John Scalzi | June 11, 2007 08:41 AM

A quick note for everyone:

I suspect this comment thread will be full of spoilers for those who did not see the last episode.

Carry on.

chang, myspacier than ever! | June 11, 2007 09:16 AM

I watched it and at the end I was going to email you and write, "I hope you're #$%^&*(^$%^& happy!" It was very touching and brought tears to my eyes, no matter how much I hate that song.

It's gonna be a tough day. I slept worse than I susually do after The Sopranos, as it gets me pretty badly every time (Yeah, I have a life and a brain folks, but I feel for my mafioso Italian American peoples).

To find out Paulie Walnutd was Spock's real father? Holy shit.

Dan | June 11, 2007 09:22 AM

Spoilers, huh?

Well, I've not seen a single episode of The Sopranos in eight years, and I've already seen that final scene on the news at least half a dozen times since I woke up two hours ago.

Personally, I liked the part when Hawkeye's getting in the helicopter and Klinger says he's going to stay in Korea. Didn't see that one coming.

Jeff Hentosz | June 11, 2007 09:37 AM

What Dan said. Never watched, but have absorbed the basics through cultural osmosis. I think the ending was cool. Of course he ded. And that Carmela is a dude? You fans must've shit.

JJS | June 11, 2007 10:06 AM

I watched the first season, and a few episodes of the second. But no matter how good the story line was sometimes, I just couldn't get past the gratuitous on-screen violence. Sorry, fans, but that's the way it is.

John H | June 11, 2007 11:11 AM

I was totally shocked at what Meadow did to that guy. And with a salad fork, no less!

And for trivia buffs, according to the Chicago Tribune this morning, the official final words on The Sopranos is Steve Perry singing "Don't stop...".

chang, myspacier than ever! | June 11, 2007 01:19 PM

Oh, it just occurred to me that Steve Perry's nose is big enough for the entire state of New Jersey to live in.

Bada-beee oh never mind.

A Rusty Butter Knife | June 11, 2007 02:38 PM

You know, I just found the end a bit incongruous. Christopher rising from the dead a la Cleaver, hacking up Tony to Journey's Escape, then feeding him chunk by chunk into the sausage machines at Satriale's. But no woken-up-Tony to show it was just a dream, just black... and then the credits.

What was David Chase smoking?

Cartoon Coyote | June 11, 2007 04:54 PM

I can't believe that Darth Vader is Luke's father!

Anonymous | June 11, 2007 07:41 PM

Fonzie jumped the WHAT??

Jon H | June 11, 2007 08:56 PM

I think, technically, it's Sheri's world.

Anonymous | June 12, 2007 01:08 AM

Oh

Jonathan Vos Post | June 12, 2007 10:18 AM

"I was totally shocked at what Meadow did to that guy. And with a salad fork, no less!"

It was actually a SPORK. You idiotically missed the whole point.

Besides the Gas Station location of Phil, what else was conveyed when the male and female FBI agents slept together?

And the film-within-the TV series that Anthony Soprano, Jr., was handling as Development Executive -- especially the explanation Tony, Sr., gave about the Virtual Hookers, and why Carm said it was "scary!"

And did you figure out which level was the simulation?

And whom the cat reincarnated?

And the onion rings as references to the Worm Ouroboros?

And how Phil Leotardo's twin babies evidenced their Power (crunch!)?

To me, it all focused on Uncle Junior's reference to "someone from another galaxy."

That Tony said "he's your accountant" added a whole new depth to the story.

Jonathan Vos Post | June 12, 2007 10:36 AM

Also, at the buffet that followed AJ's Uncle Bobby's funeral, he lashed out at guests cheerfully discussing "American Idol" and "Dreamgirls." Note the "Dream" in "Dreamgirls."

AJ said that they were all asleep. That's true on several levels.

A.J. quoted a line from Yeats's famous poem "The Second Coming," ["What rough beast..."] though he pronounced the poet's name as if it rhymed with Pete's.

Well, of course. By scrambling Yeats and Keats, in the context of Pauli Walnuts' vision of the Virgin Mary, he's again challenging our assumptions about to what extent The Sopranos was Fantasy (of the "Nine Princes in Amber" subgenre), and to what extent Science Fiction. Consider the Cyberspace implications of "Virus" in AJ's script, a sly reference to the "Matrix" series and, more exactly, "The Thirteenth Floor."

rick mcginnis | June 12, 2007 11:11 AM

You probably won't be surprised to learn that you were the first thing I thought of the moment Tony put his quarter in the jukebox and fired up the Journey.

Bastard. Get out of my head!!!

John Scalzi | June 12, 2007 11:29 AM

Ha! Poor Rick McGinnis.

Jonathan Vos Post | June 12, 2007 01:44 PM

Pauli's "I only exist to serve you, my liege" is a punchline in the High Fantasy subplot.

The orange tabby could have been not only a reincarnation of Christopher, but, of course Big Pussy.

But what was the deal with the briefly glimpsed scene from the “Twilight Zone,” where a character is heard saying, “The television industry today is looking for talent. They’re looking for quality. They’re preoccupied with talent and quality, and the writer is a major commodity.”

I look forward to the Xmas Shopping Season when the Director's Cut DVD is out, with at least the 3 of the alternate endings that were shot, which we know about.

JerolJ | June 12, 2007 01:50 PM

I'm just hoping that HBO does Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire right. Of course, what I should be hoping is that Martin finishes the damn thing, then worry about how it will look on TV.

Cartoon Coyote | June 13, 2007 03:28 AM

Just found this on imdb.com:

***Journey Rocker Kept 'Sopranos' Creator Waiting***

Rocker Steve Perry refused to let The Sopranos creator David Chase use his classic song "Don't Stop Believin'" in the mob show's final scene until he knew the fate of the drama's leading characters. The ex-Journey frontman kept Chase waiting until three days before the long-awaited finale aired in America on Sunday. Perry is a huge Sopranos fan and feared his 1981 rock anthem would be remembered as the soundtrack to the death of James Gandolfini's character Tony Soprano - until Chase assured him that wouldn't be the case. Perry says, "The request came in a few weeks ago and it wasn't until Thursday that it got approval, because I was concerned. I was not excited about (the possibility of) the Soprano family being whacked to 'Don't Stop Believin''. Unless I know what happens - and I will swear to secrecy - I can't in good conscience feel good about its use." And Perry was so true to his word, he didn't even tell his family the song featured in the finale. He adds, "I didn't want to blow it. Even my wife didn't know. She looked at me and said, 'You knew that and you didn't tell me?'"