And thats even before we get to Holstens, a scene shot and edited unlike anything else in the history of this show. And the matter of whether Ralphie was responsible for the fire. He is a prototypical underachiever and a constant source of stress and anxiety for his parents. Eugene Pontecorvo also appears in a flashback to 1995 in the episode "To Save Us All From Satan's Power" as a bodyguard of Junior Soprano's, along with Gigi Cestone. Matt: Well, this isnt how I thought this would go. This is the first episode of the final season, seriously? And the last we see them together, Tony was still acting like a jerk toward Patsy. Silvio Dante then informed Pontecorvo that Soprano had also denied his request to leave. Tonys personal disputes halted major construction projects on several occasions. This leads me to believe that a relative of Eugenes, The Man In The Members Only Jacket is the one who killed Tony out of an act of revenge for Eugenes suicide. Im reminded of that moment in D-Girl where Dr. Melfi summarizes existentialism for Tony. But what if it was there for Tony, who is, of course, also present? Why would he have Tony killed? After Raymond Curto dies of a massive stroke while giving potentially damaging information to Agent Robyn Sanseverino about Tony discussing a murder, the F.B.I. Because its taking the question of whether Tony lived or died off the table. The controversial ending has led to over a decade of theories and speculation as to whether Tony was killed by a hitman - but now we finally know what happened to the mob boss. As for Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) ordering the hit, that theory does have some validity. Thats all I wanted to say.. Carmela repeatedly asks Tony to see if he can get the stop order lifted, but he keeps putting it off. He loved his family, the only way they could get the inheritance money and go to Florida is if he was dead, he ended his life for their benefit. The Obama-Springsteen friendship continues on. More recently, I found myself swaying over to Team Tony Dies, not only because of the death imagery throughout the season including the way so many episodes open, as this one does, with Tony waking up from a deep slumber but because some of my initial, long-hardened impressions of the scene didnt hold up under further scrutiny. Thats why Members Only was really great, he said on Talking Sopranos. In both of those, Chase employs an unusual editing style, cutting directly from a shot of Tony looking out at the space hes just entered to a different point of view where hes already crossed most of the distance to the relative hes come to see. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Though Funaro had the occasional moment on an episode, his first big scene came when he smashed Little Paulie with a bottle at the construction site. Hey Bobby, do you know youre getting a wife? He simply gives Vito a death stare. As for Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) ordering the hit, that theory does have some validity. Heres how to watch them host the events red carpet, together with Derek Blasberg and Emma Chamberlain. Did he really leave enough money in overseas accounts to take care of Carmela after his passing, or will she soon be taking Angie Bonpensieros old job passing out supermarket samples? Privacy Policy. We make up stories to reassure ourselves that we have control over life, and we really dont. That bell, to me, is a tolling bell, as in Bring out your dead. It rings every time somebody goes through that door. Funaro, who has worked more in theater than on the screen, really saw on opportunity with his big episode, Members Only. While hed felt more satisfied with theater work to that point, the chance to complete his characters arc appealed to him. At Chris's behest, he then kills a debtor; in return, Chris says, "I'll put in a good word to T about the Florida thing." The man in the Members Only jacket, played by Paolo Colandrea, is a one-shot character on The Sopranos. This is a show about either accepting that youre not in control of anything, or making a conscious decision to deny that. Every other major boss on the show, from Johnny Sack to Phil Leotardo ( Frank Vincent . By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Matt: Yeah, hes checking out the scene in there for self-protection, but he does that everywhere he goes. I thought I saw a couple of blacks running that way." In a resurfaced. Not much character development is given to Lorenzo, making him the average informant. This was presented rather confusingly because of the constant flashes to Vincent going to space. Alan: I hear what youre saying. I just mean that Schrdingers cat is useful if youre applying it to a story that could end either in a radical, art-house movie way, or in a traditional way, but with a fancy wrapping. The ultimate fate of Tony Soprano, the crime boss and protagonist of the television drama the Sopranos, has perhaps finally been revealed by the show's creator. This guy has much more self-awareness and sensitivity than other people in his line of work, but is still a prisoner of his conditioning and maybe his genes, and always seems to fall far short of enlightenment. But still, it's implied she isn't very well connected herself -- she only assumes that Eugene has killed people, meaning she's out of the loop -- and I can't get over the jacket and the family resemblance. What I dont like is any kind of conversation that seems to be leading toward, Hes dead, end of discussion. Because that should not be the