By 20 March 2023 benjamin moore to behr paint conversion. Matt: I think its more interesting if he lives. Uncle Junior's mind is deteriorating. The juror is stopped by Eugene, who reveals he knows this man and is a juror and "I know you'll do the right thing" (implying he will vote not guilty and result in a hung jury). And I would argue that, if the main takeaway from that scene is, Oh, they shot him, then either the show has failed and suddenly decided to give up and be a typical gangster story in its final four minutes, or theres something else happening here. As the boss, Tony also ordered the deaths of 11 other people during the events of the series. Prior to landing the part of Eugene, Funaro didnt have any screen credits to his name. And they weren't. 18 comments 88% Upvoted This thread is archived The most popular theory is that Butchie had Tony killed. With Tony and the Feds both hindering Eugene's chance to escape the mafia life and his stress caused by his unstable home life, Eugene sees no way out and hangs himself in his basement. But at the. Exactly 15 years ago, millions frantically yelled, thinking they lost their cable connection as HBO's "The Sopranos" ended its final season thanks to creator David Chase inventing one of the. I thought about Tonys entrance into Holstens in the context of the earlier scenes where he visits Janice and then Junior. I dont know why do you think he offed himself. Eugene responds by smashing a glass Snapple bottle over Little Paulie's head, causing a severe gash over his eye, and kicks him repeatedly in the head. Why did he choose that place to kill himself? Anyway, the focus is on whod order the hit. Alan: Its hard to play dumb about what we discussed with Chase, but the great thing or the maddening thing, depending on your point of view is that even with all he ultimately told us, theres still no definitive answer to the dead/alive question. Hes just looking up at the sound of a bell ringing, and if classical continuity editing is to be our guide here, the person entering is Meadow, last seen in the third-to-final shot of the scene, walking toward the diner. Alan: Yeah, I would say the circumstantial evidence of death in the scene is overwhelming. Its become increasingly clear to me as weve worked our way through the entire series again, with over 10 years of perspective on that finale and nearly 20 years of living with the show in some form, that Chase is an intuitive writer, somebody whos not trying to send messages or create puzzles for people to solve, but is just trying to make people feel and think and question themselves. In the original broadcast of this episode (March 12, 2006), no previews for the next episode were shown in order to keep the aftermath of Tony's shooting a mystery. 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 ending puts us in their shoes. Alan: Yes, the Holstens scene is about death specifically, about the idea that we are all here on borrowed time, and our lives can be snatched away at any moment, without warning or explanation or the slightest hint of fairness. While DiMeo crime family capo Paulie Walnuts had the highest kill count (9), Tony Soprano came in at a close second with 8 kills. As for Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi) ordering the hit, that theory does have some validity. Christopher Moltisanti assigns Eugene the task of taking out a guy named Teddy Spirodakis in Boston who owed Christopher money and failed to pay him. That's traditionally the episode that sets up everything that happens throughout the season. 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. Why would he have Tony killed? Silvio informs Gene that Tony denied his request to retire from the DiMeo crime family. The "traditional" season premiere sequence involving. We dont get to watch the show anymore. Getting killed off on the hit mob show meant losing a well-paying job with unbeatable exposure. And in the back of my mind, I said, Well, well see what happens.'. Obviously he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Mafia capo Christopher Moltisanti loaned him money as a part of his loansharking business, and he did . Dye played just 10 games due to injury and saw his season end with an injury against Colorado last November. Why did he choose that place to kill himself? Plus, that last stretch of 21 episodes does have a persistent chill, visually and plot-wise a series of deaths and declines, with a lot of the color bleached out. Roy Wood Jr. Talks Scandals at White House Correspondents Dinner, Watching Frank Oceans Coachella Set Online Wont Be Easy. In Season Six's premiere episode "Members Only", Eugene inherited 2 million dollars from his deceased aunt. Thats why Members Only was really great, he said on Talking Sopranos. There's now peace and Tony will be eager to work with him. Is the Daniel Baldwin script a huge hit at the start of AJs shocking career as a Hollywood tastemaker? I think its also interesting if he dies, though thats a less disturbing ending to me, because its the standard gangster-story ending, and