Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Endings
After plowing through all 5 seasons over a couple months, we finished The Wire last night. And while it's almost cliche now to say it, it's the best show on TV. Maybe best of all, the ending was totally satisfying, and worthy of all the great arcs and story lines leading up to it.
...which made me reconsider the last season of The Sopranos. I still think the inconclusive, no-comment way they left Tony was great and fitting. And at the time, it didn't bother me so much that the show decided not to wrap up everyone else. The seasons' stories made a point to say these characters would always have to look over their shoulders, if they wanted this life. But now that I see how a similarly dense show -- with characters who are also determined to stay "in the game" -- can do it, I look at The Sopranos and think, "...Really? That's it?"
After plowing through all 5 seasons over a couple months, we finished The Wire last night. And while it's almost cliche now to say it, it's the best show on TV. Maybe best of all, the ending was totally satisfying, and worthy of all the great arcs and story lines leading up to it.
...which made me reconsider the last season of The Sopranos. I still think the inconclusive, no-comment way they left Tony was great and fitting. And at the time, it didn't bother me so much that the show decided not to wrap up everyone else. The seasons' stories made a point to say these characters would always have to look over their shoulders, if they wanted this life. But now that I see how a similarly dense show -- with characters who are also determined to stay "in the game" -- can do it, I look at The Sopranos and think, "...Really? That's it?"
