Sometimes I wonder what about life in America suggests we're always entitled to closure in life.
I watched as HBO brought "The Sopranos" to an end and quite frankly, I was pleased with the way the ending played out. David Chase obviously believes open-ended conclusions mirror life and are thus preferred. But the crash-to-black ending he wrote left many fans thinking their TVs were broken, something even Andy Kaufman could have appreciated.
We're so desperate for a perfect ending, we can't recognize a good one when we see it.
"Sopranos" superfans seem to think having the mob in a TV series means everything's got to go out in a hail of gunfire a la "The Godfather." It's not an ending if anything's left in the air.
"This is TV!" they collectively yell. "Don't make us think!"
Now these same fans, having screamed themselves into a frenzy to no avail (Chase has said publicly he has no desire to discuss the finale's ending any longer) have decided to dig for the "true meaning" of the ending.
It's not enough that the ending was left open-ended. These fans aren't happy having their opinion that Tony died in the end, leaving people like me to our opinion that everyone lived and resolution will have to happen off-screen. They have to find a way to get HBO to admit that there were really clues hidden to get viewers to figure out that Tony really did get capped in the end.
"See?" these uber-fans yell, shaking us non-believers by the collars until our eyes bulge. "There was a distinct ending! Tony died! Believe it, you stupid cannoli! It's all there in technicolor, just admit it!"
HBO is going along for the ride, dropping press hints that yes, the truth is out there and you don't need "The X-Files" to find your own conspiracy theories. Chase still isn't talking about it. And the ending's still open ended, despite it all.
When a show has six full seasons spread over nine years and becomes a cultural phenomenon, it's easy to understand the desire fans have for it all to come to a big bombastic end. But sometimes it's also important for a show such as this to go out in a way that says "we weren't just dragging you guys along for the same old ride."
If we wanted that, Chase could have just ended the series with Tony being blasted to death at a tollbooth by semi-automatic gunfire. I suppose a contingent of fans would have loved that kind of "homage."
The rest of us would have seen it for what it was: a cop-out.
Let's leave the ending up to debate. Show that just because we watch TV doesn't mean we need everything spoon fed to us.
Like Tony Soprano himself once said: "There's no retiring from this."
Yeah, he meant the Mafia. But if the ending is allowed to stay open-ended, at least we'll still have something about the show that isn't set in stone.
And we won't ever have to retire the show for good.
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