end of the discussion when youre talking about a show like this one, a show about psychology, development, morality, and all these other deep and tangled subjects. Blow-Up is one of his favorite films, and it has a famously non-definitive ending that invites the viewer to project their own meanings. We only have this one life, and precious little control over how long it lasts. Alan: Okay, but then, why the cut to black? Because I really enjoyed acting in it because of that through-line. But again, that seems like a reach to me, especially since Members Only Guy hasnt come out of the bathroom yet. David Chase, in an interview with . Thats it! Vito is thinner and is now a spokesperson for a weight loss company; he is Tony's best earner and is ambitious. Alan: Other than maybe the revelation that Big Pussy was an FBI cooperator a plot idea conceived in the shows embryonic stages, without Chase expecting anyone would care about him resolving it The Sopranos tended to keep its plot cards face up. ohio state university admissions appeal did coco die in sopranos. He knew someone in his family would find him, but why would he want them to. So maybe it was the genetic legacy of depression and mental illness that Tony called "the Soprano curse." In a family therapy session after the suicide attempt, AJ cited Grandma Livia's assertion. Vito instructs an overwrought Eugene to take the rest of the day off. And if Tony drops dead after the bell rings, whether from a bullet or (like poor Gigi Cestone) internal distress, obviously the next few moments involve Carmela, Meadow, and AJ being horrified and grief-stricken, but what comes after? Eugene Pontecorvo was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1959 to a family of Italian descent, and he became a made man in Tony Soprano's crew of the DiMeo crime familyafter having worked as a bodyguard for Junior Soprano during the 1990s. Personally, hes on good enough terms with his immediate family that theyd all happily join him for onion rings and more at their favorite ice cream place. By 20 March 2023 benjamin moore to behr paint conversion. At some point, Pontecorvo became an FBI informant, and he sought to retire to Florida with the $2 million that he had inherited from his late aunt. RELATED: The Sopranos: The 5 Tallest (& 5 Shortest) Actors In The Cast. Phil Leotardo, now the acting boss of the Lupertazzi crime family, is taking care of business for the imprisoned Johnny Sack. why max never talk in max and ruby. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. The Sopranos abruptly cut to black at the end of the series finale. Janice is raising a new daughter with Bobby Baccalieri, who has taken up model railroading as a hobby. However, the FBI said that Pontecorvo had to remain in New Jersey to help build a case against Soprano in the wake of FBI informant Raymond Curto's death. Now? I know it happened. He loved his family, the only way they could get the inheritance money and go to Florida is if he was dead, he ended his life for their benefit. What is this ending saying? He and his wife plan to take the money and retire to Florida, but Tony turns down his request because he's a made man and there's no retiring from that. He jolts awake within moments, but we begin our final hour in Tonys company with this image of him suggesting that hes already dead, and that he just like Silvio watching the Gerry Torciano hit needs some time to catch up with the finality of the situation. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. Alan: I dont know the answer to that hypothetical, because either one seems like the kind of thing The Sopranos might do. Morrow wore his silver medal as he killed himself. Now, Off the Back of a Truck takes you one step further into the world of Tony Soprano and his families, offering an Italian potluck of fresh and fun takes that any true fan can get lost in for hours. When people ask me, Do you think Tony died? I sometimes answer, Of course. And then I pause and add, Sooner or later, everybody does. Which admittedly is a dickish thing to say but you know what I mean? David Chase had this all planned out since at least the beginning of Season 3, when Eugene first appeared. He and his traveling companions Abraham Ford and Rosita Espinosa were en route to Washington, D.C., before Eugene revealed that he had been lying about being a scientist due to being scared of surviving on his own. Dont stop believin you know exactly what happened at the end of, This password will be used to sign into all, when Chase wrote that article about the scene, a journalist reported that Chase told her Tony lived, Roy Wood Jr.s Best Jokes at the 2023 White House Correspondents Dinner, Julia Fox Is the Only Celeb Taking White House Correspondents Fashion Seriously, The 11 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend, The Rivalry Between the Knicks and the Heat From the Guys Who Were There, The Knicks Vs. Heat Rivalry From the Guys Who Were There, Long Live the White House Correspondents Dinner. With that out of the way, we can focus on a more interesting question: Who ordered the hit on Tony Soprano when his time finally came? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Teddy Spirodakis: Killed at a diner by Eugene on orders from. Because it wouldve meant that he did the most obvious thing and then tried to hide it by making it seem as if he was creating an ambiguous or art-house type of ending. One by one, the other members of his immediate family arrive - except for Meadow - and they start to eat onion rings and indulge in small talk. Matt: Death shows the ultimate absurdity of life. AJ Soprano. Raymond "Buffalo Ray" Curto is a recurring character portrayed by George Loros. After taking turns reading with different female leads, Rispoli told Gandolfini to stop by his hotel when he finished his audition so they could have lunch. walker hayes daughter. But all that stuff exists outside the text, not in it. He wants to retire from the mob life after he receives a massive inheritance, but Tony isn't too keen on the idea. Her father, Hugh De Angelis, thinks an inspector he used to know would waive the requirement, but his contact has retired. It seems so obvious now. He begins developing serious stress with his home life due to his wife pushing him to talk Tony into their retiring to Florida with the money and also his son's incessant drug-use. A lot of characters live there and have to make peace with it. I just did a bunch of googling and I'm shocked that it's not a more common theory. Maybe, after spending a decade telling stories about this man and having spent a whole lifetime thinking many of the same thoughts as Tony, particularly where their mothers were concerned Chase just couldnt bring himself to direct a scene explicitly killing him, or even one where he asked James Gandolfinis face to point us more blatantly in that direction. So New York had plenty of reasons to kill Tony. Basically, those fans wanted to definitively know if Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) died right there in Holstens. Son on h but he had a daughter. From there, his character continued growing in prominence. The following is an excerpt from The Sopranos Sessions, in which Alan and I debate the still-controversial last four minutes of the show and come to different conclusions about what it meant. I know people generally cringe at "it was all a dream/nightmare!" scenarios, but I like the idea of Tony being in a purgatory state where he's forced to see himself die every day, and worst of all: it all goes black before he can see his daughter one last time. Matt: You mean does it matter if Chase knows what happened? But Tony needs help, and he starts getting it in a sit-down with Leotardos captain, Butch DiConcini (Greg Antonacci). By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Former Oregon, USC RB Travis Dye has signed as UDFA with New York Jets, per league souce. Privacy Policy and I hate that when you ask, What happened at the end of The Sopranos? and people just shrug and say, Well, he died! A better question is, What did that ending mean?. But its an enormous leap from how the series told stories in every scene, and episode, up until this one. The episode marks the first appearances of: "7 Surprises From The Sopranos 20th Anniversary Celebration", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Members_Only_(The_Sopranos)&oldid=1134519036. In 2007, he killed himself after both his boss Tony Soprano and his FBI handlers refused to let him retire to Florida . If he didnt die that night, hes going to die very soon, Chase told USA Today in 2012. No. While he is the only son of the Tony, it becomes obvious he lacks potential for a career in his father's organization, though . Think about the randomness of him seeing the FBI agents coming over the hill and escaping even as they arrest Johnny. It could be that Chase simply likes ambiguity and confusion. Alan: What I mean is, maybe that cat is Christopher reincarnated, or maybe its just a cat that wont stop hanging around Satriales and staring at a photo of Christopher. Tony had antagonized the Lupertazzi family on several occasions in the past; hed defended the indefensible (Ralph Cifaretto) and backed another banished capo (Vito Spatafore); and, last but not least, he began working with the FBI while another member of his crew became a full-fledged informant. Getting killed off on the hit mob show meant losing a well-paying job with unbeatable exposure. Patsy himself almost took out Tony in the season 3 premiere, so you know his resentment ran deep. Yeah, I was thinking that, too that despite the hours weve spent talking to Chase about the ending, I dont think its necessarily been explained in any meaningful sense, in terms of what happened next, and I get the impression that Chase cant really explain it either. Chris assures Eugene he will put in a good word for him to Tony as a favor for doing the hit. The episode's title comes from Eugene's tan Members Only jacket, which an expensively dressed Vito gently ribs him for wearing. Pussy Malanga, the man Uncle Junior was convinced is after him and whom he eventually mistakes Tony for is the same mobster Uncle Junior wanted to kill in Artie Bucco's first restaurant in, Dr. Melfi recalls that Tony grabbed a pillow in order to smother, Dr. Melfi calls the home that Tony put his mother in a "retirement community" and Tony corrects her and calls it a, Tony refers to his forgetful Uncle Junior as ", Vito asks Agent Harris if he had lost weight due to the, When Eugene proposes retiring, he cites the precedent set by ", When Eugene's conversation with his wife is interrupted by a call on his cellphone, she says he is responding to ", When Junior says Pussy Malanga is prank calling his house Tony says they will get FBI director, The song featured in the opening scene and closing credits is "Seven Souls" by, The song featured in the scene where Tony and Carmela are dining at the, The song playing when Junior shoots Tony is "Comes Love" by, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 02:43.