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At one point in the episode, Tony/Finnerty falls down the stairs in his motel and wakes up in the hospital after suffering a concussion. The attending Doctor tells him that an MRI reveals that he has numerous “dark spots” on his brain. The Doctor tells Tony/Finnerty that this indicates early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s diagnoses refers to Tony’s bleak future. The “dark spots” obscure his ability to see the consequences of his actions and his lack of moral accountability. The MRI that reveals Tony’s condition reflects the initial MRI that sent Tony to Dr. Melfi in the pilot episode. Because of the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Tony/Finnerty tells the doctor that it doesn’t matter whether he actually is Kevin Finnerty because he “won’t know himself soon.” Tony/Finnerty then refers to his diagnosis as “a death sentence” (i.e. Tony’s eventual fate in Holsten’s). The “dark spots” on his brain also directly relate to the final “blackout” that ends the series. Here, death is also directly linked to loss of identity (forgetting who you are). However, the doctor tells Tony/Finnerty that there are “new treatments” and his condition is not as “bleak as it would have been a while back.” This means that Tony can recover, change and avoid his reckoning. The Doctor adds that Tony “should talk to his doctors back home.” This suggests that Tony should return to Dr. Melfi when he awakens from his coma. Through his discussions with Dr. Melfi, Tony has a second chance to reform his life and avoid his destiny or his “death sentence.” The doctor then reminds Tony of his second chance when he states that Tony is lucky because “a fall like that, you [Tony] could have broken your neck” (i.e Tony could have been killed when he was shot by Junior). Tony’s potential reckoning and possibility of change is also paralleled in his scenes with the Monks. As mentioned earlier, the Monks have sued Tony/Finnerty for failing to provide them with solar heating during the winter. This represents the suffering that Tony has caused to others in his life. Tony/Finnerty tells the bartender at his hotel that he’s “afraid of what I might have done” and asks “Is it possible I am Kevin Finnerty?” This suggests that some sense of responsibility and self-awareness has entered Tony’s mind. The Monks ask Finnerty to “take responsibility” (i.e Tony to take a moral accounting of his actions). Tony/Finnerty responds “I can’t do that.” One of the Monks replies “Then the lawsuit proceeds.” (i.e Tony is doomed to suffer his “death sentence”). Tony/Finnerty also tells his wife that the lawsuit “could cause problems later on” (once again Tony’s “death sentence,” which will come “later on” in Holsten’s). The outcome of the Monks lawsuit further reinforces the concept of Tony’s future “death sentence” that he earlier predicts to the coma-trip doctor.
Tony’s loss of identity through the Alzheimer’s diagnosis is directly tied to death throughout the sequence. The Monks tell Tony/Finnerty that “we will all die, [and] all be the same as that tree, no me, no you”. Tony/Finnerty then hopes to find the real Kevin Finnerty at the “Finnerty Family Reunion” at the “Inn at the Oaks”. Throughout the coma trip, Tony/Finnerty sees a beacon on the Costa Mesa horizon. He learns that if he follows the beacon it will lead to the “Inn at the Oaks.” Tony/Finnerty drives out to the reunion. He sees the glorious Inn and is met by the deceased Tony Blundetto (whom Tony murdered) in a tuxedo. Blundetto is credited as “Man” in the sequence. Tony/Finnerty clearly doesn’t recognize him. Man/Tony B. tells him that his “family” is waiting inside the Inn.” Tony/Finnerty is clearly scared and hesitant. Tony/Finnerty asks “Is Kevin Finnerty here?” but Man/Tony B. responds that “we don’t talk like that here” (i.e. names don’t matter, further reinforced by the notion that Tony Blundetto is now just “Man”). Death is again directly related to loss of identity and a collective unconscious. “Man” tells Tony to let go of his briefcase and go inside. However, Tony doesn’t want to let go of his briefcase (“my whole life’s in there”) and admits that he’s “scared.” Finally, Tony/Finnerty sees the image of an old woman at the door of the Oaks who is clearly meant to be Tony Soprano’s mother Livia. Tony seems close to entering and “Man” tells him “You’re going home.” At that moment, Tony hears a small girls voice from the trees yelling “Daddy, don’t go!!” and “we love you Daddy.” Tony/Finnerty continues to resist entering the Inn and his subsequent death. Finally, Tony’s view of the door of the Inn fills with bright light (a possible manifestation of the real world hospital light or symbolic of the birth of a new Tony). We hear Meadow calling out to Tony to wake up in his hospital room as real-world Tony comes close to flat-lining (Meadow’s voice was manifesting itself as the little girl’s voice that Tony hears through the trees). Tony awakens from the coma and sees Meadow.
Once Tony comes out of his coma and is released from the hospital we start to see the different Tony that is necessary for his moral restoration and his survival. He vows that he will appreciate life and that “everyday is a gift.” First, Tony declines the money from the EMT that may have stolen the money from his wallet when he was brought to the hospital. Tony is then less stubborn in his dealings with Phil Leotardo (“there’s enough garbage for everybody”). He risks losing the respect of his crew when he resists killing Vito Spatafore despite Vito’s recently revealed homosexuality. He says about Vito, “I had a second chance so why can’t he?”
More importantly, the apparent question in the final season of whether Tony can change is inextricably linked to the love of his family and the love of his criminal lifestyle, the two things he has tried to reconcile since the opening episode. Tony’s new attitude is directly related to the love of his family, especially his children which has really been the only time the viewer has sympathized with Tony on any moral level. After he leaves the hospital he tells Carmela she is the reason he survived (“its all you”). It’s Meadow’s voice that calls Tony out of the coma. Also, Carmela gives Tony his new insurance card in the early moments of “Member’s Only”. We later learn from a representative from Tony’s insurance company that Tony would have died if he didn’t have the card on him as he would have been sent to the inferior County Hospital where he surely would have died from his injuries. Dr. Plepler later tells Carmela the same thing. Tony’s family is directly linked to his survival and his second chance. He initially has some very tender moments with Carmela. He (to her surprise) unexpectedly asks her to dance to a love song at Allegra Sac’s wedding. Then he stares lovingly at Meadow later in the same episode. Tony even begins to have some self-awareness about the consequences of his actions. Carmela tells him how lucky they are (that Tony survived), Tony replies “you create your own luck.” Tony then returns to Dr. Melfi and tells her “every day’s a gift and that’s the way its gonna stay.” Tony even gives Chris his blessing to go to Hollywood with Little Carmine to develop their screenplay. In a moment of incredible restraint (for Tony at least) he resists sleeping with Julianna Skiff when he is reminded by the way Carmela cared for him in the hospital.
Tony even seems to connect with a preacher who visits Tony in the hospital and tells Tony that salvation is not just about saving yourself in the afterlife but “…about saving yourself when you’re alive.” Tony responds that “it must be nice to have something to hold on to.” Tony starts to realize he is part of bigger reality and no longer the center of the universe. Tony talks about how he felt he was being “pushed along” in his coma state and references an Ojibwe saying (on a note mysteriously left in his hospital room) about a “great wind” carrying you across the sky. He shares these thoughts with Paulie and tells him to forgive his mother (who is revealed in this episode to actually be Paulie’s Aunt) and get “past this petty bullshit.” He also expresses sympathy towards a young child in the hospital burn unit. Perhaps Tony is evolving (or attempting to evolve) from selfishness and evil deeds into a larger recognition of the universe. Tony realizes he was “pulled toward something” during his coma but he knows he “doesn’t want to go back.” His fear of “The Inn at the Oaks” is still bubbling up from his subconscious. Tony seems to embrace different existential and spiritual ideals from the Preacher and another hospital resident, John Shwinn, a former scientist with cancer. As Tony leaves the hospital, he has embraced a greater consciousness point of view.
However, the old Tony starts to seep through early on. To reestablish his dominance as boss, he brutally beats the innocent Perry in front of his crew. He then promptly vomits in the toilet. He eventually returns to his whores and betrays Carmela’s care of him during his recovery.
