“Not with a bang but with a whimper.”

A Funny Story aka Perils of Living in The Grey Area (Spoilers ahead)

On this day in 2007, the famous “Sopranos” ending aired. Back then, we watched our TV with what was called a Free-To-Air satellite box, which was a receiver that was designed to bring in free channels available on satellites that could also be programmed to bring in paid channels. Like I’ve discovered with most things in my life, it wasn’t illegal to do this in Canada, but it was definitely in the grey area.

Due to it’s instability, there had been a few occasions in the past where our TV had stopped mid-show. You can imagine how frustrating this was.

So, picture this - we had put our young children to bed and settled down to watch the much-hyped finale of one of our favourite shows ever. As the episode approaches its end, the Soprano family slowly arrives at their favourite restaurant one by one as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” plays. There is some tension in the air. As the scene builds, suddenly the screen goes black.

I can’t remember exactly what the reaction was at the time, but I’m sure it involved some cursing as we couldn’t believe the receiver stopped working just before the end of the show. I hustled trying to get it back on, but eventually we realized it was too late. We missed THE END! Or, at least, we thought we did.

The next day we awoke to learn that there were many, MANY others who thought the same thing had happened to them - that, for some reason, the show had been cut off accidentally.

Of course, those who know the finale, know this was exactly how it was supposed to end. And, although many hate it, I now think it’s a brilliant ending as it reflects how quickly and quietly a life, even one as big as Tony Soprano’s, can be over.

And what a daring and challenging way to end such a successful series - “not with a bang but with a whimper.”