‘Sopranos’ Creator Speaks Up on Finale

In an exclusive interview with Alan Sepinwall of the New Jersey Star-Ledger, conducted just after the nation had taken a final collective gasp and befuddled double-take on the conclusion of The Sopranos, creator David Chase gives his one and only (for now) take on the series finale. Chase had already fled to France by the time the show aired Sunday night, intent on avoiding “all the Monday morning quarterbacking.”

While he had plenty to say about the show, the prospects of a film, the fans, and their across-the-board takes on the ending, Chase offered no interpretation of his own, leaving it at this: “I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there…No one was trying to be audacious, honest to God,” he adds. “We did what we thought we had to do. No one was trying to blow people’s minds or thinking, ‘Wow, this’ll (tick) them off. People get the impression that you’re trying to (mess) with them, and it’s not true. You’re trying to entertain them.”

Other topics top-of-mind:

— Chase on the prospects of continuing the story on the big screen: “If something appeared that really made a good ‘Sopranos’ movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we’ve kind of said it and done it.”

- Due to the cut-in-half season and an order for an additional episode, added midway through production, it’s fair to say that some of the peripheral story lines (Johnny Cakes) were bolstered. Chase: “If this had been one season, the Vito storyline would not have been so important.”

— On how the bloodletting in last week’s ‘The Blue Comet’ may have led to some unrealized expectations amongst fans for the finale - Chase: “I’m the number one fan of gangster movies…Martin Scorsese has no greater devotee than me. Like everyone else, I get off partly on the betrayals, the retributions, the swift justice. But what you come to realize when you do a series is, you could be killing straw men all day long. Those murders only have any meaning when you’ve invested story in them. Otherwise, you might as well watch ‘Cleaver.’”

Read the full interview.

Related: “Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on … ” - Journey members were “jumping up and down” when they learned that “Don’t Stop Believin’” had been licensed by Chase for the final episode. Also, what’s next for: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Meadow, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio, and Dr. Melfi?

tedzee | Permalink | June 12 2007 | Comments (View)