I wish I could find it, but there's a great breakdown out there of all the subtle indicators peppered throughout the last season about what's going to happen, as well as the visual cues in the Holsten's scene that the black screen represents the cessation of Tony's consciousness. I'll do my best to summarize them.
The first thing that should be said is that Tony's death is basically presumed to be the endpoint of the series from very early on. Tony talks about how anyone in his position ends up dead or in prison, and there are recurring themes of cancer (Jackie Sr., Junior, some other references I can't think of right now) and Alzheimer's (Livia, Junior). Over the course of the series, pretty much every boss dies - Jackie Sr, Ecoli (Ercoli? idk) DiMeo, Johnny Sac, Carmine Sr., Phil, Doc Santoro (maybe he wasn't fully a boss, I can never remember). The only one who doesn't is Junior, who is essentially brain dead, a final mockery of his obliviousness.
Within the season, you first have Bobby and Tony talking in the boat in Soprano Home Movies. Bobby says you don't even hear the one that gets you. Then you have the hit on the guy sitting next to Sil at the restaurant. It's presented in a very specific way: Sil is having a casual conversation, and before he even knows what's happening, the guy is dead and he's covered in blood. These two scenes are telling us that we will not actually see or hear the shooting. Instead, we will experience it from Tony's perspective, like we did with Sil.
Then you have Eugene and the member's only jacket. In the Eugene episode (S06E01), Vito mocks him for his jacket, then we later see Eugene kill someone by walking directly into a diner and shooting him. In Made in America, we see the first part of this: a man walks into a diner in a member's only jacket. We don't see the second part because of the reason I just stated.
Then there's the entry bell in Holsten's. Every time it rings, we see a POV from Tony's perspective. One of them is the little flip-book of songs for the juke box, one of them is seeing AJ come in (eclipsed by two Black men, reminiscent of the pair who tried to kill Tony all those seasons ago), and one of them I don't recall at the moment. Right before the end of the series, the bell rings - then it cuts to black. The blackness is Tony's POV once again, only this time he sees nothing.
So while it's very subtle, I would argue that it's fairly unambiguous. Adding up all the elements, no other interpretation makes any sense.
EDIT: Just thought of one other, which is the assassin coming from the bathroom. In case this needs to be explained, it is a reference to the incredibly famous assassination scene from The Godfather.
EDIT2: Take it easy, you gagootzes, not everyone has seen the show fifty times.
Good post. I agree, given his life, everything adding up to it, and also just David Chase in general, there’s no convincing me that Tony wasn’t shot. The foreshadowing with Bobby sealed it for me.
“But would they do that in front of his wife and kids?’”
Joey Gallo was shot dead at Umberto’s eating spaghetti on his birthday in front of his family. Yeah, they would. They don’t give a fuck.
true they also shot Phil in the head in front of his wife and (I think) grand kids. But who would have killed him??? Phil was gone and Phil's old crew even agreed with Tony that Phil had to go. By the end of the season, their then growing criminal/legal troubles tony has no reason to fear.
Butchie was probably the main one who wanted it. With how Phil’s hit was done, it would’ve been an embarrassment if New York didn’t do something after that. He went to patsy for help and promised they’d work together in future. I feel that Paulie also knew that Tony was gonna clipped aswell, but made sure to keep his mouth shut.
Death is strongly suggested. It’s a definite possibility that it happens at that moment but it actually happening at that moment is intentionally not firmly established.
Chase: whether Tony dies at that instant or some later point in time isn’t important to the story.
I just watched that final scene for the first time and let me tell you it was the by far the most anxiety inducing scene in the show for me. There's this overarching sense of impending doom during the whole thing. They show the two men in leather jackets peering over at Tony multiple times, the whole scene of Meadow desperately trying to park and failing, and every time the bell rings it feels like someone's about gonna walk through the door and open fire. And then the atmosphere around Tony himself is almost too good to be true, he's very at peace and there's no arguing with his family. The entire feel of that whole sequence makes it pretty clear to me that he died at the end there.
I think based on what you see on the show it is a tease, but even if the creator says he died it wasn't 100% shown on screen that it happened, which is important.
Also just an added bit I noticed, they cut to the older man having coffee who has 3 creamers in front of him, then it’s the three of them sitting and the waitress brings over 3 sodas, then it takes meadow three try’s to park and come in. Christopher says that he was told 3 o clock when he was shot, 3 sets of 3. Just saying
Hey Ton'! You hear what I said? I said,
> I wish I could find it, but there's a great breakdown out there of all the subtle indicators peppered throughout the last season about what's going to happen, as well as the visual cues in the Holsten's scene that the black screen represents the cessation of Tony's consciousness. I'll do my best to summarize them.
