The Sopranos: Final Scene Analysis 

Hey maybe you can look thru Mamy Saints of Newark I'm sure there are alot of stuff in that.

who put out the hit and for what reason,

@@TheToneytone I have not had the chance to vet this out yet. But I'm inclined to think that lower ranking members in New Jersey and New York made arrangements to each have the other take out their own top leadership. In other words, each said, 'if you kill ours, we'll kill yours." In this way, from the outside looking in, there is the appearance of a war while from the inside looking out there are two insurgencies taking place in parallel. I think Paulie, Patsy were the conspirators on the NJ side while Butch ran things on the NY side. Carmine was also aware of what was set to happen. There is actually an usual clue that Chase took directly from Scorsese to prove that Carmine was in the loop. In any event, taking this approach provides a clear benefit to the conspirators. It creates the impression that a natural transfer of power has taken place within each family.

The jukebox has "A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J,K" There should be an "I" between "J" and "K" but there isn't because Jukeboxes don't use I for some reason. The reason is I and 1 get confused. That's the actual reason of them leaving I off it. I , 1 = won "I won"??? "I is gone" meaning Tony is gone?

Sorry I gotta do it this way but...The ringing of the bell, symbolizes the sacrament of the holy Eucharist in the Catholic church. "Thanksgiving" for the body of Christ. Each time the bell rings, our attention is called to the front of the alter, where the ritual takes place. The sacred and the propane.(by Mircea Eliade) The congregation has gathered for the 'last supper'. Moreover, in popular culture, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

Thank you very much, Juan!

@@scenicmedia8624 Your welcome, THANK YOU for a great well done video. Keep up the good work!

As it should be! Great point,

One of the Sopranos writers once said, that nothing in the show is by accident. So, I think that this analysis is pretty close to what David Chase had in mind.

if unconsciously via the artist, one could imagine Carl Jung would be smirking in his grave;) hahah

The ending was awful and lazy. But your explanation of what happens is the best I have read or heard. Thank you. You have finally brought me closure after all these years!

Yep, you're absolutely right. 0:19 and the edits there are what give it away.

Nice review

@@mgonzo3881 No, you just didn't understand it. Big difference.

@@OmniBedlam No, I understood it. It wasn't a layered ending, just poor writing.

I’m watching it even as I’m listening this analysis! Except it’s Meadow and Jackie Jr romance.

Don't stop!

Just when I thought I was out…

They pull me back in!!

@@ThruThaRoofComedybelievin!

Thank you for your feedback, Max. Interesting idea. I'll respond more. Wonder if the configuration might be different. Anthony Jr. is the Christ figure, Tony is Dismas (repentant), and Carmella, Gestas (unrepentant). Not for nothing, but Tony greets Anthony Jr. warmly upon his arrival while Carmella does not acknowledge him.

Wow wonderful analysis

@@scenicmedia8624holy moly!! You are good!!!

@@slurmzzzm2459 Hey, right on. Thank you so much, Slurmzzm! Very kind of you.

@@joeyvoidz So kind of you. Thank you, Joey!

Awesome. Thank you, Dave!

Very kind. Thank you, Kenneth!

The 3 Cub scouts are bears, which is the 3rd rank of Cub Scouts (at the time)

It's literal magic. You'll find the use of 3 all throughout the entertainment industry

​@jool7793 you posted this response 3 days ago... 😬

3 o clock, too

You posted this comment 3 months ago ​@@nicolaiboensch6643

Understood. Thank you, Kev!

You have 14 likes.

But the thing is.... Tony never had the makings of a varsity athlete.....

Do high school state championship teams usually have freshmen in them? I don't know shit but I would assume that unless you were an absolute freak of nature you would not be on that team at that age?

i would say often times (especially nowadays) that most freshmen play on the JV team unless they are power 5 conference good generally, but this is also 1973 were talking about, so its a completely different sport basically.@@BoredLikeHelI

I know it's theatrical, but those red lights don't align yo with his head it chest, remember Tony wouldn't let Eugene retire and the members only jacket and Eugene wife told him to kill Tony and with 2 million you can get anybody wacked, I know the creator of the show send you in different directions but think about it, that's the closest theory that can be true or carmine daughter that had an eating disorder and AJ had that girl at their house and she overheard them saying where they'll be eating at and made a face, Tony was gonna kill carmine sr, but he died before they could do the hit

The source is actually a reflection of a van's brake lights. you can see it partially at 0:01 and superimposed over Tony at 0:02. Not disagreeing with your interpretation, just noting that there is indeed a source for the lights.

Loren! Great catch!! I went through slowly and took a pic of the exact moment. Brilliant!!

❤😂🎉 even deeeeeeeper!!😮

U say this shit on so many videos

Hi Greg. That's very interesting. I had not made the connection. Thank you for the insight!

Possibly the mob working with the cia 😊

I prefer a 3 shooter hypothesis

Where do you think the third one is?

@@matthiasheartman1342Who would the 3rd be though

Nice one. Thank you so much, Karl!

But the mob doesn't kill family members of the victim. It is against their code of honor and they all know that what goes around, comes around.