We soon realize that Tony misses the thrill and risk of his criminal lifestyle (“Every day is a gift but does it have to be a pair of socks?”). On a road trip, Tony and Chris senselessly risk their lives robbing a truckload of wines from a pair of members of the motorcycle gang “The Vipers” (Tony and Chris escape a shootout). As season 6B begins we soon find out Tony has a gambling problem (Tony was always disgusted by gambling during the course of the show). Tony’s downward trajectory begins to really take hold. Chase then directly links Tony’s gambling with money to gambling with his life. He ominously tells Bobby that 80% of the time guys like him either end up dead or in jail but exclaims “No risk, no reward.” Tony acknowledges that “things are going great” but he’s “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” When Tony learns that Larry Boy Barese pins Tony’s first murder on Jackie Aprile, he is filled with relief but ominously asks “ you have to wonder what’s next?” He then tells Dr. Melfi that “If you couldn’t lose, what’s the fucking point? you need the risk.” To which Dr. Melfi responds “What are you chasing, the money or the high from winning?” The point is more prominently made in the episode “Chasing It.” Tony and Carmela have a critical conversation that foreshadows Tony’s death. Carmela senses that his gambling is not about money (“this is about money? because it doesn’t feel like that”). Carmela starts to cry and relays her worries about Tony’s future, “I worry Tony…you already got shot and now you won’t even get the paper, who is out there…?” She talks about the “million possibilities” of how it could end for Tony. This foreshadows the unforeseen and unknown “Man in Members Only Jacket” in the final scene. She says that he acts like “there is a giant piano hanging by a rope just over your [Tony's] head.” Tony then arrogantly responds in a way that mocks God and destiny and directly ties into his gambling mentality, Tony explains “I survived a gunshot wound. What are the odds on that?…Big picture wise I am up, way up.” In the very next scene, Chase undermines Tony’s sense of security, and emphasizes the fragility of life, when Hesh wakes up to find that his girlfriend had died in her sleep. Just moments before his death in Holsten’s, Tony continues to tempt fate by laughing off Paulie’s very personal revelation that he saw the Virgin Mary, which he believes is a warning that taking over the Aprile crew will lead to his premature death.
Just as Tony’s family saved him from death, his criminality endangers them. Again, Chase ties Tony’s gambling into the theme. Tony bets and loses on the horse “Meadow’s Gold.” Finally, Tony breaks his losing streak in Vegas and callously laughs that Christopher’s death is the reason. He gambles (and wins) in roulette on the numbers “24” and “20,” the ages of Meadow and AJ respectively. Tony is playing a dangerous game. The final scene brings the “The Man in the Member’s Only” jacket dangerously close to his family. We saw Phil’s wife and grand babies dangerously close to his murder. We also saw Phil’s goomar and her father accidentally murdered as a byproduct of Tony’s actions. Phil’s goomar even gets to watch her father take a bullet in the head (and then catches a few bullets herself) just as Meadow sees Tony take a shot in the head as she enters Holsten’s in the final scene.
As Season 6B progresses Tony becomes more ruthless and further away from his spiritual awakening. He has Bobby commit his first murder out of vindictive spite that Bobby beat him up at the lake house. He nearly kills Paulie and destroys his friendship with Hesh over money and his gambling addiction.
Tony’s deterioration culminates when he kills Christopher in “Kennedy and Heidi” and has no remorse for it afterward. Tony travels to Las Vegas immediately after Christopher’s death. The trip illustrates his descent into moral depravity and deterioration. Tony sleeps with Christopher’s goomar and takes peyote. His vomiting in the toilet directly links to his vomiting after he beats up Perry which began Tony’s post coma moral slide. He laughs that his luck has changed now that Chris is dead when he wins at the Roulette table. Tony and Christopher’s goomar wind up out in the Nevada desert, watching the sun come up. Tony stands up and yells “I get it!” He tells Dr. Melfi about this epiphany. However, Tony doesn’t “get” anything. Tony has been given a number of revelations, many in his sessions with Dr. Melfi, but each time, he doesn’t significantly act on the epiphanies. The most important of which is his moral awakening after his coma. However, Tony’s never going to change. He’s never going to really “get it.” Tony then says as much to Dr. Melfi when he relays his peyote experience. He tells her that “you think you know, you think you learn something, like when I got shot.” He further tells her that “you come to these thoughts, and almost grab them” but then they are gone (which Tony symbolizes with the wave of his hand under his chin). This represents Tony’s realization that he had to live a better life after he awoke from the coma. However, Tony could not “grab” and hold on to this realization and it’s quickly forgotten (i.e. Tony returned to his old ways). Tony in the end is worse than ever before.
The theme is also reflected in Tony’s parallel destiny with Phil Leotardo. Phil takes over as acting boss when Johnny Sack is incarcerated. He is not entirely sympathetic to Tony after his shooting and seems surprised when Tony gives in to him when he visits the recovering Tony at home. Phil despises Johnny Sack for crying at his daughter’s wedding after Sack is taken away by the FBI. The tension between Tony and Phil mounts in 6a over Tony’s apparent reluctance to kill Vito over his uncovered homosexuality.
Just as it appears that Phil will go to war with Tony, Phil has a serious heart attack that delays the inevitable conflict. Tony then visits Phil in the hospital and relays his near death experience to him. Tony tells him that he visited someplace and never wants to go back. Tony then ties his near shooting and wake up call to family, he tells Phil to “focus on the grandkids, the good things.” Tony takes Phil’s hand and tears flow down Phil’s cheek (Phil’s crying contrasts to his ridicule of Johnny Sack for crying at his daughter’s wedding).
As Season 6B opens, Phil has apparently taken Tony’s words to heart. He’s just returned from Florida where he rehabbed after his surgery. He quickly tells Tony he has no interest in being boss and that he is “here to enjoy his grandchildren.” Here both Tony and Phil’s near death experience lead to a new outlook on life and a concentration on family.
The theme is further reinforced by Little Carmine’s speech (who fought a violent war to be Boss in Season 5) with Tony early in 6B. Tony tries to convince Little Carmine to step up and be boss of NY. In response, Little Carmine relays a recurring dream where his deceased father (Carmine, former boss of NY) gives him a decorated box that contains a gift. Little Carmine opens the box and its empty. Little Carmine then explains “There was a time I was obsessed with being in charge.” He further talks about his ritual with his wife where he comes home from work and they both jump naked together into their pool (the pool reflecting family, just as Tony‘s pool of ducks did ). Little Carmine explains that during his “fighting with John [Sack]“ his wife Nicole told him she doesn’t “want to be the wealthiest widow on Long Island, I want you to quit.” Little Carmine explains that the “empty box is not about being boss, it’s about being happy” and he must “fill the box.” Little Carmine eventually surrendered to Johnny Sack in Season 5. Here, Little Carmine’s commitment to his family and what was important kept him alive. Inevitably, it is Carmela who is the “wealthiest widow” in New Jersey as the show closes as Tony doesn’t learn the same lesson.
Just as Tony’s awakening was short lived, Phil’s is as well. At Phil’s dead brother Billy’s 47th birthday, we learn of his long simmering anger that his family name has been disgraced for centuries (his ancestors were forced to change the family name to “Leotardo” from “Leonardo” after they arrived in America). Phil also feels he has been stepped on too long. He resents new Boss Doc Santoro and still has deep anger over Tony Blundetto’s murder of his brother. He tells Butchie “No more of this.” Phil then takes out Doc Santoro to become the new official boss of the NY Lupertazzi family.
Phil becomes more recalcitrant than ever. Phil demands 25% from Tony to allow him to continue dumping asbestos at his station. During Christopher and Tony’s last ride together, Chris tells Tony to give in to Phil and tells him “Life’s too short.” Tony responds “Life’s also too short to live it as a lackey.” The regression of Tony is clear as he subsequently kills Christopher. At a sitdown between Tony and Phil, Tony relays their moment of connection at Phil’s hospital bed, he says “we shared an understanding about life.” Phil responds coldly that “this is business” and refuses to negotiate with Tony.
