David Chase interview
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 12, 2007 
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One of our readers, Lauren, pointed this out in the comments. David Chase did an interview on NJ.com about the final episode of The Sopranos. No big answers, but it’s very interesting.
You know why Chase is so smart? People are still talking about and debating the ending of the show.
By the way, while I love the nod to The Godfather, why would the guy in the Members Only jacket need to go into the bathroom to get a gun? He wasn’t going to get frisked first like Michael Corleone was.
i’m glad it’s over
i am slowly beginning to respect the ending of the show now that i have had time to dwell on it…i personally like the “you never hear the one that gets you theory” and appreciate chase’s art. the foreshadowing he had done throughout the series was fantastic.
that being said…the last episode flat out sucked. there is no way getting around that. the last episode sucked.
thats a good point Pete someone pointed that out on deadspin yesterday and it makes perfect sense.. ive basically retracted on my idea of the guy in the members only jacket going into the bathroom to get the gun to kill Tony also
There was definitely some great writing of that last scene to get tensions high and build anticipation, no doubt about it. Simple things made you get a bad feeling, even as I sat on my couch knowing it could be just to fake us out and have nothing happen. What I didn’t expect was that nothing would happen the *way* nothing happened………… just cutting out instead of that, ok, everyone’s fine kind of nothing.
I still don’t like the ending. Not because I needed some sort of closure by way of a happy or tragic ending. Just because the whole “leave ‘em wondering” thing has been done. What could save this is if Chase comes back from his little vacation and actually gives his interpretation. I can’t think of a time that I’ve seen a movie or show with one of these up to interpretation endings where the writer actually said – this is what *I* meant, this is what *I* interpreted and wanted you to conclude.
Usually this doesn’t happen because they want more than one interpretation and want us to draw different conclusions; they want the ongoing discussions, as Peter said. I think that’s a cheap way to get people talking, not at all genius nor original. If Chase wants to be original, come out and tell us the genius behind the ending.
Yet when Michael entered the bathroom in the Godfather, he was both getting a gun and steeling himself for the task of killing in cold blood. Could Members Only Man have needed a moment to ready himself in private for killing Tony in front of his family? Who knows – that was the point of the ending, Tony’s life is completely unpredictable and chaotic.
I find it interesting that after the episode, so many rumors went around about the identity of the people at Holsten’s. Even in the age of imdb.com, a statement like “the Members Only Jacket Guy is Phil Leotardo’s brother” could be treated as credible. This to me is more proof that Chase made the right ending for this show. Every time Tony sees someone even vaguely suspicious, he has to think, do I know this guy? Does he have a beef with me? Am I in danger? Most people cannot imagine living with that stress. The ending gave the audience a glimpse of it.
One of Chase’s comments is revealing – Tony is the same guy at the end of the show that he was at the beginning. The show began with Tony’s sudden blackout at a seemingly peaceful moment, as Tony watched the ducks fly from his pool. The show ended with a sudden blackout at another seemingly peaceful moment. This time it was the audience’s blackout instead of Tony’s. This is the panic he is constantly fighting off.
As I said before, the ending took the final scene in a conventional family drama and turned it upside down. The viewer’s experience is the opposite of what it should be – anxiety instead of calm, confusion instead of resolution. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that was the only scene in the entire series where Tony, Carmela, AJ, and Meadow had dinner out together, just the four of them. And it was hell to watch. That’s the Sopranos.
Don’t have HBO, so I haven’t seen the Soprano’s. I plan on watching it on DVD, though. How many seasons are there? At least you guys haven’t ruined the ending because, apparently, there isn’t one.
O/T. Someone asked about homer announcers on t.v. and Neyer replied, “Hard to say. I do watch every team regularly, but I watch very few of them often enough to have a great feel for the broadcasters. Angels, White Sox, Tigers . . . all of them feature particularly home-friendly guys in the booth.” Thought I’d share that with you guys since we’re been on the White Sox guys.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but that was the only scene in the entire series where Tony, Carmela, AJ, and Meadow had dinner out together, just the four of them. And it was hell to watch. That’s the Sopranos.”
