Ignited by Johnny “Sack” Sacramoni, a gang war breaks out between the New York and New Jersey families in “The Sopranos.” Just when Tony Soprano thinks he has won, a lone gunman pulls up next to him at a stoplight and shoots him in the head.
Tony’s son, Anthony Jr., emerges as the new boss.
Tony’s daughter, Meadow, realizing what a murdering lowlife her father has become, takes her own life.
Carmela, in a scene reminiscent of “The Godfather,” arranges for the assassination of Tony’s crew and assumes control of the family.
Plot lines for the new season of the HBO mob drama that returns tonight? Not exactly.
These are just a few of the scenarios that fans of the show have proposed in e-mails to The Denver Post and in postings on numerous “Sopranos” fan websites. Are they on the mark? That’s anyone’s guess.
Creator David Chase has his cast and crew under an oath of omerta and no respectable TV writer would ruin the fun by squealing on what happens in the first few episodes released for preview.
What is clear from the fans’ musings, though, is that they expect a kind of moral ending, a conventional justice to descend on Tony and his crew for the homicidal rages, calculating cruelty and blood-soaked vendettas they have employed since the show’s 1999 debut.
They see the show as more “Crime and Punishment” than “The Godfather.”
An odd irony is at work.
“The Sopranos” has become the poster child for critics of violence and profanity on TV who contend this show and others – “Deadwood” and “The Shield” among them – create an amoral world that bleeds into real life. Yet most fans hold to the notion that moral certainty exists, at least on TV.
There is no question that Chase has created a morally ambivalent universe on his show, which is not only the most multilayered mob drama in TV history but also the top-rated show on cable.
HBO officials stress that the channel’s growth cannot be linked to any one show, but it seems reasonable that a certain shrink-visiting Jersey mob boss is at least partly responsible for the growth of subscribers to HBO/Cinemax.
David Lavery, a professor at the Middle Tennessee State University who has edited two collections of essays about “The Sopranos,” is surprised by the fan reaction.
“It’s almost a throwback to the old gangster films that somehow this guy has to be paid back,” he said of the responses. “In fact, the show is much more morally ambiguous. Chase is a real skeptic about America. Look at the way the FBI is portrayed.
“It’s almost as if the FBI and the mob need each other.”
Lavery, whose latest book, “Reading the Sopranos,” hit shelves in February, said Tony’s death at the end of the series would not surprise him. After all, the mob boss has told psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi that jail or death are his only ways out. “But I’m betting something much more morally ambiguous. I do think it’s going to be something that doesn’t leave us with a sense of a stable society.”
While fans cling to a moral compass, they certainly are imaginative. Consider a few of their scenarios:
– Joyce Jacques Singular, Denver
– Carole and Stan Rachesky, Mitchell Creek
-Jamie D, posted on the-sopranos.com
At least one person who has spent plenty of time thinking about the mind-set of “The Sopranos” says these reactions are to be expected.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that the viewers are demanding a violent end to Tony,” said Glen Gabbard, a psychiatrist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and author of “The Psychology of the Sopranos.”
“The morally ambiguous world created by David Chase is at a level that is far too sophisticated for the average viewer,” he added in an e-mail. “Television story lines follow predictable myths that are time-honored. One of them is that evil ultimately will get punished.
“One of the charms of ‘The Sopranos’ is that the writers consistently subvert the expectations of the audience.”
One “Sopranos” aficionado from Milwaukee is on the same wavelength as Gabbard.
“Tony sits in his backyard following Meadow’s ‘Godfather’-
esque wedding ceremony. He removes his tie, lights up a cigar, and enjoys a quiet moment of reflection,” writes Scott Neubauer of how he sees the series ending.
“Then there is a rustling in the bushes. A mother duck appears with her ducklings and they make their way to the swimming pool. Tony takes a deliberate puff from his cigar, exhales, and smiles.”
That sounds about right. Fade to black.
Staff writer Edward P. Smith can be reached at 303-820-1767 or esmith@denverpost.com.