Phil, through a series of events eventually declares all out war on Tony and NJ. Phil is worse than ever before. Tony murder of Chris and his subsequent lack of remorse and trip to Vegas is the nadir of his deterioration. Their parallel destinies are about to meet a violent conclusion.
To further emphasize this inevitability Chase makes a key throwback to Tony’s coma-trip. During Tony’s coma trip, Tony Blundetto/Man told Tony that “You’re Going Home.” This symbolized him entering the “Inn at the Oaks” and his death. In the 6b episode “Chasing It,” Nancy Sinatra asks Tony and Phil “Are you two going home together?” They’ll soon be able to answer that question. Tony and Phil die in the exact same violent way. Both die instantly with shots to the head that they “never hear coming.” Both die in front of their families of three (for Tony; Carmela, AJ and Meadow coming through the door, for Phil; his wife and his 2 baby grandchildren). Both are happily distracted by their families (Phil by the babies, Tony by Meadow). Phil’s death is a cold irony to his earlier words that he wants to “concentrate on his grandkids.” To get even more specific, Phil gets shot as he tells his wife to call his doctor so he could get his pills. Tony gets shot just moments after Carmela tells Tony that Meadow will be late because she had a doctor’s appointment to switch birth control pills. Also, Vanilla Fudge’s You Keep Me Hanging on plays as Phil is shot. The opening shot of “Made in America” has an overhead casket shot of Tony sleeping. Tony’s alarm wakes him up eerily playing what sounds like organ music heard at a funeral, soon that tune ends and Tony hears the same version of You Keep me Hanging On. The song links the two scenes and the character’s shared destinies. Finally, both are killed by relative unknowns. Tony by “Man in Member’s Only Jacket” and Phil by Walden Belafore, a character we have been introduced to just a few episodes before. Also notice that the other “boss” Johnny Sack dies in front of his family (also of 3, his wife and two daughters) in the prison hospital. The prision security guard tells Johnny that he cannot hug his family (“No Physical contact please”). The 3 bosses commitment to power, wealth and criminality ultimately separates them permanently from what’s most important to them.
Tony’s bedside advice to Phil to “focus on the grandkids, the good things” takes on an even greater resonance in the final scene. It appears from several scenes in the final episode that Meadow and Patrick Parisi are engaged. Early on in the Holsten’s scene, Carmela tells Tony that Meadow will be coming from the doctor as she had to “switch birth control.” This may imply that Meadow may be pregnant as her original birth control was not working (before switching the doctor would give her a pregnancy test). Meadow rushes to the door of Holsten’s with an anxious look on her face which may indicate that she has big news to tell her parents. This moment is congruous to a scene in the 6a episode “Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request.” In that episode there is a tender moment between Tony and Meadow as they prepare to leave for Allegra Sacks wedding. Tony, having just survived the shooting of Junior talks about the importance of having grandchildren and asks Meadow about any plans of marriage to Finn. Tony, in a clear state of emotion says “what I have been through [Near death experience] changes the way you think.” Tony says “all of sudden it is very important to me” to hold his grandchild in his arms. In the final scene, Tony will soon hear the news that he‘s waited for, that he will be able to hold his grandchild in his arms. However, Tony is killed just before Meadow delivers the news. The final scene is a tragic and ironic counterpoint to the scene in “Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request.”
As Tony lets his newfound enlightenment slip, even Christopher recognizes it and asks Tony “Whatever happened to ‘smell the roses’?” just before there car accident and Tony’s murder of Chris. Since Tony cannot change, he is now ready to meet his destiny that was laid out during his coma induced trip to Costa Mesa. This is the “death sentence” that Tony talked about to the doctor in his Coma-trip, the same “death sentence” the doctor told him could be avoided. Tony couldn’t change so change (death) was thrust upon him. His death makes perfect sense thematically. The theme is also demonstrated symbolically during Tony’s Coma-trip and his Vegas trip. The two trips reflect and contrast each other. Tony’s Costa Mesa trip is Tony’s chance at moral regeneration. Tony’s Vegas trip is his complete deterioration and symbolizes the end of Tony’s second chance. Both trips find Tony initially alone. In the Costa Mesa trip, Tony doesn’t sleep with the girl. In the Vegas trip, Tony’s sleeps with Christopher’s goomar. Tony’s Costa-Mesa trip ends with a spiritual and possible moral awakening for Tony. The bright light (manifesting itself from the hospital room) is seen by Tony as he comes out of the coma. In Vegas, Tony is on the floor from vomiting from peyote and takes comfort staring at a small ceiling bathroom light which contrasts to the bright light when he comes out of the coma (Tony is perhaps subconsciously drawing on his “coming out of the coma” experience). In Vegas, Tony stares at the Pompei slots which ominously reveal a full shot of the devil. In Costa Mesa, things are more hopeful. Tony/Finnerty receives salutations from other salesman for his sales accomplishments (“We are just impressed to be in the presence of a man whose sales team snatched the brass ring for 12 consecutive quarters”, i.e .Tony always ending up on top in his Mafia world). Tony is humble and, perhaps aware of his own mortality, responds that “There is always a faster gun” (“Man in Member’s Only Jacket’s” gun?). In Vegas, Tony cannot lose. His gambling luck has changed because Chris has died. Tony falls to the casino floor laughing as the dealer looks on in disgust. Tony saw a beacon of light during his coma-trip and was told that to find the “Inn at the Oaks” that he should go “out towards the beacon.” The beacon will lead to Tony’s death. Just before the Vegas trip, Tony suffocates Chris and as he looks up at the road he sees one headlight of a vehicle shining exactly like the beacon in Tony’s Coma-trip. During Tony’s Vegas trip, Tony sees the beacon flash behind the sun when he is high on peyote. Tony is now ready to die. The theme is also reflected in the bell ringing moments. When Tony is wheeled out of the hospital after recovering from the shooting, he closes his eyes just as he is outside as church bells ring prominently nearby. Tony listens to the bells and appears to have a contemplative moment. He then holds Janice’s hand and tells her how lucky he is to be alive and how “after this every day is a gift.” In contrast, by the final scene in Holsten’s, Tony’s epiphany is just a memory and the tiny bells of Holsten’s ring for the last time at Tony’s death bringing his experience full circle.
Tony death by “Man in Member’s Only Jacket” is the ultimate consequence of Tony’s actions. “Man in Member’s Only Jacket” represents not only Tony’s mafia past coming back to destroy him, but also symbolizes the lives he has destroyed. The Monks in Tony’s coma-trip urge Tony to take responsibility. As mentioned earlier, the Monks urgent but ignored pleas to Tony/Finnerty for solar heating symbolize Tony’s indifference and eventual dismissal of Eugene Pontecorvo’s pleas to retire to Florida to escape the Mafia life. The Monks tell Tony/Finnerty that their “lawsuit proceeds” because Tony can’t take responsibility. Tony/Finnerty then correctly predicts that the “lawsuit could cause problems later on” (the karmic payback of “Man in Members Only Jacket” who symbolizes Eugene Pontecorovo, killing Tony in the final scene). To further make the point, Chase cuts from a shot of Tony in the coma to the dead Eugene lying in his casket. Tony’s indifference may also explain why Eugene’s suicide is never mentioned by Tony in the final season. Almost all of the major deaths on the show have had some resonance with Tony. Yet, there is no mention by Tony to Dr. Melfi or anyone else about his suicide. Did Eugene’s death not effect Tony? The answer is clear, Chase wanted us to forget about Eugene because Tony forgot about Eugene. Tony was arrogant and complacent and his past would catch up with him in Holsten’s. Furthermore, upon re-examination of the final season, we are reminded of Tony’s indifference to Eugene when Tony selfishly gambles away the 100K that he could’ve given to Vito’s widow, daughter and troubled son to escape New Jersey to relocate to Maine (Vito’s son’s trouble may ominously foreshadow more trouble for A.J. once Tony is killed). We also see Carmela on her laptop staring at a screen titled “top 10 cities to buy-Panama City, Florida” in the 6b episode “Kennedy and Heidi.” This eerily echo’s the scene early in “Member’s Only” where Eugene and his wife look at their prospective new home in Florida on their computer. This is the constant reminder of the suffering that Tony has caused to others and the karmic payback of the “Man in the Member’s Only Jacket.” It doesn’t matter that Tony has (apparently) defeated Phil. Tony has ruined so many lives that someone can seek retribution at any time. As Bacala eerily tells Tony in the boat at the lake house, “In our line of work, it’s always out there.” Chase also gives more detailed connections to Eugene in “Member’s Only” and the final scene in Holsten’s. Eugene, wearing a “Member’s Only Jacket” shoots a fat man named Teddy Spiradokis (initials T.S.=Tony Soprano) sitting in a diner eating. In the same episode, Eugene’s wife, angry that Tony will not let Eugene retire to Florida, ominously tells Eugene to “put a bullet in [Tony’s] fucking head.” After Eugene’s murder of Spiradokis, Eugene listens to Blondie’s Dreaming. Tony enters Holsten’s as Little Feat’s All that you Dream plays in the diner.
