Captain's Quarters -

I just appreciate the fact that you were the first to actually post what happened for those Sopranos fans via Netflix. Thanks.

I was told that they shot 3 different scenes for the ending. I think this ending was a marketing gimmick as we'll have to buy the DVD when it comes out to find out what the other 2 potential endings are....

Worse than Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower.

Can you spell M-O-V-I-E?

I think maybe Tony is dead. We don't know it (for sure) because he doesn't know it either. Never saw it coming.

I think it was a terrific ending. Why would one expect this series to end like all other series, with some grand event that tidies everything up at the end. There all kinds of events over the course of this series that were never resolved. The cop-out would have been a formula ending to a show that broke the formula mold. One could see over the course of this season that the FBI agent had some level of regard for Tony.
I would have been satisfied with any number of endings, including Tony's demise. But I'm OK with this one.

Just like life has no tidy ending neither do The Sopranos. All along they tired to live a normal life, theirs just happened to involve death and crime.

Chase was prescient enough to understand that he could never write something that lived up to the hype. He saw how Seinfeld sputtered with its finally and knew he couldn't create something as poetic as the final minutes of M*A*S*H.

So what does he do? He just ends. *POOF* Like that.

The greatest American television drama, like life, has no ending.

The NEXT two minutes, after everything goes dark, will probably be on the DVD. More waiting.

Well, Drudge is covering this. And, Mickie Finke, wanted to tear her TV from its moorings; is saying people should cancel HBO, just to teach them a lesson.

Of course, Labamigo is right. Not only in thinking "M-O-V-I-E" ... but SUCKER. Because there will be a movie, now.

And, no matter how mad people get; they'll go.

Shows ya the mentality of the elites. Since they're getting hit, now. The HBO computers have crashed. And, the back lash is palpable.

Of course, leave it to Finke, talking to Drudge, to point to the money in sydication. And, why this "nothing" of an ending keeps the "repeats" alive.

Now, what's Rowling gonna do to, or with Harry Potter?

What a letdown!
So the ending of all endings was no ending at all?
How incredibly ridiculous, and anti-climactic.

I agree, I don't care what they say, they are making a play for "Sopranos, the movie"

My ending would have been like this:

Dr Malfey calls Tony (as she generally does to reconsider) and tells him to come to her home. She says she has something to talk to Tony about, and it is very important.
Tony arrives, and knocks on the door, but there is no answer, so he goes in. The house is lit in candlelight, and he is bewildered. He walks toward the bedroom and Jennifer Malfey is on the bed, dressed scantily. "Isn't this what you always wanted, Tony?" He calmly takes off his coat and tosses it on the floor. "Now that I'm not your Doctor, there isn't a reason for us not too...."
They make love. Cut to them in bed, and Tony says he is happy. The good Doctor says she has another surprise for him, and he is intrigued. She gets up and goes to the other room. She comes back in with a box, opens it, and takes out a gun and points it at him. He laughs. "Who knew you had a sense of humor?" He says, chuckling.
She fires, hitting him 3 times in the chest.
The look on his face is complete surprise. The never saw it as possible....
Cut to Dr Malfey, laughing, and laughing....her mind totally gone.
The end.

At least that is an end worthy of the Sopranos.

I think this ending accomplished exactly what David Chase intended it to; defy every expectation and provoke neverending discussion about what the ending meant.

Does it harken back to Tony and Bobby's speculation as to whether "you never hear the one that gets you". Does it mean that the suspicious guy that went to the bathroom is as much a red herring as everything else in the last five minutes of the show? Who knows,

Don't stop believing...maybe.

Don't stop talking about The Sopranos...definitely.

Bada Bing !!!

Bobby: "You prolly don't even hear it when it happens, eh?"
Tony: "Ask your friend in there. On the wall."

I never watched the show (too busy to watch non-educational tv) until wife bought the first couple of seasons on DVD. Watched first five episodes and swore it off probably forever. The dialog lacked credibility.

Ronald D. Moore better not pull s**t like this for Battlestar Galactica....

Frankly David Chase is a genius. I never would have guessed that he would end it like this but it was inspired.