@@JohnHansknecht Thanks, John. I'll respond in more detail to your main comment. Here I will just point out that Carmella and Anthony Jr. are collateral damage. They are not targeted. If you are willing to accept that an assassination plot unfolds inside a diner, then you cannot but concede that collateral damage is possible. Thanks again.

@@JohnHansknecht I thought you might find this interesting. Here is Henry Hill commenting on the "code of honor": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kBvdRT1P6cQ.html

They weren’t killed. Only Tony. Not sure how this guy got there when we’re specifically told “families don’t get touched”

Agreed

Thank you, Kidd JL!

@@scenicmedia8624 You should do one for The Shining.

Thanks for the tip. There is a guy named Rob Ager who does excellent film analysis. He operates under the banner "Collative Learning". He has done quite a lot of exceptional work on The Shining among many other films. See: tinyurl.com/4745nvvu

@@ishakali8634 New video for Goodfellas: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-01AAl6hyE7M.html

@Apoll0Spade you can't say that definitively. Do I think he did yes. But that's just it its art and up to individual interpretation.

@@bigvinnie3 exactly that’s why it’s so brilliant. Another example would be inception at the end with the spinning top. it’s ambiguous

It’s just a movie

my guy you're sitll using that expression in 2024... how old are you man@@xBassCoversx

nothing nowadyas is just a "movie" or "just a show" - there's always a deeper meaning where you actually learn something @@xBassCoversx

Nice catch. Thanks, Russell!

@russellflowers Genius.

Members only the first episode and made in America the last episode 2 shooters and the 2 paintings holy shitttt

USA is also 3 letters

Right on. Very kind. Thank you, Alec!

Good points you made, about this video, but throughout the series it was emphasized that family members are not harmed, so although the opinion was entertaining I can not agree with it. There was nothing to gain by making it a tripe murder. It would have pushed much more heat from law enforcement toward the murderers than necessary AND with no up side.

@@richyrich561 Fair point. I still think if they are taking out Big Dog Tony, anything goes, and the family would be witnesses, and potential threats. At the very least Tony died for sure, maybe they spared A.J. and Carmela though.

@@richyrich561 Thank you for saying so. I do like his thinking. But as someone who grew up in this kind of world NO WAY did they kill the family, and I do think Tony died but again it confuses me because they would not kill him in front of his family. So I'm not sure what the ending was trying to say. These guys know if there is a contract on them they try to keep the wife and kids close, buying them time.

It’s definitely so in my opinion that Tony dies. It’s a possibility Carmela and AJ get it also as collateral damage. But, yea, the signs are all there that it was a triple homicide.

Thank you, Paula! As I understand it, the photograph on the wall over the two-top to Tony's right features the actual house from the dream sequence. In any event, I think you're on the right track. It's the same idea. The large, institutional-looking structure in each case calls to mind the great expanse of the afterlife. Thanks again!

​8 T la

The ending had that effect on me. I formed a picture of her coming through the door and believed that what I had imagined had been shown to me. It's a stunning piece of psychological manipulation. The simulacra - the copy without an original. On a related note. One of several unverifiable origin stories for the term Mafia involves the 13th century French occupation of Sicily during which a soldier raped a young girl. Her mother cried out ‘mia figlia, mia figlia’ (my daughter, my daughter) which in a Sicilian dialect sounds like ‘Ma fia, Ma fia’. Accordingly, the term Mafia became a kind of rallying against occupation and later devolved into a term for organized crime. I thought it was at least possible that this origin story for 'Mafia' might represent a kind of cruel irony here. When Tony looks up to see 'my daughter', he instead sees 'Mafia'. It might also inform why Meadow constitutes our final thought in the finale. In any event, thank you for pointing out the phenomenon. I had forgotten about it and it really is a strange and remarkable attribute of the finale.

Wait what was the mandala effect about the water cooler?

So kind of you. Thank you, Bahnzai!

Oh wow I didn’t catch that myself that makes perfect sense! Also, “A Hit Is A Hit”

I don't think that this has ever been pointed out, but the shot showing Tony flipping through the list of songs shows the previous page before he finds "Don't Stop Believing", the song directly behind it is "This Magic Moment". This song plays in "Soprano Home Movies", after Bobby comes home to his family after completing his first hit. For Bobby, the magic moment symbolized the line he crossed with becoming a murder, and perhaps the magic moment for Tony is leaving the mortal realm.

@@nondrip107t’s not this magic moment it’s “Magic Man” @2:05

@@yeadogthazmyboi It's on the previous page of the jukebox. You gotta watch the full clip in motion, it shows Tony flipping through the pages and the song behind it is this magic moment. Different band but still a neat touch

such elementary analysis lol

Thank you, Nikousenπ!

@@scenicmedia8624 ya dude. im kinda mentally exhausted after that . not sure if you read to much into it or Im missing so much symbolism in life.

Hey @@billyb6001 - it's all there, my man. Thank you so much for checking it out!

Agreed. Thank you, Doctor!

​@@scenicmedia8624That's diet Doctor to you!

Too kind. Thank you, Samuel!

Ok that’s seriously funny 😆

It was the onions! 😂 ... That's what I'm going with from now on.

