Television Review: Why the Sopranos Ending Was Brilliant (Once You Think About It)

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" blasts through the diner. A shady-looking man walks into the bathroom by the booth where Tony, Carmella and AJ sit. Meadow walks through the door with jingle bells sounding behind her. Tony looks up. Cut to black silence.

That's how quickly the greatest television show closed its curtains, and left the audience hanging. If you didn't feel a bit robbed when that black screen first appeared, then you weren't that big of a fan in the first place. But if you consider yourself a Sopranos loyalist, it shouldn't have taken but a few moments to be wallowing in the brilliance of its simplicity. Allow me to explain.

Firstly, if you thought there could be a series finale to "The Sopranos" that wouldn't disappoint, then you must fancy yourself someone that is too easily pleased. There was simply no way to tie up so many loose ends and leave the audience satisfied. In fact, most of all of these final nine episodes were about tying up loose ends, and yet so many seemed remaining as we entered the final hour. Going into Sunday night's episode the only intelligent thing to expect was disappointment.

So the producers left it up to the audience, which many feel was a cop out. And that is an understandable feeling: that the producers had no brilliant ideas and so just cut to black without answering our most pressing question: does Tony live or die? The fact is though, they didn't leave it open-ended because they didn't have an ending, they did it because we, the viewers, already have our perfect ending. I mean, after six seasons, do we really not know what Tony's death in that restaurant would've looked like? Do they really need to show it to us? And if they cut to black seconds after a bullet pierced Tony's skull, would you feel any less cheated? I highly doubt it.

The Sopranos is a great TV show, not simply because of the characters or the world it portrays, but because it is the essence of everything that can be great about art. It is gut wrenching and it is beautiful all at the same time and in whatever direction it goes, it takes the viewer with it. The show is brilliant because as we watch, as we journey along with this family, we sense, like they sense, every contradiction of the human experience: to love, to kill, to be loved and to be killed as if none were too far off from the other. And like art imitating life, these are the greatest emotional contradictions of experiencing art. The show is profoundest when the audience, like Tony himself, feels love and hate for the same thing at the same time. And often that thing is the show itself, because we project on the Sopranos everything that we think great television can be, much in the same way Tony projects onto both of his families everything they once were in society.

The finale was about two things, tying up loose ends and leaving the viewer with every gutteral reaction they have felt over the years. Loose ends were tied as well as they could be: the truce between New Jersey and New York, Junior's downward senilic spiral, a gimpse of AJ and Meadow's future and a sense of where "this thing of ours" will go and on whom it will fall. It even reincarnated Christopher in the form of an alley cat just to provide a bit more closure on his demise. As for the feeling it left us with? It returned that in spades.

You sit there, your eyes can't glimpse away from the screen except to the digital clock on your cable box to know exactly how much time is left for it to conclude. Anticipation boils. You are sure Tony will meet a bullet at any second and every jingle from the restaurant bells is just a preamble to the anticipatory gunshot. Your heartrate is jacked. Every insignificant sound and movement is a small piece to that which you've wanted so perfectly for so long: something sinister and beautiful all at the same time. Cut. It's over.

Do feel it? Were you in Tony's shoes? Is your heart thumping like a jack hammer? Is there a feeling more quinessential to the show than the one you were left with? Have you ever experienced a greater physical and emotional response to a piece of fiction on television?

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[Politics] The Cold War Revival

Though the post-9/11 world may seem nothing like the Cold War of forty years ago, it does not seem as though Russia got the message. And as we delve further into the Iraq war and concerns of terrorism, it seems that the media is not really considering the big picture in terms of Russia's recent moves, many of which are quite troubling. In short, over the past year or so, Russia has allegedly involved itself in a reinvested arms race, rigged elections, attacks on a former Soviet republic's communications infrastructure, violations of the civil rights of its own citizens, the poisoning of candidates and diplomats, and with a militant and nationalist youth movement.

Since I cannot be sure what this all amounts to, I will simply provide you with a few articles about recent developments and investigations. One thing I can say for sure though is that Russia does not seem to be happy about having been relegated to something between a superpower and a developing nation.

"Putin's Shock Forces:" This article from last week's edition of Newsweek details the rise of the Nashi, a militant youth movement glorifying an imperialist Russia. It has received a great deal of been comparison to the Hitler Youth of the 1930s.

"Russia Tests Long-Range Missile:" From the BBC Tuesday, this article follows the development and launch of a new missile intended to evade and penetrate missile defense
systems. Russia has complained that the U.S. development of a missile defense shield for Eastern Europe threatens its security.

"Russia Hired BotNets...:" Here is a recent article from VNUnet with further claims of Russia's involvement in the attacks on Estonia's internet services and websites. Such attacks on the telecommunications infrastructure is considered a primary tool in the future of warfare as a means of impeding the flow of information. BBC's original May 17 story, "Estonia Hit by 'Moscow Cyber War,'" is here.

"Russia Says Britain Politicizing...:" This article, from Reuters, follows up on Britain's investigation of a former KGB officer, and Kremlin critic, who was poisoned late last year with much speculation about Russia's involvement. Russia is refusing to extradite Britain's prime suspect in the case and has accused the country of politicizing the death.

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Man-Animal War: Wild Pandas Kill Human-Trained Infiltrator

Xiang Xiang, the first Panda raised in captivity and released into the wild died in February, apparently the result of an attack from other pandas over territory or food, according to Chinese media reports just released this week (BBC's story here). Sure, it may seem like some misunderstanding over territory, but let's face it, the wild pandas do not trust outsiders, especially ones trained by humans. And why should they with a war going on that jeopordizes their very existence.

Clearly, China's use of "Panda Diplomacy" does not sit well with the wild pandas, and certainly an outside panda joining their territory would be quickly suspect of spying activities. Afterall, you cannot, after years of poaching, suddenly trust the human population to provide a friendly ambassador. To them it is nothing more than a poacher in panda's clothing.

Furthermore, the fact that it was a male panda does not seem like too smart a move on China's part. One of the scientist involved said, "We chose Xiang Xiang because we thought that a strong male panda would have a better chance of surviving in the harsh natural environment." That may seem logical, but, in the animal world, alpha males are highly suspect in new social settings, especially when trying to infiltrate their legion. In my opinion, a hot female panda would find open arms much better...that's how it is at the club anyway.

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