Last episode of season 1 the four of them had dinner at Arties when all the power was knocked out. It showed them as a happy family and Tony later called it “one of the goodtimes.”
Now obviously they felt secure there because they were at Artie’s place, but a lot has changed from season 1 to season 6. Back then only Tony was really apart of the family business. Now Im not saying the other 3 are in the mob, but they all will either benefit(AJ, Carmela) or assist the mob(Meadow) in the future. So you can say that Tony doesn’t have to just fear for himself, but for his whole family.
Ugh I really should proof read before I post or we just need an edit button. What I meant to say was “Tony was really only a part of the family business.”
I have a theory the cat was Adriana. The cat kept looking at the picture of Christopher no matter where it was moved.
I’m trying my best to avoid spending any more time on these conversations, but what the hell.
Like a lot of people, I grew up in New Jersey. New Jersey is by definition a state of limbo — it is neither New York, nor Philadelphia. It’s a lot of places and identities that even kind of all seem undistinguished from one another even when you live there. And the Sopranos captured this neither-here-nor-there existence brilliantly throughout its run.
I’ll take the ending we got (not like I have a choice), because it leaves us all in the purgatory that’s so much a part of the New Jersey experience. We’re all forever stuck in that hazy area where Bloomfield blurs into Clifton and Montclair…
thanks for the props pete!
(my dear sister jennifer actually sent me the link so I cant take all the credit.)
favorite episode anyone?
Far and away, the Pine Barrens.
(writen and directed by Steve Buscemi)
During that entire last scene at Holsteins I kept inching closer to my husband, grabbing his arm and prepared to turn around to avoid “the horror.” The power of nothing was really intense.
When the screen went black, I thought our tivo stopped. I was really really pissed at the ending. But now, two days later, I certainly have developed a new respect for it. I think the “previously on the Sopranos” moment with Bobby, quietly on the boat, was particularly meaningful and chosen for a reason. Yeah, maybe that the simple answer, and I have no answer for who did it or why, but there is a reason for every scene.
It’s hard for me to identify distinct episodes, let alone choose a favorite. It’s much easier for me to pick out favorite scenes, such as:
Christopher shoots the bakery clerk in the foot after taking a box of pastries by force; later steals a stack of newspapers because he is mentioned.
Tony, after observing Janice’s attempts to manage her anger, needles her at dinner about Harpo until she flies into a rage, then plays dumb and walks straight out of the house as the credits roll.
Christopher murders the man who Tony claims killed Christopher’s father, revealing that he knows that Tony probably lied; puts the $20 bill he takes off the man on his mother’s fridge.
Christopher seethes with anger at Paulie when Paulie sticks Christopher with the check after a huge seafood dinner. Christopher and Paulie bond afterward by killing a waiter.
Christopher’s drug binge, set to music, as he makes friends with a stray dog.
And yes, the whole Pine Barrens episode.
Those are the ones that first come to mind. It doesn’t surprise me that most of them involve Christopher.
I’m just glad I stopped watching that lame show after the season 5 or 6 years ago or so when it turned into a Lifetime program with Tony’s wife and Italian bodyguard type person had some boring love affair… How men continued to watch that show during that season is beyond me.
It was the right ending and done almost perfectly, IMHO. I feel like Chase went about 30% too far with the nods at the end. Part of me feels like “The Godfather” reference with the man in the Members Only jacket going to the bathroom was too cute and over the top, but another part of me likes the inversion Chase achieves here with the audience basically experiencing the paranoia and constant “under-threat” feeling that someone like Tony must be feeling. One could have had the man just sitting at the bar, glancing, fidgeting, etc. without going to the restroom. And then again, going to the bathroom, without the Godfather reference is a totally normal thing. No need for alarm. Right?
The paranoia in general was the real genius thing here. The critical moment. In 2007, six years after our world changed forever (AND within the scope of the series) everybody is suspect. I loved the way that with all of AJ’s problems, false starts in life and his attempt to end himself two weeks ago, the one thing that causes his family to come up with a “solution” is his desire to join the army. Sure, the father is a gangster. Sure, the mother is silent accomplice to all his crimes. People die for their gain. But going to a quagmire war-zone in Iraq or Afghanistan that could certainly lead to death? Absolutely unacceptable.