Love this video... But I'm loving this comment even more 😂

This final scene really is a master work. It is so densely constructed it's kind of staggering. I did almost 30 minutes and definitely did not cover everything that's going on.

That's very kind of you, Martin. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much!

@@scenicmedia8624 did you ever get any feedback from anyone involved with the show? I'd love to know how close to the mark you are.

@@martrowe Hi, Martin. No, I've never heard from anyone from the show. I'd love to talk to Michael Imperioli at some point. As an aside, close to releasing an analysis on "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Thank you for checking in!

Excellent. That's great to hear. Thank you very much, Schaffer!

Very kind of you. Thank you, jvvreckz!

Yes I certainly agree!! THIS is the best on RU-vid!! 💯

Right on. Very kind of you. Thank you, Aaron!

Thanks for checking out the video, Tommy. Thanks also for your feedback. To be clear, I don’t think Carmella & Anthony Jr. were targeted. I mean to present them as collateral damage. The basic argument is that if we’re willing to accept that the murder plot unfolded in the restaurant then we cannot but concede that collateral damage is possible. If we accept that the family was not killed on purpose, then Meadow would remain unharmed based on where she was physically at the moment the screen cuts to black. There would be no impulse on the part of the killers to murder her on their way out the door. The fact that Carmella & Anthony Jr. are collateral damage is also how we address the fact that organized crime observes a code of conduct that forbids families from targeted violence. Lastly, I’m not inclined to think that the deaths of Carmella and Anthony Jr. would spark a mob war in this case. The original game plan stated by “New York” was to kill off all of the "New Jersey" leadership and “do business with whatever is left”. Following Tony’s murder, there would not be much of an organization left to retaliate. In any event, my sense is that the deaths of Tony, Carmella, and Anthony Jr. are preordained. Once they step into that diner, all of the mobster machinations, rules, and codes become irrelevant. The family is taken over by a kind of divine inevitability. They are fated to die and Meadow is fated to carry on.

They could've been killed as fallout from Tony protecting Tony B for being family. And meadow was dating Patsy son and Patsy was probably behind the sanctioning of the hit.

@@scenicmedia8624 I really liked your video, but why would they be collateral damage? As soon as the shooters start shooting, they’ll likely just freeze up and it will take the shooters less than two seconds to get the job done.

@@detectiveMM - Thanks, Detective. You can hypothesize one outcome. I can hypothesize another. You can also claim "best odds" for your outcome. I would even agree with you. But, ultimately, we don't how it happened. The only way to attempt to discover how things net out is to look at the symbolic evidence. Three family members take Holy Communion while one family member is conspicuously and crucially absent from the ritual. This tends to bind the three family members together in a common fate. Three lights persist throughout the scene and individual lights are consistently associated with each character throughout the scene. Light is a common and uncontroversial symbol for spirit. All of this indicates that violence touches all three family members. I would go one step further here. The finale that takes place inside the diner has an atmosphere of the divine. To mean, everything that is slated to happen seems to be preordained. In the end, Tony and Carmella must confront a moral universe. Anthony Jr., who is still a boy, is sacrificed as both their punishment and their redemption. The ending is a kind of metaphor for Christ on the cross alongside Dismas, and Gestas. Anthony Jr. is the Christ figure. Tony is the 'Good Thief' and Carmella, contrary to her religiosity throughout the series, is the 'Unrepentant Thief'. The point is that by the time we get to the finale, there is only so much to be said about what would happen in the real world. The death of the lead characters have moral implications that are also being addressed. Below see a few real world example of collateral damage: Joseph Peraino Sr. Attempted Murder 1982 Two shooters opened fire with shotguns on a primary target and his son in 1982. Son was murdered. Nun was killed by stray buckshot. www.nytimes.com/1982/01/05/nyregion/two-slain-and-one-hurt-in-a-mob-style-shooting.html Carmine Galante Murder 1979 Three shooters with pistols and a shotgun respectively entered The Joe and Mary Italian‐American Restaurant and murdered Galante, 70, and his bodyguard, 90. The restaurant owner was collateral damage while a teenage boy was critically wounded. www.nytimes.com/1979/07/13/archives/galante-and-2-shot-to-death-in-a-brooklyn-restaurant-son-of.html Colombo Leadership Murder 1972 Contract killer working for the Gallo family mistakenly killed two civilians and wounds two civilians when attempting to murder senior Colombo leadership at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant in Manhattan. www.nytimes.com/1972/08/16/archives/hunt-for-gunman-pressed-by-police-scores-in-mafia-families.html

@@detectiveMMdisagree. AJ’s the same person who took an effing KNIFE into a State-run mental institution to try and kill his uncle to avenge his father. The shooter would literally have been standing RIGHT NEXT to where AJ was sitting when he walked up to the table and began shooting. AJ would have at the very least tried to push/knock the gun out of the shooter’s hands, try to push the shooter away or even try to physically cover his dad (all instinctive and without thinking, AJ’s not a hero or particularly brave but he DOES love his father) and Carmela would *instantly* jump up to protect AJ. Hence putting both of them in the crossfire (there were two shooters).

