For the rest of you that, like myself, watched that show faithfully and bought the DVD so you could re-watch all the quality scenes,
Thank you David Chase.
Thank you for bringing one of the coolest concepts to the screen for all the public to see. From the first season to the last scene, this was one of the best dramas ever done at such length. You did draw it out for almost ten years, but the quality never lagged, and the actors never changed (except for Barbra, but what was she in, like, 3 scenes?) Season six.1 was a little weak, but no one is perfect. The only way it could have been better was if somehow Ralphie could have been in more episodes. In the scene from season five, Ralphie and Tracy,outside the Bing (...and if it's a boy we'll name it Ralphie, after me. And if it's a girl...) Good-fucking-lord I think I wet myself laughing.
The best part of the show was how it created avenues for other shows to be produced by HBO., and other pay channels that do not have commercials, and do not censor their material. The positive response that HBO. got from this will continue to be felt as other networks on cable pay writers and actors more to have higher quality shows; the opposite of the television sitcom, or even the lame-ass attempt at drama by many T.V. networks. With everything in life being dumbed-down, and with all the political correctness, it is nice to just have someone tell it like it is without the sugar-coating for all the whiners.
The ending was so talked about, that considering what the options were, what Chase went with was perfect. It took a few minutes to sink in, but really what would have been better? Tony getting wacked in front of his family and A.J. (Or Meadow), avenging his death? Maybe, but I feel the end showed how everything in life is cyclic. The crime continues, the violence, the denial, the hypocrisy, everything. One boss goes down and another one will surface. One family is broken from death, drug use, gambling addiction, whatever else, and another is born and prospers. Circle of life, deep for a series whose claim to fame were scenes with strippers dancing topless.
There were extra scenes shot, and multiple endings, so hopefully we can get a little more from the DVD when it is released. There has also been talk of a movie...
There is an amusing
artice about how therapists everywhere are mad about the ending between Melfi and Tony. Fucking hilarious! Psychiatrists care about what is portrayed by a ficticious doctor on H.B.O.
I believe the way of the future, with shows such as this that are accessible only on pay T.V., is for the network to have the episodes downloadable a few hours after airing, directly from there site, for a small fee. Kind of like an MP3 site, but for weekly series. This would help them get a better count (and more money) so they don't have to cancel excellent shows, like ROME. (Wake up, HBO. Dropped the ball on that one.)