Yeah he built up the suspense and he did so deliberately and everyone knows why.

He was playing with the viewers.

Playing with the standard 'ploy' of having someone critical not be able to enter at the planned time and thus escape the mayhem purely by 'accident'.

Playing with the Godfather 'homage' of the 'suspect' heading off to the washroom.

Playing with the entry of the 2 'yutes' as Tony was sitting there.

Just playing with everyone. Good for him.

For what it is worth I think he telegraphed pretty clearly what the 'immediate' future held for everyone.

Janice was going to 'compensated' for Booby's death. What she did later ,with the children is dependent on what the viewer thinks of her 'character'.

Syl may or may not awaken. Such is life.

Tony was going to be tried on one or more 'low-level' criminal charges. Whether he beat the rap is unknown. It 'depends'. It always does.

Paulie was going to be in charge of a a major operation even if he did think it was 'cursed'. He might not be overjoyed at the propect but he is a 'loyal' capo. Tony wants it. Therefore it is. Happiness is not an issue.

Carmine is going to keep on selling houses.

AJ is in the movies, and still a doofus. But maybe not so much a doofus as before. Time will tell.

Meadow is going to do something self-sustaining. She has always been the 'stable' one in the mix.

The WAR was over when Phil bought the farm. His 'underlings' sold him out and are now quite happy to move-on-up.

Tony's life has always been spent ' looking up ' to see who just walked in. He lives a 'dangerous' existence. The scene in the restaurant showing that was great. Even at the best of times, someone could always just walk in .

Sure I would have liked a 'neat package', but life is a MESSY usually unresolved affair and Chase pursued his vision to the last.

Great ending. Of course it's unsatisfying . It is what it is.

You decide what happened later. But he did set the basic stage in place.

No Phil - No War. No War- No Hit.

All else is ----

I think Tony got popped. During the first episode of this season, when Tony and Bobby were talking out in the fishing boat, Tony said something about never seeing it coming and everything just going black...and that's exactly what happened in the finale. R.I.P. Tony Soprano.

Chase figured it out a year ago - how do you end this? You don't.
Life goes on - whe I saw Baby Bing get his BMW and get bought off I said "Same old same old". And that;s the point.
The Genoveses and Gambinos are STILL at it. It never ends

I'm cancelling HBO tomorrow anyhow. Planned to do it when it was announced that this was the last episode.

It ended as it started.

A regular guy with family and problems and a stressful job.....

....and oh yeah, he is a mafia boss.

First of all, Phil, you're a moron. The dialogue lacked credibility? Have you been in the friggin mafia before?

I liked the ending. Movie or not...

Horrible ending. This type of ending is nothing new, nothing awe inspiring, and getting really old. Its very uncreative and almost seems like a cop-out. It happens on so many tv shows and so many movies now that its getting tiring. Who wants to read a good book only to put it down in the last chapter, never reading the ending? Terrible way to end a great show. i watched it with 8 other soprano fans and not a single one thought it was a worthwhile ending to an otherwise great run.

All episodes are presented from T's perspective. Tony enters the restrauant, but the director puts him temporally displaced, actually watching himself seated, to remind us of that fact.

Meadow is upset; she needs to talk to Dad (after all, she is a Mob lawyer) perhaps to warn him. Her agitation makes her attempt to parallel park difficult.

A man with a form-fitting Member's Only coat (you remember those - the 80's Journey song about a small town boy helps us notice that) Maybe he is settling a score for Phil, who was locked with him up for 20 years, and he only has wardrobe from that era - and is short on cash, hence Phil's plan "B". He enters the restraunt, following AJ, but Tony dismisses him since that tight coat could not conceal a weapon (Tony would pick up on that) and the guy uses the bathroom. That's where the gun is.

Tony is seated in the direct line of fire from the bathrooom, which is excecuted at the moment he sees his daughter enter the restaraunt - the last thing he sees. Again, since the show framend in his perspetive, the screen simply goes blank.