Very kind. Thank you, Charles! I think Junior lives in a kind of hell on earth. No past. No future. He has been cast into oblivion. I think this is an extreme metaphor for the position Tony finds himself in. Tony no longer has a past. All of his friends have been killed. Tony no longer has a future. Those who remain in his organization have betrayed him (even if he does not know that yet). Melfi has turned her back on him. The FBI no longer considers him a priority (recall that Tony was made to wait for a meeting with his contact. In other words, his days of being able to command an audience with the agency are over). Even his own lawyer intuitively understands that Tony no longer has any power. Recall that his lawyer is watching the strippers backstage on closed circuit television and eating a hamburger while feeding Tony cliches about going to trial. Everything is already gone by the time Tony meets with Junior. His death at the diner will be, in a sense, a formality. So I do think you're correct to draw a correlation between Junior and Tony. I think they are both finished and neither one of them has the ability to grasp that fact.

Thank you for your feedback, Goofed. Finishing up an analysis on the commercial now. Should have a video posted in the next few days. Will update. Thanks again!

If AJ were to still be alive, how would that happen? He could get shot up, and pull through, I guess. Or is it more likely that he comes up small, like he almost always did.

@@joshpointoh I posted a follow-up video analysis on the 2022 Super Bowl car commercial. It may sound weird, but Anthony Jr. appears in the commercial as a ghost. There is a lot of evidence to support that. It was surprising to me how much the commercial supports the theory that all three family members were killed. If you care to check it out, it's here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cWT5Rdy6MqM.html

Quick follow-up. I published a video on The Sopranos 2022 Super Bowl car commercial. Surprising to me how much the commercial confirms the argument that all three family members were murdered, including Anthony Jr. He appears to his sister in the commercial as a ghost or an expression of wish fulfillment. If you care to check out the video, is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cWT5Rdy6MqM.html

Correct. The mob has a code of honor regarding family because they know what goes around, comes around.

Thank you for chcking out the video JK! Thank you for your feedback as well. My apologies for responding to you so late. To start, I consider Carmella and Anthony Jr. collateral damage. There would have been no reason to target them. However, given the symbolism throughout the finale, it appears they are ultimately killed in the process. I think if you're willing to accept that a murder plot takes place inside a busy diner, then you cannot but accept that collateral damage is possible. If it were important to the mob to protect his family from harm, then another time and place would have been selected. The same is true in real life. Look at what happened with the Joe Gallo murder in 1972. I think that is the closest comparison to be made. Colombo shooters opened fire on Joe while he sat with his family at Umberto's in Little Italy. His sister, his wife, and her ten-year-old daughter were all caught up in the crossfire. None were harmed but they could have been very easily. It certainly was not the case that primary shooter Carmine DiBiase decided to wait until he could be sure no one else might get hurt. In terms of the finale, I tend to think that once the family steps into the diner, they're stepping into a kind of divine space where their deaths are preordained. Carmella and Anthony Jr. are destined to die along with Tony and the killers are instruments of fate. Thank you again for checking out the video and for your feedback, JK. Regarding the mob "code of honor" this response from Henry Hill has a ring of truth to it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kBvdRT1P6cQ.html

@@JohnHansknecht - Suspect you're right to point out that the 'code of honor' is a practical calculation at its core. I suspect that it started as a top-down mandate imposed to maintain order in the ranks. The mandate was packaged as a "code of honor". Best way to encourage a subordinate to internalize a prohibition is to make it honorable.

@@scenicmedia8624 Fantastic job on the analysis. My only hang up was the supposition that the hit included Carmela and AJ. However, I've reconsidered this and I think this could be a nod to Godfather 2 wherein Don Ciccio orders the murder of young Vito Corleone (and his mother) so that they cannot get their revenge. Great job!

One shooter not two.....the importance of meadow being late is that the shooter wouldn't have a clean shot upon exiting the bathroom.... the Italian mafia does NOT kill family....only other members that took an oath....this is a great analysis but is also over reaching so far up its own ass lol

That is very kind of you, Lauren! I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed the work. Thank you so much! I'm writing the script for the next video now. I'll share with you when it's posted. I think it's going to be interesting. Thank you again, Lauren!

Thank you for your response. The starting point for this presentation is that Carmella and Anthony Jr. are collateral damage. They are not intended targets. If you are prepared to accept that a murder plot unfolds inside a busy diner, then you cannot but concede that collateral damage is possible. It simply cannot be ruled out. If the safety of civilian family members was sacrosanct, we might ask ourselves why the murder plot was not set up for another time and at another place. Let's leave that aside. Let's take your claim at face value. The only time I can recall anyone explicitly declaring a prohibition on violence against family members occurs in "The Blue Comet" episode. In an effort to calm Carmella, Tony says, "Families don't get touched. You know that." Let's consider the context of that scene, however. Tony makes this statement while preparing to move Carmella and Anthony Jr. to a safe house. He argues that it is a safety precaution. He wants to make sure they are physically apart from him until things settle down. He does that because he understands that collateral damage is not only possible, it is likely. Here is how it nets out. Tony makes the same claim you make at the same time he moves his family into a safe house to guard against the same claim I make. If Tony can accept that collateral damage is possible, I think we can too. Thank you for your feedback!

