I cant imagine that it would succumb to them in its final moments, no matter how great the temptation and as our conversations with Chase confirmed, that temptation did exist. 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. You'd expect the family to be long gone, living their lives in Florida, trying to forget Jersey. 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. If the scenes about the fragility of life, and the omnipresent specter of death that leaves us all fumbling about for meaning in this cold, cruel world, why leave even a trace of ambiguity? She tells Eugene that he should kill Tony in "Members Only." 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. While Junior cowers in a closet upstairs, Tony manages to dial 911 before passing out. That matters much more to me, ultimately, than a definitive answer. Where am I going?" Why cut to black on that shot of Tonys uninflected face, as opposed to a glimpse of Members Only Guy raising a pistol, or even Tony looking distressed as his body deals with a gunshot, a coronary, a stroke (like the one that killed Livia), or some other cause of sudden death? Good story, right? But what he said, specifically and he was directing it toward everybody was, Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point. Eugene killed himself, after all. Chase was right about Funaro going out on a strong note, of course. Alan: Tonys situation as he enters Holstens is complex however you look at it. By 2000, he is made captain of the Aprile Crew. But at the same time it could mean a boost for an actors career, as it was for Vincent Pastore. A live-action TV series based on Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalyptic water cartoon The Walking Dead. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Teddy Spirodakis: Killed at a diner by Eugene on orders from. Follow the Clonestar's Socials Follow Ashlei on Twitter and Insta Intro music courtesy of bensounds.com 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. ", Vito responds with "What? In short, the New York families would have been fed up with Tonys behavior to that point. Alan: I hear what youre saying. ' Funaro recalled. He whacked the viewer. 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. It could refer to the Mafia code of being a member-only and never a retiree, just what Eugene Pontecorvo attempted to become. This is a show thats very interested in dream language, psychoanalysis, and the contradictory, mysterious forces that make us who we are, and its inevitable that this series, perhaps more than other works of art, would have become a Rorschach test. 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? With a despondent wife, a drug-addicted son, a dangerous and stressful job he hates and can't leave, the specter of the FBI looming over him, and no hope of the new life that seemed so close, Eugene hangs himself in the basement. is now attending college. The significance of the crow in that scene has been much discussed. 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. Eugene Pontecorvo The Sopranos really is about mental illness and the inherent hardships of the human condition, and Eugene Pontecorvo ( Robert Funaro) embodied the intersection between duty. Tony helps him look for some money he thinks he buried in his backyard thirty years ago, but they find nothing. Matt: If hed said, Yeah, I killed him, I wouldve been deeply disappointed in Chase. Alan: I spent many years after the finale as a card-carrying, vocal member of Team Tony Lives. Eugene killed himself because of the FBI, more so than because of Tony, right? Though the cut to black comes before any such execution occurs on screen, there . Maybe the wiseguy who has turned into a cat Schrdingers cat, to be precise isnt Christopher, but Tony? 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). willie boy johnson wife. Alan: Maybe we should ask the cat. Carm protects AJ from a lot. 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 . Matt: Yes! Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. There are no cookies for figuring things out. Though he dies himself, Eugene -- again, a very minor character -- doesn't represent death in the larger context of the show, he represents a bridge to death, with his suicide as the act that sets off the chain of events leading to Tony's murder. Sometimes, a cat is just a cat, but its hard not to consider this one within the context of what happens, or doesnt, a few scenes later at Holstens. Alan: Right. 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. How do we choose to live it? What does that leave us with, if that cut to black means somebody somewhere shot Tony? Theres a reason The Twilight Zone keeps coming up, whether in conversation or on the safe house TV in the finale. Richard "Richie" Aprile is played by David Proval.Richie is the older brother of acting DiMeo crime family boss Jackie Aprile Sr., and was a capo in the DiMeo crime family before being sent to prison for ten years. 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. 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. He couldve had a coronary or another panic attack. 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. Cookie Notice But its an enormous leap from how the series told stories in every scene, and episode, up until this one. 