Tony’s death in front of his family is not only directly linked to his near death wake up call and possibility of change but also to the show’s main themes from the very beginning. The show has always been about Tony’s struggle to reconcile his “Family” life with his family life. The shows opening episode, the “Pilot” lays out this theme. Tony has a panic attack after the “family” of ducks leave his pool. This triggers Tony’s first visit to Dr. Melfi. Tony has a breakthrough in the “Pilot” and realizes why the duck flight has caused him such fear. He exclaims to Dr. Melfi that “I’m afraid I’m gonna lose my family like I lost the ducks.” Tony then begins to cry. Tony admits he is filled with “dread” and Dr. Melfi asks “What are you so afraid is going to happen?” This fear is intertwined with Tony’s other Mafia family. We have seen Tony’s struggles as a ruthless Mob boss and a loving father. These aspects of his personality seem contradictory. Throughout the show’s history we have seen Tony’s mafia world intrude on his family as part of the moral erosion produced by a lifetime of exposure to his other “Family.” In the show’s third season, Meadow dated Mob wannabee Jackie Jr. Tony’s two families collided when Tony was forced to order the death of Jackie Jr. Meadow’s relationship with Finn is subsequently polluted when he is exposed at work (at a construction site, a job that Tony got him) to Mafia violence (Eugene’s beating of Little Paulie) and Vito’s threats after he discovers him giving a blowjob to a security guard. Finn and Meadow’s relationship quickly falls apart because of Meadow’s denial of Tony’s criminal lifestyle and after Finn realizes that Tony and his crew will kill Vito for his homosexuality. We later see A.J. on the cusp of a criminal life when he helps torture a college student in the 6b episode “Walk Like a Man.” Meadow indirectly leads to the NY-NJ war in the final season when she is harassed by Coco. Tony then nearly beats Coco to death to avenge Meadow’s honor in the 6b episode “The Second Coming.”
Chase expresses the incompatibility of the “Family” and the family within Tony’s own history. In the 6b episodes “Remember When” and “Chasing It,”Chase teases us that Tony will recognize how much his father, Johnny Boy Soprano, poisoned him. In “Remember When,” Tony recalls his first murder, a murder ordered by his father. Tony has doubts that his father believed in him. To assuage him, Paulie conveys to Tony that his father believed in him enough to assign him the task of murder. Tony says nothing in response and promptly walks away from their conversation. Tony isn’t exactly excited when Beansie gives him an old photo of his Dad with Uncle Junior. Tony rejects (and least subconsciously) Paulie’s idolization of the past (” ‘Remember When’ is the lowest form of conversation”). More importantly, Chase symbolically ties Johnny Boy’s corruption of his son to Tony’s own family by revealing that Meadow was born one week after Tony’s first murder. These two watershed events in Tony’s life are forever linked. In “Chasing It,” Tony becomes the degenerate gambler that his father warned him against. Tony is subconsciously rejecting his father. However, Tony never consciously recognizes his father’s evil and therefore can never fully reject it. It is this ”evil” that will erode his own family and eventually destroy Tony himself. It’s no coincidence that Tony’s killer- “Man in Member’s Only Jacket,” bears a striking resemblance to his own father. Tony certainly doesn’t want his own son, A.J., to be like him. However, A.J. believes he must fulfill his destiny as a son of a mafia don by avenging Tony’s shooting and killing Uncle Junior. In the 6a episode “Johnny Cakes,” A.J. is constantly given great respect at nightclubs because of his father. Later on in that episode, a young girl massages him and asks him if Tony will avenge his shooting by Uncle Junior. A.J. then attempts to kill Junior but clumsily fails, to Tony’s relief. A.J. cries to Tony and suggests that mafia revenge is the appropriate cause of action by citing Tony’s favorite scene in The Godfather- where Michael Corleone kills the men responsible for the attempted hit on his father. Tony tells him “it’s just a movie” and his actions were “wrong.” However, Tony never recognizes that his own life of criminality may be responsible for A.J.’s actions. Later on in 6b, Tony inadvertently leads A.J. into the criminal activities of the “2 Jason’s” by forcing A.J. to hang out with them to escape his depression over his broken engagement to Blanca. Subsequently, A.J. has a moral awakening with his concern about the war on terror and guilt over his participation in a beating of an African student. As the series ends, it’s unlikely that A.J. will be a killer like his father. However, a few final scenes in the closing episode leave us uncertain about his future, and perhaps indicate that he may continue in the destructive cycle caused by a lifetime of exposure to the other “Family.” Chase has A.J. wear the classic ”Tony” white undershirt and robe when Tony and Carmela convince him to work for Little Carmine’s movie production company instead of joining the military. A.J.’s new job also has echo’s of Tony’s other “son,” the deceased Christopher Moltisanti. Tony and Carm explain that the first script A.J. will help produce will be a low rent horror film, much like Christopher’s “Cleaver.”
In the final season, Tony’s love of his family still teases us with a chance of redemption for him. This chance ties into his therapy. Tony is about to quit therapy but admits to Dr. Melfi that he had to return because of his son’s depression. Tony saves AJ from his suicide attempt and cradles him (“it’s o.k. baby, its o.k.”) In therapy with Dr. Melfi, Tony seems to take responsibility for AJ suicide attempt but quickly turns it around on Carmela for “coddling him” and suggests that AJ just needs “a kick in the ass.” Dr. Melfi in her final session realizes the futility of ever reaching Tony (and his lack of accountability) and promptly dumps him as a patient. Tony rationalizes and urges her to keep him on and tells her that “missing sessions is part of my condition” to which Dr. Melfi quickly responds “You miss sessions because you don’t give a shit about commitment…” As the coma-trip doctor told Tony, his condition isn’t fatal if he “talks to his doctor’s back home.” Tony has failed to do that. Tony later tells Carmela he’s quit therapy forever (of course not telling her the truth that Dr. Melfi dumped him). Carmela responds “Except for that slight improvement around the shooting she wasn’t doing you much good anyway.” Here Chase directly ties Tony’s coma-trip to his chance at change through Dr. Melfi except Carmela (typically) fails to realize Tony’s part in his ultimate failure with therapy.