The statement could be a hint that Paulie did the hit, it links to Tony’s death but the fact that Paulie never resolved his tie to the statement might imply he is involved in the hit.

@@abdoundao8806🤯🤯🤯🤯

Maybe i should give an enema to my teletubbies

Could be. Thanks, Ronald! 😃

Very kind of you, Gling. Thank you so much!

Three O'Clock and the Rule of Three permeate throughout the series. It takes Meadow three times to park the car right, which prevents the Guardian Angel from blocking the shot to Tony's Three O'Clock. And it is also the third attempt on Tony's life.

@@aj99080 yup, 3 lights extinguished 💯

Paulie put the gun in the bathroom, fate put Tony at 3 o’clock

Rly though wtf was Paulie up to at the end

The direction of the death bullet from where Tony is sitting is also e o clock

Yes, I’ve heard that; that each chime is meant to draw the attention of the parishioner back to the altar. I definitely understood from the start that the door chime provides the scene with the cadence of a religious ritual, but I had not known that it was a feature of the ritual of Holy Communion. The chime in the scene also participates in another layer of symbolism designed to demonstrate that Anthony Jr. enters the space without sin. The use of the chime connotes sin in this context. Notice, for example, he is the only person we see enter the diner without ringing the chime. Instead, he enters behind the primary shooter. Conversely, Meadow is the only person who we hear ring the chime without seeing her enter. In other words, the entry of each sibling is inverse to the other. The distinction is a further indication that each sibling meets a different fate.

Very kind. Thank you so much, Bloke!

The other Journey track with that is also Any Way You Want It which makes sense to that point as well

So kind, Flower! Thank you. I will respond to your other comments. Thanks again!

Very kind of you. Thank you so much, Paradigm Shift!

@@scenicmedia8624 you’re very welcome:)

I agree with your analysis of his analysis. 100 percent. Truly great, great work Scenic!

You are wise, Fletch.

Very kind of you, Video. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much!

they good as dead anyways. i m sure they all got enemies.

Right on. Very kind. Thank you, Nicholas!

Thank you, Gravy Fish! Very kind. New upload on "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" soon. Finishing script now. Thank you again!

That's very kind of you. Thank you, Scott!

Hi, Kristine. Thank you for your response. Meadow certainly survived the finale. Carmella and Anthony Jr., however, were both collateral damage. I published an analysis on the Super Bowl car commercial that confirms the conclusions drawn here. I realize that may sound convenient. But I was surprised myself at the number of details in the commercial that confirm Anthony Jr. is meant to have passed away in the finale. Thank you, again!

Hi, Rob & Tracy. Great to hear was able to elaborate on your original impression. Very kind of you. Thank you so much!

Very kind of you. Thank you so much, Yann!

Very cool. Thank you, Bobby!

Nice. Thank you, Alex!

Very kind of you. Thank you, Dan!

Very kind of you. Thank you so much Oaks! Agree with you, this scene is an exceptional piece of work.

Too kind. Thank you, Bite!

Very kind of you, Mark. Thank you so much! I went back to watch the murder scene with Gene in the roadside eatery. I think you're totally right; there is foreshadowing here. Not least because the killer steps through the door and rings a chime. For anyone who may read this thread, I'll include a link to the scene here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BE_DErmhdYs.htmlsi=W7pekBkeZzfxSEaL There is another scene that foreshadows the finale that you might find interesting. There is a kind of miniature dress rehearsal featuring Carmella and Tony at the reception for Bobby's funeral. You'll see the couple for a brief moment. Carmella sits facing the camera with a plate on her lap. Tony stands off to the side and faces away from the camera; he contemplates a large painting of Mt. Vesuvius viewed from the Gulf of Naples. All of the basic elements from the finale are here. The two are dining together. There is a large mural on the back wall. There are mounted light fixtures. Consistent with the symbolism in the finale, we see two light fixtures portending death for Carmella and Tony respectively. As an aside, it is interesting to note that the position of the light fixtures facing out from either wall mirrors the character blocking. Next, there is a shadowy figure of a man who temporarily blots out our view as he passes before the camera; this happens throughout the finale. Finally, the funeral reception itself provides the atmosphere of death that otherwise lingers in the finale. Here is the link to the scene if you care to check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dnyp8ya0Y8U.htmlsi=eAkFlSn0DWEFSPWz&t=38

​@@scenicmedia8624 Thank you for taking the time to reply. Last night I watched the full episode, and the final scene was especially thrilling for me, having been thinking about your analysis all day, and paying close attention to all the details in the setting, the direction, and the symbolism. Stunning! And I had noticed that tableau during the funeral dinner, with Carmela and Tony, when I felt a dreadful foreboding of what lay ahead. The craftsmanship of your video is exceed only by the craftsmanship of the episode itself. Thank you for producing it and for sharing it. I don't know which explanation would be more impressive: that you created a convincing narrative from a bunch of unrelated unintentional details, or that you were able to unpack the deliberate and intentional meaning and design of the scene!