The mafia remains a world of death and violence that we as spectators have been lulled into admiration for, while we are repulsed (regardelss of out political affiliations) by the destruction and death in our current real-life wars. And there are some unclear reasons for this. Is it the style? The existence of some kind of ethics within this dark zone of organized crime? The nostalgia for the early 20th Century urban mind that continues almost unfettered in the oldest members of Cosa Nostra?
I don’t now. But I remember living in Long Island City and watching the World Trade Center burn in front of me on Jackson Avenue that September morning. After the first tower collapsed, I hear a woman say “it’s enough. The FBI has to stop trying to just nab these Wise Guys and learn that there are real gangsters out there.”
Again, regardless of your political affiliations, you can look at the Sopranos and see a microcosm for how the world operates on an international scale. The show changed along with America. And elegantly, we are left with claustrophobia and paranoia.
Like Springsteen says in “Murder Incorporated”:
Now you check over your shoulder everywhere that you go
Walkin’ down the street, there’s eyes in every shadow
You better take a look around you
That equipment you got’s so outdated
You can’t compete with Murder Incorporated
Fantastic post.
Okay, sports fans. I don’t have HBO and in fact have only watched one episode of the Sopranos (the one where Ralphie was killed). I’ve been following the denouement of the series and am now extremely psyched to watch the DVDs, but my wife hates the violence. Should I watch it without her, or have one of you found a way to watch with your similarly squeamish spouse?
We actually accidently road by Holsteins on Sunday on the way to good hiking trails in Montclair. Looks like a great place, next time I’ll stop in.
As for the Sopranos ending, I would have liked it if by killing Phil, he merged the NY and NJ families to become even more powerful than he already was. Sort of like this, Carmela looking down a hallway into the room where Tony is getting his ring kissed by the NY family on bended knee. Then someone shutting the door to block out Carmela. Mario Puzo knew how to srite an ending.
Jeremy, thanks for those highlights.
I too was a HUGE Christopher fan. It’s been so long I forgot those great memories!
Webb-BAA for lefties is 61 points higher than righties. .270 v Lefties, .219 v. righties. Also 5 homers against lefties, 1 homer against righties. These ae reasons I think we should bat Webb tonight.
Matt (another one) –
I originally did not want to watch the Sopranos. I hate(d) the violence. I love(d) the psychological drama, though. And I really liked the stuff with Carmela and the Italian, Carmela and the teacher, and Carmela and the priest. Carmela was fascinating to me and Edie Falco was (is) such a great actress.
What I did was literally leave the room during the more violent of the scenes. If your wife likes soap opera (which the less violent of the scenes really are), you may be able to get her to watch most of it with you. But don’t tease her if she leaves the room or hides in a pillow, like I did.
I think one of the reasons the Sopranos was so well-followed was that it wasn’t just about the violence; it was a character study.
Deadwood, however, I just could not watch. Tried a couple of times, but couldn’t do it. My husband loved Deadwood, though, and was really sorry it got cancelled. My opinion is it didn’t have enough to appeal to women.
My favorite Christopher line:
“The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive.”
Cracked me up.
Watching the ending the first time I really hated it. But after thinking about it basically for 24 hours and then watching the episode again, i realized how great it was.
The fact that the father and sons in Holstens was the same father and sons in the train shop where Bobby was killed. The creepy looking guy in the corner was a trucker that Tony robbed of a large amount of dvd players from way back I think in the first or second season. The two black guys were the same black guys that an altercation with ( i forget over what though. I was 13 when the series started so I didn’t watch it as often, or wasn’t really allowed to watch it haha.) The members only guy I think was just there to make you think, especially when he walked into the bathroom, just like Michael did.
I agree Dorreen, when he qouted that Bruce line it was an instant classic.
In other news it looks like the game today might be rained out.
Thunderstorms all through the day and night.