Tony’s “Family” values continue to erode his family. In the final episode, Meadow tells Tony over dinner that she is becoming a lawyer because of all the times she saw Tony being arrested. She blames his persecution on anti-Italian discrimination. This is the end of his last hope for redemption (through Meadow) as she is now as far in denial as Carmela. The death of “Uncle Bobby” (Bacala) and the comatose Silvio Dante could be the wake up call to Carmela, Meadow and AJ to question Tony’s actions. However, once the war is resolved the family is back to business as usual, blissfully ignorant of the destruction caused by Tony. The morally aware A.J. who wants to fight terrorism, and therefore fight a cause outside himself, is easily bought off with a new BMV and a cushy job in Little Carmine’s movie production company. The family will now get the ultimate in your face intervention when they witness Tony’s murder. Tony’s choice not to “take responsibility” (as the Monks asked him) for his actions will have severe consequences as his “Family” values will further poison his “family.” Tony’s pool (which became the metaphor for his hope and love for his family when the ducks visited) is emptied by the season’s end. Phil chillingly tells Tony a few episodes before about the asbestos dispute-“You have a backyard…pool, dump it [asbestos] there.” A.J. also attempts to commit suicide in the pool. Tony has squandered his second chance and quickly forgets what’s most important in life, his family. He returns to his quest for power and money at the expense of everything else and poisons his family in the process. Tony couldn’t stay away from the high of the risk of his criminal lifestyle (emphasized with Tony’s words “Every day’s a gift but does it have to be a pair of socks?” in the 6a episode “The Ride” and his destructive gambling which reflects his gambling with his own life and the life of his family). This risk finally comes to damage his family in the final scene. Tony’s instant murder in front of his family ominously echo’s Janice’s words in “The Ride” when Janice and her children are nearly seriously injured on a malfunctioning ride at St. Elzear’s fair, (a byproduct of Paulie’s indifference to the fair’s safety regulations as ”The Family” continues to erode and threaten the family) she says- “One second you’re sitting there enjoying a ride with your family the next your entire world comes crashing down.” At Holsten’s, Chase gives Tony, Carmela and A.J. each full shots of putting onion rings in their mouths without a bite beforehand. This may represent “final communion.” In the first season episode “College,” Carmela takes the communion wafer (Chase gives us a close up of Carmela’s mouth as she takes the wafer) with Father Phil. Carmela confesses to Father Phil that she fears Tony has done horrible acts and that she’s enabled him. She cries “I gotta bad feeling that it’s just a matter of time before God compensates me for outrage for my sins.” This scene cuts to Febby Petrolia, a former mobster turned rat in witness protection whom Tony spots while visiting colleges with Meadow, about to shoot Tony and Meadow outside of their motel rooms (Petrullio abandons the killing after he sees some potential witnesses walk out of a nearby motel room). This parallel’s “Man in Member’s Only Jacket” dangerously close proximity to not just Tony, but his whole family.
Tony has failed to adequately “talk to his doctor’s back home” (i.e. Dr. Melfi) to avoid his “death sentence” as the doctor in his coma-trip told him (Dr. Melfi continually reminds Tony in the final season that he’s missing appointments). In the final scene of the first season finale, Tony and his family take refuge at Vesuvios from a thunderstorm. Tony and his family have dinner and Tony tells his children “soon you will have families of your own. And if you’re lucky you’ll remember the little moments, like this, that were good.” AJ then repeats this mantra to Tony at Holsten’s . He tells Tony to “remember the good times.” However, (and this is critical) Tony forgets that he ever said it. At first, he thinks A.J. is just being sarcastic but finally acknowledges “that’s true I guess” and smiles. This reflects what Tony has forgotten from his near death experience, to live every day to the fullest and concentrate on family. This ties into the “Alzheimer’s” diagnosis (loss of memory). Tony has forgotten what’s really important and will never have any more “good times” with his family to remember as the warning of his coma-trip hasn’t been heeded. Tony’s death in front of his family is the ultimate merger of the show’s themes from the very beginning. Tony’s “family” life and “mafia” life collide in a chilling moment that was 86 episodes in the making. The impending doom (MOG’s ominous looks at Tony’s table) is contrasted with Tony’s happiness in Holsten’s. The way Tony looks at Carmela and AJ as they walk towards his booth is a clear expression of his love for them. He gently grabs AJ’s hand and seems content. This is as happy a moment as Tony Soprano will ever get. Tony just needs Meadow to sit at the booth for the perfect moment to be complete. Once Meadow joins the table, all of the “ducks” will have returned. However, Tony is murdered before all of the “ducks” return to the pool. The bad thing that Tony feared will happen to his family in the “Pilot” episode has finally arrived. This is the ultimate twist on Tony’s revelation in the “Pilot” episode, through his death, Tony has “lost” his family. The abrupt cut to black haunts the mind and illustrates Tony’s journey as an American tragedy.
**Below is a subsection to Part II that I felt was important to be included but didn’t fit in neatly into the original section:
In the opening episode of fourth season, Carmela begins to worry about the future after she sees the widow Angie Bompensiero working in a supermarket. She worries about her kids future’s if Tony is killed. A certain post 9/11 mentality sinks into the show from that point on. She ominiously tells Tony that “Everything comes to an end!” Carmela starts stealing money from Tony to invest and protect her future. She eventually gets into buying and selling real estate at the end of Season 5. Chase may be telling us that Carmela will be o.k. after Tony’s death. Tiny seeds for Tony’s death seem to be planted early on in Season 4 with all the talk of what Tony’s death would mean for the rest of the family, and Carmela’s increasing assertiveness in financially protecting her future. The early part of Season 4 has that much more resonance knowing Tony will die.
The closing scene is set to Journey’s Don’t stop Believing. This would probably be a song that Tony and Carmela listened to in their younger days. More importantly, it is Tony who chooses the song on the jukebox. Don’t Stop Believing is Tony’s rallying cry. Throughout the show’s history he has never stopped believing that he can reconcile his family life with his mafia life. We know he cannot successfully do this and his mafia life and family life converge in that final, fateful moment in Holsten’s. Tony’s “Journey” is over. The music stops and the abrupt cut to black occurs on the lyric “Don’t Stop” in Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing. However, the scene and Tony’s life do stop at that exact moment and do not “go on and on” as the songs says. The music gets louder at certain points in the scene and lyrics comment on the character’s state of mind. “Just a small town girl living in a lonely world..” may symbolize Carmela’s life after Tony is killed. Just as Tony tells Carmela that Carlo will testify against him the lyrics “..it goes on and on and on….”plays. The very next cut is to “Man in Member’s Only Jacket” approaching the door. This suggests that “MOG” (through his murder of Tony) will break the endless pattern of Tony and Carmela’s life of waiting for the other shoe to drop. The volume pumps up as MOG walks past Tony to the lyric of “…Stranger waiting in the night…”
The tiny bells of Holsten’s also contrast to the loud church bells Tony hears when he leaves the hospital after his near death experience. When Tony is wheeled out of the hospital after recovering from the shooting, he closes his eyes just as he is outside as church bells ring prominently nearby. Tony listens to the bells and appears to have a contemplative moment. He then holds Janice’s hand and tells her how lucky he is to be alive and how “after this every day is a gift.” In contrast, by the final scene in Holsten’s, Tony’s epiphany is just a memory and the tiny bells of Holsten’s ring for the last time at Tony’s death bringing his experience full circle.
Furthermore, during the same scene, Chase cuts to Tony’s face looking at something. We then cut to what Tony is looking at-a teenaged girl with long straight hair, who clearly resembles Meadow, walks through the open door of her High School. Here, in Tony’s ultimate moment of rebirth, he sees “Meadow” come through the door. By contrast, after Tony has blown his second chance, his view of Meadow is robbed by a bullet through the head as Meadow walks through the door of Holsten’s.
