I watched the series just recently for the first time but knew how it ended. From the very first episode, Tony is suffering anxiety over his position, his deeds and likely, his fear of getting whacked. In the finale, the viewer actually felt that same dread that Tony felt all those seasons. David Chase was able to truly capture Tony's anxiety and projected it onto the viewer. For that one episode, we felt as though we were Tony. Imagine feeling like that everyday. I think that's the magnificence of the finale.
A couple of times in the show we also see him walk down the drive way to get the paper and he shits himself every time a car pulls up and Someone gets out
All involved in the life of crime eventually get caught in the phycology of death ... The Three Alternatives Assassinated Jailed Turned Rat No other Outcome Mafia Premise Betrayal
Here's a huge hint, when he flips through the jukebox, under the Journey tab also is listed the song "Anyway You Want It." Meaning, you can interpret the ending any way you want.
No, it's no an open-ending, the creator even said there is an answer and clues. It's been solved, Tony was assassinated, the only question is by who - but a good video has addressed this also.
@@DespondPeople say Meadow was the guardian angel had she not walked in then yeah maybe he gets killed but she was in there and Tony saw her. I think the writer has changed him mind several times and decided to go with what most people want or after thinking about it changed.
@@Despond Yeah it would be kind of silly to put in all those hints and then say nothing happened. Also it makes sense from a business standpoint. NY had nothing but problems with Tony throughout the series. Constant work disruptions. Getting rid of him would make sense for them. Paulie knew Tony was thinking about killing him and Patsy was still pissed about his twin brother being killed so they would have gone along with it.
@@ELLIOT1311 true. GOT was pretty good but fucked up the end so hard that it literally destroyed the whole show for me. A good show is good from the beginning to the end, and Sopranos has a good ending...
@@ELLIOT1311 most series that go too long are like that. EG:Walking Dead. They should have ended Game Of Thrones years ago when it was at its height. But these tv companies want to squeeze every drop of profit out of every big hit.
Watching this was as helpful to understanding how the Sopranos ended as Christopher explaining to Adriana that Cosette “must’ve crawled under there for warmth” was to her grieving process.
Cosette is the name of a little girl in Les Miserable. Symbol of innocence and whatever exists in the world that is worth preserving despite that no matter how much those around her try, she is inevitably doomed eventually by the world around her.
What really made me sad is realizing that Junior outlived so many people and probably doesn’t even remember them….being all alone and probably doesn’t realize it.
Best explanation I saw, was that Everytime the door rings Tony looks up. Then the next shot is his point of view at the door. On the last one as Tony looks up instead of his point of view at the door we see black. So that is Tony's point of view. Just black. He's dead.
Yes, that's cleeeearly the fucking answer, it's actually quite obvious when you watch the scene that it keeps switching back and forth from Tony's POV. I don't know why so many peabrained idiots can't figure this out. IT'S NOT AMBIGUOUS.
meadow was his guardian angel. her attempt to park her car and being late to the reunion, represents that she wouldn't be able to protect him one last time. the sudden black means that he dies just like that, he wouldn't see or hear anything, like bobby told him a few episodes back. this entire series was amazing and the ending was the best I've ever seen
I agree on the guardian angel aspect, just thinking about where they are all sat. If she made it earlier would Tony's position change, or would someone be in a position to see it coming 🤔.
This was explained a while ago. We, as the audience, got whacked. Our bloodthirsty taste for violence ended us up in the same shoes as all the wise-guys we watched die.
@@maxpower3206 In what world is 9 o'clock to your right and not to your left? Do you also think that 9 is on the right side of the clock and 3 is on the left side of the clock?
WOW, I didn't know this was still a mystery. THIS is what happened: Every time the bell on the door rang, Tony would look up, and you would see from his perspective. Every time. The last time the bell on the door rang, Tony looked up and all he saw was black. He was killed. He didn't hear a thing.
Watch it again. If it was Tony's view, then why wasn't the 2nd so called "POV" shot showing the Juke Box? The door rang, guy walks in, you see him, but when the camera goes back to Tony, he's looking at the juke box. He looked up at the guy for a half a second probably. To me, they either made a huge mistake on the camera angle, or it wasn't his POV the whole time.
so, if we saw HIS point of view every time the door opened...the last scene, we didn't see HIS point of view...we were looking at him. so if we were seeing his point of view, wouldn't we be seeing the door?
Phil Leotardo's brother is credited in the credits of that episode, even though we never officially see him... It's widely believed, i think correctly, that members only is Phil's brother, and definitely whacked Tony
Hush Kit Phil’s brother is dead, Cousin Tony shot him to death and sparked this whole war. His picture is above the bar in the scene were Phil gives the ok to hit the Di Meo family.
@@yanceyboyz Not that brother, there is a second brother that we dont' see in the rest of the show until the final episode. The guy in the Members Only jacket is in the credits as "Nikki Leotardo", so probably a second brother or cousin of Phil getting retrobution
Hush Kit the members only jacket guy is in reference to the episode members only, first episode of the season, in which Eugene Pontecorvo hangs himself. It’s nothing to do with New York. Also sopranos wiki says he only had one sibling, Billy.
the ending of the sopranos is obvious. Tony can't eat onions. He says as much on a previous episode. Last thing he ate was a onion ring. Onion ring killed Tony Soprano. Rip 😁
Kind of bizarre, when his son came in and sat down he looked to his left as though he was speaking to the waitress and said "onion rings'. Tony then says "that's a mistake as far as I'm concerned". Shortly after, when a plate of onion rings arrives at the table Tony says "I went ahead and ordered a plate of onion rings for the table". Maybe there's some meaning here. Or maybe the writer is just messing with us.
I think I am the only person in the world who thought this ending was perfect. Knowing for certain that Tony lived or died would have been very banal. I felt invested in the ambiguity at the end
I think Tony was already dead when he walked in the restaurant and saw himself sitting at the table. He knows he's never going to see Meadow because there wasn't a menu left for her. You're are seeing what he is reliving.
Elite Soulfly I was always a “Tony didn’t die” kinda guy, but David Chase accidentally referred to the last scene as “the death scene” just recently in an interview.
I just said the same thing in my comment. Patsy got permission from NY to kill Tony. Tony thought Pasty may flip too because Patsy son got popped as well plus it was revenge for his twin brother murder
Patsy definitely had Tony whacked. With no indication Paulie knew the Sopranos would be at Holstens, only Patsy's son knew through Meadow. Besides he aimed to hit Tony when he was at his most vulnerable hence the camera always panning to Tony's exposed side at table
Yes exactly. I had that moment of realization that I am done,just like Tony did. I got arrested 10 days later and did 6 years in the prison. That shady dude is a fed and Tony can sense it. There is no more watching from the shadows,they want you to know they are there,and you are fucked. To late to stop now
Whether he survived the final scene or not, Tony Soprano’s life as he had known it was effectively over. There was no one left from his inner circle but Paulie who had shown his capacity for disloyalty in previous seasons, and Patsy Parisi who still blamed Tony for the death of his twin brother. The Soprano/DiMeo crime family was a shadow of itself. With Carlo flipping, Tony’s lawyer predicted an 80-90% chance of an indictment and Tony’s streak of avoiding serious prison time had probably run out. Tony gained a lot of weight since the first season, was under tremendous stress, smoked, drank heavily, snorted cocaine and gambled recklessly. He was becoming increasingly self destructive and careless. Getting whacked, dropping dead from a massive coronary (sadly reminiscent of James Gandolfini in real life) or dying in prison were about the only options left for Tony in his near future after the series ended. The sixth season was about the many opportunities for repentance and redemption that Tony missed throughout the series finally running out.