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. Like Vito Spatafore and Benny Fazio, he is initially introduced as a small character, whose role slowly increases throughout the series. The final close-up of James Gandolfinis face contains no note of fear or apprehension. By 20 March 2023 benjamin moore to behr paint conversion. That cannot be an accident. Alan: Made in America opens on Tony asleep in the safe house. I think were supposed to be thinking about death, or the finiteness of life, during that last scene, but not necessarily that Tony died right then and there, and thats the end of the story. With this in mind, I looked up the meaning of Pontecorvo. Meadow continues her relationship with Finn. The cause was lung . The explanations arent entirely satisfying. But Meadow is marrying into the extended Family by getting engaged to Patrick Parisi and becoming a lawyer two things Tony never wanted for her and AJ recently survived a suicide and is so lacking in direction that this low-level job working for Little Carmine feels like a salvation. Thats one more reason why this scene feels dreamlike, along with all those incidental characters, like Members Only Guy and the uniformed Boy Scouts, who feel like people youd meet in an 80s music video. Alan: This is all-important, and well see what happens to the conversation now that the phrase death scene is out there. Coachellas parent company AEG is removing any and all videos related to Oceans only performance. Excerpt from The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall published by Abrams Press; 2019 Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. But again, that seems like a reach to me, especially since Members Only Guy hasnt come out of the bathroom yet. 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 . Nearly two years have passed. In Brooklyn, Hesh Rabkin and his son-in-law Eli Kaplan are assaulted by Lupertazzi associates. Carmela repeatedly asks Tony to see if he can get the stop order lifted, but he keeps putting it off. 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. The jacket possibly signifies his affiliation to a special gang. Meadow runs to the door, the bell rings, Tony looks up, and nothin. Chris assures Eugene he will put in a good word for him to Tony as a favor for doing the hit. The great news was, it was gonna be a great episode for me, he said. But Tony needs help, and he starts getting it in a sit-down with Leotardos captain, Butch DiConcini (Greg Antonacci). It's a town in Italy, but the name translates to "crow bridge." 2023 Vox Media, LLC. A celebration of life will be held in Redwood City on Wednesday for Pete Liebengood, a longtime Bay Area sportscaster, anchor and author who died in Redwood City on Dec. 22. Its gonna show what you can do. Funaro saw what an opportunity it was going to be for him. 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. Prior to landing the part of Eugene, Funaro didnt have any screen credits to his name. Matt: I think its more interesting if he lives. That's a no-go." So was it in part to free them? Butchie gave Tony permission to kill Phil. Were admitting who we are. You'd expect the family to be long gone, living their lives in Florida, trying to forget Jersey. It is revealed Eugene has been an informant for the F.B.I., though it is unclear for how long. Even Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts), the least sensitive person about characters getting killed off, had words of encouragement. Eugene subsequently becomes a made man in the following episode "Fortunate Son" along with Christopher Moltisanti. Yeah, I was thinking that, too that despite the hours weve spent talking to Chase about the ending, I dont think its necessarily been explained in any meaningful sense, in terms of what happened next, and I get the impression that Chase cant really explain it either. In the episode Eugene commits suicide after Tony will not let him "retire" from mob life and move him and his family to Florida after he receives a two million dollar inheritance. ". So absolutely, the show is putting us in a frame of mind to anticipate a death. Privacy Policy. Because nothing in that scene says, Somebody just killed him and thats what the cut to black is about. The only objectively true statement that can be made about that ending is that its ambiguous. And it throws all the other things weve been discussing, here and throughout this book, into sharper relief. Eugene killed himself, after all. This guy lives a charmed life. Its a great show, Chase told him. Obviously I'm very very far from the first person to have noticed this connection, which is why I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk of a direct, rather than just a symbolic, connection to Eugene. 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. When the Soprano family meet at Holsten's diner for a meal, this man enters the diner ahead of Anthony Soprano Jr. and sits at the counter. First, I started hearing rumors. Tony is shot by Junior at the end, but that comes out of nowhere. Anthony John "A.J." Soprano, Jr. frequently referred to as Anthony Jr. or Tony Soprano Jr. is the son of Carmela and Tony Soprano, and the younger brother of Meadow Soprano. Sam and Joel reach a new level of intimacy. He knew someone in his family would find him, but why would he want them to. The highlight of our time together was covering The Sopranos, which shot in the papers circulation area throughout the state. His jobs include running a low stakes poker game, a sports betting agency and a 'No Work' job at the Esplanade construction site. 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.

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