We can assume that by the time Meadow gets to the restraunt door, Tony looks at her, not seeing the .380 directed at this temple. (A scenario not unlike Phil, who is admonshing his wife about a perscription pick-up when he is killed.) He is reflecting on AJ's comment to remember the good times, and he is glad to see Meadow. Then the shot is fired.

Tony's last moment is enjoying his family, remembering the good times, and feeling the relief all parents feel when first seeing a child that is overdue. Not bad for a guy who had it comming.

Remember a previous episode: you never hear the bullet that kills you.

please this show has been all about copouts ever since it seems Big Pussy got whacked. Maybe Jackie Jr.

Meandering stories that go nowhere, buildup for feuds that never get resolved. Nobody pays for their actions. Half a season spent on a self-indulged dream sequence (which would have worked had not a NY-NJ storyline been built)

I can understand Chase's inclination to have things unresolved as they are in real life...just not this many things.

It almost seems as if after they whacked Puss, that was the big "twist" and everything else was "now what?"

Wasn't the guy sitting at the counter wearing a "Members Only" jacket? Remeber Gene Pontecorvo from Season 6 opener?

Did not two "Unidentified Black Males" enter the diner?

The truck driver guy in the diner. His hat reminded me of Jack Massarone.

I'm just saying.

I was waiting for Valery the the "interior decorator who killed 12 Chechoslovakians" to show up.

The Sopranos is about loose ends.

Oh, was a new episode of the Soprano's on tonight? I missed it (again).

I'll wait for the movie version that surely is coming within the next two years.

Until then, I'll just go see the Bourne Ultimatum coming out in early August.

Should have ended with "Blue Comet".

It was the best of times and the worst of times- this was a brilliant ending,

I'm with dougf above- the show was left pregnant with possibilities of what happens next.

My idea for an ending was to have Meadow accidentally shot and killed by a paranoid Tony as T attempts to defend himself. Now, that didn't happen- but it still could because the show ended with a visible threat to Tony present and Meadow physically separated from the rest of the family.

So in my ending, Tony looks up, sees suspicious guy looking towards him and pulling something out of his jacket. Tony reaches for his gun and fires just as Meadow steps in front and takes the bullet in the head.

This would be a satisfying ending for me because it would leave Tony and Carmela in the worst possible position- living with the loss of the one person and relationship in their lives that seems right- reaffirming that the wages of sin are death.

But it is great that not only my ending is still in play, but yours probably is too. This is a Web 2.0 user generated type ending- write your own script.

Just as CNN blew off the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis to cover the Paris Hitlon drama, so too was the focus on the Iraq War, Bush conspiracy theories, and the woe-is-me character that is Tony's "depressed" son. Rather than continue with the doom and gloom, he started getting laid by a hot chick, got a job (albeit an entry level gig), and regained his focus on living an American lifestyle where people car about the world, but....not to excess.

I liked the end.

'Course, I'd have liked to see a big bada boom or a nice huge ass shootout ala Scarface, but this will do till the movie comes out. Besides, Phil bought it, and that's a good episode.

Before Tony sits down, a man in a green jacket can be seen walking to the left of the screen. Six feet are visible, the two feet of the man and four feet of two cub scouts in the background. There is a sound like Carmella screaming, you hear this same sound again as the woman in black comes through the door. After Tony is seated, no ones feet are visible for the rest of the scene.

The shooter is the guy who only ordered coffee, sat at the bar and entered the men’s room to Tony’s right directly before the end of the scene. He had the perfect shot. The guy in the cap was busy reading his paper, the black guys were there to eat (they were interested in the pie and not Tony).

Death Symbols in final Soprano’s episode:

Safe House – Twilight Episode “The Bard” where a writer evokes Shakespeare to write TV scripts. The question you here is “Julius what do I have to do, what do I have to say to get you out of here?”. This is a Caesar reference.

Safe house / Satriale's - The Cat, In the East the cat is said to bear away the souls of the dead, and in some parts of West Africa, is is accepted that the human soul passes into the body of a cat at death.

Burning SUV – Final lyric of Dylan song “It’s Alright, Ma” that plays as SUV burns. You hear “While one who sings with his tongue on fire”, the lyric continues, “Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in.”