Can we go through one series without the chance of rain? Grr
David Chase made it his point in 10 yrs of doing the show to NOT be like all the other tv shows and movies about the mob.
The last scene just showed life going on and showing us how Tony has to live with paranoia from here on in. And Tony just made peace with NY so who would be the shooter??
It like how it ended. Or left it open. The last thing I wanted was Tony being shot in a hail of bullets or being locked up.
Yep, theory #1 was my theory, too. There was no need for the Members Only guy to kill Tony anymore, anyway. Tony reached a truce with the NY family, then killed Phil.
Sopranos finale was watched by approx 12 million citizens (will be somewhat more after the reruns, etc).
For the rest of us non-watcher 200 million, yawn……
Thanks Doreen. To top it all off, we live in New Jersey and she is a proud native of Bergen County. I don’t understand how she WOULDN’T want to watch the Sopranos.
It’s going on the Netflix queue–like it or else
damn, polanco passed robbie in votes for the all-star game
Another thing about the bathroom…
They only decided (amongst the family mind you) to go to the diner about two hours before they went there.
HOW WOULD ANYONE KNOW TO PUT A GUN IN THE BATHROOM OF THAT PARTICULAR PLACE FOR A HITMAN?
i still can’t read any of these soprano comments. still waiting to watch the final 3. the last 2 are on my tivo but i’m missing the before that for some reason. i put in an order for a copy from my dad last night. that guy rules.
what’s the weather like in the city today. it’s pretty lowsy up here…
Mid 70′s and quite cloudy with spot showers, saucy. Should continue throughout the night with isolated T-storms, if one of them happens to pass over the South Bronx they might get a rain delay or two, but nothing major.
The wind will be blowing in tonight, but with Wang and Webb on the bump tonight, I doubt there will be too many HRs brought back.
thanks matt!
The show could have ended with Tony Soprano morphing in to a giant lizard and eating Janice and people would have been talking. It would in no way be good, but people would talk about it.
And like I said before, the ending didn’t bother me as much as the episode itself. Boring AJ Soprano filler.
Now you’re just being silly.
Read the lyrics to Don’t Stop Believin…. Tony was not whacked as many have suggested. In fact, we now see the world through Tony’s eyes – the acceptance of what he is by his family, their world as a family, and the American Dream.
More I read the lyrics and think of the last scene, the more it makes sense. In the interview, Chase says, “it all there”.. He is right.
Just a small town girl, livin in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south detroit
He took the midnight train goin anywhere
A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night
Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
Yes!
Thanks, Colorado Yank — you saved me the effort. I had planned on researching the lyrics today, but got sidetracked. I was trying to listen as the song was playing on the show, because the songs are always key, never haphazardly chosen. Life goes on…..
Man, I forgot about the Christopher’s dad thing. That was a huge unresolved issue that never gets mentioned. Look at the first season, where everyone knows Livia helped orchestrate Tony’s death, yet she never even came close to saying it directly or force feeding it to us. Granted, other characters like Tony and Melfi said it. Anyway, what a great show.
Also, the way I read the ending after reading 1000 comments, is when Meadow walked in the diner, that was the last time things would ever be so good for Tony. With her standing in the doorway, Tony has the feeling that the war with New York is over and his family is stronger than ever. As soon as she sits down, they’ll settle down to discuss trivial things, probably start complaining, whining, etc. And things are headed downhill from there-an indictment, the realization that Paulie is his number two guy, no Melfi to talk to, etc. The show ended right there because anything resembling the good times or the “American Dream” are gone.
stop analyzing every little thing please. the fact is there was no ending. there were no real clues. you could look at the cat, the song, the black guys, the guy in the jacket. the truth is its all jumbled together. nobody knows. not even the guy who wrote this and thats what he wanted. he made an ending that made no sense. plain and simple. stanley kubrick wannabee.
wow chase is so smart. he made a ridiculous ending to one of the greatest shows of the generation. wow what a real genius he is. everyones ridiculing a terrible ending for days and days and calling it one of the worst ending in history for such a great show. but hey people are still talking about it right. way to go chase. youre soooooo smart.