I think I finally get the ending. Tony walks into the restaurant and envisions himself sitting at the table. From there, we never see him actually go sit down. I think from there we’re in Tony’s imagination. One big tell was how the guy in the members only jacket sits unnoticed, but Tony knows he’s there. We’re in the perspective of Tony. I think he is envisioning how he thinks his life is going to play out. The music choice is so symbolic, and it’s his mind telling him either go to jail or get killed, and he chooses that being killed would be better. It’s quick and you don’t feel a thing. It’s comforting he knows that it’s any way he wants it for that split second.
There’s a recent theory that Tony just had a panic attack. To me the whole point of the show revolves around Tony’s panic attacks which always occurred when Tony realized who he truly was. Tony regressed back to his former self back before he first saw Dr. Melfi. I think the whole point is to make us draw our own conclusions but we have to take into account Tony’s first panic occurred when Tony first realized his family would fall apart. Both Tony and Melfi are to blame for him not really getting better. She never truly solved his panic attacks nor did she force Tony to confront why he has panic attacks. All the characters in the show wanted to change and be better but they were all held back by because they didn’t want to change as much as they said they want to. Tony doesn’t have an arc.
Yeah I was gonna say I don’t think he died I think he lives on with paranoia constantly which is way worse than death and it makes sense too when you see all of his friends dying and he stays alive to witness his entire empire crumble so yeah I think panic attack here and he just lives on looking over his shoulder constantly worse than death if you ask me also the mob doesn’t kill wise guys in front of their family it’s a rule but there are many things in this show the mob goes against so take that as you will
It's Schrodinger's Cat. You can't see inside the box (there's nothing playing on your television) so he could be either alive or dead in that box. That's why they literally bring in discussion of Schrodinger earlier in that same season in the hospital, with the cancer victim rocket scientist from Bell Labs.
@@TheLazar876 Yeah? I’ll have to watch it. I started to and I couldn’t really get into it but that doesn’t mean that the second time around won’t click. Thanks for the recommendation
“There are only two ways out for a guy like me” I got it first time around, the tension in that final scene with all the death around him. The guy who walked in looked like a combination of all the guys who would come against Tony rolled into one.
Tony dies! Every time you hear the door to the restaurant ding you get Tony's POV (point of view) When meadow finally comes in it dings and goes to black.... Tony's POV is black as he's dead. The episode at the cabin where Tony and Bobby are out on the lake, Bobby says something along the lines of "you don't even hear it coming, everything just goes black" Tony was 'WHACKED'. That's my opinion. Edit: You highlight all of this 😂 And I agree with that theory.
The one who killed Tony, was Eugene's brother, but he acted on orders from little Carmine, who acted on orders from the heads of the other New York families. They gathered, spoke, and came to the decision that Tony must be taken out, for Phil's death.
Little Carmine let Tony and Phil kill eachother because them being loose cannons was bad for busisness and he felt threatened by them. He did the "Whatever happened there" on purpose because he saw peace being made. Then after he let Tony kill Phil, he had him followed and killed and then took over both of their crews since the remaining members were already questioning their bloodthisty leaders.
Chase did an interview for Alan Sepinwall’s book where he accidentally let it slip by referring to it as “the death scene” it’s a cool interview worth reading
It's the members only jacket. It's a reference to the episode "Members only" where Eugene Pontecorvo hangs himself. The guy in the members only jacket looks like him and was specifically casted for ONLY this episode. There also is a lot of symbolism that I won't get into but Tony is killed by Eugene's brother as revenge.
Eugene didn't even have a brother far as we the audience knew. Also how'd you figure his supposed brother would blame Tony for his suicide? His brothers lifestyle alone was suicide. He made those choices, not Tony. I think your theory is weak and a massive stretch. Why would his brother wear the same jacket? Secondly his wife and kids have 2 million dollars plus from inheritance. Why would they make his brother get involved in a mafia related issue? Or even do the hit himself when they could pay some druggy to do it? But I really like your creativity and thought process. I just don't think the writers would give up the answer that easy. Truth is there is no 1 single thing that tells us what happened and why. It's all just very ambiguous, left for viewers interpretation. We get to say what happened to Tony in our own heads. He got a happy peaceful ending or got whacked (which he did deserve). We get the last say.
naah bruw the guy who lost his sport store after gambling whacked Ton... he was sitting behind them in restaurant with white basebal hat hiding his face..
Haven't watched this video yet but any random first year film student worth his weight in cannolis and with a rudimentary knowledge of camera tricks will definitively tell you Tony was assassinated, end of.
Hmmm, people have concentrated on Don't Stop Believin', but listen to the song that's playing when he enters the diner and ends just as his selection comes up. It's called All That You Dream and it might be just as big a hint as anything else.
I choose to believe that the budget ended on that last frame. Tony ate in peace with his family and after that he went home, banged Carmela and went to sleep.
The man who came in the diner wearing a baseball cap is David "Davey" Scatino who was the owner of Ramsey Sports and Outdoor store until he lost his store from gambling to Tony. Note there are two aisles to this diner and Scatino sits kiddie corner to Tony's left side in the second aisle. Scatino could have walked up the second aisle and stand next to Tony's left for a 3 o'clock kill. Scatino, Artie Bucco and Tony were childhood friends. Or nothing happened
You didn't really explain anything. My interpretation is that Tony got popped as soon as Meadow walked in the Diner. Music stops and it cuts to black symbolizing his life was snuffed out. Crazy that Tony would be in a Diner like that with his family after all that beef. Also the guy with the members only jacket on. Tony was lacking.
At 5:35 when Tony leaves Melfi's office for the last time, he looks over at the couch in the waiting room, the magazine on the cushion is called "Departures..."
Tv has come a long way since The Sopranos. I remember it as being the first show that was like a mini movie every week. It’s funny to think that back then, movie actors never wanted to be “downgraded” to a TV show. I haven’t watched it in years so I hope it still holds up. I’m curious to see if Sons of Anarchy has surpassed my love of The Sopranos.
@@htownshanna not just actors, these shows actually hired "Hollywood" writers as well, when they thought they were being downgraded, another example of that is Keifer Sutherland on another hit show called 24
All wrong. If you look at the very first episode, it starts with a game of perspectives. We see a statue through the eyes of Tony, we see Tony looking at the statue from the angle where the statue is and some other angle that I can't remember but the order of these points of respective mirrors the final scene of the final episode to a millisecond. Chronologically, that famous, cut-to-black angle of view was supposed to be Tony's first-person view but it was shown as black _thus_ - in it *Tony is no more.*
Mentioned this on another site, I think Chase was holding on to Tony for a sequel and/or feature films to follow. Once Gandolfini died it went in another direction.
It was stupid to say the shady guy went to the bathroom to get a gun. That's what you do if you're expecting to get frisked. Retrieving a gun from the bathroom makes zero sense.
He probably didn’t need to retrieve a gun, but it would still have made sense for him to go to the bathroom and then shoot Tony on his way out just because coming out of the bathroom he’d have a clear sight on Tony, whereas otherwise he’d have to risk just walking from the bar straight to Tony and it would have been obvious he was approaching him. Going to the bathroom would be the perfect excuse.
The show runner recently referred to the last scene as the death scene, I think accidentally letting it slip. The last scene was a replacement for another idea of Tony being driven to a sit-down (meeting between mobsters) and it cutting to black when the car enters a tunnel, but it was considered too obvious that the meeting went bad and Tony died, and more ambiguousness was wanted.
Even before I saw all of these TH-cam videos about what really happened at the ending I myself still enjoyed the last episode. I found it to be very clear that Tony was simply done with hiding and was willing to except his fate just to spend one normal dinner with his family and so even if he did survive that night then his days were clearly limited.
I knew from when the show ended, how the last episode ended. I just watched the whole thing through and despite knowing how it ended, my heart was beating so hard in anticipation for who came in through the door. Impressive.