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Only Six feet can be seen, two of the man in the green jacket, four of the cub scouts.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Carmella’s screams can be heard as Tony enters the diner and the woman in black enters the diner.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Carmella and kids are wearing black.

Holsten’s (Final Scene) – Tony orders onion rings, someone on forum’s mentioned tears. Onions always accompanied the dead in ancient Egypt. They symbolized eternity.

I only watched it once, but it did seem that Meadow was overly stressed just for being late. Although, if she knew of a possible threat to Tony, I don't think she would have bothered to take that much time parallel parking.

The more I think about it, the more I think Tony got clipped. Family wasn't touched. Just a bullet or two to the head, the guy drops the gun and walks out.

Who ordered the hit? Why? We'll never know just as Tony will never know.

I don't know why HBO has a history of disappointing endings of their series. "The Sopranos" isn't the first to do this. I never could get into watching the Sopranos because after the first couple of seasons, I could no longer afford the cable package that included HBO so I went to basic cable. I might watch the boxed sets, but frankly that's probably not going to happen. The last series my wife and I got hooked into on HBO was "Oz" and that series' finale was quite disappointing as well. I tried watching "Carnivale" but that series seemed to lose direction and that's about the time I stopped getting HBO. So I don't think I've missed much.

Another thing,

Phil got clipped with a bullet to the back of the head as he was looking at a woman he loves. Never saw it coming.

Seems that Tony went the same way.

The ending was like the show. Tony had a sitdown with the other side. They had to get back to making money. That is the nature of this business there in. I would cancel HBO because the Sopranos used to be all I watched on it. I now also watch Big Love since it is placed in my state and has some familiarity to it. After it's season is over I will cancel. Shit I forgot I watch Rome also. Rome makes the Sopranos look like Telletubies.

The alleged "clues" discovered by "Sopranos" fans in the final scene of the series will, I fearlessly predict, soon equal those "found" by the "Paul is Dead" crowd.

"Hey, goombah, if you play the "Sopranos" Deluxe Edition DVD backwards, you can hear Paulie Walnuts saying, "I buried Tony!" and Tony singing, "Turn me on, bada bing!"

Fuhgeddabowdit!

Folks, I think the best explanation for the last scene is also the most obvious:

Tony does, in fact, live, but he pays a heavy price for his survival. He's facing an indictment and, if convicted, will very probably do hard time. Furthermore, even more than before, he'll always be glancing over his shoulder or taking the "WIld Bill Hickock seat" to see who's coming through the door. Can we spell P-A-R-A-N-O-I-D?

In short, Tony Soprano's punishment is that he's now trapped in a box (or, if you will, a booth) with no way out short of death or flipping to the Feds.

I think its fair to say that that was the most existential ending ever to a TV show...especially since the Seinfeld finale.

It was brilliant!

http://www.americanlegends.blogspot.com

"I think its fair to say that that was the most existential ending ever to a TV show"

That would still have to go to "The Prisoner".

I agree. Brilliant. Unexpected. Perfect. By the way, I think that T is still alive and living in a paranoid universe...

Doug fat has it right. Tony will not get killed, life just continues for him, and the various characters at the end just highlight Ton't inherent paranoia. That's his life -- friends getting whacked, friends in comas, his dual existnece as a family man ... The suspense of the last scene was brilliant... That's the nature of Tony's life

How many of yous guys thought your cable/satellite went on the fritz when the last dark scene was on? I know I did! But I think it truly is a non ending. If it represented Tony getting clipped, I think Chase would have had us seeing the diner from Tony's viewpoint, instead we kept seeing him from the third person.

Besides, Tony is a survivor, if that guy got us the audience concerned, a man like Tony would be too and he never showed a flicker of interest in him.

Best TV show ending ever. Not cheap, not a cop out; but delivered. Let me say that this season or few episodes were dissapointing barring these past two and a few others. But this season was dedicated to episodes that really didn't matter. The Lake House episode and the Tony goes to Vegas episode were pointless. Those are discouraging and cheap. This really pays off.

Typical ending for an HBO series. Thats why I will not invest any time in any more HBO programs.