The editing and directing in the final scene also draws symbolic parallels to Tony’s near death sequence at “The Inn at the Oaks”. Tony/Finnerty visits the “Inn at the Oaks” while Tony has “flat lined” in his coma as the physicians at the hospital try to revive him. During the “coma-dream” sequence it is made clear that once Tony/Finnerty enters the Inn, he will die. His dead cousin Tony Blundetto(credited as “The Man”). greets him and urges him to “let go” and join his “family” inside. We also see a Livia like figure at the door of the Inn. “The Man” tells Tony that “you’re going home” (death and the other side). Tony is clearly scared. Just as it appears that he may enter the Inn (and die) we hear the voice of a young female child calling him from the trees. The voice says “Don’t go Daddy!,” “We love you Daddy!!” and “Don’t leave us!!” Tony hears the voice and appears to respond. He looks at the door one last time and the screen fills up with whiteness. This whiteness fills the screen for 9-10 seconds before it disappears. We then see a shot from Tony’s POVas he comes out of the coma and sees Meadow (with Carmela behind her). The “White-out” (which represents Tony coming back to life) is in direct contrast to the “Black-out” and Tony’s death. During the “White-Out” we hear Meadow’s voice crying “Please don’t leave us Daddy, we love you!!” Meadow saved Tony’s life by calling out to him and preventing Tony from going into the “Inn at the Oaks.” Tragically and ironically, Meadow’s lateness may have killed Tony. First, if Meadow was on time she would be sitting in the aisle seat and blocking MOG’s clear shot. Her entrance into the diner (which causes the bell to ring) also distracts Tony and MOG now has the chance to shoot Tony. Also, Meadow is the first person Tony sees when he comes out of the coma. Meadow is the last person he sees (at least fleetingly) when he dies. Chase opens the final season with the “Seven Souls” montage written by William Burroughs. Meadow is described as the “Guardian Angel” in the montage. She wasn’t there to protect Tony in the end. Also note that MOG may not have attempted to kill Tony if Meadow was sitting down next to her because he may have accidentally shot Meadow. Chase sets this up in the penultimate episode “The Blue Comet” when Tony tells Carmela that “Families don’t get touched.”
The POV pattern in Holsten’s that I set out in I.B.(1)-(5) is also strikingly similar to the POV pattern in the “Inn at the Oaks” scene. Once again:
(1) Bell rings, We cut to a shot of Tony’s face looking up to see who is coming through the door (this shot is about 1-2 seconds). We then see who is coming through the door from Tony’s POV. It is a tall woman with dark hair who enters Holsten’s. We then cut back to Tony’s face to see his reaction.
(2) Bell rings, We cut to a shot of Tony’s face looking up to see who is coming through the door (this shot is about 2-3 seconds). We then see who is coming through the door from Tony’s POV (same shot as (1)) It is an older man wearing a “USA” cap who enters Holsten’s. We then cut back to Tony’s face to see his reaction.
(3)Bell rings, We cut to a shot of Tony’s face looking up to see who is coming through the door (this shot is about 1-2 seconds). We then see who is coming through the door from Tony’s POV (same shot as (1) and (2)) It is Carmela who enters Holsten’s. We then cut back to Tony’s face to see his reaction.
(4)Bell rings, We cut to a shot of Tony’s face looking up to see who is coming through the door (this shot is about 1-2 seconds). We then see who is coming through the door from Tony’s POV (same shot as (1), (2) and (3)). It is “Man in Member‘s Only Jacket” hereafter “MOG”) followed by AJ who enters Holsten’s. We then cut back to Tony’s face to see his reaction.
(5)Bell rings, We cut to a shot of Tony’s face looking up to see who is coming through the door (this shot is about 2 seconds). According to the pattern, we should then see who is coming into the diner from Tony’s POV (this should be Meadow as we see her about to enter the diner a few seconds before the bell rings). Instead, the screen cuts abruptly to black mid-scene (at the exact spot where Tony should see Meadow from Tony’s POV) and the audio cuts off. All the viewer sees is “blackness” where Tony’s POV should be. This is Tony’s POV because he is dead.
Now here is the breakdown of the pattern when Tony begins to look at the door of “The Inn at the Oaks.” We get 5 Tony POV shots of the door (We get 5 Tony POV shots of the door in Holsten’s). These shots are basically uninterrupted (unlike Holsten’s where we have several scenes between the bell ringing moments). However, the general pattern is the same (1-2 and 4-5 are uninterrupted shots).
(1) Tony looks towards the door of the “Inn”, we cut to Tony POV shot of the door where we see a “Livia like” figure, we then cut back to Tony’s reaction.
(2)Tony looks towards the door of the “Inn” we cut to Tony POV shot of the door where we still see a “Livia like” figure who disappears inside the “Inn”, we then cut back to Tony’s reaction.
(3)Tony looks towards the door of the “Inn” we cut to Tony POV shot of the door where the “Livia like” figure is no longer standing . We then cut back to Tony’s reaction.
(4)Tony looks towards the door of the “Inn” we cut to Tony POV shot of the door. We then cut back to Tony’s reaction.
5)Tony looks towards the door of the “Inn”, we cut to Tony POV shot of the door where we see the screen begin to fill with “whiteness” or “light”. The “White-out” is from Tony’s POV(the continuity with Holsten’s suggests that the “blackout” is from Tony’s POV). Once it disappears, we see Meadow and Carmela from Tony’s POV.
Also, Chase has another callback moment to the “Inn at the Oaks” scene. In one of the last scenes of “Made in America” (before Holstens), Tony is raking leaves in his backyard. He then looks up at the trees. We see a scanning POV shot of the trees similar to Tony’s scan of the trees at the “Inn at the Oaks” where he heard Meadow’s voice calling to him. Tony seems at peace and has a slight smile. However, these trees are dead or dying. This foreshadows death just moments later.
The final scene in Holstens brings the theme fully together. This diner is certainly “Made in America.” The diner and it’s patrons could be located in any town in the Mid-West and is as far from Artie’s “Vesuvios” as you can get. High School sports is highlighted on the back wall of Holsten’s. All American families fill the booths. The diner’s patrons include a young, giggling teenage couple in love, group of “boy scouts” and a trucker with a “USA” cap on his head. Classic American food and drink is served (soda and onion rings). However, “MOG’s” presence and looks over at Tony’s table bring the scene a sense of impending doom. Finally, key words from David Chase from GQ magazine bring it all together:
The second excerpt is key. Tony and his family represent this “comfort” that Americans have. Chase word’s also seem to put to rest the misperception that the final scene represents Tony’s paranoia or how he will have to live the rest of his life. Here, Chase is telling us that the theme is about not being aware of the threat and being too comfortable. AJ has his new BMV and Meadow attempts to park her Lexus outside of the diner (Chase’s “luxury car” life). At the same time, Tony is under tremendous threat from MOG, but never sees it or as Chase says “people don’t want to see it.” Chase (as explained in the earlier part of this piece) has MOG placed directly in Tony’s line of vision but Tony never notices him looking over. Tony is too consumed with his menu (“amply fed” as Chase says). MOG is able to kill Tony from behind as he comes out of the bathroom. Once again, Tony never sees the threat. The blind sided nature of Tony’s death by “MOG” and the abrupt cut to black represent the blind sided and disorienting nature of the September 11th attack’s on the United States.
Man in Members Only Jacket
Man in Diner
African American Man #1 in Diner
African American Man #2 in Diner
Truck Driver in Diner
Old Woman in Diner
Old Man in Diner
Young Woman in Diner
Young Man in Diner
They all end “in Diner” as you would think they would except MOG which clearly stands out. Not to mention the association of “Members Only” with a “made member” of the mob or the numerous mafia characters that have worn the same jacket (including the NY hit-man who shot Silvio, Richie Aprile, Feech Lamanna and Eugene Pontecorvo) and the callback to first episode of the final season “Members Only.” There is a clear effort by Chase for us to see the man as a character and consequently of importance.
The title of the first episode refers to the character of Eugene Pontecorvo who wears a Member’s Only jacket. In the episode Vito Spatafore makes fun of Eugene for wearing the jacket. Numerous clues in this episode may foreshadow Tony’s death. In this episode Eugene commits suicide after Tony will not let Eugene “retire” from Mob life and move him and his family to Florida after Eugene receives a 2 million dollar inheritance. The major clues are indicating Tony’s death in the final scene from this episode include:
(a) Tony is shot in this episode.
(b) The shirts worn by Tony when he is shot in both episodes have similar patterns.
(c) Eugene is assigned to kill a man-(1) the victim is a fat man (i.e. Tony) (2)Eugene is wearing the “Members Only Jacket” when he shoots the man (just like MOG in Holsten’s), (3) the victim is sitting and eating in a restaurant when he is shot (like Tony), (4) the victims name is Teddy Spiradokis, initials T.S. (Tony Soprano). (5)The victim was killed for owing money to the mob (this may foreshadow Tony’s gambling problem later in the season), (6) we hear the bell of the door ring when Eugene enters the diner (just like the bells of Holsten’s)
(d) Eugene’s wife, angry that Tony will not let Eugene retire to Florida tells Eugene “Tony, Tony !!…why don’t you kill him, put a bullet in his fucking head.”