He had a boss killed in front of his wife and grandkids he makes the mistake of believing that the new boss in new york would allow that to happen and do nothing this is pure payback here
To me the ending it is art. It leave the viewers with own interpretation. Which is what art is. Personally I love the ending, has a lot of meaning to it
Something to consider is that at the beginning of the Sopranos it is stated that Family is off limits, an old mafia tradition. However during the Series Tony becomes more and more brutal and breaks the rules. The final straw is when Tony orders the killing of a mafia boss in front of his family including children, which is a huge sign of disrespect. By breaking the rules, Tony has just put a huge bullseye on him and now he can be killed anytime, anywhere, for example: just in the middle of a dinner with his family.
Both literally and symbolically it is obvious he died in that moment. There was much foreshadowing in the previous season on how it would happen and the sequence of POV shots made it abundantly clear in retrospect. Brilliantly made to shock and anger us in the moment yet satisfy totally upon reflection, like a hit on us the viewers at the same time really!
door bell rings, we see tony, then we see what tony sees. this happens about 3 or 4 times before the final shot. door bell rings, we see tony, then we see nothing...exactly what tony sees. dude is dead and gone.
All I know, when I first watched it, thought something was wrong with the DVD, until I talked to someone who watched when it aired, and found out that was really how it ended.
it was an awful moment when the screen turned black... i remember when i saw it the first time... this feeling of emptieness inside me... never had this again in the same way in comparison to other films or series
Did anyone notice the plane sound when meadow got out of the car. It’s the same plane sound that happened when Tony talked to the FBI at the beginning of the episode. Do you think it implies he got whacked for talking to the FBI?
It was ambiguous because Tony's fate was the same. There is no neat conclusion because the cycle doesn't stop. No lesson was learned and Tony had no intention of retiring. So it cuts to black because of the pointless nature of his life. Despite all he has endured Tony continues as if it were the first episode. It was perfect. That is real life. No happy ending. No cement conclusion. You just keep going until the end. You choose your fate and you live with it until you stop living.
Okay, best comment so far. I believe similarly. I do think that partly the reason for the ambiguous ending is to do with sensationalizing. I mean, how do you end a great series like The Sopranos? Any definitive ending would have disappointed the viewers. Which is why Chase has always been cagey explaining it. He does not want to take the thrill away from people who are still talking about the only good thing he made. Ambiguity, a justified one, takes the creative credo of any series to another notch. And The Sopranos was such a series. The ending is the reason so many people are talking about it still.
@@tablehead6758 totally agree. the director said the most important part of the scene isn't the POV shots, but the music choices. Tony skips past the song called "Any Way You Want It" and instead chooses "Don't Stop Believing" which insinuates that he goes right on living his life in a state of dichotomous anxiety and comfort.
Looper failed to mention the scene in the last episode where Tony wakes up and there’s funeral organ music playing and the pillows in the bed are shot to look like he’s in a casket. He dies, Jesus!
The bells is the key....throughout the show he always was aware of bells and looking over his shoulder and when meadow enters the doorbell goes off and he doesn't look over his shoulder because he's comfortable because the war with NY is over.....and the one time he doesn't react to a bell he gets popped...
With all the speculation, you showed a quote from the head writer where he said, "a guy walks out of the men's room and you're dead". It's that simple, why make things complicated?
When whats his name was whacked in the restaurant at the same table as Silvio, he didn't even realize what happened until like 5 seconds later. It all adds up. The start of the last episode is him looking like he's laying in a casket, and he wakes up to organ music. Everything you need to say Tony is dead is there. It's definitive.
At the time, I felt cheated, confused and angry. I now view it as absolute genius. There really is no doubt about it, Tony got a bullet in the head. It's all there.
Everybody forgets, 3o'clock was the message Chris delivered to Tony from Hell (earlier in the series, at the hospital). At the restaurant, the restroom was at 3 o'clock(relative to Tony). As the audience, we were killed "and didn't hear it when it happened"
I think it goes back to something that Christopher said after he got shot...he said his father was in hell and every night he got whacked the same way he did in life...the way it ended when tony looked up it went black so you can assume thats the moment his life ended...but when tony first walked in he saw himself sitting at the table...so it all leads back to what christopher said....tony was in hell and he was getting whacked every night
Exactly!! Paulie sees the Virgin Mary at 3:00 at the Bing in an earlier episode that same season.... he is spared - but Tony is not. The shooter would have exited the bathroom at Tony’s 3:00.
I still say the writers are sitting back having a little chuckle from all the fan theories, which have all been great don't get me wrong. Fans have put thousands of hours and team effort into constructing lengthy, well thought out videos with powerpoint explaining their theories in micro-detail as to why Tony is indeed dead, or not, but mostly dead. My theory, however, is simple and won't require a powerpoint presentation. Simply put, the writers successfully pulled off the greatest trick-or-treat in television history by simply cutting to black. No dead Tony. Just a show that came to an end. Period. And the theories have been raining ever since. Brilliant.
They practically spelled it out that he died. For more proof, the shows creator let it slip in an interview once. He was talking about what happens when you film a death scene or something to that effect.
I always thought it was Tony's purgatory! Christopher explained what purgatory is like and how they relive their death over and over again. It seems a fitting torment for Tony always waiting to have all of them together for a meal and always dying waiting on Meadow. Maybe it's why he sees himself sitting there at first as if it's the restart.
The ending is very simple. What Chase did was leave it up the you the audience to decide. He treated his fans as adults and made them come up with there own conclusion on the Tony's immediate and mob family will look present day and beyond. I for one don't have Tony dying. When Tony tells Carmella that Carlo flipped, that means Tony will have to worry about the rest of his life getting busted by the feds, the guy in the member only jacket symbolizes Tony is always in danger of getting shot. Business as usual.
Agreed. The paranoia and quick cut-to-black at the end is about the precarious/vulnerable lifestyle the Sopranos have had to live and will continue to live forever. No easter eggs or hidden meanings.
@@anarchyutopia yes and this was confirmed by the director. He said you should pay zero attention to any "symbolism" and just focus on the emotional part of it. In fact, I think the cut-to-black was supposed to originally be a time for reflection, for the viewer to ponder how Tony is in the safest kind of place around safe people, but he himself can never feel safe. The director also made the jacket guy deliberately "ambiguous" so that the viewer couldn't tell if he was evil. Is he a fed? A hitman? Just a customer? At this point, you are inside Tony's head. That's why it cuts to black. To show you that you have officially been inserted into his emotional state of being, and now you have to think the same paranoid thoughts he is for the duration of the blackness.
I actually think this was pretty spot on... Even if he did live, he’s not gonna be the same. No Bobby, no Sil, no Christopher, Carlo flipped... Things weren’t looking good
Just finished the series myself. Since i was so late to the party i had no idea about the ending. But the feeling of what was to come was huge. I was sitting in my recliner and literally sat up at the edge of my chair as i saw the pieces ciming together. After thinking about it, it seems to me the guy came back out of the toilet and shot tony dead as meadow came in. But other interpretations could be plausible as well.
He is definitely dead. Every time the door opens tony looks and we see from his point of view , the last time he looks it's from his point of view again and it goes black, that's tony being shot and his point of view going black
It was always obvious to me. For one thing there was an episode called members only where one of Tony's men was given a "hit" to do. The hit man at the end was wearing a member's only jacket. Besides, the forewarning in the earlier episode where the Brother in law said nothing happens, just fade to black. That's how the series ended, from Tony's point of view, nothing but black, dead.
