When most people think about The Sopranos, they think about that ambiguous ending.
People are still discussing that final shot to this day.
But over a decade later, we think finally understand the ending of The Sopranos.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Maybe?
Well, let's break it all down.
One of the most important relationships in The Sopranos if not the most important relationship
is between mob boss Tony Soprano and his therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi.
For years, the two danced around each other in Melfi's office, as the therapist was often
entranced and sometimes repulsed by Tony and his gangster ways.
Making things even more complicated, Tony was sometimes in love and sometimes sick of
his therapist.
Through it all, the personal and professional connection very nearly ended on more than
one occasion, but the two always seemed to find their way back to each other.
Then, in the penultimate episode of the series, Melfi comes to a realization after a colleague
encourages her to read up on how Tony, as a sociopath, might simply be taking advantage
of her.
Convinced that he's been using her, Melfi cuts Tony off during a tense final session.
After that, Tony doesn't attempt to call or contact her, and as far as we know, he considers
their relationship over, just as she does.
Remember this it'll be important later.
Loose ends and uncertain fates are a hallmark of The Sopranos' final season, and nowhere
is that more devastatingly evident than in the case of Silvio Dante, the consigliere
of the DiMeo crime family and one of Tony's most trusted friends and advisers.
In the penultimate episode of the series, "The Blue Comet," Lupertazzi boss Phil Leotardo
is on a quest for revenge and orders a series of coordinated hits against the DiMeo crime
family for killing his brother.
And sadly, that's when Silvio is introduced to a couple of bullets.
Silvio and Patsy Parisi are driving away from the Bada Bing when two men open fire.
Patsy starts shooting back and manages to escape, but Silvio is hit several times, and
his wounds land him in an intensive care unit.
In the series finale, "Made In America," it's revealed that Silvio is comatose as a result
of his wounds, and the doctors don't expect him to wake up.
He spends the final episode of the series on life support.
Remember this it'll also be important later.
One of the most debated and controversial scenes in Sopranos history or maybe even,TV
history starts when Tony and his family meet up for dinner.
Tony plays Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" on the restaurant jukebox, and as the four
members of the Soprano family show up for a meal, the tension becomes more and more
unbearable.
We move from shady-looking guys in the restaurant to Meadow struggling to park her car outside.
Then, just as his daughter seems to be walking in the restaurant, Tony looks up, and the
screen cuts to black.
So … what happened?
Well, there are two basic interpretations, so let's start with the most optimistic.
Let's believe the cut to black is simply our last moment with Tony Soprano, and we can
see that his future will be full of tension and uncertainty.
Yeah, the gang war was won, his kids seem happy, and he's settling in for a quiet meal.
But that guy at the counter is shady, anything could've happened to Meadow out on the street,
and Tony has to look up every time the bell over the restaurant's door rings because he
has to be sure he's not being ambushed.
Tony's alive, but he's never safe.
If he survives the series, he's going to spend the rest of his days fearing for his life,
and that final scene was simply our connection to him being closed off forever.
Sure, maybe Tony Soprano made it out of the show alive … but it's possible that Tony
had his brains blown out in that diner.
It's entirely valid to believe that the screen cuts to black because that's the moment where
Tony dies.
The sudden cut is his point of view as a character, with the sudden darkness showing that his
life has come to an end.
There's actually some evidence backing up this interpretation, as Tony's possible death
was foreshadowed earlier in the show.
In the season six episode "Soprano Home Movies," Bobby Baccalieri and Tony are chatting about
the nature of death, when Bobby theorizes that death is simple and quick.
"Yeah, our line of work, it's always out there.
You probably don't even hear it when it happens, right?"
This little line strongly suggests that in Tony's last moments, he didn't hear the bullet
that laid him low or even realize he was about to die.
Maybe the shady guy in the jacket went to the bathroom to pick up a gun a la The Godfather,
came back out, and shot Tony in the head.
We didn't see it because neither did Tony, and it's possible that one of the greatest
characters in TV history was left for dead in that New Jersey diner.
So, which is it?
Is Tony Soprano alive or dead after that final shot?
Series creator David Chase has always remained famously cagey about explaining the scene,
and shortly after the last episode aired, he insisted that "no one was trying to be
audacious" with the final moment.
Chase has been asked several more times to reflect on the ending in the years since the
series finale, and each time, he's remained relatively ambiguous in his explanation.
He's admitted that his original intention was to kill Tony off at the end, but he changed
his mind and went with the sudden cut to black instead.
He explained, simply,
"I thought it was more interesting."
Maybe the best explanation for the scene from the writers has come from Sopranos writer
Terence Winter:
"My interpretation was that, when you're Tony Soprano, even going out for ice cream with
your family is fraught with paranoia.
He's sown a life of murder, mayhem and treachery.
And everybody who walks in, a guy in a Member's Only jacket … this could be the guy, or
that could be the guy.
You're always looking over your shoulder and at some point, whether it happened that night
or not, when you live that life, one day, somebody's going to walk out of a men's room,
and that's it for you."
When it comes to a story's ending, there are two ways to take things: literally, and symbolically.
So literally, whether you believe Bobby Baccalieri's line about never hearing death coming or not,
we have a definitive answer for Tony Soprano: he does not die.
We know this, because he's still alive when the screen cuts to black.
Ending explained: Tony's alive.
You're welcome.
"Thank you.
Thank you."
Symbolically, however, things are obviously a lot more complicated.
"How's it going?"
"You didn't get sick?"
"Nah."
But you don't need a talking fish to find a potent symbol in The Sopranos.
The events of the last two episodes actually hint at a definitive explanation.
We see in that episode that Dr. Melfi ends her relationship with Tony, while Silvio is
shot and lingers in a coma neither alive nor dead.
The first episode of the series begins with Tony meeting Dr. Melfi, while the second-to-last
episode shows that working relationship coming to an end.
So if the show is the story of Tony and Melfi's sessions, the story concludes once those sessions
conclude too.
It doesn't seem like a coincidence that the same episode features Silvio being shot, which
leads to him being rendered comatose, a state in which he's technically alive...but for
all intents and purposes, he's not.
Silvio's coma mirrors Tony's end in the final episode.
He may be breathing, but he's seemingly in a space between life and death already.
So whether the final episode's cut to black is a bullet in Tony's skull or a symbol that
his life's actual journey has come to an end is pretty much irrelevant.
As long as he pursues his worst impulses and stays in his life of crime, he's as good as
dead every minute of the day.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite TV shows are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.