What I find interesting about the end is this. We don't know who killed Tony or if he even died. What Chase did was supply us with a variety of characters and we are to assume who killed Tony or even if he was killed at all.

The assumption of course was that it was the swarthy Italian looking man in the Members only jacket. Thus he is making a play on the typical stereotypes, something they were supposedly trying to fight in the Sopranos. You assume it was the Members Only Jacket guy, but we really just dont know at all.

Throw in a few black guys and we are all left trying to figure it all out on our own. So for me, I believe he lives and life goes on. I am not going to fall for the stereotyping of Italians. He was just a guy getting coffee and went to the bathroom. He had no gloves on and their was no view of any gun.

Best TV show ending ever. Not cheap, not a cop out; but delivered. Let me say that this season or few episodes were dissapointing barring these past two and a few others. But this season was dedicated to episodes that really didn't matter. The Lake House episode and the Tony goes to Vegas episode were pointless. Those are discouraging and cheap. This really pays off.

Labamigo got it right. So did MarkJ. Chase meant to keep the fans guessing until the movie comes out, and he left himself a heck of a lot of freedom: He can pick it up in the diner, or he can pick it up at almost any point in the future and use a bunch of flashbacks to resolve the diner scene. It really looks like a stunt to fill the theaters while minimally constraining the plot of the future movie.

I will watch the show again with all the following in mind.

In the snow scene when Tony is in the Feds car, Tony tells the Fed about a bank the terror suspects use.

The Fed is not happy with the information. Tony also tells the Fed that AJ is worried about the terror plots and asks if he making a molehill. This shows Tony is a bit ignorant and the Fed does not answer since it should be making a mountain out of a molehill.

In the psychiatrists office we learn AJ has bought a lesson plan to speak Arabic. Also AJ is saying throughout the show it is a time of trouble for the country and he wants to help.

Tony says all you need to know is Shiscabob. This shows Tony's ignorance of the world around him.

When Phil is killed the Fed says we may win this thing.

When Tony is out to eat with Meadow she bemoans the states treatment of her father, he asks what state the state of NJ, and she no says no the Feds.

AJ is interested in serving his country, breaking dependence on foreign oil.

When AJ is laughing at the TV he is viewing Bush and Rove dancing.

The man entering the bathroom at the diner looks like a Fed.

Tony's visit to the mental ward, shows how mob families pass on power by the generation.

My take, the Feds need help with tracking terror plots, Tony has been less than cooperative, AJ seems willing to serve country.

The feds protect the Soprano family with the info on Phil.

The feds kill Tony, AJ is forced to take family lead, the feds feel he will be cooperative.

"David Chase built the final five minutes to tension point, giving us every indication that something bad was about to happen to Tony and the family in the diner"

I think maybe the point was that something bad had already been happening for the last seven years. That last minute couldn't change or alleviate that fact.

I am not sure if the black screen means Tonny or his family are gone……we don’t know….And I think this is what Chase wanted/wants us to think about The Sopranos: “You’ll never know what happen next”. I love the end!

I am not sure if Silvio will recover or the black screen means Tonny or his family are gone……we don’t know….And I think this is what Chase wanted/wants us to think about The Sopranos: “You’ll never know what happen next”

Re: a Soprano movie. I don't think there will be one. And if there is, it won't involve the cast of the show (ie... a prequel).

I read a couple of interviews with James Gandolfini over the weekend regarding the end of the Sopranos. He seems very relieved to leave Tony behind. I doubt he would agree to go back to the character.

Plus, I very strongly support the opinion that Tony was hit. Chase has said he always knew how the Sopranos would end. Seemingly that idea was the show would end just as Tony's life ended.

How many times have we seen someone get wacked, their life ending abruptly with the show going on. Well, now Tony (and us) are put in the shoes of the person being wacked. They set this up in Sopranos Home Movies when he and Bobby talk about you "don't see it coming" and "it just goes black."

And now all those slow-dissolve family shots at the end of many of the season finales make more sense. They were seemingly a set up for this abrupt ending.