(e) Eugene tries to placate his wife “A year from now, 2 years, everything could be different, Tony could be gone.”
(f) An FBI agent tells Eugene “You are our designated hitter” (because Ray Curto has died).
(g) The final shot of the episode is an overhead shot of Tony losing consciousness after he is shot by Junior. The opening shot of the final episode is the exact same shot as Tony wakes up as organ music plays on the radio (I will go more into this later on).
(h) After Eugene’s murder of Spiradokis, Eugene listens to Blondie’s Dreaming. Tony enters Holsten’s as Little Feat’s All that you Dream plays in the diner.
(2) In the final episode, Tony’s dinner with Meadow foreshadows Tony’s death. Tony has dinner with Meadow in the City. Meadow asks why they are having dinner, Tony tells her “We used to have dinner all the time, your gonna get married and my chances are flying by me.” This would be the last time Tony has dinner with Meadow as Meadow never makes it to the booth at Holsten’s before Tony is killed.
(3) Kennedy references in “Made in America”:When Tony visits Silvio in the hospital we hear a commercial from the hospital room television for a product called “The Magic Bullet.” This is a reference to the Kennedy assassination where Kennedy was shot in the back of the head. Kennedy also did not see or hear it coming. The voice over of the commercial talks about chopping onions which foreshadows the family eating onion rings in the final scene. The voice over says “The Magic Bullet is a personal, versatile counter-top magician that does any job in 10 seconds or less.” The length of the blackout is “10 seconds” and the MOG sits at the “countertop” before he kills Tony. During the Janice-Junior scene in the finale, Janice asks Junior if he remembers Bobby (Bacala). Junior answers “Ambassador Hotel?” This is where Bobby Kennedy was shot in the head. Also note that Chase knew we would be analyzing the final scene like the “Zapruder” film.
(4) In “Sopranos Home Movies” we have another bell ringing/POVscene that foreshadows Holsten’s. Tony is sitting in a chair on a dock by himself. This is the next morning after the fight with Bacala. Tony looks in deep thought and may be contemplating his own mortality. This is confirmed by the subsequent conversation with Carmela. Tony then hears a bell. Tony then looks over as we see the bell is coming from a boat tied to the dock (probably a fog bell). The boat is shown from Tony’s POV. Tony then turns back to the water when we then hear the bell ring again. This time it is louder. Tony now clearly looks disturbed and looks over. We then cut to another POV shot of the boat. We then see a duck flying away behind Tony. Also, the beginning of the scene cuts back to Bacala flipping through the stations on the radio. At one point we hear Magic Moment playing. This song also closes the episode and is clearly shown on the jukebox in Holsten’s.
(5) Tony has his first visit back to Dr. Melfi since his shooting in “Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request.” Tony knows that he is lucky that he has survived 2 attempts at his life. He then ominously says “Three strikes and I am out right?” Tony’s murder by MOG is the third strike.
(7) The opening scene of the final episode is an overhead shot of Tony sleeping. Tony is shot as if he is in a casket. The alarm clock goes off and organ music (very similar to music at a funeral) starts to play to wake Tony up. The opening shot is the exact same shot of Tony losing consciousness after he is shot by Junior in the closing scene in “Member’s Only.”
(8) The Three Bells” : This song is used on 2 separate occasions in the final season. The song ties into the “bells” that we hear in Holsten’s and foreshadow Tony’s death. The song has 3 verses. Parts of the first 2 verses are used on these occasions. The first verse is used in the episode “The Fleshy Part of the Thigh.” For our purposes these are the relevant lyrics by the Browns
“All the chapel bells were ringing
In the little valley town
And the songs that they were singing
Were for baby Jimmy Brown”
This verse is played when Paulie and Patsy visit Jason Barone to threaten him not to sell his father’s garbage route. Jason Barone is an innocent born to parents who were involved withthe mafia. Once Jason’s father dies, he attempts to sell his father’s garbage disposal route without Tony’s approval. Jason is the innocent “baby Jimmy Brown”. Jason will lose his “innocence” after this meeting with Paulie and Patsy. The second verse is used in the episode “Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request.” For our purposes these are the relevant lyrics:
“There’s a village hidden deep in the valley
Beneaththe mountains high above
And there, twenty years thereafter
Jimmy was to meet his love.
All the chapel bells were ringing,
Was a great day in his life
Cause the songs that they were singing
Were for Jimmy and his wife”
This verse plays as Vito Spatafore checks into a motel room. He goes into hiding after he has been outed as a homosexual at a nightclub in New York City. It sets up Vito falling in love with “Johnny Cakes” in the next episode “Live Free or Die.” The lyrics (“Jimmy was to meet his love”) set up Vito’s new romance.
The third verse is never played during the rest of the final season. These are the relevant lyrics of the third verse:
One rainy morning dark and gray
A soul winged its way to heaven
Just a lonely bell was ringing
In the little valley town
twas farewell that it was singing
To our good old Jimmy Brown”
The third verse is about Jimmy Brown’s death. We would expect to hear the final verse during the deathof a character. The final verse is never heard but final scene in Holsten’s replaces the third verse of the song. Tony dies in Holsten’s (“Jimmy Brown had passed away”). We hear the bell ring 6 times in the final scene. One when Tony walks in, the second when the tall lady with curly hair walks in, the third when the man with the USA cap walks in, the fourth when Carmela walks in, the fifth when MOG and AJ walk in, the sixth when Meadow walks in and Tony is shot. However, only 3 of the bells ringing are relevant to Tony. These are the bell rings that indicate that his family has arrived. We hear a total of “3 bells” ringing for Carmela, AJ and Meadow.
(9) Agent Harris tells Tony that they are approaching the “End times, the Rapture is coming” in the penultimate episode “The Blue Comet.”
(10) Tony tears out pages of “Departures” Magazine in the penultimate episode “The Blue Comet.”
(11) The Doors “When the Music’s Over” plays in the BadaBing in the penultimate episode “The Blue Comet.” The song includes the lyrics “when the music’s over turn out the lights.” This foreshadows the final scene in which the music abruptly stops and the “lights” go out. Furthermore, death is a major theme of the song. Also, at the very end of the scene we see a “Men’s Room” sign in bright neon blue lights in the middle of the frame between two bing dancers after Paulie and Bacala have left the frame. This is another connection to MOG, who goes into the men’s room. In “Made in America” we also see the sign again. We see a tracking shot of Paulie in which the sign moves behind Paulie from right to left in the frame during the scene where Paulie calls Tony to relay the information that Carlo is missing.
(12) Eugene tells Tony he is “3 years from 50” in the episode “Members Only,” so Eugene is 47 when he dies. Tony dies when he is 47 years of age. Phil celebrates his dead brother’s 47th birthday in “Stage 5.”
(13) The NY hit-man that shoots Silvio in “The Blue Comet” is wearing a “Members Only” jacket.
(14) In the final episode, Paulie delivers a bag full of barber’s scissors to the crew at Satriales. The scene is a callback to “Sopranos Home Movies” and the “never hear it happen” question by Bacala to Tony at the lake house. During the same conversation, Bacala discusses how his late father (a famous Mafia hit-man) would have preferred just cutting hair in his barber shop over the stress of mafia life. Tony responds sarcastically that he would rather Bacala’s father shoot him than cut his hair.