I was always confused about the last episode. Until just recently when I rewatched the entire series and came across episode 9 of season 2 “From Where to Eternity” that episode Chris says to Pauly and Tony “3 o’ clock…” and for the longest time I always thought that meant 3am or 3pm someone was gonna die… Wasn’t til my recent rewatch where I realized the man in the member only jacket is sitting to Tony’s 3 o’ clock in the diner…. 😬😬😬😬😬😬 Could b a stretch but 🤷🏿♂️ Wow.. if I’m right.. RIP Tony
Tony was shot dead. In a previous episode he has a guy killed in front of his wife, in the gas station, when the car rolls over his head. In the final scene Tony, is shot in front of his family , just like the other guy, and was shot from behind and never saw it coming. Just like the gas station guy. Cut to black.
Understand what you are seeing in the scene. Of course, the POV changes every time someone enters, we get Tony's perspective following the cut to Tony. Meadow not making it into the store is significant for two reasons. One, the seat is open next to Tony on his right which means she is supposed to sit next to Tony on that side, which would nullify the shot coming from the bathroom which is where it ultimately came from. Two, Tony looks up instead of noticing the guy coming from his right about to shoot him. The shot came from Tony's right, and it happened as Meadow entered the diner. That's why we as viewers didn't see the gun.
The episode towards the end where tony and chris jack the wine from the bikers and the scene where chris talks about how adriana turned rat. Scene was some best acting ever to this day. The writing/acting on this show was everything! 🙌🏽
It's pretty ingenious as a director honestly. The ambiguity of the ending frustrates all in the short term, but long term it is great for the series. Not only thought provoking, it doesn't matter if he died there, or implied that he will always be looking over his shoulder due to his business. Both options could be true and the ending wouldn't change much. Plus look at all of the video's towards the sopranos ending because of not having a concrete ending.
It surprises me that people thought it was ambiguous until David Simon said it out loud. In the penultimate episode, they talk about how when you die it probably all goes black. They set up the ending that way, and then it's just a POV shot where we see Tony watching his family come in the door. Then it goes all black, because the members only guy walked up and shot him in the head. Easy. EDIT - Also, David Chase confirmed that he's dead, so there's no ambiguity about it now. Brilliant way to end the show, but it never felt as uncertain to me as people made it out to be.
He's alive because there would be no reason for the guy to go into the bathroom to grab a gun. That only happened in The Godfather because Michael had to come into the restaurant unarmed.
He had to have a reason to walk behind him though, so he could easily walk out after shooting him, and not get confronted by AJ. I just laughed out loud typing that last part.. but yeah he went to the bathroom to get a better angle.
I disagree. By the guy walking to the bathroom, and doing nothing, Tony is now familiar with him and no reason to worry about him. I think the guy went to the bathroom because he had a clear shot from the bathroom hallway without any chance of hitting AJ. And from my original post I think Tony is already dead when he enters the restaurant. You're seeing what are his last memories on earth. No reason to worry about anybody in the diner because he knows he is already dead.
the Sopranos ending made more sense than this video
I think this comment just saved me a few mins of my life.
"It's all up to the viewer!!!" Thanks for the nothing-answer, Looper
😆😆😆
100 percent, I had to ask myself....what the f.. . did I just watch?
Lollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
I watched the series just recently for the first time but knew how it ended. From the very first episode, Tony is suffering anxiety over his position, his deeds and likely, his fear of getting whacked. In the finale, the viewer actually felt that same dread that Tony felt all those seasons. David Chase was able to truly capture Tony's anxiety and projected it onto the viewer. For that one episode, we felt as though we were Tony. Imagine feeling like that everyday. I think that's the magnificence of the finale.
A couple of times in the show we also see him walk down the drive way to get the paper and he shits himself every time a car pulls up and Someone gets out
All involved in the life of crime eventually get caught in the phycology of death ... The Three Alternatives
Assassinated
Jailed
Turned Rat
No other Outcome
Mafia Premise
Betrayal
The symbolic Alexander The Great
Conquest and Early Demise
Power is temporary and is followed by death or betrayal
I considered he just died from a heart attack or stroke from anxiety
The ending confirmed that Tony didn't have the makings of a varsity athlete.
😂
Most underrated comment
LMFAO
You are crazy, man🤣🤣
For 20 years I wanted to hear better Sopranos jokes, but I compromised, I kept reading the same ones on TH-cam comment sections instead.
The vipers got payback for the wine he stole
Only true fans will get this reference, and it made me smile thinking of Tony say "ooh the vipers". You're a legend mate
I never forgot about the vipers
@@hushkit2119 OOOH the Vipers I am cracking up! Just watched the entire series for the first time these past weeks. Holy shit. Best TV Show ever.
Lmao that literally made me laugh out loud
Whats that.. a girl scout troupe?
Here's a huge hint, when he flips through the jukebox, under the Journey tab also is listed the song "Anyway You Want It." Meaning, you can interpret the ending any way you want.
No, it's no an open-ending, the creator even said there is an answer and clues. It's been solved, Tony was assassinated, the only question is by who - but a good video has addressed this also.
@@DespondPeople say Meadow was the guardian angel had she not walked in then yeah maybe he gets killed but she was in there and Tony saw her. I think the writer has changed him mind several times and decided to go with what most people want or after thinking about it changed.
@@Despondwhat video bro ?
@@Despond Yeah it would be kind of silly to put in all those hints and then say nothing happened. Also it makes sense from a business standpoint. NY had nothing but problems with Tony throughout the series. Constant work disruptions. Getting rid of him would make sense for them. Paulie knew Tony was thinking about killing him and Patsy was still pissed about his twin brother being killed so they would have gone along with it.
Chase has admitted in recent interviews that he knows what happened but won't say.
I love that people still talk about this show
111bep best TV show of all time.
@@Akeoni Not really their was breaking bad remember?!
111bep It’s a classic, whatta’ gonna do?!
Best of all time
I just finished the last episode of season 6 I can now say I have officially finished The Sopranos 10/10.
Lol The Sopranos left hanging ending was still better then the whole season 8 of game of thrones
Notlehs GoT wouldn’t even existed without Sopranos
TheBardeng most great TV shows wouldn’t have, this show was such a big influence
The Wire and The Sopranos are 10X better than Game Of Thrones, mainly due to awful last seasons of GOT.
@@ELLIOT1311 true. GOT was pretty good but fucked up the end so hard that it literally destroyed the whole show for me.
A good show is good from the beginning to the end, and Sopranos has a good ending...
@@ELLIOT1311 most series that go too long are like that.
EG:Walking Dead. They should have ended Game Of Thrones years ago when it was at its height.
But these tv companies want to squeeze every drop of profit out of every big hit.
Watching this was as helpful to understanding how the Sopranos ended as Christopher explaining to Adriana that Cosette “must’ve crawled under there for warmth” was to her grieving process.
Scott Sweatshirt this comment is very underrated
Cosette wasn't made. Chris was. That's the way it goes.
Cosette is the name of a little girl in Les Miserable. Symbol of innocence and whatever exists in the world that is worth preserving despite that no matter how much those around her try, she is inevitably doomed eventually by the world around her.
@@toska8664 🤯🤯🤯🤯 lol
@@toska8664 that's interesting, thank you for that. I've never seen the play
What really made me sad is realizing that Junior outlived so many people and probably doesn’t even remember them….being all alone and probably doesn’t realize it.
Best explanation I saw, was that Everytime the door rings Tony looks up. Then the next shot is his point of view at the door. On the last one as Tony looks up instead of his point of view at the door we see black. So that is Tony's point of view. Just black. He's dead.
Mickey Sorrento
I agree he got shot before he saw his daughter walk in
Yep that's it
Yes, that's cleeeearly the fucking answer, it's actually quite obvious when you watch the scene that it keeps switching back and forth from Tony's POV. I don't know why so many peabrained idiots can't figure this out. IT'S NOT AMBIGUOUS.
There's no proof Tony died. Tony was alive when the show ended like any other episode.