​@@marco9962 Too kind. Too kind. Thank you, Mark! Working on an analysis of the The Sopranos opening credits now. Will be curious to hear what you think. Thank you again!

Interesting, JK. Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you for your feedback, Laughman! I appreciate it. Personally, I don’t think we’re looking at hell in this scene. There are a few things that suggest otherwise. First, the hell that Christopher described featured the dread of knowing that death will come again. As you indicate, the damned know that death will come and that it will be painful. In other words, foreknowledge is an integral part of the punishment. There is no sense that Tony knows what is coming in the diner scene. Now, you could argue that we are there to witness the “first” time it happens and that forever after he will know. However, there is nothing we can point to that indicates we are looking at the start of an eternally recurring pattern. Next, we are shown a depiction of hell before Tony arrives at the diner. When Tony visits Junior, I think we are meant to see what it is to be in hell - hell on earth at any rate. Junior is in a kind of perpetually frustrated state of amnesia. He cannot quite grasp who he is, what he has done, who is around him, nor how he got to be where he is in the present moment. He is forgotten, alone, and without hope. That is hell. Tony seems to realize this, and looks upon him with a kind of pity. Interestingly, it is the exact opposite of the hell Christopher describes. To mean, it's not about knowing too much, it's about not knowing enough. Finally, I would argue there is an atmosphere of grace and forgiveness inside the diner. Personally, my sense is that Tony is granted a divine grace before his assassination. His grace is to be liberated from the total grip of his criminal sociopathy and granted an opportunity to be a father before he is murdered. This idea plays on the notion of a last supper. The last meal granted to a criminal slated for execution. Notice that Tony does seem different in the scene. He is relieved to see his wife arrive. He looks at her lovingly as she situates herself in the booth. He looks hopeful when he thinks Meadow may be pregnant and disappointed when he learns that she is not. He is pleased to see his son arrive and clasps his hand when he sits down. I suspect this grace is also in part why he seems slightly out of it at times. For example, he cannot remember what he told his son, nor does he notice the killers closing in on him. That is the price of his grace although I would argue that everything happening in the diner is portrayed as preordained. In any event, both Tony and Carmella will be punished. Each will be murdered but, more importantly, their son will also be murdered. This is the price they pay. Meadow told Anthony Jr. that, as their son, he will always be more important to them than her. Moreover, Anthony Jr. will die as an innocent. He is without sin. We see that in the final scene. In this way, he can serve as both punishment and redemption for his parents. This is the centerpiece of the Catholic symbolism at work in the scene. This sits underneath the ritual of the Eucharist. Tony and Carmella must pay for their sins through the death of their son; and through the death of their son they will also be redeemed. You may be right about Meadow. The fact that she does not show up in time to be with her father before his death is frustrating for him. But he must bear that to spare her life. As if he knew what was to happen, he did have his own separate dinner with Meadow in the run up to his death. Thank you for checking out the video and thanks again for your feedback!

@@scenicmedia8624I have little patience for effusive RU-vid comments but I have to break my own rule: this is phenomenal.

@@OaksArmorial - Very kind. Very kind. Thank you, Oaks!

@@scenicmedia8624Yeah I agree. There is that one part of Tony’s pov before we see him sit down in the restaurant where he looks tired, bored (almost like he’s seen this all play out) but again, as you’ve said, I don’t think there’s any real evidence that he is in hell.

Hi, Sean. Thank you for your response. I did notice the jukebox selection but could never really verify the choice to an absolute certainty so I did not include it. Couple of quick notes on Carmella and Anthony Jr. There is an irony at the heart of the example you cite in “The Blue Comet”. Tony tells Carmella that families are not touched at the same time he is there to move her and Anthony Jr. to a safe house. I won’t labor the irony except to say that the lead character of the series acknowledges that collateral damage is possible. If it is possible then, there is no reason to imagine that it is not possible in the finale. I would argue from there that the symbolism in the finale demonstrates that possibility came to pass. The Phil murder is set up as the opposite to the finale. Notice that all of the same elements are present - Father figure, mother figure, two children, woman fails to park her car, mob boss murdered, completely unaware. The treatment of the Phil murder, however, is a deliberate caricature of the finale. II would argue it is designed to show how ridiculous it would look to depict Tony being killed. It is also designed as a kind of rebuke to those members of the audience who might actually want to see Tony killed. I think this is why you get the gruesome “overkill” aspect of Phil’s head being run over and why you see people reacting within the scene itself. All of that is to demonstrate why it is we should not want to see Tony killed -- it would cheapen the character we've come to know and we would cheapen ourselves in the process. I am quite sure the Phil murder is there to function as a contrast to the finale. The finale is dignified, honorable, and ominous. Finally, I cannot think of any reason to imagine that the lights in the scene are there for Bobby or Silvio. Bobby and Silvio are both properly put to bed in the series. There is a funeral for Bobby and Tony visits Silvio at the hospital. That is the end of the line for each of them respectively. There is just no compelling dramatic reason to conjure the presence of these two again in the finale. It doesn’t add anything to the scene. Finally, I will share with you a response from Lucchese associate Henry Hill concerning whether the Mafia observes a code of honor concerning family. You can tell me if you don’t think he sounds convincing. Thank you again for your kind feedback, Sean. I appreciate it! Henry Hill ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kBvdRT1P6cQ.html

​​@@scenicmedia8624you're a genius. The contrast with the Phil kill makes so much sense how you put it! I hope you make/made more content on Sopranos, can't wait to watch it And about the rules, Tony breaks them all the time (killing Ralph etc) and essentially all the captains do too (code of omerta) so that weakens above comment's argument about rules.

