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June 11, 2007
The Sopranos Ends Perfectly
I will never forget the moment.
Terry and I sitting up in bed, in shock, the single word, "What?!" bursting loose from both our lips as black filled our TV screen and we briefly wondered if the cats had bumped the TiVo at the worst possible moment and destroyed the payoff to one of the most tension-filled moments of television we'd ever experienced. Then, the credits rolled by in silence and there was an exhalation of shock and amazement.
What had David Chase done? Oh my God, hit the jump back button and watch it again.
Yep, that's it. He really did it. The man has guts. No, that's not enough. The man has balls the size of Volkswagens.
For weeks, the speculation has centered around a simplistic black and white question for a show that revelled in never providing monochromatic answers: would Tony live or die? The prosaic nature of the question and its anticipated answer was itself was the most disappointing thing about the lead-up to the finale. Either Tony was going to get whacked, or he wouldn't. "The Sopranos" would end with either the bitter little pill of the "bad" guy finally getting what he's got coming or with the vaguely false relief of family affirmed and life goes on.
Instead, Chase managed to do the unthinkable, the unbelievable and the unprecedented: he yanked us out of their lives without any resolution whatsoever. We were torn away from Tony, Carmella, AJ, Meadow, Paulie, Sil and the all the rest without any idea what happens to them tomorrow or even later that same evening. In real life, when you lose contact with someone, you seldom if ever have the satisfaction of knowing how the myriad threads of their lives resolved themselves. They are removed from your circle of knowledge and yet their lives go on unbeknownst to you in ways you can only imagine. The Sopranos are gone from our lives, but their lives go on without resolution, much like ours. None of us have tidy, revelatory endings that are the culmination of our "story arcs" and neither will they.
Oh, I'm sure there are those who will bemoan the lack of resolution to the story or that Chase has somehow "robbed the fans" but I'm a fan and I'm ecstatic. I'm glad he thumbed his nose at the tyranny of the narrative drive to bring things to a tidy conclusion so we can all clap and walk away without another thought about that mob family in Jersey, satisfied that all's well that ends well. Screw that. I don't want to see Tony's death, nor do I want to watch him drive off into witness protection, or sit down to some kind of illusory happiness in the bosom of his family. I simply want to pretend that his life continues, that he's still simultaneously worrying about onion rings and whether that guy is hiding a gun in the restroom.
It's poetic. It's exciting. It's perfect.
And most of all, I wish I'd thought of it first.
Posted byRon at 01:30 PM
March 28, 2007
More podcast delay
Sorry, all -- but I'm deeply under the weather since our return from Berkeley and still haven't done my podcast for the Season Three finale. (I doubt anyone's looking forward to another congestion-filled audio recording.) So as soon as I'm well, I'll finish up the season. I don't know why they haven't posted the Q&A session yet, but I'm sure it'll be up shortly.
Posted byRon at 05:45 PM
March 26, 2007
Q & A Podcast on its way
I'm uploading a podcast to SciFi.com tonight that is a recording of an extended Q & A session I did with a large group of fans in Berkeley following the airing of the finale on Sunday night. I'll record my normal podcast on the episode tomorrow and hopefully they'll have it up day after tomorrow.
(And yes, I'm steadfastly not commenting on the fact that my last blog was months ago.)
Posted byRon at 11:44 PM
November 29, 2006
Upcoming Podcast-o-ramas
Three -- count'em -- three podcasts are winging their way to you this week from snowy Vancouver: "Hero," "Unfinished Business," and a discussion of the show with a group of the actors, myself and MrsRon sitting in our apartment and talking over various aspects of the show.
The "Roundtable Discussion" as we're calling it, is a freewheeling discussion, and there are definitely times when there's too much cross-talk and too much laughter on the recording to discern anything coherent (especially in the beginning) but tucked in amid the revelry are some interesting and fascinating tidbits which I hope you'll enjoy. Think of it as being a fly on the wall during a dinner party with a group of people delighted to be talking over the ins and outs of their favorite show. In addition to myself and the missus, we were joined by James Callis, Jamie Bamber, Tamoh Penikett, Mark Sheppard (an upcoming guest star with a major role in the finale) and Henry, a child-hood friend of Jamie's who happened to be in town that night.
The "Unfinished Business" podcast also features Tamoh and Grace Park.
Posted byRon at 02:57 PM
October 04, 2006
Sneak Peek Available of Season Premiere
Just thought I'd let everyone know that if you just can't wait two more days for the premiere, the first Act of "Occupation/Precipice" is now available for viewing on SciFi Pulse in its entirety. Go to the "Battlestar Galactica" section, navigate to "Full Episode and More" and then click on "First Look."
Enjoy.
Posted byRon at 01:23 PM
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