no matter how you read it, for reasons of genre history it always comes back to Dont do crime, kids.. Carm protects AJ from a lot. It could refer to the Mafia code of being a member-only and never a retiree, just what Eugene Pontecorvo attempted to become. Or it could be, as I wrote in my original recap hours after the finale aired, that the character who died there was us, the spectator. Does Paulie freaking Walnuts somehow become boss of the Family, or does Butchie throw up his hands at this point and decide to put his own guy in charge of the gang that couldnt shoot straight? Uncle Junior 's mind is deteriorating. The Sopranos Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Taking place in the aftermath of a brutal gang war as Tony Soprano sat down with his family in a diner to enjoy a meal as he had dozens of times before in the show, the scene seemingly built up toward Tony's execution at the hands of an assassin within the diner. That's exactly like Dave Bowman watching himself age while inside the alien room. The time was certainly right. While he is the only son of the Tony, it becomes obvious he lacks potential for a career in his father's organization, though . Now? Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. To put it another way: Chase was saying that Tony didnt reform and die peacefully in bed decades later. David Chase had this all planned out since at least the beginning of Season 3, when Eugene first appeared. Alan: Tonys situation as he enters Holstens is complex however you look at it. I know this is a minority reaction, but I like being baffled or challenged or frustrated by art. But the scene can be about the idea of Tonys imminent demise without actually featuring it and, if were being stubbornly pedantic, it doesnt feature it. Fuckin internet. Matt: All right, let me back up for a second and say that at no point during my now ten-plus years of arguing about the meaning of this scene have I said that Tony died is an inconceivable or unacceptable interpretation. At the start of "Made in America," the Sopranos series finale, Tony and his crew are . The show absolutely dabbled in the supernatural throughout, from Paulie being haunted by Mikey Palmice, to Tony dreaming something that Tony B was actually doing, to whatever and wherever Kevin Finnerty was. Eugene Pontecorvo has one of the most tragic arcs of all characters on The Sopranos. I think the ending is sadder and more powerful if you think, All those people he killed, all those people he loved that died, all the stuff hes been through personally, including getting shot and being in a coma none of that really made much of a dent in this guys thick skull.. With this in mind, I looked up the meaning of Pontecorvo. Did Eugene kill himself so his family could move to Florida? Janice is raising a new daughter with Bobby Baccalieri, who has taken up model railroading as a hobby. And by that, I dont mean he handed us the answer, because The Sopranos was never the sort of show that made you hunt for answers in that way. Why is this night different from all other nights? I think Tony died at that moment is a valid interpretation. Excerpt from The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall published by Abrams Press; 2019 Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. 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. 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. 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. (2019) and the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). So at that point, you have to ask: Why would Tony Soprano become a target for a hit right then? Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! I think it would fit with the cycles of experience depicted in the series. Translation: He's not an actor. If Meadow just walks in and the family enjoys the rest of their onion rings, a nice meal, and some ice cream, what happens to Tony Soprano after? He knew someone in his family would find him, but why would he want them to. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Does Tonys death alter the career plans of either kid? In Brooklyn, Hesh Rabkin and his son-in-law Eli Kaplan are assaulted by Lupertazzi associates. First, I started hearing rumors. Whether we get to see what comes next or not, which is a more entertaining, exciting, and/or thematically fitting conclusion to the story of The Sopranos: Tonys abrupt death or his continued existence? And it throws all the other things weve been discussing, here and throughout this book, into sharper relief. 