The cat turns up at the safe house and gets brought back to Satriales, much to Paulies horror You cant even put them near a baby; they suck the breath right out! particularly once it starts fixating on a photo of Christopher from the set of Cleaver. Eugene Pontecorvo The Sopranos really is about mental illness and the inherent hardships of the human condition, and Eugene Pontecorvo ( Robert Funaro) embodied the intersection between duty. And in the back of my mind, I said, Well, well see what happens.'. Good story, right? At some point, Pontecorvo became an FBI informant, and he sought to retire to Florida with the $2 million that he had inherited from his late aunt. Morrow ultimately ended his life at the ending of the film by committing suicide in a garbage incinerator. Were admitting who we are. In the season premiere, Bacala raised the idea of what happens when you die, speculating, You probably dont even hear it when it happens, right? a line so clearly important to the end of the series that the conversation is replayed at the end of the penultimate episode, after poor Bobby had that question answered. Alan: Theres no way around that, and even David Chase says as much in the sixth interview later in this book. Over the course of the next few minutes, he glances twice at the family's table before standing up, walking past the table before entering the restroom . willie boy johnson wife. Why did he choose that place to kill himself? I vote that theres something else happening. That matters much more to me, ultimately, than a definitive answer. What is this ending saying? In the episode Eugene and his wife have an unexpected financial windfall when a beloved aunt, the wife of a successful Hollywood agent, leaves him $2 million in her will. The controversial ending has led to over a decade of theories and speculation as to whether Tony was killed by a hitman - but now we finally know what happened to the mob boss. I mean, if you step back and think about it, killing Tony this mysteriously does defy Sopranos modus operandi in multiple ways. But at the same time it could mean a boost for an actors career, as it was for Vincent Pastore. In the episode Eugene and his wife have an unexpected financial windfall when a beloved aunt, the wife of a successful Hollywood agent, leaves him $2 million in her will. He was never interested in the Russian, the rapist, the stable fire, or any of the other characters and threads that he left dangling over the life of the series, except as forces that test the main characters and reveal their essence. I think it would fit with the cycles of experience depicted in the series. Or if we cant discern that, what is this ending trying to make us think about? Eugene's basement. : r/thesopranos - Reddit This week, Tom and Shiv get it on. I think the ending is sadder and more powerful if you think, All those people he killed, all those people he loved that died, all the stuff hes been through personally, including getting shot and being in a coma none of that really made much of a dent in this guys thick skull.. Jack Nicholson Reprises Role as Courtside Lakers Fan. Tony says he'll consider it, but he states Eugene took an oath indicating it's highly unlikely he'll approve. Alan: Back in the day, I felt like death was an easier sentence for Tony to take, because so much of his life thanks to genetics, mental health, and the monstrous business he has chosen brings him so much misery. A man in Tonys business will always have enemies Eric Scatino probably still nurses a massive grudge so its not outside the realm of plot logic that some rando or long-forgotten character could have hired Members Only Guy to do the deed. Every other major boss on the show, from Johnny Sack to Phil Leotardo ( Frank Vincent . With Tony and the Feds both hindering Eugene's chance to escape the mafia life and his stress caused by his unstable home life, Eugene sees no way out and hangs himself in his basement. So at that point, you have to ask: Why would Tony Soprano become a target for a hit right then? It's Pontecorvo, "crow bridge." Tony is haunted by dreams of Sal . Chase lingers on the parking job to raise the question of what terrible thing will happen because its taking her so long. After Eugenes death, his wife would be devastated and most likely his family would be too. I felt then, and now, afraid for Tony Soprano, and painfully aware of both his fragile mortality and my own, more keenly than any other piece of art has made me feel. Like Vito Spatafore and Benny Fazio, he is initially introduced as a small character, whose role slowly increases throughout the series. List of The Sopranos characters - Wikipedia I cant imagine that it would succumb to them in its final moments, no matter how great the temptation and as our conversations with Chase confirmed, that temptation did exist. The final scene of The Sopranos raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer. I think the most important two words in those two sentences are spiritual question. And if we fixate on anything other than that, were missing the point. A celebration of life will be held in Redwood City on Wednesday for Pete Liebengood, a longtime Bay Area sportscaster, anchor and author who died in Redwood City on Dec. 22. He is a prototypical underachiever and a constant source of stress and anxiety for his parents. Translation: He's not an actor. Matt: If hed said, Yeah, I killed him, I wouldve been deeply disappointed in Chase. 