Very kind of you. Thank you so much, MelloOne!

Thank you, Lambros!

Hey, right on. Very kind. Thank you, Tom!

Thank you, Lakota!

Nice one. Thank you very much, Doug!

Very kind of you, Emanuele. Great to hear that you found it interesting. Thank you so much!

Right on. Nice work. Thank you, Retro!

Will do. Thank you very much, JM!

Right on, man. Very kind. Thank you, Juan!

Very kind of you, 4 Chub! Thank you so much. I think the 2022 car commercial works as a legitimate epilogue to the series. In particular, it indicates what has become of Meadow. Thank you again!

Very kind of you, Sensei. Thank you so much!

Too kind. Thank you so much, Daniel!

@@scenicmedia8624 Absolutely fantastic analysis ! You are very talented. Hope to see more of your work on RU-vid.

The cut-to-black ending was dignified, subtle, and far more powerful. Conversely, to have shown the character(s) being murdered would have diminished the finale and degraded the character(s) in the process. I think you're right that a bloody death scene would overshadow the series, but it would have done so in a way that cheapened the series. I suspect the murder of Phil Leotardo is provided as the "other" version of Tony's murder. The Phil murder is meant to mimic and satirize the idea of killing Tony on camera. There are some interesting similarities between the gas station murder and the finale. There are two adults in the scene; there are two children in the scene; and there is a woman behind the wheel throughout the scene. When the moment of truth arrives, we see the back of Phil's head. He is shot as he is talking. He dies mid-sentence. Conversely, with Tony we see his face. He pauses in silence. Then we cut to black. The Phil murder itself is just not particularly compelling. We are surprised and then the surprise fades. I'd argue the car rolls over Phil in an effort to satirize the impulse to dramatize gangland violence. I think the director is satirizing anyone in the audience who would want to see Tony murdered on camera. I think that is why you see people in the scene reacting when the car rolls over Phil. They represent the audience shocked and disgusted at excessive, explicit violence. With Phil we see the gaudy portrayal of a murder, with Tony we experience something deeper; we glimpse the finality of death. One is a garish cartoon, the other is existential.

That is great to hear. Very kind. Thank you so much, Sunny Joe White!

Hi, Emperor. I never actually counted out the number of times she attempted to park. Looking back, that was an oversight. It does not surprise me though. The number three in the finale is especially relevant in the Catholic context. I suspect if we pursue of ritual of the Eucharist to its logical conclusion we are looking at reenactment of the crucifixion. Anthony Jr. is the Christlike figure whose death is both punishment and redemption for his father and mother. Punishment because he is their prize progeny and their own immoral life choices are the immediate cause of his death. Redemption because Anthony Jr. will, for intents and purposes, die as a child. He never grew into an adult. He never struck out on his own. Not like Meadow for example. He would have, sooner or later, but simply had not yet. In this way, his death can redeem his parents. In the context of the crucifixion, I would image that Tony is Dismas, the 'Good Thief', and Carmella, contrary to her religious preening throughout the series, is Gestas the 'Unrepentant Thief'. My general sense is that the family is granted a kind of divine grace - a moment to commune together before their death. I think this is why Tony seems a little out of it. He is liberated from his sociopathy and allowed to be together with his wife and son. In any event, I think the number three is all over the final episodes particularly the finale given the prominent Catholic religious symbolism. Here is another "3" that also includes a JFK assassination reference. When Tony visits Silvio in the hospital. There is a radio ad playing the background for a slice-and-dice kitchen gizmo. The ad copy refers to "all three [dishes] ready to heat and serve"..."with the original magic bullet that does any job in 10 seconds or less." The copy seems foreboding somehow. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bX0rYoiOvug.html

Very kind. Thank you, Lex!

Hi, Slappy. Yes, Agreed. The argument here sets out to demonstrate that all three family members seated at the booth perish. Tony is targeted while wife and son are collateral damage. Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it!

