The last Sopranos episode

The web has been lit up today by reviews of the last episode of the hit HBO show. Most folks seem disappointed. I thought it proved itself as art with its "roll your own" ending, instead of wrapping up all the dangling story lines as would typical, forgettable entertainment.

It's also interesting to see how many reviewers claim it's odd for a thug to be embraced as the show's hero. I don't agree. I see Tony Soprano as sort of a cynic's everyman and his role — mob boss — as metaphor.

Tony Soprano tells his analyst that he's a good guy and believes it. He gets away with infractions that are extreme but he thinks of them the way anyone else who cuts corners here and there would think of their own infractions: the office worker who steal supplies, sneaking them out in her oversized purse; the pharmaceutical executive who hides research showing the company's latest drug is harming patients; the politician doing all the ugly things politicians do to get elected and keep power. All these people are likely pillars of their communities, too. Who's to say that, in Soprano's position, with his power, all the above would behave all that differently, seeing what they're already willing to do?

My favorite part of the last episode (don't read if you haven't seen it):

AJ's fantasies of saving the world, becoming a soldier, liaising with the civilian population in Afghanistan, and maybe going on to the CIA, are shown to be the mental meanderings of a spoiled child with no intention of doing anything, when his parents dangle a shiny new opportunity in front of him. They arrange for him to work for the porn movie producer who's branching into a better class of film (like Cleaver). And AJ, who, in theory, wants to save the world by not driving an SUV, rationalizes his new BMW by saying that there's no public transportation to the new gig.

I loved it.