'The Sopranos': Why Eugene Pontecorvo's Death Came With Good News for I knew where I was going. The Sopranos: Tony's 8 Coldest Kills, Ranked - Screen Rant The way the ending teases audiences by seeming very definite while denying us answers and closure makes it the ultimate Sopranos moment. His jobs include running a low stakes poker game, a sports betting agency and a 'No Work' job at the Esplanade construction site. Did he really leave enough money in overseas accounts to take care of Carmela after his passing, or will she soon be taking Angie Bonpensieros old job passing out supermarket samples? Bearing gifts, he goes to Tony to ask permission. Vito is thinner and is now a spokesperson for a weight loss company; he is Tony's best earner and is ambitious. This ending puts us in their shoes. Not much character development is given to Lorenzo, making him the average informant. Fuckin internet. Why the ambiguity at all? Sam and Joel reach a new level of intimacy. To have that storyline, I jumped on it and tried to ride it as best I could.. Images of death or a Hell frozen over from overcrowding and neglect by management abound throughout the series finale, as the shows usual fascination with the extremes of weather in the Garden State gets amped up to an almost supernatural degree. Deep down, he recognizes that Carmela is a good mother. Travis Dye signs UDFA deal with New York Jets - Yahoo News And if it helps to move the discussion beyond the question of whether hes dead or alive, Ill just say, Fine, hes dead. And now what? This was Christopher's scene. Hey Bobby, you know youre getting a son? Hey, this is f*cking great. I'm sure you can conjure up some reason, but what's more likely: Butchie had Tony killed for some undefined reason by a guy who looks like Eugene Pontecorvo wearing Eugene Pontecorvo's jacket, or Eugene Pontecorvo's brother killed Tony in retaliation for his brother's death? Sopranos' Finale: 5 Details From the Final Scene That Settle the - CBR Taking place in the aftermath of a brutal gang war as Tony Soprano sat down with his family in a diner to enjoy a meal as he had dozens of times before in the show, the scene seemingly built up toward Tony's execution at the hands of an assassin within the diner. Its become increasingly clear to me as weve worked our way through the entire series again, with over 10 years of perspective on that finale and nearly 20 years of living with the show in some form, that Chase is an intuitive writer, somebody whos not trying to send messages or create puzzles for people to solve, but is just trying to make people feel and think and question themselves. It could refer to the Mafia code of being a member-only and never a retiree, just what Eugene Pontecorvo attempted to become. Are you gonna be like him?. On the Talking Sopranos podcast, Funaro spoke about originally getting hired on the show to play Ralph Cifaretto. Patsy himself almost took out Tony in the season 3 premiere, so you know his resentment ran deep. And if, to quote Mad Men, the greatest predictor of what somebody is going to do is what they have done in the past, Tonys always going to basically be Tony, the loquacious gangster who puts himself first. Eugene Pontecorvo inherits $2 million and would like to retire with his family to Florida. Tonys personal disputes halted major construction projects on several occasions. That's a no-go." The Sopranos: All FBI Informants In The Show, Ranked - Screen Rant Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. He, along with Vito Spatafore and Donny K., found Gigi Cestone dead on the toilet in the Aprile Crew hangout after suffering a constipation-induced heart attack. This is an artist sorting through contradictory impulses, in hopes of reaching audiences in a deep way. If he didnt die that night, hes going to die very soon, Chase told USA Today in 2012. Actors with recurring roles on The Sopranos lived in fear of their characters dying. His eyes are closed, hes not noticeably breathing, and the camera angle makes it look like hes lying in state at the funeral parlor, waiting for his friends, family, and viewers out here in TV land to pay our respects. Excerpt from The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall published by Abrams Press; 2019 Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. That's exactly like Dave Bowman watching himself age while inside the alien room. Historica Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. This is a show about either accepting that youre not in control of anything, or making a conscious decision to deny that. did coco die in sopranos - productangel.co.uk But I dont think he has to be dead for us to think about all that related stuff, and I dont think thats the only possible interpretation. What does that leave us with, if that cut to black means somebody somewhere shot Tony? From there, his character continued growing in prominence. I know now, and I dont have to worry about this anymore.. But what if it was there for Tony, who is, of course, also present? Alan: Okay, so a hypothetical: Either way you lean, what happens after that cut to black? So maybe it was the genetic legacy of depression and mental illness that Tony called "the Soprano curse." In a family therapy session after the suicide attempt, AJ cited Grandma Livia's assertion. Eugene Pontecorvo has one of the most tragic arcs of all characters on The Sopranos. The Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime This show - that had so honestly and meticulously . First, I started hearing rumors. Eugene killed himself, after all. To paraphrase one of the Four Questions from the Passover seder, on all other nights we dont watch Meadow attempt to parallel park even once; why on this night do we watch her attempt to parallel park over and over again? Maybe the ending is saying, This guy never got it. I know people generally cringe at "it was all a dream/nightmare!" scenarios, but I like the idea of Tony being in a purgatory state where he's forced to see himself die every day, and worst of all: it all goes black before he can see his daughter one last time. We make up stories to reassure ourselves that we have control over life, and we really dont. The Sopranos: 10 Things About Christopher That Have Aged Poorly And I would argue that, if the main takeaway from that scene is, Oh, they shot him, then either the show has failed and suddenly decided to give up and be a typical gangster story in its final four minutes, or theres something else happening here. Eugene drives to Boston and finds Teddy eating dinner at a fast food restaurant and shoots him repeatedly in the head. While Tony "thinks on it," Chris has Eugene kill a man, implying it will give him a better chance of having Tony let him go. Man in Members Only jacket | The Sopranos Wiki | Fandom I've been fascinated lately with the meaning of names in The Sopranos. In a resurfaced. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. The episode's title comes from Eugene's tan Members Only jacket, which an expensively dressed Vito gently ribs him for wearing. 'Sopranos' 'Johnny Cakes' Oral History: Vito's Gay Love Story Did Eugene die in Gattaca? And the single most obvious thing to do in a gangster movie is to kill the main character out of reflex, or because the storytellers want to express that crime doesnt pay. In the episode Unidentified Black Males, while he and Little Paulie Germani are engaging in what initially began as a harmless banter at the Esplanade construction site, Little Paulie goes too far in Eugene's mind when he conveys through an innuendo that Eugene is a homosexual. This guy lives a charmed life. Murders committed by Pontecorvo Teddy Spirodakis: Killed at a diner by Eugene on orders from Christopher Moltisanti for failing to pay his debts. Im not saying Holstens is Heaven! or anything like that. This leads me to believe that a relative of Eugenes, The Man In The Members Only Jacket is the one who killed Tony out of an act of revenge for Eugenes suicide. La La Anthony, Chloe Fineman Will Play Fashion Correspondents at Met Gala 2023. did coco die in sopranoswhat causes chills after knee replacement surgery 28th April 2023 / bill de blasio wife $850 million / in northwestern strength coach salary / by Hes just looking up at the sound of a bell ringing, and if classical continuity editing is to be our guide here, the person entering is Meadow, last seen in the third-to-final shot of the scene, walking toward the diner. If Meadow just walks in and the family enjoys the rest of their onion rings, a nice meal, and some ice cream, what happens to Tony Soprano after? We know what the scene means, but we dont know what happened. This accomplishment catapulted Aglieri s name to the top of the ranks. At the start of Made in America, the Sopranos series finale, Tony and his crew are still at the safe house, where theyd gone to the mattresses. The hunt for New York boss Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) continues. Doesn't it seem strange that Eugene was there? He couldve had a coronary or another panic attack. Alan: Yeah, I would say the circumstantial evidence of death in the scene is overwhelming. Or maybe nothing happened in that scene, but Tony went on being Tony and maybe died of heart disease or Alzheimers, which, given all that weve seen him go through, is a sadder outcome. In 2007, he killed himself after both his boss Tony Soprano and his FBI handlers refused to let him retire to Florida. Thats all I wanted to say.. Privacy Policy. