Die-Hard 'Sopranos' Fans Take In Finale: Was It a Hit?

In living rooms across the region last night, people bade farewell to "The Sopranos," a television drama of crime and corruption, family and love, death and dying, which finally expired after nearly a decade of captivating the nation.

Philip Cardinale feted the end of the series with his friends by enjoying some classic Italian treats: cannoli, grappa and Limoncello. Carol Joynt hosted a small Sopranos party by serving an Italian classic, manicotti, in her garden. LaKitia Holden was home alone, glued to the screen.

It seems everyone had his or her ideas about who would be clipped and whether New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano would be whacked. But by the end of last night's finale, some viewers felt like the mob had turned on them.

They were teased with danger throughout the episode. But by the final scene, Tony and his family just sat around a restaurant table popping onion rings into their mouths. And then "The Sopranos" went dark. It was as if their lives would go on -- and no one would get to watch.

"It was really David Chase's joke on all of us: Nothing happened," Joynt said of the show's creator. "There were so many red herrings, and all that happened was" that rival mobster Phil got killed. "It was amazing. You can imagine David Chase sitting at home tonight chuckling -- all these elaborate scenarios that so many people came up with and, in the end, the family just gets together and eats at a restaurant."

"It was stupid," said Gail Clarke, 41, of Upper Marlboro. "I couldn't believe it. . . . I was waiting for a big huge climax, and it didn't happen, so I was let down."

For eight years, through 86 episodes, Americans have been seduced by the sins of a mafia boss, the tears of his wife and the struggles of his children. The HBO series opened a window into a mobster lifestyle about which many are curious but few would dare inhabit.

Last night, people watched what has been celebrated as the greatest drama in television's history come to an end -- but many watched at home.

Unlike the Super Bowl, aired in hundreds of sports bars, and unlike even "Sex and the City," HBO's acclaimed series that fans famously watched while sipping pink cocktails at Felix in Adams Morgan, the final episode of "The Sopranos" was a cultural moment that most people experienced in private.

After HBO learned that Nathans, the Georgetown bar and restaurant, was offering fresh pasta dishes at a 25 percent discount on " 'Sopranos' Sunday," the premium cable channel cut off its feed to the restaurant and many other commercial establishments in the area.

"This particular action has nothing to do with 'The Sopranos,' and the entire feed of HBO is just not allowed to be outside of residential areas," HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson said last night.

Consequently, said Joynt, who owns Nathans, "you're not going to find anybody who does it unless they can find a way to bootleg the feed in. No restaurant would dare."

Stuart Wade, a self-described diehard Sopranos fan who is manager at Nathans on Sunday nights, was at work and missed the finale. "I'm at the mercy of my On Demand with Comcast," he said.

Many in the area without an HBO subscription were searching for a place to watch the finale.

Michael Coltrain, 26, a graduate student at George Mason University, drove home to Virginia Beach, where his friend has HBO, to watch last night's episode -- which, he said, he disliked intensely.

"You figured that it could at least have an actual ending to it," Coltrain said. "Me and my buddy were like, '[Tony's] gonna get it, he's gonna get it,' and all of a sudden it was like, 'bam!' Nothing."

Some Washingtonians were scouting for dates for the final episode. One local posted a personal ad on Craigslist: "Let's make this Sunday the new Saturday. Let's laugh, talk, eat Thai, party and watch Sopranos in high def. The rest is up to us."

There's something about "The Sopranos" that captivates people. The main characters, so gritty and real, have lives always in tension. The show is a constant flirtation with ruthless danger.

"I don't relate to any of those guys," said Jorge Canales, 42, of Falls Church, "but I like to watch the gangsters."