Lizzy Caplan Would Return for One More Season of. Funaro, who has worked more in theater than on the screen, really saw on opportunity with his big episode, Members Only. While hed felt more satisfied with theater work to that point, the chance to complete his characters arc appealed to him. Good story, right? Alan: Made in America opens on Tony asleep in the safe house. Though he dies himself, Eugene -- again, a very minor character -- doesn't represent death in the larger context of the show, he represents a bridge to death, with his suicide as the act that sets off the chain of events leading to Tony's murder. Richie was previously married and fathered a son, Richie Aprile Jr. Richie returned from prison to a very different family, with Tony Soprano as the boss, whom Richie . ", Vito responds with "What? You'd expect the family to be long gone, living their lives in Florida, trying to forget Jersey. I thought I saw a couple of blacks running that way." "I said 'Look, if it ain't me, it . Let's just remind ourselves how - to use street parlance - the final scene of The Sopranos 'went down': Tony arrives at the diner, and selects Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" from the juke-box console at his table. Paulie, long the most useless captain on the payroll, is the only major ally he has left. No. This show - that had so honestly and meticulously . 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. And its true that, the longer the Holstens scene and the parallel parking go on and on and on and on the harder it becomes to shake the feeling that Tony, or Meadow, or maybe everybody, is about to get whacked. This is just a guy they found specifically because he looks like Robert Funaro, who plays Eugene. In Brooklyn, Hesh Rabkin and his son-in-law Eli Kaplan are assaulted by Lupertazzi associates. Since Eugenes suicide in the season 6 opener, Funaro has racked up over 40 credits (including The Irishman and American Gangster). Privacy Policy. Also because he was trapped in two powerful institutions in violent opposition. Alan: Other than maybe the revelation that Big Pussy was an FBI cooperator a plot idea conceived in the shows embryonic stages, without Chase expecting anyone would care about him resolving it The Sopranos tended to keep its plot cards face up. Tony's decision is relayed through Silvio: "Your Florida thing. 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. In terms of the metanarrative, Adriana had to be killed as a logical ending to her tragic story. But what he said, specifically and he was directing it toward everybody was, Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point. Eugene's basement. Youre going out this way, but its gonna be good. But its an enormous leap from how the series told stories in every scene, and episode, up until this one. The significance of the crow in that scene has been much discussed. Eugene Pontecorvo (1959-2006) was a DiMeo crime family soldier and FBI informant. But in classic Sopranos form, the war with New York ends not with a bang but. The Sopranos: How Mikey Palmice Became a Little Bit Joe Pesci and a Little Bit James Caan. Later, Eugene gives him a cut of the inheritance. Because his wife is a raging buzz-jam. I know this is a minority reaction, but I like being baffled or challenged or frustrated by art. While Junior cowers in a closet upstairs, Tony manages to dial 911 before passing out. Meadow continues her relationship with Finn. The idea of presenting the ending as a thing that can be mastered and explained is philosophically the opposite of everything that led us to that point. Eugene Pontecorvo was introduced on the show as an associate in the Soprano crime family in the episode "Proshai, Livushka". We dont get to watch the show anymore. Host Roy Wood Jr. and President Biden made a case for why this goofy event is important. Her father, Hugh De Angelis, thinks an inspector he used to know would waive the requirement, but his contact has retired. This is a show about either accepting that youre not in control of anything, or making a conscious decision to deny that. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Though Funaro had the occasional moment on an episode, his first big scene came when he smashed Little Paulie with a bottle at the construction site. Except the longer you and I talked about it, both on our own and with Chase, the less substantial that idea felt, too, until by the end, I wasnt entirely sure that even Chase knows if the guys dead or alive. 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. This is the first episode of the final season, seriously? The Austrian physicist Erwin Schrdinger famously theorized that if you place a cat into a box with some kind of hazardous material, the cat may live or die, but until you actually open the box to check, the cat is simultaneously dead and alive. Things you buy through our links may earnVox Mediaa commission. 