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. (For that matter, Members Only Guy could be the loved one of a Soprano victim himself.) Since Eugenes suicide in the season 6 opener, Funaro has racked up over 40 credits (including The Irishman and American Gangster). Matt: Just like the Holstens scene. Personally, hes on good enough terms with his immediate family that theyd all happily join him for onion rings and more at their favorite ice cream place. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. Alan: So for a while, it seemed easier to just go with the idea that he dies that the cut to black follows on Bacalas line from Soprano Home Movies, Silvios reaction to the Hairdos death in Stage 5, and all that death imagery. She tells Eugene that he should kill Tony in "Members Only." Eugene Pontecorvo | The Sopranos Wiki | Fandom Phils murder ends the war, which had been disastrous for mob business in New York and New Jersey. Is the Daniel Baldwin script a huge hit at the start of AJs shocking career as a Hollywood tastemaker? For Robert Funaro, who played Eugene Pontecorvo for 24 Sopranos episodes (seasons 3-6), getting killed definitely had a silver lining. Anyway, the focus is on whod order the hit. Son on h but he had a daughter. The hit was ordered by . Michelle Obama and Bruce Springsteen Tore Up the Stage with Glory Days. Meadow runs to the door, the bell rings, Tony looks up, and nothin. Aglieri had made a name for himself by killing Salvatore Riina, one of Italy s most notorious crime figures and a huge rival of the Corleone clan. Whos Going to the Met Gala Dressed as Karl Lagerfelds Cat? How do we choose to live it? Alan: I spent many years after the finale as a card-carrying, vocal member of Team Tony Lives. He is a capo in the DiMeo crime family and leads the Curto crew. Matt: An important distinction. But all that stuff exists outside the text, not in it. Theory 1: Little Carmine (Lupertazzi) had Butch Deconcini kill Phil (Leotardo) and Tony (Soprano). In the episode Eugene commits suicide after Tony will not let him "retire" from mob life and move him and his family to Florida after he receives a two million dollar inheritance. His taking control of the reins of power capped an unusually fast climb to the top of Italian organized crime. He states to his friends that, "The only thing I ever found in the street was my first wife," showing that he hasn't had much good luck in his life (and at least one failed marriage). Alan: Tony's situation as he enters Holsten's is complex however you look at it. Anthony John "A.J." Soprano, Jr. frequently referred to as Anthony Jr. or Tony Soprano Jr. is the son of Carmela and Tony Soprano, and the younger brother of Meadow Soprano. Cuz I hear a lot of people blaming Tony which sort of makes sense, but as it turns out he wasn't gonna be able to go to Florida and get out of the mafia anyways if they didn't let him. With a despondent wife, a drug-addicted son, a dangerous and stressful job he hates and can't leave, the specter of the FBI looming over him, and no hope of the new life that seemed so close, Eugene hangs himself in the basement. I couldn't find much of anything. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Eugene Pontecorvo also appears in a flashback to 1995 in the episode "To Save Us All From Satan's Power" as a bodyguard of Junior Soprano's, along with Gigi Cestone. Tony Soprano has clearly made many bad choices, as have the other people at that table with him, as have nearly all the characters with whom weve spent these 86-plus hours of television. Professionally, he has just survived a war with New York has, in fact, enough juice that he was able to kill a rival boss with the tacit approval of Phils successor but his organization is in a shambles. I think were supposed to be thinking about death, or the finiteness of life, during that last scene, but not necessarily that Tony died right then and there, and thats the end of the story. Dont stop believin you know exactly what happened at the end of, This password will be used to sign into all, when Chase wrote that article about the scene, a journalist reported that Chase told her Tony lived, Roy Wood Jr.s Best Jokes at the 2023 White House Correspondents Dinner, Julia Fox Is the Only Celeb Taking White House Correspondents Fashion Seriously, The 11 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend, The Rivalry Between the Knicks and the Heat From the Guys Who Were There, The Knicks Vs. Heat Rivalry From the Guys Who Were There, Long Live the White House Correspondents Dinner. Those who subscribe to the Tony Dies theory universally believe that Tony is killed by a mysterious man we haven't seen before, wearing a tan jacket very similar to Eugene's and referred to in the closing credits only as "Man in Members Only Jacket." Silvio informs Gene that Tony denied his request to retire from the DiMeo crime family. But Meadow is marrying into the extended Family by getting engaged to Patrick Parisi and becoming a lawyer two things Tony never wanted for her and AJ recently survived a suicide and is so lacking in direction that this low-level job working for Little Carmine feels like a salvation.