I enjoyed Journey "dont stop believing" to close out the episode. I found this list http://collegecandy.com/buzz/3398 of all the music from the final episode. worth checking out

Bad storytelling -- I am so tired of "genius" artists who think they're being clever by not doing a proper ending. This is not real life. This is a story. It needs a clear cut ending. Anything else is just flaunting the writer's "cleverness" and superiority over us mere mortals.

This is what I think happened - and I am serious.

They talked about whether you would hear your killer approaching and that it would just turn black and you wouldn't know what happened at all.

Remember the looks we got of the possible killers in the restaurant. They seemed to look in our direction.

I think Mr. Chase whacked the viewers to let them feel what it might be like to actually be whacked. This way we can never know what happened in the restaurant.

Facts about the Sopranos last scene: #1 The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. He is the nephew of Phil. #2 The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. #3 The boy scouts were in the train store when Bobby was shot. #4 The 2 African American actors that walked in at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear in season 3. Also...remember that Tony told Carmella that they don't whack families...so I don't think they would have taken the entire table out...there were plenty of opportunities such as the scene with Tony & Paulie having a heart to heart on the street

You people are all crazy. The entire episode was very boring (except for Phil getting shot). I don't understand when everyone stopped watching the show to be entertained and started watching for the hidden meanings. Chase is an arrogant jerk who despised his audience and did a half ass final episode. He left it open ended so that he can make big bucks in the future, if he chooses to come back to the Sopranos. Tony is still alive and nothing happened after the screen went black. All you whacko's keep searching for the meaning - Chase is laughing all the way to the bank.

I'm with Jerry D. It's a show about the mob. It can't really end until the audience gets whacked. So we did, and we never heard it coming. I spent the first few minutes really pissed off at Chase for being lazy, self-indulgent, etc. I wanted a neat little ending too. Something that would deliver immediate resolution without my having to think about it too much. But let's face it - The Sopranos has never been easy on the viewer. That's part of its brilliance.

I didn't write this (I don't know who did), and it's definitely lacking in spelling and grammar, but the explanation seems to make sense:

ok listen guys...u gotta wach the end of the episode again and wach closely...here is wat ul c...when tony walks into the diner he looks at himself sitting down at the table...u can be sure of this b/c he is wearing different clothes when he sits down...i dont no wtf that means...in previous seasons it had been told to us that tony's dad died just as his daughter (janus) walked in...if u wach closely u will see janus walk in shortly after tony sits down...this is used to signify the possibility of that happening again...then u will c the sports store owner who tony destroyed walk in wearing a brown kinda hunting jacket...he is the guy that a couple seasons ago got into gambling trouble with tony and tony took over his store...HE IS THE 1 WHO WACKS TONY...he comes in and sits down hunched over...hiding his eyes as not wanting to be noticed...and alas..."u probly dont even here it when it happens rite?" (this is bobby talking to tony in the 1st episode of the season...tony had! this flashback as he was laying down in the last episode...there would be no reason to have had that in unless it had some huge significance)...and finally...tonys daughter walking in to c her dad get shot just as janus did so many years ago...u hear the bell of her walking in and then blackness...nuthing...it signifies the neverending cycle of the soprano family...aj will become tony...meadow will become janus...carmela will become livia (tonys mom)...and cycle of violence goes on and on and on....absolutlely amazing...i HATED the ending at first...but when i wached it again...and understood it...it is really the most amazing ending possible for the show...we really would not have been satisfied with the boring u c tony get shot ending...this was priceless...remember..this was not an action show...it was a drama about a FAMILY....

I agree with most of what Sarah posted, but...

then u will c the sports store owner who tony destroyed walk in wearing a brown kinda hunting jacket...he is the guy that a couple seasons ago got into gambling trouble with tony and tony took over his store.

That's not the sports store owner. He was played by Robert Patrick (from T2). I've seen the ending twice, and it's definitely not him. It may mean to signify him, but it's not the same actor.

I think we're left not knowing who killed Tony or why, because Tony would never know. It all just ends.

I tend to agree with the guy who wrote that this was Chase's extended middle finger to the audience. It may not have been intended that way, as his later interview suggests, but given that he's on record as saying he had a definite ending in mind, you have to figure one of two things: 1. he's a liar, or 2. he doesn't know what he's doing.

