey. Furio desires Carm so much that he decides to roll the dice. Furio
ambushes Tony shooting him twice in the head. “T” is whisked to the
UMDNJ Level 1 Trauma Center, but there would be no saving him this
time, unlike when Uncle Junior shot him in the stomach, mistaking him for
Pussy Malenga.

At first Carmela hates Furio for what he has done, but eventually sees the
light as she has no one else and no place to go. She has already made one
deal with the devil, what’s one more? Do they live happily ever after?
Does anyone live happily ever after? As far as Meadow and A.J., I didn’t
get that far…for that I’d need another 60 seconds.
In The Sopranos: Selected Scripts from Three Seasons published in 2002
by Warner Books, David Chase wrote the introduction in which he
discussed the making of the series. Who knew at the very end of the
introduction, he would say something that practically gives away the
ending, albeit there was no way to know it in 2002. David wrote What
Tony Soprano shows, I guess, is that rarely is anything black and white in
life. Life is difficult, messy, disappointing. Things don’t work out the way
we’d like. In that sense, I hope it’s similar to the foreign films I loved as
a young adult for their ideas, their mystery and their ambiguity – for not
having the endings spelled out or telling the audience what to think or
feel. What I love most when I’m watching something is a feeling of
strangeness, suspense, poetry-things happening that you can’t predict. I
hope we’ve achieved that with The Sopranos.1
It’s interesting that not a single reporter, writer, correspondent or television
critic has mentioned this introduction that telegraphed the ending of the
series. Could I be the only person to make the connection? It’s way too
late to make a difference even if it’s true.
Coming to terms
David Chase is the artist who painted a rich and complex world that we
escaped into for eight years. As many of the fans might loathe the
unexpected cut to black that ended the series, ultimately we have to accept it,
as it was his vision. Nobody argued with Van Gogh when he painted
“Starry Night” perhaps citing too many or too few stars. He painted it and
that was it. And we thought our biggest problem was finding Valery that
pesky Russian commando who escaped from Paulie and Christopher in the
classic Pine Barrens fiasco. Little did we know?
Au Revoir, David Chase!
1
The Sopranos: Selected Scripts from Three Seasons – series created by David Chase. September 2002.
New York: Home Box Office – Time Warner Entertainment Company.

Godspeed, Tony Soprano!
Dedicated to my Mom, Frances Badner whom has a heart of gold!
Bob Badner is a freelance writer living in New Jersey. He’s currently
working on an original screenplay and promises that it will have an ending.
July 2007
A WordPaint Presentation
in association with
Sweet Works Creative
753 Colonial Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
rbadner@usadatanet.net
908.687.0110 (home)

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