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. Most people think the crow was there for Christopher. Matt: Yes. Why the ambiguity at all? The cause was lung . Since Eugenes suicide in the season 6 opener, Funaro has racked up over 40 credits (including The Irishman and American Gangster). We dont know, and will never know. Tony helps him look for some money he thinks he buried in his backyard thirty years ago, but they find nothing. You'd expect the family to be long gone, living their lives in Florida, trying to forget Jersey. That bell, to me, is a tolling bell, as in Bring out your dead. It rings every time somebody goes through that door. Although mild-mannered, Eugene has a tendency to lose his temper, similar to Ralph Cifaretto. Its a great show, Chase told him. To continue to search for this answer is fruitless. Raymond was approached by Tony to replace Jackie Aprile, Sr as boss of the DiMeo crime family, due to his age and experience (Jackie was in and out of the hospital and close to . Hey Bobby, you know youre getting a son? Hey, this is f*cking great. Kind of like SAMCRO. To have that storyline, I jumped on it and tried to ride it as best I could.. At the same time, IFC Center in New York City is hosting The Sopranos Film Festival, a mix of episodes, features, shorts, cartoons, and panel discussions. 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. and our Theodore "Teddy" Spirodakis (died 2006) was a Greek-American compulsive gambler from Boston who was murdered by the DiMeo crime family in 2006. Chase was right about Funaro going out on a strong note, of course. Alan: So for a while, it seemed easier to just go with the idea that he dies that the cut to black follows on Bacalas line from Soprano Home Movies, Silvios reaction to the Hairdos death in Stage 5, and all that death imagery. But again, that seems like a reach to me, especially since Members Only Guy hasnt come out of the bathroom yet. Shazam! Eugene is, however, an intelligent man whose . Dye's lack of size and heft makes him a tough fit in the NFL, but don't underestimate his ability to find a way to stick on a roster. As far as who had the most to lose with Tony remaining boss, again the answer has to be New York. Eugene reveals his mean streak once again in the episode "Eloise" when he and another associate engage in jury tampering, in which they are sent to intimidate a juror who is on Junior Soprano's trial. This is a show about either accepting that youre not in control of anything, or making a conscious decision to deny that. Patsy himself almost took out Tony in the season 3 premiere, so you know his resentment ran deep. Chase provides glimpses of all the other customers a scout troop, two unidentified black males at the jukebox, a man in a Members Only jacket like Eugene Pontecorvos at the counter because he wants us to wonder if one of them might be there to take out Tony. And if it helps to move the discussion beyond the question of whether hes dead or alive, Ill just say, Fine, hes dead. And now what? Actors with recurring roles on The Sopranos lived in fear of their characters dying. Actors with recurring roles on The Sopranos lived in fear of their characters dying. The Sopranos: How Mikey Palmice Became a Little Bit Joe Pesci and a Little Bit James Caan. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Only the bravest celebs will go full catboy at 2023s Met Gala. Matt: Yes! And you dont know when its coming. 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: Just like the Holstens scene. Reddit community dedicated to the HBO hit TV series, The Sopranos, and movie, The Many Saints of Newark. Matt: There was a moment a few years ago when a journalist reported that Chase told her Tony lived, and he got mad at that as mad as hes gotten at all the people who keep saying Tony died. Eugene Pontecorvo (1959-2006) was a DiMeo crime family soldier and FBI informant. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. This was Christopher's scene. Images of death or a Hell frozen over from overcrowding and neglect by management abound throughout the series finale, as the shows usual fascination with the extremes of weather in the Garden State gets amped up to an almost supernatural degree. And the music is continuous throughout. Is it possible the man in the Members Only jacket did the job? So absolutely, the show is putting us in a frame of mind to anticipate a death. Im not saying Holstens is Heaven! or anything like that. Eugene killed himself, after all. The actor had appeared in mob movies like "Goodfellas," and was also no stranger to crime himself. His bad influence helped lead Jackie Aprile Jr. to his death. But while it's the mob and anything can happen, this doesn't really make sense either. His wife was already miserable, his son was struggling with drugs and his daughter was still young, any of them seeing his dead body would be traumatized. The highlight of our time together was covering The Sopranos, which shot in the papers circulation area throughout the state. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Sopranos has always explored various facets of its characterstheir ethnic, cultural, social/class identities, and even their meta-identities as fictional characters in a 21st century TV show. Are you gonna be like him?. Eugene is reluctant, but has to follow Christopher's order due to his rank of capo. Matt: Well, thats interesting, because it brings Chase himself into the mix, and I think we both should admit that our interpretation of the ending is affected by our conversations with him while writing this book. Paulie, long the most useless captain on the payroll, is the only major ally he has left. With his wife bitter and his son using heroin, Eugene hangs himself. 