@@downtoearthproductions yeah right!😂😂😂😂😂😂
meadow was his guardian angel. her attempt to park her car and being late to the reunion, represents that she wouldn't be able to protect him one last time.
the sudden black means that he dies just like that, he wouldn't see or hear anything, like bobby told him a few episodes back. this entire series was amazing and the ending was the best I've ever seen
I agree on the guardian angel aspect, just thinking about where they are all sat. If she made it earlier would Tony's position change, or would someone be in a position to see it coming 🤔.
You can't mess with the family (wife, kids)
Best ending ever lol gtfoh prob worst ending ever.
@@joshuaa1605 poor Joshua got offended 🤣
@@franco_d24 says the one who is clearly offended. Nice deflection attempt 👍
Chris told Tony, that someone in hell told him "three o'clock"...The killer in the diner would have come and shot from "Tonys three o'clock"...
Its was dark outside when the Sopranos was in the diner.
@Justin Edwards you got a point...didn't think about "three o'clock" in that term.
Except it would have been his 9:00. His face being the clock, 3:00 would be on the left The bathroom was to the right from his perspective.
Crisanda Bravo except that’s not how it works. The clock isn’t Tony, it’s facing Tony and the bathroom was at his 3 o’clock (on his right).
Your front is 12, your back is your six. Your left is 9 and your right is 3
This was explained a while ago. We, as the audience, got whacked. Our bloodthirsty taste for violence ended us up in the same shoes as all the wise-guys we watched die.
We, the viewer, were whacked all along.
That finale did kinda make me dead inside so accurate
David litterally said it himself. He said nothing happened no one died, it ended how you want it to end is what he said.
So I was being whacked off?
@Wet Work Gaming its different than all of those other shows and still gets talked about. Utterly unique and brilliant ending
Tony should have looked at his 3 o'clock like Chrissy told him.
the bathroom was on his right, so wouldn't that have be his 9 o'clock?
@@maxpower3206 yes mfs just hear something and run w it
@@maxpower3206 In what world is 9 o'clock to your right and not to your left? Do you also think that 9 is on the right side of the clock and 3 is on the left side of the clock?
@@Mr_Quasimodo From the clocks perspective three is on the left and nine is on the right.
@@maxpower3206 "From the clocks perspective" lol are you serious rn? Maybe you should do a google search to tell you what way 9 oclock is.
WOW, I didn't know this was still a mystery.
THIS is what happened:
Every time the bell on the door rang, Tony would look up, and you would see from his perspective. Every time.
The last time the bell on the door rang, Tony looked up and all he saw was black. He was killed.
He didn't hear a thing.
Once you're aware of the pattern and you watch with that in mind, it's clear that's exactly what happened.
Or maybe the show just ended.
Watch it again. If it was Tony's view, then why wasn't the 2nd so called "POV" shot showing the Juke Box? The door rang, guy walks in, you see him, but when the camera goes back to Tony, he's looking at the juke box. He looked up at the guy for a half a second probably. To me, they either made a huge mistake on the camera angle, or it wasn't his POV the whole time.
so, if we saw HIS point of view every time the door opened...the last scene, we didn't see HIS point of view...we were looking at him. so if we were seeing his point of view, wouldn't we be seeing the door?
Mario Gallo yes we would see the door BUT he was shot before he looked
I like the idea that the viewer gets killed. We never hear it coming but the show ends.
Tony dies, without Tony there is no viewer. the show started and ended with him.
@@dirtydan9153 with that logic, that implies tony spawned into existence the second we started watching the show
We knew to much and we had to go sleep with the fishes
I choose to believe that the "Members only" jacket guy definitely blew Tony's brains out all over that diner. Tony is dead.
Phil Leotardo's brother is credited in the credits of that episode, even though we never officially see him... It's widely believed, i think correctly, that members only is Phil's brother, and definitely whacked Tony
@@hushkit2119 Now that IS interesting!
Hush Kit Phil’s brother is dead, Cousin Tony shot him to death and sparked this whole war. His picture is above the bar in the scene were Phil gives the ok to hit the Di Meo family.
@@yanceyboyz Not that brother, there is a second brother that we dont' see in the rest of the show until the final episode. The guy in the Members Only jacket is in the credits as "Nikki Leotardo", so probably a second brother or cousin of Phil getting retrobution
Hush Kit the members only jacket guy is in reference to the episode members only, first episode of the season, in which Eugene Pontecorvo hangs himself. It’s nothing to do with New York. Also sopranos wiki says he only had one sibling, Billy.
the ending of the sopranos is obvious. Tony can't eat onions. He says as much on a previous episode. Last thing he ate was a onion ring. Onion ring killed Tony Soprano. Rip 😁
😆😆..
Ally Bamma i know you're tryna be funny but that actually makes sense. Lolol
they left it open end in case they want to bring him back...
Kind of bizarre, when his son came in and sat down he looked to his left as though he was speaking to the waitress and said "onion rings'. Tony then says "that's a mistake as far as I'm concerned". Shortly after, when a plate of onion rings arrives at the table Tony says "I went ahead and ordered a plate of onion rings for the table". Maybe there's some meaning here. Or maybe the writer is just messing with us.
@@ppumpkin3282 Tony actually replies "best in the state, as far as I'm concerned"
I think I am the only person in the world who thought this ending was perfect. Knowing for certain that Tony lived or died would have been very banal. I felt invested in the ambiguity at the end
I agreed It was perfect, entirely. But it toook peoples years to get there
I think Tony was already dead when he walked in the restaurant and saw himself sitting at the table. He knows he's never going to see Meadow because there wasn't a menu left for her. You're are seeing what he is reliving.
Qlso remember AJ said that scene in the godfather was Tony's favorite. The irony
Elite Soulfly I was always a “Tony didn’t die” kinda guy, but David Chase accidentally referred to the last scene as “the death scene” just recently in an interview.
"IT'S A MOVIE!!!"
Even if he didn’t die, it was the the end of Tony anyway, remember the feds were days away from getting him anyway Carlo flipped.
shawn Money Carlo was his name..
I just said the same thing in my comment. Patsy got permission from NY to kill Tony. Tony thought Pasty may flip too because Patsy son got popped as well plus it was revenge for his twin brother murder
Alexi Barona Tony was a terrible boss. He let making money get in the way of the rules. He let his emotions get the best of him.
Patsy definitely had Tony whacked. With no indication Paulie knew the Sopranos would be at Holstens, only Patsy's son knew through Meadow. Besides he aimed to hit Tony when he was at his most vulnerable hence the camera always panning to Tony's exposed side at table
Yes exactly. I had that moment of realization that I am done,just like Tony did. I got arrested 10 days later and did 6 years in the prison. That shady dude is a fed and Tony can sense it. There is no more watching from the shadows,they want you to know they are there,and you are fucked. To late to stop now
Whether he survived the final scene or not, Tony Soprano’s life as he had known it was effectively over.
There was no one left from his inner circle but Paulie who had shown his capacity for disloyalty in previous seasons, and Patsy Parisi who still blamed Tony for the death of his twin brother. The Soprano/DiMeo crime family was a shadow of itself. With Carlo flipping, Tony’s lawyer predicted an 80-90% chance of an indictment and Tony’s streak of avoiding serious prison time had probably run out.
Tony gained a lot of weight since the first season, was under tremendous stress, smoked, drank heavily, snorted cocaine and gambled recklessly. He was becoming increasingly self destructive and careless. Getting whacked, dropping dead from a massive coronary (sadly reminiscent of James Gandolfini in real life) or dying in prison were about the only options left for Tony in his near future after the series ended.
The sixth season was about the many opportunities for repentance and redemption that Tony missed throughout the series finally running out.
Maybe Brooklyn didn't want to take the chance of him going to prison and had him whacked. More than likely he would have flipped .
He never snorted cocaine
@@sal1lif3 he snorted coke with adrianna before he accidentally flipped his suv
David Chase was suggesting that Tony died in the black screened shot.
