The Sopranos ended last night in a hail of Steve Perry. With Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" playing at a Jersey coffee-shop jukebox, Tony Soprano may or may not have met his maker; the world, as the Tootsie Pop owl tells us, will never know. The whole episode played something like This American Family: around every corner, there were little hints that the Sopranos weren't that different than you and I (and Barajas) in this star-spangled nation. The title of the episode? "Made in America." In the (anti-) climactic scene, Holsten's Restaurant was chock full of smiling families just like Tony's, ones that we hadn't learned about for six seasons but strapped on their smiles for a night out on the town; it was a conscious slice of truck stop and Main Street Americana in New Jersey. Presumably, they weren't about to get pumped full of lead Godfather-style, but who knows? We weren't in on their stories. We were in on Tony's, with his depressed son, beautiful daughter, materialistic and reality-denying wife and the weight he carried — read that any way you want — on his shoulders as the centerpoint of his universe.The first line in The Godfather—the point of departure for everything Sopranos—is "I believe in America." Tony Soprano believes in America, as does his creator, David Chase. Chase's message last night was clear: believe whatever you want about Tony's fate, but don't stop believing about the place that made him possible.
Great take on the ending here.
Tony Soprano's Barajas number is 3. His consigliere was Silvio Dante, played by Steve Van Zandt, who was a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Springsteen's Born on the Fourth of July was the first tape Rod Barajas ever owned.
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