The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2

5 Comments

1. Richard Henry Martin

   October 24, 2010 at 12:16 pm

   Review by Richard Henry Martin for The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2
   Rating:
   For years, like many others, I have thought of film, at its best, as “art.” I have also thought that while television had that potential, it was doomed never to achieve it. Granted, documentaries like “The Civil War” and “Baseball” by Ric Burns exceeded in quality and depth anything done in film, but TV drama was somehow inherently limited, despite a few flashes of brilliance here and there. There would never be a TV show as excellent, as drama, as the best of the movies.

   That has, I believe, changed – by the “Sopranos” above all, but also “Prime Suspect” “The L Word” “Six Feet Under” and even shows like “Big Love” and “Dexter” (neither of which Ilike nearly as much – but they are still orders of magnitude better than the usual network pap). TV has – finally – discovered that it has the capacity for sustained drama and in depth character development. “The Departed” was a wonderful film – but no 2 hour drama can show and illuminate the kind of character changes and nuances the “Sopranos” consistently managed. Dirty Harry looks like a cartoon compared to Brenda Lee Johnson of “The Closer.” Madeleine Kahn and Loretta Swit did great goofy characters in the movies, but Mary Louise Parker’s character in “Weeds” sets new standards.

   “Sopranos,” I think, wll endure both as excellent drama in its own right, and as a seminal event in the history of television. It has been,. more than any other show, the one that proved that TV at its best could be the equal of any movie.

   I think it also interesting that the break-through came by way of cable with its greater freedom in terms of language and what can be shown.

   And one minor point. Everyone praises David Chase, the writers, James Gandolfini, Edi Falco, etc etc but we should not forget that part of what made the “Soprano’s” so good was its soundtrack. The thing was just fun to listen to, as well as watch. Stevie Van Zandt, as well as being a totally amusing consigliere, selected or inspired a lot of that and I think he deserved a special Emmy just for being…him.

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2. E. Kutinsky

   October 24, 2010 at 11:49 am

   Review by E. Kutinsky for The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2
   Rating:
   If you manage to still be one of those people complaining about the ending of “Made In America,” the final hour of The Sopranos, may I congratulate you – you’ve managed to prove something that many of us who love the episode know to be true: you simply cannot get the thing out of your head. I spent days after it aired thinking the initial cut to black did not mean what my gut reaction felt – that Tony and his family were gunned down and David Chase simply opted not to show it, and that instead it proved that in this existence, the anxiety is more “real” than life or death. I think that is true, but I also think I was reluctant to admit the intention of that scene, based on the rich creation of those characters – not knowing that The Sopranos are dead spares us the reality that The Sopranos are dead; my analysis was a little self-protective. It is, however, the anxiety that seals it, in a (half) season full of one shock after another, the grim truth that, as Tony states in “Soprano Home Movies” – “80% of the time, this thing ends in the can like Johnny Sack, or on the embalming table,” and Tony, probably, faces both. This is the season that redefines fearlessness, setting off one bomb after another – exploding the ferocity barely masked in Christopher’s addiction (“Walk Like A Man,” which should’ve given Michael Imperioli a victory lap Emmy) only to shock us with his first-act death an episode later (“Kennedy and Heidi”). Having Janice state that she will never become her mother (“Soprano Home Movies”) while her destiny seems to be exactly the opposite (Junior mistakes her for Livia in their final moments together). The season is so extraordinary, it shows us the last moments of Junior’s sanity in “Remember When,” but does so with so little fanfare, we don’t realize just what we saw until the very end. It turns Chrisopher’s death in “Kennedy and Heidi” into an uncomfortable rumination on those of us that remain alive. It shocks us with Tony’s humanity (his suited dive into the pool to save AJ in “The Second Coming”) while fulfilling his vileness (the moment we’re certain he’ll kill Paulie in “Remember When”). So much can be said about each astonishing installment here – and its final second ensures that most things will get said – that it bares stating the simplest of facts: this is the most visionary work ever created on television, and no amounts of repeated viewings can do it justice.

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3. John P Bernat

   October 24, 2010 at 11:21 am

   Review by John P Bernat for The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2
   Rating:
   That quote was the high spot for me.

   Tony visits one of Christopher’s girlfriends in Las Vegas and does some peyote. After a night of hallucinations and highly successful gambling (this on the heels of Tony losing pretty consistently and showing symptoms of a gambling addiction), they stumble out into the desert and watch the sun rise.

   Seeing the sun come up, in a montage of garish color against the desert rock formations, a disheveled Tony screams that message to God and the universe. “I get it.” Now, if only that meant Tony had found something approaching peace.

   In this season, Tony curses the people he loves and even his own gene pool. He is enormously self-absorbed and hugely narcissistic, and more brutish than ever. He shows great empathy and horrible sociopathic fixation, sometimes in the same scene. When met with the expressed needs of people closest to him, a stock response is, “oh, poor you.” Respect, whether earned or not, becomes the only thing that matters.

   And people die.

   The violence and loss is met with the classic urban phrase, “What are you gonna do?” The loyalty and allegiance that is at once the lifeblood and the illusion of Mafia life is summarized with Paulie’s phrase, “When I get put to the test, what will I do?”

   How could we have been brought to care so deeply for such unattractive people? Well, not like freaks in a carnival. Each character showed us so much of our own humanity, and taught us something about the value of unsparing, unsympathetic honesty.