This had zero new information
I think I finally get the ending. Tony walks into the restaurant and envisions himself sitting at the table. From there, we never see him actually go sit down. I think from there we’re in Tony’s imagination. One big tell was how the guy in the members only jacket sits unnoticed, but Tony knows he’s there. We’re in the perspective of Tony.
I think he is envisioning how he thinks his life is going to play out. The music choice is so symbolic, and it’s his mind telling him either go to jail or get killed, and he chooses that being killed would be better. It’s quick and you don’t feel a thing. It’s comforting he knows that it’s any way he wants it for that split second.
Agreed Tony's definitely dead
@@xxxsully420 did you understand the comment? Looks not.
He said tony it’s not dead, he’s dreaming how eventually his life would come to and end.
@@drkrkt4927 that dream came true. He rather die than go to jail and that's all she wrote!
Put that joint away
There’s a recent theory that Tony just had a panic attack. To me the whole point of the show revolves around Tony’s panic attacks which always occurred when Tony realized who he truly was. Tony regressed back to his former self back before he first saw Dr. Melfi. I think the whole point is to make us draw our own conclusions but we have to take into account Tony’s first panic occurred when Tony first realized his family would fall apart. Both Tony and Melfi are to blame for him not really getting better. She never truly solved his panic attacks nor did she force Tony to confront why he has panic attacks.
All the characters in the show wanted to change and be better but they were all held back by because they didn’t want to change as much as they said they want to.
Tony doesn’t have an arc.
Yeah I was gonna say I don’t think he died I think he lives on with paranoia constantly which is way worse than death and it makes sense too when you see all of his friends dying and he stays alive to witness his entire empire crumble so yeah I think panic attack here and he just lives on looking over his shoulder constantly worse than death if you ask me also the mob doesn’t kill wise guys in front of their family it’s a rule but there are many things in this show the mob goes against so take that as you will
It's Schrodinger's Cat.
You can't see inside the box (there's nothing playing on your television) so he could be either alive or dead in that box.
That's why they literally bring in discussion of Schrodinger earlier in that same season in the hospital, with the cancer victim rocket scientist from Bell Labs.
Glad to see people are still interested in one of the greatest series of all times.
One of? Name another show that even comes close.
@@Drjackdempsey9644 breaking bad,the Wire both trump it leaving it dead
@@Drjackdempsey9644 watched quite a few crime shows, and while sopranos was solid, can't really compete with peaky blinders.
@@TheLazar876 Yeah? I’ll have to watch it. I started to and I couldn’t really get into it but that doesn’t mean that the second time around won’t click. Thanks for the recommendation
@@TheLazar876 LMFAO
“There are only two ways out for a guy like me” I got it first time around, the tension in that final scene with all the death around him. The guy who walked in looked like a combination of all the guys who would come against Tony rolled into one.
Tony dies! Every time you hear the door to the restaurant ding you get Tony's POV (point of view)
When meadow finally comes in it dings and goes to black.... Tony's POV is black as he's dead. The episode at the cabin where Tony and Bobby are out on the lake, Bobby says something along the lines of "you don't even hear it coming, everything just goes black"
Tony was 'WHACKED'. That's my opinion.
Edit: You highlight all of this 😂 And I agree with that theory.
nope
@@In3inity Right ok. Great rebuttal 🤔😂
@@JakeT89 there will be a rebuttal im just eating right now wanted to leave a comment so i remembered to get back to it.
@@In3inity More like you're googling what rebuttal means 😂
@dadondutta, still working on that rebuttal?
The one who killed Tony, was Eugene's brother, but he acted on orders
from little Carmine, who acted on orders from the heads of the other New York families.
They gathered, spoke, and came to the decision that Tony must be taken out, for Phil's death.
The last scene was absolutely brilliant, the build up of tension and what's going to happen next was a masterpiece.
Little Carmine let Tony and Phil kill eachother because them being loose cannons was bad for busisness and he felt threatened by them. He did the "Whatever happened there" on purpose because he saw peace being made. Then after he let Tony kill Phil, he had him followed and killed and then took over both of their crews since the remaining members were already questioning their bloodthisty leaders.
He is dead and alive at the same time ala Shroedinger's cat.
Boom nailed it
Your were on the tour i take it Lol
Schrodinger's*
Nice.
Schrödinger's Mobster...
Chase did an interview for Alan Sepinwall’s book where he accidentally let it slip by referring to it as “the death scene” it’s a cool interview worth reading
I have that book. It's great
It's the members only jacket. It's a reference to the episode "Members only" where Eugene Pontecorvo hangs himself. The guy in the members only jacket looks like him and was specifically casted for ONLY this episode. There also is a lot of symbolism that I won't get into but Tony is killed by Eugene's brother as revenge.
Very interesting!
Eugene didn't even have a brother far as we the audience knew. Also how'd you figure his supposed brother would blame Tony for his suicide? His brothers lifestyle alone was suicide. He made those choices, not Tony. I think your theory is weak and a massive stretch. Why would his brother wear the same jacket? Secondly his wife and kids have 2 million dollars plus from inheritance. Why would they make his brother get involved in a mafia related issue? Or even do the hit himself when they could pay some druggy to do it?
But I really like your creativity and thought process. I just don't think the writers would give up the answer that easy. Truth is there is no 1 single thing that tells us what happened and why. It's all just very ambiguous, left for viewers interpretation. We get to say what happened to Tony in our own heads. He got a happy peaceful ending or got whacked (which he did deserve). We get the last say.
naah bruw the guy who lost his sport store after gambling whacked Ton...
he was sitting behind them in restaurant with white basebal hat hiding his face..
You can be the most powerful mobster in the world, but the one thing you cannot buy, is peace of mind. It's just not worth it.
Haven't watched this video yet but any random first year film student worth his weight in cannolis and with a rudimentary knowledge of camera tricks will definitively tell you Tony was assassinated, end of.
nope
couldn't think of a username David Chase accidentally referred to the last scene as “the death scene” just recently in an interview.
Do u speak English? You’re spewing nonsense.
Hmmm, people have concentrated on Don't Stop Believin', but listen to the song that's playing when he enters the diner and ends just as his selection comes up. It's called All That You Dream and it might be just as big a hint as anything else.
I choose to believe that the budget ended on that last frame. Tony ate in peace with his family and after that he went home, banged Carmela and went to sleep.
The man who came in the diner wearing a baseball cap is David "Davey" Scatino who was the owner of Ramsey Sports and Outdoor store until he lost his store from gambling to Tony. Note there are two aisles to this diner and Scatino sits kiddie corner to Tony's left side in the second aisle. Scatino could have walked up the second aisle and stand next to Tony's left for a 3 o'clock kill. Scatino, Artie Bucco and Tony were childhood friends. Or nothing happened
You didn't really explain anything. My interpretation is that Tony got popped as soon as Meadow walked in the Diner. Music stops and it cuts to black symbolizing his life was snuffed out. Crazy that Tony would be in a Diner like that with his family after all that beef. Also the guy with the members only jacket on. Tony was lacking.
“The greater the ambiguity, the greater the pleasure.”
― Milan Kundera
At 5:35 when Tony leaves Melfi's office for the last time, he looks over at the couch in the waiting room, the magazine on the cushion is called "Departures..."
Tony never carried a gun. Which was always wild to me. In certain situations.
I miss the Sopranos being seen on TV, best show ever
No, that title goes to Mama's Family
Tv has come a long way since The Sopranos. I remember it as being the first show that was like a mini movie every week. It’s funny to think that back then, movie actors never wanted to be “downgraded” to a TV show. I haven’t watched it in years so I hope it still holds up. I’m curious to see if Sons of Anarchy has surpassed my love of The Sopranos.
