Thanks for tying up all of those story lines. I can see why they needed to extend the last season. They were trying to figure a really good way to show that NOTHING FRICKING HAPPENS!!!
I wish the show was still running, just so I could stop watching it.
Hoaxes have their place, but in series finales? In ways hardly tethered to the plot?
I picture David Chase dining al freca, arguing with friends:
"But ending it like that is relevant."
"People are going to feel cheated and angry."
"They'll feel tense, like the tenseness Tony Soprano feels in that restaurant... waiting on his family to show so he'll regain some sense of completeness and safety after a brutal storm almost took it all from him."
"No... they'd feel tense because you shot the scene in a way that suggested that at any moment Tony and his family might be killed. The part where you cut out in the middle of a upward pan before we see that it's only Tony noticing his daughter walking through the door is just a Terrance and Phillip trick. Don't pull a South Park, Dave... they're gonna crucify you."
"What don't you get?"
"Probably what thirty million other people aren't going to get either. It's a decadent move, born of self serving artistic rationalization."
"Why am I friends with you?"
"Because I'm the only one who won't yes you to death."
I wish the show was still running, just so I could stop watching it.
Oh how greatly do I understand this statement!
And Jade, your summation was perfect.
It sounds to me more like Chase was too afraid that whatever ending he chose would fall short of expectations (which is natural given that its the ending of an excellent, long running show).
The problem is, I think that this ending is all about trying to convince people that you are brillant, rather than just actually ending a good show because it has to end sometime.
It was indeed a self serving move born of a fear that a lackluster ending would overshadow a great long running show. But it doesn't make anything any better by screwing the fans for your own ego.
What you guys said!
Attention Hollywood. This is an adventure for four 3rd level characters. Your PCs must travel to the Paizo forums brain trust, and consult with the sages there before you accidentally leap to certain artistic death.
In my little world, Artie blew up the diner as REVENGE! PS: Jade-Right on! I wish there would have been that friend at dinner to say something.
I kept expecting to see one of those aftercredits scenes to wrap it all up, but they didn't even play a tune. The ending was okay, but HBO hasn't exactly won me over with the way they've ended series or the timing with ending them. /Carnivale, /6FU, /Rome, and now, /Sopranos.
BTW, the new John from Cincinnati should have been called "The Parrot from Cincinnati". BTW, the new John from Cincinnati should have been called "The Parrot from Cincinnati". ;)