It was a great ending. The problem is that people want it to be a great finale, like every series that has ended. But that was what was so special about The Sopranos, it was a unique show, different from everything we have seen so far, and with a unique show, you shouldn't have an ending like every other show.

I think you should all find something better to do.

Look, it wasn't that those of us who wanted a real ending or legitimate conclusion couldn't handle loose ends. We just wanted a cooler or more twisted ending. I would have just had the members only jacket hitman come out of the bathroom slowing pulling what had to be a gun, with the screen going straight to Meadow. As soon as she stepped in you see a shocked and choked up look on her face. A couple of muffled gun shots. Then black silent screen. Very similar to what Chase did too, so fine. Seconds later the scene opens up again for a brief few seconds and all you see dead are the 2 black gangsta looking typecast guys who came in earlier. It was an unrelated hit. Everyone else is screaming and running. And Tony just turns around nonchallantly and shoves another couple of onion rings in his face. Totally callous and jaded. Just another day in his personal-- is this the day I get popped-- hell. Don't stop believin' plays on. The journey continues however paranoid it may be. End of scene. Roll credits. Now that would have been a cool ending with just as many loose ends. You know, even if Tony didn't get popped here, he would sooner or later. David Chase could have done better. That's all we're saying. We aren't peabrained bloodbath addicts, although that's fun to watch too, but a few more seconds would have done it for me. Tony doesn't get wacked in the finale or go to prison, but in this world, he will eventually. Hey David Prickass Chase, I am for hire. Hell, I'm a retarded writer and even my shitty ending would have been better than yours. You arrogant, annoying, uncreative Gizzwad.

Besides, if he does't start shooting or writing the movie in the next 6 months, he will just throw up alternate endings just to sell the DVD set like gangbusters. In the end, it's not about art, it's about another phoney like Chase looking to inflate their own ego along with their bankaccount as much as obscenely possible. Nuff said.

You have to pay close attention to the songs on the jukebox when Tony is flipping through them as they all have symbolic meaning. The song beneath the one that he chose to play, 'Journey - Don't Stop Believing', was 'Journey - Any Way You Want It'. Listen to the lyrics of 'Don't Stop Believing' and it's all perfectly clear. "Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues, THE MOVIE NEVER ENDS IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON AND ON..."

There were only 3 possible solutions to an ending: 1) Tony gets whacked 2) Tony gets arrested 3) Nothing happens and the life goes on as usual.

With this ending David Chase gave us all 3 possibilities referring back to the song beneath the one Tony chose to play, 'Any Way You Want It'.

Of course you can get as deep as you want with a brilliant show like The Soprano's, but that's my analysis in a nutshell. At first, I was upset by the ending but the more I thought about it and re-watched the show, particularly the ending dinner scene, the more clear it became. All of the songs and TV shows that played in the Soprano's have relevant meaning and especially the last one.

Soprano's fans...Don't Stop Believing!

Also, the man in the Members Only jacket represents a made man, possibly a hit man. The man seated behind Tony that looks like a trucker is wearing a hat that says USA on it and he represents the federal govt.

Tony says to Carmela right after showing a clear shot of the trucker and his 'USA' hat that Carlos is going to testify.

In an earlier scene with Tony and his attorney eating burgers at the Bing, Tony's attorney says that he has an 80% to 90% chance of being indicted on the gun charge and 2 or 3 other possible charges.

In the end though, Chase leaves it all up to us, making the Soprano's metaphorically invincible.

Brilliant.

Tony, dies! it suddenly turns black because its in his point of view. He turns and looks at medow and it goes black because she is the last thing he sees. HE GETS WACKED!

Did Carm set up a hit? She told AJ that she did not want to cook at they would go to Halsten's. She told Tony that it was the consencous....

What if the black guys tried to hold up the place and Meadow gets shot while coming through the door ala, Godfather after the opera.

I think Tony lives, I think that it should have been a special 2-hour episode, and I think that there will be a Soprano's movie.

So, Tony can see himself from his point of view? Because it shows his face right before it goes black.