The Sopranos -- Television Will Never Be The Same

Written by:
Jonathan Kleier

Under the guidance of David Chase, The Sopranos as an epic has influenced the very fabric of television programming, and further. The NY Times reported shortly after the show's finale that "writers of other hot series were watching," and explicitly stated the extreme influence of cutting-to-black had on profound superstar writers of series like Lost, and many others.

But this isn't particularly the influence I refer to. I think writers of Lost see this as an opportunity to be lazy -- an opportunity to let the audience decide the show's ending, it's a cop-out. You, J.J. are the writer and I want you to decide the ending, I, as the audience, do not want that responsibility because simply, it is your show, story and vision. Not mine. Conclude definitively, please.

The Sopranos influence I refer to is far more profound. There's the cliche in writing stories, "if you show a gun in Act 1, that gun damn well better show up in Act 3, and preferably as a major plot point. In other words, the conventional thinking is that every word, every object, every action must -- no matter what -- ultimately effect the 3rd Act or effect the following scene, which must effect the next scene, until ultimately it ends at the same outcome of, it better relate to ACT 3.

The Sopranos, David Chase and HBO, I feel, both followed this convention, yet they broke it in ways not previously done in mainstream storytelling -- successfully. Underrated in The Sopranos was the meticulous, pacing, misdirection, etc.? How can you make the great scenes impact the audience without adequately pacing (whether slowly or not) previous scenes. The writers understood tension and they were superb. To bash certain episodes or certain parts of a given episode as too slow is to, in my opinion, not appreciate that the pacing and the craft of slowing and speeding it is tough. Perhaps the fast action scenes would not be as impactful as they were had certain other scenes not been "slow."

Chase's Cut-to-Black: 1 Year Later

Jonathan Kleier
08/15/2008

As is widely known, The Sopranos concluded with an obscure, rare, and maddening cut-to-black -- mid-scene. Indeed, at the time, Chase's bizarre choice of edit was baffling, meaningfully unclear, and confusing with respect to its intent.

But after one year of Chase's bizarre cut-to-black, after allowing that jarring moment its year to marinade in my brain, perhaps there is meaning. I intend to extract meaning from that infamous last scene, new meaning that most, myself included, didn't have the capacity to understand 1 year ago.

What did Chase intend to say when he abruptly and unconventional cut-to-black? Certainly, we the audience will never ever know the real answer – perhaps not even Chase himself has that solved. However, after a year of thoughts festering, the cut-to-black began seeping into my brain and it developed -- in a weird way -- in me, a somewhat life-changing outlook on the world.

While I do not believe that Tony is dead, I do believe that The Sopranos is dead -- and it dies abruptly and without warning.

Soon after, a close friend of mine died... abruptly, and without warning. Hit by a bus never to again exist in this world.

The world is indifferent and unknowable; it does not care about life or emotion, it just turns and turns as we go on day to day. Though it can be said that much of life is predictable, which it is, -- we wake up every day, go to work, sit at the same desk, do the same monotonous tasks, brush our teeth, take a shower, then go to bed. Then we wake 6 hours later and repeat. We go to lunch at places that we know what to expect and when we get the unexpected, we frown. And this is why McDonalds is what it is.

When one dines at McDonald's, no matter what state or country, we have an expectation that we can accurately predict that our Big Mac will always be the same Big Mac served to us locally -- and it always is the same. Predictability is comforting in this way, it is routine, it is knowing what to expect in a world that changes quickly and a world where we cannot always exert our control.

So, The Sopranos conclusion ruffled some feathers. It did not finish in any predictable way. If I were a betting person, I would bet that zero viewers in the whole world would have predicted Chase's ending. Thus, we as viewers felt a little uncomfortable. Chase did not give the typical happy Hollywood ending, the predictable one.

The good guy did not win, per say. In fact, we have little idea who in fact did "win." Did anyone even "win"? Who exactly was the “good guy”? Tony? Because we know him, or Dr. Melfi? The F.B.I.? Try figuring it out.

And the lesson I learned from the abrupt conclusion is that anything in the world can come to an end. No warning, no indication. People sadly can just drop dead with a brain aneurism, undetectable to the best doctors. The Sopranos, autered by David Chase, is undoubtedly the greatest television show/novel/film yet to be written. College classes will form so that deeper readings can take place, and millions will, regardless of college, will engage in their own deep reading.

Thank you Mr. Chase for demonstrating with simply a canvas and words, multi-dimensional characters, and a show we love and cannot forget, thank you for instilling in me and millions that nothing is safe. To me, I have learned an important lesson: cherish every minute with your friends and your loved ones, because the world is simply too unpredictable and the cut-to-black can come to anyone and anytime, without warning, without indication or signal. It can just end, period.

Written by Jonathan Kleier
jonathankleier@gmail.com