@@htownshanna not just actors, these shows actually hired "Hollywood" writers as well, when they thought they were being downgraded, another example of that is Keifer Sutherland on another hit show called 24
I kind of miss it and I only ever watched one episode.
Breaking bad is the greatest show ever. The sopranos is overrated and stupid. 😂 😂
He's in pergatory he's in a forever time loop where he gets killed in front of his family. One of Tony's biggest fears.
All wrong. If you look at the very first episode, it starts with a game of perspectives. We see a statue through the eyes of Tony, we see Tony looking at the statue from the angle where the statue is and some other angle that I can't remember but the order of these points of respective mirrors the final scene of the final episode to a millisecond. Chronologically, that famous, cut-to-black angle of view was supposed to be Tony's first-person view but it was shown as black _thus_ - in it *Tony is no more.*
Resolve to know
When you die and leave this life the experience is nothing
Conscious is suspended
You just stop
Gone
The End
If James had lived, there would have been a Sopranos movie, but since he passed, that black out was his Death.
Mentioned this on another site, I think Chase was holding on to Tony for a sequel and/or feature films to follow. Once Gandolfini died it went in another direction.
It was stupid to say the shady guy went to the bathroom to get a gun. That's what you do if you're expecting to get frisked. Retrieving a gun from the bathroom makes zero sense.
He probably didn’t need to retrieve a gun, but it would still have made sense for him to go to the bathroom and then shoot Tony on his way out just because coming out of the bathroom he’d have a clear sight on Tony, whereas otherwise he’d have to risk just walking from the bar straight to Tony and it would have been obvious he was approaching him. Going to the bathroom would be the perfect excuse.
@@downtoearthproductions he had to piss first so he wasn't holding his piss when he ran out of the diner after he whacked Tony Soprano.
The show runner recently referred to the last scene as the death scene, I think accidentally letting it slip.
The last scene was a replacement for another idea of Tony being driven to a sit-down (meeting between mobsters) and it cutting to black when the car enters a tunnel, but it was considered too obvious that the meeting went bad and Tony died, and more ambiguousness was wanted.
Even before I saw all of these TH-cam videos about what really happened at the ending I myself still enjoyed the last episode. I found it to be very clear that Tony was simply done with hiding and was willing to except his fate just to spend one normal dinner with his family and so even if he did survive that night then his days were clearly limited.
I knew from when the show ended, how the last episode ended. I just watched the whole thing through and despite knowing how it ended, my heart was beating so hard in anticipation for who came in through the door. Impressive.
He had a boss killed in front of his wife and grandkids he makes the mistake of believing that the new boss in new york would allow that to happen and do nothing this is pure payback here
There was nothing looper could do, Dislike was a made guy, Like wasn't
🤣🤣🤣
With Meadow taking so long to get to the table, it leaves a clear shot from the bathroom.
You walk around here in this million dollar mansion. With your 500$ shoes. You act like butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth! 😂
I miss “The Sopranos” so much. Just an awesome show. Hoping the prequel
does it justice.
It won't be the same without James Gandolfini. He was Tony Soprano.
@@gmb858 isn't Tony Soprano a CHILD in the prequel?
@@gmb858 teenager, my bad but still either way
David Chase the series creator in November of 2022 stated that Tony Soprano does indeed die after the scene fades to black.
To me the ending it is art. It leave the viewers with own interpretation. Which is what art is. Personally I love the ending, has a lot of meaning to it
Something to consider is that at the beginning of the Sopranos it is stated that Family is off limits, an old mafia tradition. However during the Series Tony becomes more and more brutal and breaks the rules. The final straw is when Tony orders the killing of a mafia boss in front of his family including children, which is a huge sign of disrespect. By breaking the rules, Tony has just put a huge bullseye on him and now he can be killed anytime, anywhere, for example: just in the middle of a dinner with his family.
Both literally and symbolically it is obvious he died in that moment. There was much foreshadowing in the previous season on how it would happen and the sequence of POV shots made it abundantly clear in retrospect. Brilliantly made to shock and anger us in the moment yet satisfy totally upon reflection, like a hit on us the viewers at the same time really!
I've come to really appreciate the ending. I am certain he died. He deserved it for everything he did.
door bell rings, we see tony, then we see what tony sees. this happens about 3 or 4 times before the final shot. door bell rings, we see tony, then we see nothing...exactly what tony sees. dude is dead and gone.
This is the only logical explenatiom
@@Reb3nga or that nothing happened....lol in a crowded restaurant in front of his entire family? Sure. lol.
@@anthonyr587 A) he had Phil killed in front of his family so it was payback B) In a crowded restaurant... you never seen The Godfather?
All I know, when I first watched it, thought something was wrong with the DVD, until I talked to someone who watched when it aired, and found out that was really how it ended.
it was an awful moment when the screen turned black... i remember when i saw it the first time... this feeling of emptieness inside me... never had this again in the same way in comparison to other films or series
Did anyone notice the plane sound when meadow got out of the car. It’s the same plane sound that happened when Tony talked to the FBI at the beginning of the episode. Do you think it implies he got whacked for talking to the FBI?
ALWAYS my favorite show. STILL watch it every now & then.
It was ambiguous because Tony's fate was the same. There is no neat conclusion because the cycle doesn't stop. No lesson was learned and Tony had no intention of retiring. So it cuts to black because of the pointless nature of his life. Despite all he has endured Tony continues as if it were the first episode. It was perfect. That is real life. No happy ending. No cement conclusion. You just keep going until the end. You choose your fate and you live with it until you stop living.
Okay, best comment so far. I believe similarly. I do think that partly the reason for the ambiguous ending is to do with sensationalizing. I mean, how do you end a great series like The Sopranos? Any definitive ending would have disappointed the viewers. Which is why Chase has always been cagey explaining it. He does not want to take the thrill away from people who are still talking about the only good thing he made. Ambiguity, a justified one, takes the creative credo of any series to another notch. And The Sopranos was such a series. The ending is the reason so many people are talking about it still.
@@tablehead6758 totally agree. the director said the most important part of the scene isn't the POV shots, but the music choices. Tony skips past the song called "Any Way You Want It" and instead chooses "Don't Stop Believing" which insinuates that he goes right on living his life in a state of dichotomous anxiety and comfort.
Yessssssss!
Looper failed to mention the scene in the last episode where Tony wakes up and there’s funeral organ music playing and the pillows in the bed are shot to look like he’s in a casket. He dies, Jesus!
The bells is the key....throughout the show he always was aware of bells and looking over his shoulder and when meadow enters the doorbell goes off and he doesn't look over his shoulder because he's comfortable because the war with NY is over.....and the one time he doesn't react to a bell he gets popped...
With all the speculation, you showed a quote from the head writer where he said, "a guy walks out of the men's room and you're dead". It's that simple, why make things complicated?
So we're basing theory's off speculation, from a character that thought Quasimodo predicted 911?
When whats his name was whacked in the restaurant at the same table as Silvio, he didn't even realize what happened until like 5 seconds later. It all adds up. The start of the last episode is him looking like he's laying in a casket, and he wakes up to organ music. Everything you need to say Tony is dead is there. It's definitive.
David Chase accidentally referred to the last scene as “the death scene” just recently in an interview.
At the time, I felt cheated, confused and angry. I now view it as absolute genius. There really is no doubt about it, Tony got a bullet in the head. It's all there.
But what is his final tab at vesuvio?
Whatever it was, it was one of the worst ending in TV history. Scary writers with no commitment.
Everybody forgets, 3o'clock was the message Chris delivered to Tony from Hell (earlier in the series, at the hospital). At the restaurant, the restroom was at 3 o'clock(relative to Tony). As the audience, we were killed "and didn't hear it when it happened"
I think it goes back to something that Christopher said after he got shot...he said his father was in hell and every night he got whacked the same way he did in life...the way it ended when tony looked up it went black so you can assume thats the moment his life ended...but when tony first walked in he saw himself sitting at the table...so it all leads back to what christopher said....tony was in hell and he was getting whacked every night
"He said, tell them... 3 o'clock."
