‘Sopranos’ could mimic ‘Godfather’ in finale

In “The Sopranos” series finale Sunday night, David Chase may be torn between the examples of two families: The Sopranos themselves, and the Corleones.

“The Godfather” is mentioned here not as a template — even though it is arguably the finest American film ever and therefore the finest American mob picture ever — but as an ideal. The characters in Tony Soprano’s inner circle live their lives in the hopes that they, too, could someday amass the power that Michael Corleone seized so ruthlessly at the end of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 operatic masterpiece.

Characters in “The Sopranos” have mentioned “The Godfather” trilogy often throughout the run of the series, referring simply to “One” or “Two.” (Never “Three.”). As far as the mob family is concerned, the Sopranos wish they could be the Corleones.

As the grand finale approaches, there’s still a chance they could be. In last Sunday’s episode, the simmering feud between Phil Leotardo and the New York family and Tony and his New Jersey gang spilled over into all-out war. Bobby Bacala caught the train, but missed the bus, so to speak. Silvio was shot up, sent to the hospital and has one Bruno Magli in the grave. Tony and his remaining soldiers went to the mattresses, and not because the Sealy Posturepedic offers a superior sleep experience.

At the end of “The Godfather,” Michael pulled off the unthinkable: He had all of the heads of the five families killed. In the Mafia, it’s considered an egregious breach of the code of conduct to whack a “made” guy — witness what happened to Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito in “Goodfellas” — but apparently Michael either misread the rule, or he found a loophole.

But he was, if nothing else, proactive. He understood that the other families were planning a move on him, so he took the initiative. That’s the Corleone approach. If Tony had adopted that plan, the Phil problem would be over by now. Granted, he wasn’t officially tipped off about being a target until the last episode, when Agent Harris of the FBI gave him a tip outside Satriale’s. But Tony surely realized that events were reaching a boiling point, and he knows now he should have acted sooner.

Wiping out weakness
Which brings us to Chase’s other option besides the Corleone model.

MSNBC video "Sopranos" sing their last aria June 8: "The Sopranos" has been dark and foreboding as it winds down to its finale. Will Tony Soprano survive the final show? Monica Novotny talks with television critic Alan Sepinwall. Countdown

Tony Soprano hates weakness. He hates it in his son. He hated it in Christopher, which caused him to block his nephew’s air passages at a key moment. And he hates it in himself. He recognizes a history of depression and panic attacks in his family, and he’s ashamed of it, an issue addressed repeatedly during sessions with his now ex-shrink, Dr. Jennifer Melfi.

But Tony’s weakness, his reluctance to wipe out Phil before Phil could wipe him out, his tendency to try and use diplomacy to calm the waters whenever a brouhaha arises, may prove to be his undoing — and may give Chase an excuse to have Tony killed.

Just like the conflict rages inside Tony about whether he wants to be assertive like Michael Corleone or passive like A.J., so too does it take place in the mind of Chase, the show’s creator and executive producer.

That choice will help determine, in part at least, whether “The Sopranos” ends in a satisfying manner or not.

“Satisfying” is a relative term. Often on another HBO show, “The Wire,” storylines end bleakly. But they still satisfy, because audiences understand why they happened the way they did. There are many more shades of gray on “The Wire,” and therefore more latitude when stories are resolved.

Not so on “The Sopranos.” Tony is the hero, and Phil is the villain, just like Michael Corleone is the hero in “The Godfather” and Barzini (in cahoots with the lesser mob bosses, as well as Virgil Sollozzo and Capt. McCluskey) is the villain. There is a clear-cut line.

In the mob genre, everybody is a bad guy when measured in terms of a civilized society. But when evaluated in their own malevolent sphere, there are good bad guys and bad bad guys. Michael Corleone is a good bad guy because audiences root for him. So is Tony Soprano.

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