Very kind. Thank you, Thorne! If I were to do this video again now, I think I would simplify my discussion on the Rockwell painting. The diary is simply a symbol for the real reason she updates her birth control. Her secret. She does not want to subject her child to the same mortal dangers to which her own parents subject her and her brother. The relevance and urgency of the symbol is present at the very moment her worst fears will come true. The fact that Anthony Jr. is part of this symbolic composition is also simple. The fact that we see him learn the secret in the image foreshadows the fact that he will live out the underlying scenario. In other words, he will be killed. I think I put the basic idea across in the presentation, but I also think it gets a little abstract toward the end. I talk about substituting Meadow for her mother and Anthony Jr. for her own child. All of that stuff is technically correct, but it is a little confusing. I think the more cogent argument is the one here. In any event, it is a very clever image to use in this context. I suspect Chase likes the idea of using an icon of white Americana like Rockwell to transmit the secret fears of a Mafia daughter. The pairing is so unlikely. Furthermore, the painting itself is weird, salacious, incestuous. I would agree with your assessment that the atmosphere is supernatural. There are definitely outright discontinuities in the scene. The first woman to walk in appears to head into the dining area and yet later she can be seen at the counter. There is a man at the counter who later disappears. A second booth of Boy Scouts spontaneously appears to the left of Tony. My intuition on the Boy Scouts is that they are angels who gather to prepare to ferry the dead into the afterlife. The young couple seated in the back strike me as the youthful expression of love between Tony and Carmella. It is as if we see a kind of hologram of where it all began. In any event, I thank you for your insights and for your kind compliments. I am feverishly working on my next presentation. Thank you again, Thorne!

@@scenicmedia8624 I like the idea of the boy scouts being "angels", or maybe in Tony's case, "demons" who will escort him to the afterlife. If you'll recall, in one episode, it is a Boy Scout-like troop of kids that finds the washed up remains of the man killed in Adriana's club on a beach. There's definitely a tie-in with Death and Boy Scouts in Sopranos-world. I find that one shot of the "ghost of Phil Leotardo" talking to them so creepy. As they listen intently, he talks to them as a group while making the sign of the gun with his fingers. It's as if he's telling them about what happened to him in his life, or preparing them for what they're about to see, or possibly what they are here to do, which will happen any minute now. Maybe he's reminding them to always remember the boy scout motto: "Be prepared"...

Very kind. Very kind. Thank you, Basketball!

Hi, John. Thank you for your feedback. I wonder if the pairing of these two songs is not actually a metaphor for what is happening within the scene itself. The characters are preparing to leave the earthly realm and to enter the after life. Imagine that the dividing line between the two songs on the juke box selection card is a horizon line that separates heaven and earth. The afterlife is achieved through faith (i.e. "Don't Stop Believing") while life on earth is governed by free will (i.e. "Any Way You Want It"). The lyrics tend to support this. The narrator in "Don't Stop Believing" has a kind of omnipotent roving eye that passes over all kinds of people in different unhappy circumstances each trying to find there way. The narrator also looks across an eternal horizon when he suggests "the movie never ends." The narrator in "Any Way You Want It", is a single individual who encounters the joy of life. The "she" who is referred throughout the song is a metaphor for Nature, for the joy of life. "She loves to dance, She loves to sing, She does everything" and, like Nature, she is unrelenting, "All night, all night, Oh every night". "She" is the rush of life itself. Interestingly both songs encourage the listener to "hold on". This is because, I suspect, the one through line connecting these two songs is a recognition that the life experience can be joyous but can also be difficult. Finally, I think the primary sentiment of each song articulates the dividing line between the spirit and the body. "Don't Stop Believing" is about keeping faith that there is a higher power. Faith represents mind and spirit . "Any Way You Want It" is about the physical experience. It's about nature. That said, the song also endorses the concept that human beings express free will - "what you want, what you choose, is what you need." In any event, I think the songs are more of a comment on the internal contents of the scene. The transition from one realm to another. I'm less inclined to think the juxtaposition is a "wink" to the audience that they're watching a "choose your own ending" finale. Thanks again for your feedback!

Thank you very much, Jamie! Agreed, the ending is genius.

Very kind. Thank you so much, Eddie!

Right on. Thank you very much, Justin!

Very kind of you, Moon Sauce. Thank you so much!

Right on. Very kind. Thank you so much, Zach!

That's very kind of you. Great to hear you find it interest. Thank you so much! If you're only halfway through, be prepared, the second half gets a little wobbly particularly around the explanation concerning the Rockwell painting. The basic theory is correct. But I think I could have simplified it. I still think the representation of a diary in the scene forms a connection between Meadow's worst fears for herself and her family and the events unfolding in the restaurant. I also think the diary is there to correlate that fear to her decision to update her birth control. I think the idea of substituting her mother and brother for herself and her own child is not wrong per se. But it feels a little too elaborate. I think there is more simple, compelling reading. The boy reading his sister's diary is a symbolic representation of Anthony Jr. But the image of him learning her private thoughts is a metaphor for him being killed. In other words, he will learn the worst fears contained in her diary because he will live them. We are seeing Anthony Jr. discover his fate beforehand, so to speak. That reading also helps to substantiate the notion that the Rockwell painting represents a kind of premonition of the murders. If I were going to make one change to the video that would probably be it. In any event, hope you enjoyed the rest of it. Thanks again!

@@scenicmedia8624 I found what you said about the Rockwell painting also very interesting. Once again, great job!

Right on. Very kind. Thank you, Chuck!

Very kind. Thank you so much, Michael!

Very kind. Great to hear that you found it interesting. Thank you, Angel!

Thank you, Ben!

Very kind. Thank you, IcoN!

Very kind. Thank you, WP!

Hey, right on. Thank you, Phaze13!