Exactly!! Paulie sees the Virgin Mary at 3:00 at the Bing in an earlier episode that same season.... he is spared - but Tony is not. The shooter would have exited the bathroom at Tony’s 3:00.
Holy shit !! That’s huge !!! Great call !! Never thought of that !!
OGtalks my assumption on Paulie being spared was because of his real mother Nucci / the nun being up in heaven and watching out for him.
Something Found also , you never know Paulies fate could still have something to do with 3 o’clock in the future ..
OGtalks true!! Remember the psychic ... lmao!!
I still say the writers are sitting back having a little chuckle from all the fan theories, which have all been great don't get me wrong. Fans have put thousands of hours and team effort into constructing lengthy, well thought out videos with powerpoint explaining their theories in micro-detail as to why Tony is indeed dead, or not, but mostly dead.
My theory, however, is simple and won't require a powerpoint presentation. Simply put, the writers successfully pulled off the greatest trick-or-treat in television history by simply cutting to black. No dead Tony. Just a show that came to an end. Period. And the theories have been raining ever since. Brilliant.
Johnny Boyd -nice to find someone else who thought the ending was perfect.
@@Phreemunny --absolutely. It seems we are a rare breed
@@Phreemunny I wanted to see Tony die but it's okay to me when it cuts black is when he gets shot in his head
They practically spelled it out that he died. For more proof, the shows creator let it slip in an interview once. He was talking about what happens when you film a death scene or something to that effect.
I always thought it was Tony's purgatory! Christopher explained what purgatory is like and how they relive their death over and over again. It seems a fitting torment for Tony always waiting to have all of them together for a meal and always dying waiting on Meadow. Maybe it's why he sees himself sitting there at first as if it's the restart.
Great point
The ending is very simple. What Chase did was leave it up the you the audience to decide. He treated his fans as adults and made them come up with there own conclusion on the Tony's immediate and mob family will look present day and beyond. I for one don't have Tony dying. When Tony tells Carmella that Carlo flipped, that means Tony will have to worry about the rest of his life getting busted by the feds, the guy in the member only jacket symbolizes Tony is always in danger of getting shot. Business as usual.
Agreed. The paranoia and quick cut-to-black at the end is about the precarious/vulnerable lifestyle the Sopranos have had to live and will continue to live forever. No easter eggs or hidden meanings.
@@anarchyutopia yes and this was confirmed by the director. He said you should pay zero attention to any "symbolism" and just focus on the emotional part of it. In fact, I think the cut-to-black was supposed to originally be a time for reflection, for the viewer to ponder how Tony is in the safest kind of place around safe people, but he himself can never feel safe. The director also made the jacket guy deliberately "ambiguous" so that the viewer couldn't tell if he was evil. Is he a fed? A hitman? Just a customer? At this point, you are inside Tony's head. That's why it cuts to black. To show you that you have officially been inserted into his emotional state of being, and now you have to think the same paranoid thoughts he is for the duration of the blackness.
He just had another panic attack when the screen went blank
Maybe you're right!
I hope that's it😢😢
In hell.
I feel I understand the ending less after watching this.
I actually think this was pretty spot on... Even if he did live, he’s not gonna be the same. No Bobby, no Sil, no Christopher, Carlo flipped...
Things weren’t looking good
Just finished the series myself. Since i was so late to the party i had no idea about the ending. But the feeling of what was to come was huge. I was sitting in my recliner and literally sat up at the edge of my chair as i saw the pieces ciming together. After thinking about it, it seems to me the guy came back out of the toilet and shot tony dead as meadow came in. But other interpretations could be plausible as well.
I like how Looper tricked us into watching this. It literally gave me me NO clarity
He is definitely dead. Every time the door opens tony looks and we see from his point of view , the last time he looks it's from his point of view again and it goes black, that's tony being shot and his point of view going black
It was always obvious to me. For one thing there was an episode called members only where one of Tony's men was given a "hit" to do. The hit man at the end was wearing a member's only jacket. Besides, the forewarning in the earlier episode where the Brother in law said nothing happens, just fade to black. That's how the series ended, from Tony's point of view, nothing but black, dead.
I was always confused about the last episode. Until just recently when I rewatched the entire series and came across episode 9 of season 2 “From Where to Eternity” that episode Chris says to Pauly and Tony “3 o’ clock…” and for the longest time I always thought that meant 3am or 3pm someone was gonna die…
Wasn’t til my recent rewatch where I realized the man in the member only jacket is sitting to Tony’s 3 o’ clock in the diner….
😬😬😬😬😬😬
Could b a stretch but 🤷🏿♂️
Wow.. if I’m right..
RIP Tony
The cast did an interview in 2020 where most of them just interpreted the ending as the family going on with their lives
He died. It’s all through the series that he will die. From the first episode to the last, it was obvious what would happen.
After we truly lost J. Gandolfini, none of this matters.
Tony was shot dead. In a previous episode he has a guy killed in front of his wife, in the gas station, when the car rolls over his head.
In the final scene Tony, is shot in front of his family , just like the other guy, and was shot from behind and never saw it coming. Just like the gas station guy.
Cut to black.
SurfK9 and Phil was shot at his 3:00 as well... mmmhmmm
Perfect ending for the perfect tv series.
Understand what you are seeing in the scene. Of course, the POV changes every time someone enters, we get Tony's perspective following the cut to Tony.
Meadow not making it into the store is significant for two reasons. One, the seat is open next to Tony on his right which means she is supposed to sit next to Tony on that side, which would nullify the shot coming from the bathroom which is where it ultimately came from. Two, Tony looks up instead of noticing the guy coming from his right about to shoot him.
The shot came from Tony's right, and it happened as Meadow entered the diner. That's why we as viewers didn't see the gun.
The episode towards the end where tony and chris jack the wine from the bikers and the scene where chris talks about how adriana turned rat. Scene was some best acting ever to this day. The writing/acting on this show was everything! 🙌🏽
Nope
RD2 4 😂 stick to your little dogman and warewolf sightings then boy
Definitely right..very harrowing scene
It's pretty ingenious as a director honestly. The ambiguity of the ending frustrates all in the short term, but long term it is great for the series. Not only thought provoking, it doesn't matter if he died there, or implied that he will always be looking over his shoulder due to his business. Both options could be true and the ending wouldn't change much. Plus look at all of the video's towards the sopranos ending because of not having a concrete ending.
It surprises me that people thought it was ambiguous until David Simon said it out loud. In the penultimate episode, they talk about how when you die it probably all goes black. They set up the ending that way, and then it's just a POV shot where we see Tony watching his family come in the door.
Then it goes all black, because the members only guy walked up and shot him in the head. Easy.
EDIT - Also, David Chase confirmed that he's dead, so there's no ambiguity about it now. Brilliant way to end the show, but it never felt as uncertain to me as people made it out to be.
He's alive because there would be no reason for the guy to go into the bathroom to grab a gun. That only happened in The Godfather because Michael had to come into the restaurant unarmed.
He had to have a reason to walk behind him though, so he could easily walk out after shooting him, and not get confronted by AJ. I just laughed out loud typing that last part.. but yeah he went to the bathroom to get a better angle.
I disagree. By the guy walking to the bathroom, and doing nothing, Tony is now familiar with him and no reason to worry about him. I think the guy went to the bathroom because he had a clear shot from the bathroom hallway without any chance of hitting AJ. And from my original post I think Tony is already dead when he enters the restaurant. You're seeing what are his last memories on earth. No reason to worry about anybody in the diner because he knows he is already dead.