TELEVISION Fini; 'Sopranos' Swan Song is Surprisingly Sweet

Jun 11, 02:06 PM

Current Headlines: By JOANNE WEINTRAUB

If it had ended predictably, it wouldn't have been "The Sopranos."

The one-of-a-kind HBO series, which combined glittering black humor and serious drama with uncanny ease, wrapped up 8 1/2 years Sunday night with a scene of surprising sweetness.

Tony, having escaped Phil Leotardo's murderous minions, met wife Carmela and son A.J. at a local restaurant for dinner, with daughter Meadow on her way.

After flipping through several songs on the tabletop jukebox - "I've Gotta Be Me" and "Who Will You Run To?" among them - Tony decided on Journey's upbeat "Don't Stop Believin'."

The family's mood was equally upbeat, even warm. A.J. reported on his first day at his new job; Carmela browsed through a catalog for her new real estate business.

Shortly before, Tony had gotten some mixed news from his attorney.

There was an 80% to 90% chance Tony would be indicted, the lawyer said - but "trials," he added optimistically, "are there to be won."

Even an uncharacteristically buoyant A.J. reminded his father to "focus on the good times."

Just as Meadow was about to enter the restaurant, the screen abruptly went to black. The song cut out after the words "Don't stop."

It seemed like a nod to die-hard "Sopranos" and even a few cast members who've said they wished the series could go on forever.

Of course, "The Sopranos" being "The Sopranos," there's a less benign interpretation to all this, too.

All through that final scene, the camera lingered on men sitting singly or in pairs around the restaurant. Men who could have been armed. Men who could have been working for Phil, or for the FBI.

After that abrupt fade to black, could everything have gone suddenly dark for Tony? We'll never know. It's no wonder creator David Chase told interviewers recently that many people were bound to be disappointed by the ending.

HBO's Web site was flooded with both negative and positive comments Sunday night. It briefly crashed about an hour after the show's 9:05 p.m. conclusion.

Yet the finale was very much in keeping with TV's least formulaic, most surprising series.

So was Tony's last visit with Uncle Junior, once his mortal enemy.

Now slipping into dementia, Junior didn't recognize his nephew. He didn't even seem to recall Johnny Boy, Tony's late father and Junior's brother.

But when Tony mentioned "this thing of ours" - mob code for the Mafia itself - Junior showed real interest.

"I was involved with that?" he inquired.

Tony told his uncle that Junior and Johnny had once run North Jersey, and the old man seemed pleased.

The final episode was full of the sly asides, quirks and grace notes fans came to love: a mysterious cat out of Edgar Allan Poe, Tony telling Paulie Walnuts that he was a little "miffled" when Paulie turned down a promotion, Paulie remarking at Bobby's funeral that "in the middle of death, we are in life - or is it the other way around?"

Unexpectedly gracious at the end, Paulie - who more than once had seemed to be on the verge of mortally betraying Tony - saluted his boss with, "I live but to serve you, my liege." Or was there a hint of mockery there?

The series always has been haunted by the ghosts of its departed, and the finale was no exception.

Visiting A.J.'s psychotherapist with Carmela, Tony once again mused on his relationship with the formidable Livia.

"I could never please my mother," he told the therapist - who, in a nod to the more recent past, crossed her legs and wore her hair very much like Dr. Melfi, the psychiatrist who last week, in a shocking development, told Tony she was dropping him as a patient.

An old high school friend of Meadow's, Hunter, came back to visit. She told a surprised Carmela that she was halfway through medical school - the road that Meadow herself, to her parents' disappointment, chose not to take.

The episode's music reflected the broad, comfortable embrace of pop culture that was another one of the series' hallmarks.

Before his new SUV went up in flames, A.J. and his girlfriend listened to Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleedin')." Pretty amazing stuff, A.J. allowed.

And Chase seemed to be paying tribute to his wife with the song that Tony and Paulie listened to in the truck in an early scene. The name of Chase's wife, like the name of the song, is "Denise."

JSOnline.com Replay "The Sopranos" finale at Tim Cuprisin's blog: www.jsonline.com/cuprisinblog. E-mail: jweintraub@journalsentinel.com

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