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‘Sopranos’ conclusion slays ‘em

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WITH “ ‘Sopranos’: What Was That All About?” [June 11], Mary McNamara mirrors society’s need for instant gratification, raising doubt we deserved this Emmy winner at all. In a loose-end-knitting episode slowly building exquisite tension, creator David Chase offered fans the classic “Lady or the Tiger,” i.e., viewer, choose your ending.

STUART WEISS

Beverly Hills

*

I’M OK with how “The Sopranos” ended, and here’s why:

David Chase is the writer. The writer is “the decider.” He gets to decide how it ends, regardless of the usual television convention of wrapping things up in a neat package.

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David Chase didn’t kill Tony, he killed the audience. By “pulling the plug” at that most pregnant moment, he forced us to look at our own anticipation of that moment, to fill in the blank for ourselves. The blank said two things to me: (1) Well, that’s a wide avenue for the start of a feature film; (2) The bad guy does get away with it. Despite taking some hits, Tony is still king. Same as it ever was.

KELLY L.C. RUSSELL

Pasadena

*

AN overhyped ending to an overrated show comes to a underwhelming and, frankly, uncreative ending. Now we can all concentrate on those shows that respect their audiences enough by not leaving things up in the air and trying to call it “art.”

KEN MARCUS

Los Angeles

*

WHY all the outcry to the ending of “The Sopranos”? It was a brilliant ending. The onion represents the multi-layers of Tony Soprano. The hole in the onion ring represents the hole that would be blasted into Tony Soprano by the man who went into the men’s room to get the gun taped under the lid of the toilet, as was done in “The Godfather,” writer David Chase’s tribute to that book and movie.

The blackout at the end represents the dumbing down of Americans who just didn’t get it and are unable to think for themselves.

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LEON M. SALTER

Los Angeles

*

MARY McNAMARA’S review of the finale of “The Sopranos” says that, at the end, “the TV went dead.” No, the TV didn’t go dead; Tony Soprano did.

Death is frustrating. It provides no resolution for any of the plot threads of a life; it merely ends them, all at once.

The device by which Tony’s death is conveyed (sudden silence and darkness) was foretold in the first episode of this season and again in the penultimate episode via flashback: Tony and Bobby are in the boat on the lake, and Bobby says, in reference to getting whacked by gunshot, “I guess when it happens, ya don’t hear it.”

No, and ya don’t hear Carmela scream or A.J. start bawling; ya don’t see the blood splatter your family or the chaos that erupts in the diner; because, in silence and darkness, all of a sudden, you’re dead. The final moment of “The Sopranos” was an inspired depiction of a death, from the exact point of view of the one who dies.

MICHAEL HICKEY

Palm Springs

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*

DAVID CHASE is a genius. The last installment has taken on a life of its own. Would this have happened had there been a “whacking”? I think not.

REGINA MILLNER

West Hills

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