David Chase has had to explain the ending of “The Sopranos” far too many times, but a common theory posited among fans is that the show’s opening sequence – in which New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano suffers a panic attack and faints after witnessing a family of ducks congregating in his backyard pool – is thematically analogous with its wildly divisive and much-discussed finale. In other words, Tony begins the show with a panic attack, and the American viewership of “The Sopranos” ended the show with one.
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Chase has also suggested that the ending, and more specifically, the episode’s use of Journey’s classic cheese-rock track “Don’t Stop Believing,” has a meaning that is cringingly literal-minded if we are to take the “Not Fade Away” director at his word. And yet it’s telling just how much importance we designate to this kind of storytelling device – how a show begins versus how it ends. After “The Sopranos,” which knocked down the doors for other small-screen storytellers and allowed for a new kind of long-form storytelling to be manifested within the medium, showrunners were forced to elevate their craft. The opportunity to tell a story from week to week, over many seasons and culminating in a definitive denouement, was expanding. This new video essay, takes a look at just that: the first and last frames of many of the greatest shows of the last twenty years or so.
In some cases, seeing a show’s first scene juxtaposed with its last reminds you of how crappy some of these shows ended up being in the long run (really, many of them shouldn’t have run for as long as they did – looking at you, Showtime). We all know about the trainwreck that was the “Dexter” finale, in which our namesake psycho finally grows an actual hunky serial killer beard after eight seasons of whisper-y, ponderous voiceover. Or how about “Californication,” which began as a flawed but endearing satire on male vanity and ended up as a grotesque and offensive indulgence of the same? And yet, for every dud in the video, there’s two more gems: the apoplectic nightmare of the “Twin Peaks” finale, for instance, and also “Mad Men,” whose sly opening prelude neatly mirrors its bold final episode by distilling Don Draper’s internal and external journeys as one. Some pre-“Sopranos” programs even get some love – mostly beloved sitcoms like “Frasier” and “Friends” – though “Hannibal” might have to be my personal pick for the most formally audacious climax in T.V. history, if not necessarily the most successful.
Is your favorite T.V. show in there? Watch the video above and let us know.