   And yes, the ending is intentionally ambiguous. This is, perhaps, the only way it could have ended, as others have said here.

   Well, whaddaya gonna do?

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4. Mike Liddell

   October 24, 2010 at 11:14 am

   Review by Mike Liddell for The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2
   Rating:
   The Sopranos season 6 part 2 was a return to form. I think Episode 86 “Made in America” the finale was perfect. David Chase didn’t give viewers that closure that they wanted, but life doesn’t come with a nice bow at the end of the day, and the series kept it real. It also had alot of the comedy that season 1 had.
   
   The end of the series finale when Tony first walks into the restaurant then sees himself sitting down, is it a dream? Are some of the people in the restaurant notorious or related characters from ealier episodes and seasons? Earlier in the Sopranos there was talk of how a killing happens, you don’t hear it, you don’t see it, just bang and the lights go out, like how the last moments ended, did Tony Die? Who knows, but people on every talk show, on every sports show on espn, on blogs, everywhere are discussing it, analyzing it, and debating it, isn’t that what great movies do for us? If mobsters walked in and shot tony and there was a huge shoot out, what is there to comment on, “whoa did you see him get shot”?, damn. The end. David Chase is smarter, and as i said the end was so suspenseful it was Hitchcockian. Hitchcock once said it’s not the explosion of the bomb that goes off. That’ll make you jump for one second, it’s the knowing a bomb is under the table and it could go off, the waiting, and anticipation and it doesn’t that was the last 5 minutes and i’d think everyone would agree even the dissapointed people that it was very intense. Great movies make us feel something whether it is good or bad, a great movie can change us or our mood.
   
   I’ve loved watching the Sopranos over the years it’s more than just a violent show, it’s almost always fresh and current and dealing with alot of the same issues we all deal with in our lives. I’m jealous of anyone who has never seen this series and is about to for the first time.
   
   The finale, basically life goes on and it will, we just won’t be a part of it anymore. However we can pop season 1 back in the dvd player anytime and experience it all over again.
   
   Maybe they’ll make a movie of it, and David chase will write it, Coppolla will produce it, and Scorsese will direct it.
   
   Here’s a list of the epiodes of season 6 part 2
   
   Episode 78
   
   “Soprano Home Movies”
   
   Episode 79
   
   “Stage 5”
   
   Episode 80
   
   “Remember When”
   
   Episode 81
   
   “Chasing It”
   
   Episode 82
   
   “Walk Like a Man”
   
   Episode 83
   
   “Kennedy and Heidi”
   
   Episode 84
   
   “The Second Coming ”
   
   Episode 85
   
   “The Blue Comet”
   
   Episode 86
   
   “Made in America”

   DVD Features: (from movieweb)
   
   – “Making Cleaver” – an exclusive sneak-peek at the behind-the-scenes making of the film that Christopher pitched in Hollywood
   
   – “Music of The Sopranos” – a retrospective look at the final season and the music that helped shape it
   
   – Four audio commentaries from cast members – Episode 1: Steven Schirripa, Episode 3: Dominic Chianese, Episode 7: Robert Iler, Episode 8: Steven Van Zandt

   Technical Specs:
   
   – Rating: TVMA
   
   – Runtime: Approx. 540 Minutes (not including bonus features)

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5. Wesley Mullins

   October 24, 2010 at 11:06 am

   Review by Wesley Mullins for The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 2
   Rating:
   So much of what’s said abut the final season of The Sopranos refers to the last five minutes, as people unfortunately overlook the best nine episode string of the entire series. David Chase’s last season of television’s finest program is full of all the qualities that attracted viewers and critics for the past decade. Characters live in a world where death is a possibility each day, but aren’t shown to be gods or royalty. Rather, viewers see in them all of the emotions experienced in every family, as Tony, Carmela, Christopher and the rest of the cast share their memorable loves, hates, dreams, failures…and meals.

   Season 6.2 has three distinct parts. The first four episodes are “last moments in the sun” for some of the more important characters. Bobby and Janice retreat for a weekend on a lake with Tony and Carm; Johnny Sack battles a new enemy in prison; institutionalized Uncle Junior spends his last moments of sanity running a card game and mentoring a young killer; and Hesh fears for his safety when Tony owes him money and seems reluctant to pay.

   Next, the season moves to the difficulties of AJ and Christopher and how both problems affect Tony. Tony takes a backseat to other characters in the opening episodes of the season, but he’s never been more laid bare than in how he deals with his literal and figurative sons. As with the ambiguous nature of the show, Tony at times appears to be a heroic, thoughtful and brave, while other times, he’s a monster.

   Finally, the last two episodes end in the much anticipated war with New York, as successful and unsuccessful hits are targeted at the show’s biggest players. A sense of closure is reached with Tony’s relationships with his rivals, his crew, his family and the FBI, but as everyone in America knows, nothing concrete is declared about his future. Does he live? Does he go to prison? Will his crew survive? Those questions aren’t answered, Chase`s last gift to his viewers, as people can continue turning this show over in their heads for years.

   I wasn’t there when The Tempest first played at the Globe, and I didn’t see The Beatles at Candlestick Park. But Sunday Nights at 9pm on HBO, I saw my generation’s finest contribution to pop culture and to literature, with the final season providing a closing act worthy of such a masterpiece.

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