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. Meadow runs to the door, the bell rings, Tony looks up, and nothin. Bearing gifts, he goes to Tony to ask permission. We know what the scene means, but we dont know what happened. Eugene Pontecorvo has one of the most tragic arcs of all characters on The Sopranos. And the matter of whether Ralphie was responsible for the fire. La La Anthony, Chloe Fineman Will Play Fashion Correspondents at Met Gala 2023. I ask this not to spoil the details of the many pieces of Sopranos fanfic I have saved to the cloud, but to consider the larger question: Which ending is more interesting? Theory 1: Little Carmine (Lupertazzi) had Butch Deconcini kill Phil (Leotardo) and Tony (Soprano). Alan: I spent many years after the finale as a card-carrying, vocal member of Team Tony Lives. There are a number of minutes in life [] and [then] theyre gone. Im not saying Holstens is Heaven! or anything like that. I think Tony died at that moment is a valid interpretation. It gets harder to watch the episode everytime. The way the ending teases audiences by seeming very definite while denying us answers and closure makes it the ultimate Sopranos moment. Matt: Just like the Holstens scene. "Members Only" is the first episode of the last season. Murders committed by Pontecorvo Teddy Spirodakis: Killed at a diner by Eugene on orders from Christopher Moltisanti for failing to pay his debts. Janice is raising a new daughter with Bobby Baccalieri, who has taken up model railroading as a hobby. Fuckin internet. The jacket possibly signifies his affiliation to a special gang. Why cut to black on that shot of Tonys uninflected face, as opposed to a glimpse of Members Only Guy raising a pistol, or even Tony looking distressed as his body deals with a gunshot, a coronary, a stroke (like the one that killed Livia), or some other cause of sudden death? Despite the episode's focus on his character. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Maybe he wanted to haunt the house or the decision was impulsive and he didn't care who found him. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. 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. It's also been suggested that it was there for Eugene. This week, Tom and Shiv get it on. walker hayes daughter. Now, Im Schrdingers critic: equally intrigued by the idea of Tony living and Tony dying. The juror is stopped by Eugene, who reveals he knows this man and is a juror and "I know you'll do the right thing" (implying he will vote not guilty and result in a hung jury). Whos Going to the Met Gala Dressed as Karl Lagerfelds Cat? It's Pontecorvo, "crow bridge." And, flipping that, what if hed whispered, Guys, Tonys alive? Silvio informs Gene that Tony denied his request to retire from the DiMeo crime family. It has also been suggested that Tony himself got whacked in those polarizing last minutes in the series finale. Many fans speculate that the title of this episode, and the events that take place within it, foreshadow the true nature of the. Only the bravest celebs will go full catboy at 2023s Met Gala. And I think I would have been equally disappointed if hed said, Tony is alive. And thats because I like not knowing, and to me, everything about this ending says, Youre not supposed to know, youre supposed to live in the not-knowing.. Where am I going?" We can all go home now. The Sopranos abruptly cut to black at the end of the series finale. Death is the only absolute truth for everyone, and if you read that ending simply as he died, you can wash your hands and walk away from it and not have to think about anything else that might be raised in that scene. Gianluigi ''Gigi'' Cestone portrayed by John Fiore is a member of the DiMeo crime family and former soldier in Junior's Crew, until his defection to the Soprano Crew in 1999. 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? There are other clues in "Members Only" that Eugene will be responsible for Tony's death. Butchie had antagonized Tony in the past, but at this point in time he agrees his boss Phil went too far. Adriana is remembered by a worrying Carmela. 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. I thought about Tonys entrance into Holstens in the context of the earlier scenes where he visits Janice and then Junior. Doesn't it seem strange that Eugene was there? While he is the only son of the Tony, it becomes obvious he lacks potential for a career in his father's organization, though . Blow-Up is one of his favorite films, and it has a famously non-definitive ending that invites the viewer to project their own meanings. The "traditional" season premiere sequence involving. They have the shells and pictures of the beach everywhere, and his wife was clearly dependent on it. "Members Only" is the 66th episode of the HBO series The Sopranos, and the first of the show's sixth season. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut joins us for this bonus episode this week! And it throws all the other things weve been discussing, here and throughout this book, into sharper relief. And the scenes he got to do for Eugenes death helped. 1) Carmine Lupretazzi, Sr. Carmine Lupretazzi, Sr. ( Tony Lip) is the best boss on the show by a country mile. 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. Hey Bobby, do you know youre getting a wife? When Eugene asks "what about him (Little Paulie)? He does so by stalking the man, following him into a convenience store where the juror takes a drink and a candy bar. Its also easy to see that Chase is of two minds on the last scene. While DiMeo crime family capo Paulie Walnuts had the highest kill count (9), Tony Soprano came in at a close second with 8 kills. So New York had plenty of reasons to kill Tony. 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? Is this, the superstitious Paulie wonders, just a cat, or his late colleague returned to life? But Tony needs help, and he starts getting it in a sit-down with Leotardos captain, Butch DiConcini (Greg Antonacci). Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Alan: What I mean is, maybe that cat is Christopher reincarnated, or maybe its just a cat that wont stop hanging around Satriales and staring at a photo of Christopher. Alan: I hear what youre saying. What does that leave us with, if that cut to black means somebody somewhere shot Tony? Eugene then tells the juror not to bother paying, as he then pays for the man's small purchase. Tony said, This is good. There has to be something else going on here, otherwise the scene wouldnt end as it ends, in such a studied inartful way. 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. Eugene Hermann Porter is a main character and a former antagonist, as well as a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. Alan: Yeah, I would say the circumstantial evidence of death in the scene is overwhelming. Eugene killed himself, after all. I just mean that Schrdingers cat is useful if youre applying it to a story that could end either in a radical, art-house movie way, or in a traditional way, but with a fancy wrapping. Also wouldn't shooting yourself be a less painful way of dying compared to hanging, he definitely had guns. Did Eugene kill himself so his family could move to Florida? Alan: Its hard to play dumb about what we discussed with Chase, but the great thing or the maddening thing, depending on your point of view is that even with all he ultimately told us, theres still no definitive answer to the dead/alive question. Matt: You mean does it matter if Chase knows what happened? Vito is thinner and is now a spokesperson for a weight loss company; he is Tony's best earner and is ambitious. It seems so obvious now. Then Chase called to say they would kill off Gene by suicide. But at the same time it could mean a boost for an actors career, as it was for Vincent Pastore. Uncle Junior's mind is deteriorating. Feeling that there was no way out, Pontecorvo hanged himself in his basement. In short, Ralph was just the worst and was killed in Season 4, Episode 9, "Whoever Did This." When one of Ralph's sons nearly killed . Eugene has a talk with Tony about him and his family moving to Florida permanently. This was Christopher's scene. I think you could make a better case for Tony Dies if you assume hes dead before this scene even starts. It could be that Chase simply likes ambiguity and confusion. Biography Scan this QR code to download the app now. First, I started hearing rumors. Funaro knew something was brewing when Gene got a family. 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. His wife was already miserable, his son was struggling with drugs and his daughter was still young, any of them seeing his dead body would be traumatized. Reddit community dedicated to the HBO hit TV series, The Sopranos, and movie, The Many Saints of Newark. 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. The schedule includes the premiere of My Dinner With Alan, a feature-length documentary in which we sit in the famous booth at Holstens and discuss the series and the experience of covering it for the paper that Tony used to pick up at the end of his driveway. (Tony had Patsys brother killed in season 2.) And, other than a couple of ugly fights, he has been getting along much better with Carmela since she took him back than he ever did during the first six seasons of the show. 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.. That's a no-go." This was presented rather confusingly because of the constant flashes to Vincent going to space. Certainly. 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.