(15) The Orange Cat: In the final episode an orange cat plays a prominent role. The cat symbolizes Adriana LaCerva, Christopher’s fiance who was ordered killed by Tony after Christopher finds out she had been cooperating with the FBI. Adriana’s murder was perhaps the most heartbraking in the series history. She was the most “innocent” of the characters (at least on this show). Her death had huge ramifications on the future of Christopher and Tony’s relationship and on the show itself. She appeared in two dream sequences after her death and it makes sense that Chase would include her in some fashion in the final episode. Throughout the show’s history, Adriana consistently wore leopard print jackets, shirts, and underwear. In an early scene in the episode where Adriana is murdered-”Long Term Parking,” she wears an orange leopard cat suit from head to toe. In the final episode, the orange cat stares incessantly at the dead Christopher’s picture, further tip-off that it’s meant to represent Christopher’s only true love. Tony, who also expressed love for Adriana to Dr. Melfi in Season 5, is also fond of the cat. Only Paulie sees the cat as a bad omen and wants to kill it. Later, Paulie admits to Tony that he saw a vision of the “Holy Mary” and initially turns down his promotion to the Aprile crew as the position has a history of pre-mature death for its leaders. Paulie also talks about the cat as a bad omen. The spiritually obsessed Paulie sees the Virgin Mary sighting and the cat, along with his recent bout with prostate cancer, as a sign that he can’t take the promotion. Tony laughs at Paulie’s concerns and finally pressures Paulie to take the job. As Tony walks away from the conversation, Paulie’s face turns to fear at the ramifications of his decision. He then goes back to sunning himself outside Satriale’s. Chase then cuts to a wide shot of the orange cat approaching him creating an ominious and somewhat comic tone to Paulie’s last scene. In Holsten’s, the orange cat has mutated into a tiger on the back wall of Holsten’s hovering over Tony’s right shoulder where MOG will kill Tony from behind. In the third season episode “Another Toothpick”, Adriana wears a dress with a face of tiger displayed across the front when she tells Artie she’s quitting as host of Vesuvio’s. Adriana’s mother also has a picture of a tiger on her black jacket in the episode where Adriana is murdered (her mother pops up in the final season and tells Carmela she believes her daughter was murdered by Christopher). Adriana’s symbolic presence in the final episode and in Holsten’s where Tony is murdered represent karmic payback for her murder.
(16) Throughout the run of the series, Tony survived two attempts on his life. The first is when the two black guys hired by Junior try to kill him. The second is when Junior shoots him. In the final scene, Meadow attempts to parallel park her car. She is finally successful on the third attempt. This reflects the third, and finally successful attempt on Tony’s life from “Man in Member’s Only Jacket”. (*Thanks to the reader’s for this).
(17) Christopher claims he visited hell after he’s shot into a coma in Season 2. After he awakens he relays to Tony and Paulie a warning from his visit. The deceased Mikey Palmice (murdered by Paulie and Christopher on Tony’s orders at the end of Season 1) in hell told Christopher to warn Tony and Paulie- “3 0′clock.” It is 3:00 when Paulie gets the news of his prostate cancer. MOG shoots Tony coming out of the bathroom from a 3 o’clock position. (*thanks to the readers for this)
David Chase is well documented fan of Martin Scorcese and his mafia film “Goodfellas”. In a scene in the film mobster Henry Hill is surprised by the police behind him telling him to “freeze”. Henry then says in a voiceover “For a second I thought I was dead, but when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops, only cops talk that way. If they had been wiseguys, I wouldn’t have heard a thing. I would have been dead.” Just like Tony Soprano.
PART VIII: Who Killed Tony?
Ultimately, Chase left substantial evidence that Tony was killed but failed to offer anything concrete as to who was behind it. Therefore I don’t believe the issue is that important to him and shouldn’t be to us. However, it is a fun topic to speculate about especially upon rewatch of the Patsy Parisi moments in the final episode.
Patsy certainly had the motive. Tony ordered the murder of his twin brother Philly Parisi in Season 2. In the Season 3 opener a bereaved Patsy is out for revenge. At one point in the episode, he is in Tony’s backyard and points his gun at an unsuspecting Tony in his kitchen. Patsy starts to cry and puts the gun down and pisses in Tony’s pool. Tony never learns of the aborted attempt on his life. Tony eventually convinces (or threatens) Patsy to get over his brother’s death by explaining that Patsy has a family of his own to take care of.
As the final season closes, Meadow starts seriously dating Patsy’s oldest son-Patrick Parisi Jr. They eventually get engaged to the delight of Patsy. Meanwhile, Patsy’s younger son-Jason Parisi, is a college student involved in illegal activies. His partner in crime is Carlo’s college aged son-Jason Gervasi. They’re known as “The two Jason’s” and briefly influence A.J. to torture another college student who owes them money.
In the final episode, Jason Gervasi is arrested for selling drugs. We subsequently learn that his father Carlo has flipped to the Feds in order to save his son.
Before we learn of Jason Gervasi’s arrest there is a strange moment at Bacala’s funeral where we see Patsy Parisi call his son Jason away from the table where Jason Gervasi is present. Chase cuts to Jason Gervasi watching him leave the table and Patsy has a distressed look on his face when his son approaches him. This may imply Patsy’s concerns about his son hanging out with Gervasi due to his increasing illegal activities, especially considering that Patsy’s family will be so close to Tony’s once Patrick Jr. marries Meadow.
Later on, Tony and Carmela have Patsy and his wife over the house for dinner with Patrick Jr. and Meadow to celebrate their engagement. The scene is awkward. At one point Carmela asks Patsy’s wife why Jason Parisi didn’t come to the dinner. Patsy’s wife nervously states that he didn’t think he was invited. Tony then confirms the reason why she believes that by pointing out Jason Gervasi’s arrest (Tony already knows at this point that Carlo has flipped to save his son). He then refers to the two Jason’s as “pals.” Patsy’s wife continues on about Gervasi but Patsy bluntly cuts her off.
Since Jason Gervasi was arrested and his father subsequently flipped to save him, it’s reasonable to think that Jason Parisi will be next to be arrested as he was usually in on the same crimes with Jason Gervasi. This could lead Patsy to flip himself which Tony would obviously be concered about. Consequently, Patsy would be aware that he may be a dead man in Tony’s eyes. So, he takes action first. Meadow is late to Holsten’s because she was out with Patrick Sr. in the City. It’s conceivable that Patsy knew where Tony would be (through his oldest son’s relationship with Meadow) and ordered the hit. Interestingly enough, Patsy’s wife checks to find out the quality of the Sorpanos China at dinner. This may be a tip-off that Patsy, for financial reasons, may desire the throne. In one of the final scenes, Paulie accepts the promotion to run the prosperous Aprile crew but not before we learn that Tony would’ve given the position to Patsy if Paulie had turned it down. Patsy may not have been happy that he was passed over again (in Season 4 he is upset that Chris is promoted, instead of him, to run Paulie’s crew while Paulie was in lock-up). Perhaps Patsy had Tony killed with the help of Butchie and NY with the promise that Patsy will take over the remnants of the Jersey family.
And what about NY? I discussed in Part I a possible motive for a hit on Tony despite the peace arrangement. The nature of Tony’s murder so closely reflects Phil’s murder (both in front of their families) that it may suggest it was revenge for Phil. The exact nature of Phil’s death-the fact that he couldn’t have an open casket and the risk to his family, may have changed NY’s mind about the peace deal. The question also arises whether Butchie can become boss if his crew believes he let Tony walk all over him. To exercise his power and authority, he may have to kill Tony. Although Butch implies that Tony can take out Phil, he still won’t give Tony Phil’s location. At the end of Season 5, Butch pushes to have Tony whacked despite the resistance from Phil. Near the end of the final season he watches Tony nearly beat Coco to death and then Tony sticks a gun in his face. He is initially on board when Phil decides to take out Tony in “The Blue Comet.” With Tony’s Family already decimated after the events of that episode, it may not be a hard sell to take out Tony. After all, we know there isn’t much respect for the “glorified” Sopranos crew of “farmers” as one member of the NY crew calls them. In “The Blue Comet,”there is discussion by Silvio that many of the NJ gang is being solicited by NY to accept “new management” (this is when he tells Tony about Burt Gervasi). Tony’s death wipes the slate clean, it’s simply a “Boss for a Boss.” Butch, as the new Boss of the NY Lupertazi family, can now freely do business with the scraps of the Jersey family.
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