Made in America (The Sopranos)

“Made in America”
The Sopranos episode
Episode no.	Season 6; Episode 86
Guest stars	see below
Written by	David Chase
Directed by	David Chase
Production no.	621
Original airdate	June 10, 2007 (HBO)
Episode chronology
"The Blue Comet"	–
	Episode chronology

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"Made in America" is the 86th and final episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos. It is the ninth episode in the second half of the sixth season. It first aired on Sunday June 10, 2007, attracting 11.9 million viewers, the largest audience since the season five premiere.^[1]

The episode details Tony Soprano's final attempts to reach peace with rival mob boss Phil Leotardo, who has (since the previous episode) marked Tony for assassination. The episode was written and directed by the series creator David Chase, marking the first time Chase has directed an episode since the series premiere.

Plot summary

The episode opens with Tony waking up in the bed of the safehouse. The core members of the crew are there, and have been for some period of time, and a cat has taken to living with the crew. In the next scene, Tony has a meeting, offering Agent Harris the name of the bank used by the two Arabs who frequented the Bada Bing. Tony asks Harris if he knows the location of Phil, Agent Harris warns Tony not to overreach. AJ is then shown developing his relationship with Rhiannon.

Tony has a sitdown with the members of the New York family, except for Phil Leotardo. The New York family members (Butch DeConcini and Albie Cianflone) agree to stop pursuing the war and make reparations for killing Bobby Baccalieri, but won't do anything about Phil (but tell Tony he can "do what you have to do"). Tony comes out of hiding and his family returns to their North Caldwell home. Agent Harris then notifies Tony that calls allegedly made by Leotardo are coming from a payphone in Oyster Bay, New York. Tony's crew sets out to look for gas stations containing payphones.

Phil is shown getting out of his SUV at a gas station, and says goodbye to his wife and grandchildren. Walden Belfiore shoots and kills him as he stands by the passenger side window. His wife Patty then runs out of her Ford Expedition screaming, and the car is left in drive with her two grandchildren inside. The car crawls forward, rolling over and crushing Phil's head, causing an onlooker to vomit, but is brought to a stop by an onlooker who reaches inside the vehicle. After hearing that Phil had been killed, Agent Dwight Harris yelled, "We're gonna win this thing!".

At the dinner after Bobby Baccalieri's funeral, A.J. announces his disaffection with the American Dream and the government's war on terror to the people at his table, but most of them express disinterest or confusion. He decides that joining the Army is his only recourse to contribute to fixing things, but both his parents and his girlfriend Rhiannon are against this. Ultimately, his parents distract him from his Army ambitions by getting him involved in producing a movie with Carmine Jr's production company, and supplying him with a new BMW M3 to replace his SUV, which burned to a crisp after he injudiciously parked it in some dry leaves while listening to Bob Dylan and making out with Rhiannon.

Meadow plans a wedding with Patrick Parisi. Tony visits Silvio, who remains in a coma. Uncle Junior is visited in the state mental hospital by Janice, trying to figure out where he has hidden his stash of cash, but his dementia is so far advanced that he doesn't recognize anyone. He thinks Janice is Livia, and that Janice's daughter Domenica is Janice. When she tells him that Bobby is dead, he answers "yeah, Ambassador Hotel," a reference to the location of the 1968 assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Tony finally goes to visit him, but Junior doesn't know who he is, or that he shot Tony. He looks confusedly at Tony, who tells Junior that he and his father used to run North Jersey. Junior simply replies, "That's nice."

Tony's lawyer Neil Mink suggests that his capo, Carlo Gervasi, will be testifying to a grand jury and that Tony stands to be indicted. Tony offers the leadership of the Aprile crew to Paulie. Paulie, unsettled by a stray cat that keeps staring at a picture of Chris in the backroom of Satriale's, also feels superstitious about the apparent curse that has struck the leaders of that crew. After he turns down the offer, Tony says that he will offer the position to Patsy Parisi, which drives Paulie to accept the promotion after all.

At the end of the episode, Tony is meeting his family at a restaurant in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He selects Journey's song "Don't Stop Believin'" from the table-side jukebox. Various people enter and Tony looks at each of them. Carmela and then A.J. arrive. Meadow is late and has difficulty parallel parking her Lexus outside. A man walks in and orders coffee at the counter. He seems to look in Tony's direction several times then walks towards him, going past to the restroom. Tony, Carmela, and A.J. each pop an onion ring in their mouths and finally, Meadow parks and rushes across the street, approaching the door. Tony hears the bell on the door ring and glances up. The screen then abruptly cuts to black and the music stops (on the phrase 'don't stop' nonetheless). After several seconds, the credits roll in silence.

Final scene interpretation

The ending is said to offer no closure or catharsis for viewers.^[1] A major point of contention among fans lies in the fate of Tony Soprano in the episode's final moments and thereafter: some interpret that he is killed while others believe that he remains living.^[1] One argument for the former lies in a conversation he had in "Soprano Home Movies" with his brother-in-law Bobby in which he comments on how suddenly and without sound, death can happen in their lives as gangsters.^[1] Arguments are also made with equally strong conviction that the meaning of the final scene was that life is fraught with danger but life goes on, as the lyrics of the closing song are said to imply.^[1]^[1] The moment in the final scene, showing a man in a Member's Only jacket who goes to the bathroom, has often been interpreted as a nod to the scene in The Godfather in which Michael Corleone retrieves a gun from the bathroom before shooting his enemies.^[1]

David Chase, in his only interview after the airing of the episode, said the scene speaks for itself:^[1]

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Chase also explained that the series ending was planned during the 21-month hiatus between seasons five and six, a "long break" Chase asked for when approached about another season.^[1]

Guest starring

Matt Servitto as Agent Dwight Harris
Carl Capotorto as Little Paulie Germani
Max Casella as Benny Fazio
Jenna Stern as Dr. Doherty
Gregory Antonacci as Butch DeConcini
John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia as Albie Cianflone
Frank John Hughes as Walden Belfiore
Emily Wickersham as Rhiannon Flammer

Miryam Coppersmith as Sophia Baccalieri
Angelo Massagli as Bobby Baccalieri, Jr.
Daniel Sauli as Patrick Parisi
Michelle DeCesare as Hunter Scangarelo
David Margulies as Neil Mink
Maureen Van Zandt as Gabriella Dante
Donna Pescow as Donna Parisi
Geraldine LiBrandi as Patty Leotardo
Peter Mele as George Paglieri

Production

The final scene of the episode was filmed in Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery, an Ice Cream and Candy shop located in Bloomfield, New Jersey.^[1] Upon hearing of Phil Leotardo's death, Agent Dwight Harris joyfully yells, "We're gonna win this thing!", written as a reference to former FBI supervisor, R. Lindley DeVecchio, who supplied the line when he was told Lorenzo "Larry" Lampasi, had been shot to death in front of his Brooklyn home. DeVecchio was later charged for informing the mob on various accounts, including giving the locations of another of enemies to Gregory Scarpa.^[1]^[1]^[1] Journey's Steve Perry refused to let David Chase use their song "Don't Stop Believin'" in the final scene until he knew the fate of the leading characters, and did not give approval until three days before the episode aired. He feared that the song would be remembered as the soundtrack to Tony's demise, until Chase assured him that that wouldn't be the case.^[1]