A Morsel from the Vast Wasteland

So, here we are, a week later, and people are still talking about the Sopranos finale. And what pretty much everyone is talking about is how disappointed they were. The problem everyone has, is that there was no real ending, no sense of closure. It was left ambiguous as to what happened. And no one likes to be left just wondering.

It seems the only person who got what they wanted out of the end of the show was the creator, David Chase. And even that's debateable. To end things the way he did might not have been what he really wanted, it might have just been the best he could do. That's when I got to thinking about how much a TV show is essentially a relationship between two parties, the audience and the creator. If the audience isn't into what the creator is doing, they're going to leave. And if they do start to leave, does the creator change what they're doing, or do they hold steadfast to their artistic vision, which they believe is right?

Personally, I gave up on the Sopranos a long time ago. It got to a point where I was no longer willing to put up with the ancillary bullshit to get to the parts of the show I liked in the first place. Another thing that played a factor in my decision was the huge break between seasons. It's one thing to be patient, but everyone has their limits on how long they can wait. It also didn't help that on several occasions a return date would be announced, only to be pushed back once it approached. I could only put up with that shit so many times before I had to say enough was enough.

Others stuck around, claiming it was too good not to. "How can you give up," they wondered. "You just have to be patient and when it comes back you'll see how great it is and fall in love with it again." This may be true for some, but when something I care about, something I've invested time in, goes away for a long period of time, its hard for me to take. It also leads me to start thinking about the other negative traits. Eventually, I'm just willing to write the whole thing off. Which is what happened with me and the Sopranos.

This kinda ties in with my last post. Some people are willing to stick it out through all sorts of shit. Each person is different, in that they all have their own "Jump the Shark" moments. But sooner or later, that moment does come. That doesn't mean you don't love the show any more. It just means you've had all you can take. Which brings me back to my original point.

People are pissed because they look to television as an escape from reality. They're used to things being tied up in neat little packages. What they all seem to be forgetting is that one of the reasons the Sopranos was treated so reverently was because of how true to life a lot of it was. Well in real life, there is rarely any closure. That's where shows, aside from the Sopranos, really differ from relationships. Sure, you can end things with someone, but can you ever really end things with them? Not unless one of the two parties dies. Because until that point, there is always a chance to pick things back up again. You can always say you'll never talk to someone again, but never is a long time. Whereas once a show is done, its done for good. The only thing left are the reruns.