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. But in rewatching the series and writing this book, its clear that among Tony Sopranos greatest gifts is his ability to live in the moment, shrug off the overall pain and paranoia of his life, and enjoy the many fruits that come with being the boss of New Jersey. So was it in part to free them? The Sopranos abruptly cut to black at the end of the series finale. Eugene drives to Boston and finds Teddy eating dinner at a fast food restaurant and shoots him repeatedly in the head. Heres how to watch them host the events red carpet, together with Derek Blasberg and Emma Chamberlain. Eugene has a talk with Tony about him and his family moving to Florida permanently. why max never talk in max and ruby. It gets harder to watch the episode everytime. 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. Cuz I hear a lot of people blaming Tony which sort of makes sense, but as it turns out he wasn't gonna be able to go to Florida and get out of the mafia anyways if they didn't let him. Trying to escape, Eli is knocked down by a hit-and-run driver and seriously injured. Basically, those fans wanted to definitively know if Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) died right there in Holstens. The man in the Members Only jacket, played by Paolo Colandrea, is a one-shot character on The Sopranos. A.J. The great news was, it was gonna be a great episode for me, he said. 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. This is what I keep coming back to. Alan: Okay, so a hypothetical: Either way you lean, what happens after that cut to black? Certainly. Though he was present and had lines in the episode He is Risen (S03E08), actor Robert Funaro is not credited at the end of the episode. Eugene killed himself, after all. ohio state university admissions appeal did coco die in sopranos. You can interpret that cut to black any way you want it (to quote the other Journey song featured on the jukebox right below Dont Stop Believin), but maybe Tony is the cat: dead and alive at the same time, because we cant see into the box to know for sure. Actually, when you really think about it, the ceremony where the crow appears is the event that seals Tony's fate -- if Eugene hadn't been made, he would have been able to retire to Florida when his aunt left him $2 million, he never would have killed himself, and Tony never would have been murdered in revenge. In the episode Unidentified Black Males, while he and Little Paulie Germani are engaging in what initially began as a harmless banter at the Esplanade construction site, Little Paulie goes too far in Eugene's mind when he conveys through an innuendo that Eugene is a homosexual. And, other than a couple of ugly fights, he has been getting along much better with Carmela since she took him back than he ever did during the first six seasons of the show. In fact, its the most obvious interpretation, given that Tonys pissed a lot of people off over the years, and in the overwhelming majority of gangster stories, the main guy dies at the end. For more information, please see our In 2007, he killed himself after both his boss Tony Soprano and his FBI handlers refused to let him retire to Florida. He was pretty crazy. Little Carmine was the rightful boss of the Lupertazzi family but was outstead by Johnny Sacromoni and then Phil Leotardo. Morrow ultimately ended his life at the ending of the film by committing suicide in a garbage incinerator. Chris assures Eugene he will put in a good word for him to Tony as a favor for doing the hit. Scan this QR code to download the app now. So it felt better to go with Tony died. It was An Answer, in a way that Tony lives never entirely felt like one to me, and when Chase wrote that article about the scene for DGA Quarterly, and talked about the fragility of our mortal existence, I was able to smile and say, Aha! Eugene killed himself, after all. Richie was previously married and fathered a son, Richie Aprile Jr. Richie returned from prison to a very different family, with Tony Soprano as the boss, whom Richie . It's very rarely discussed, but names are often significant, with probably the best example being Adriana La Cerva, "the doe." Matt: You mean does it matter if Chase knows what happened? 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. Where am I going?" Not much character development is given to Lorenzo, making him the average informant. We can assume he's boss because Phil is dead, so he benefited from Tony's actions. Because his wife is a raging buzz-jam. Eugene Pontecorvo (1959-2006) was a DiMeo crime family soldier and FBI informant. Meadow continues her relationship with Finn. Those who subscribe to the Tony Dies theory universally believe that Tony is killed by a mysterious man we haven't seen before, wearing a tan jacket very similar to Eugene's and referred to in the closing credits only as "Man in Members Only Jacket." And, flipping that, what if hed whispered, Guys, Tonys alive? Sam and Joel reach a new level of intimacy. walker hayes daughter. At this moment in Made in America, nobody that we know of wants Tony dead. While Tony "thinks on it," Chris has Eugene kill a man, implying it will give him a better chance of having Tony let him go. But all that stuff exists outside the text, not in it. Scan this QR code to download the app now. (April 2006) Spending long hours trying to prove Tony was shot at the diner becomes a substitute for meaningful engagement with the shows themes, which are disturbing not just because of their implications, but because Chase and the writers present them in an open-ended, mysterious, or deliberately opaque way, like a brutal reminder to us that we cant absolutely know certain things, and its delusional to insist we can. Eugene is also an informant for the FBI, and has become more valuable to the Bureau since the death of Ray Curto; they, too, will not free him. As writer Terence Winter told Entertainment Weekly , "At the beginning of season 5, we realized it would happen at the end of the season. Maybe the ending is moralistic, but not in the way that some of the people who need Tony to be dead might frame it. This is an artist sorting through contradictory impulses, in hopes of reaching audiences in a deep way. 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. Theodore Spirodakis was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a family of Greek descent, and he became an untidy and obese person and a compulsive gambler. The hit was ordered by . Because, while youre right to point out how Chase and company have very deliberately put us in a death-obsessed frame of mind during this final run, during the preceding seasons he showed us time and time again that he was never interested in doing the obvious thing. Whats more in character for The Sopranos, to kill a magically charmed character in the final scene, or to refuse to do so? 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? In fact, his debut is the same episode where Livia dies, and if I wanted to get really conspiratorial, I might suggest that he was introduced specifically because Nancy Marchand had died in real life between Seasons 2 and 3, and the original plan was for Livia to have been instrumental in Tony's death somehow. The Obama-Springsteen friendship continues on. Its fun for me. is now attending college. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The schedule includes the premiere of My Dinner With Alan, a feature-length documentary in which we sit in the famous booth at Holstens and discuss the series and the experience of covering it for the paper that Tony used to pick up at the end of his driveway. Deep down, he recognizes that Carmela is a good mother. 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. Thats it! He whacked the viewer. For Robert Funaro, who played Eugene Pontecorvo for 24 Sopranos episodes (seasons 3-6), getting killed definitely had a silver lining. This was presented rather confusingly because of the constant flashes to Vincent going to space. And, as I said, it proceeds from the speakers need to have Tony die at that moment, not from any evidence in the scene itself. Bits of time are elapsing in terms of the physical motion of Tony in that space, but thats not indicated by the music, which never stops. That is not to say that he would not get back at her in other ways, but he would never physically harm her. He states to his friends that, "The only thing I ever found in the street was my first wife," showing that he hasn't had much good luck in his life (and at least one failed marriage). That cannot be an accident. Jack Nicholson Reprises Role as Courtside Lakers Fan. Butchie gave Tony permission to kill Phil. In short, Ralph was just the worst and was killed in Season 4, Episode 9, "Whoever Did This." When one of Ralph's sons nearly killed . Tony reminds Eugene that he took an oath. Because its taking the question of whether Tony lived or died off the table. Eugene then walks out calmly. I dont believe its necessary to establish that to discuss the ending of the show, nor do I think the evidence necessarily points to that. Matt: Well, this isnt how I thought this would go. Off the Back of a Truck includes: -New looks at everyone's favorite episodes, scenes, and characters. And the last we see them together, Tony was still acting like a jerk toward Patsy. A man in Tonys business will always have enemies Eric Scatino probably still nurses a massive grudge so its not outside the realm of plot logic that some rando or long-forgotten character could have hired Members Only Guy to do the deed. Vito instructs an overwrought Eugene to take the rest of the day off. I'm sure you can conjure up some reason, but what's more likely: Butchie had Tony killed for some undefined reason by a guy who looks like Eugene Pontecorvo wearing Eugene Pontecorvo's jacket, or Eugene Pontecorvo's brother killed Tony in retaliation for his brother's death?