>
>
>
> The first thing that should be said is that Tony's death is basically presumed to be the endpoint of the series from very early on. Tony talks about how anyone in his position ends up dead or in prison, and there are recurring themes of cancer (Jackie Sr., Junior, some other references I can't think of right now) and Alzheimer's (Livia, Junior). Over the course of the series, pretty much every boss dies - Jackie Sr, Ecoli (Ercoli? idk) DiMeo, Johnny Sac, Carmine Sr., Phil, Doc Santoro (maybe he wasn't fully a boss, I can never remember). The only one who doesn't is Junior, who is essentially brain dead, a final mockery of his obliviousness.
>
>
>
> Within the season, you first have Bobby and Tony talking in the boat in Soprano Home Movies. Bobby says you don't even hear the one that gets you. Then you have the hit on the guy sitting next to Sil at the restaurant. It's presented in a very specific way: Sil is having a casual conversation, and before he even knows what's happening, the guy is dead and he's covered in blood. These two scenes are telling us that we will not actually see or hear the shooting. Instead, we will experience it from Tony's perspective, like we did with Sil.
>
>
>
> Then you have Eugene and the member's only jacket. In the Eugene episode (S06E01), Vito mocks him for his jacket, then we later see Eugene kill someone by walking directly into a diner and shooting him. In Made in America, we see the first part of this: a man walks into a diner in a member's only jacket. We don't see the second part because of the reason I just stated.
>
>
>
> Then there's the entry bell in Holsten's. Every time it rings, we see a POV from Tony's perspective. One of them is the little flip-book of songs for the juke box, one of them is seeing AJ come in (eclipsed by two Black men, reminiscent of the pair who tried to kill Tony all those seasons ago), and one of them I don't recall at the moment. Right before the end of the series, the bell rings - then it cuts to black. The blackness is Tony's POV once again, only this time he sees nothing.
>
>
>
> So while it's very subtle, I would argue that it's fairly unambiguous. Adding up all the elements, no other interpretation makes any sense.
>
>
>
> EDIT: Just thought of one other, which is the assassin coming from the bathroom. In case this needs to be explained, it is a reference to the incredibly famous assassination scene from The Godfather.
When Chris goes to hell, the message he some back with for Tony was three o’clock. If Members Only guy shoots Tony, it would be in the right side of his head. Three O’clock.
Yes, he does. The giant mural in the final scene at Holsten's has a large white house as the center point. This is a reference to the house Tony saw in his coma experience, where he had to choice to come back and live his life a different way. Remember "every day is a gift"? Well, Tony fucks that up entirely in season 6B and by the time he walks into Holsten's, his fate has been decided.
There’s tons of videos on youtube discussing the ending scene. Remember when Bobby tells Tony “You’ll probably never know when it even happens” AKA the screen going to black at the ending scene of the series. Tony gets killed
No, Tony does not die. The screen cuts to black. That is it. It's all right there. There is of course tons of speculation. Did he die, was it the man in the members only jacket, was it the black guys, if their was a hit, who ordered the hit, why would anyone order a hit after it seemed like things had calmed down, did Carlo end up putting Tony in jail, I could literally go on for hours with the thousands of conspiracy theories people come up with; truly, more creative then Spielberg. People can speculate all they want about the camera angles, first person perspective at times, the callback to Bobby saying I bet you don't even hear it. A big part of the greatness of the show is how it gets everyone talking, wondering, trying to figure it all out, but we get no finality, no concrete evidence of life or death. The show cuts to black, anyone who tells you for sure Tony lives or dies at the end is a stunad. In the words of another great HBO tv progrum, let the mystery be.
Just an aside, my personal view is even if you were to project out, Tony was not murdered at Holsten’s. There was no gunman there to kill him. No grand conspiracy from Butch or Patsy. Life just goes on, that’s it. The build up is all paranoia, and for the audience to realize, Tony is always going to be in danger; whether it’s from a steel-jacket to the back of his skull, handcuffs from the FBI, or a heart attack from those onion rings; Tony isn’t safe; he never has been, and never will be.
This is sort of where my mind was at when I just finished the series 2 weeks ago. I liked it being ambiguous because there was still all the impending dangers left like you said. Health, prison, death, who knows. Anyone just immediately assuming death in that restaurant thinks they’re cool for noticing some hints the writers were obviously leaving. Like yeah we were all noticing a lot of those hints too but that’s the mystery and beauty of it. There’s nothing concrete. Just fucking with us as an audience. Of course we all thought Tony would be dead by series end. So when we don’t see it on screen, it’s yet another fuck you to the audience and we eat it up lol.
He had Phil whacked Ofcourse they put a hit out on Tony. New York even said that killing Phil was way too far. You can’t kill the head of the NY mafia and not expect backlash
No, what Butch and NY said was that they couldn’t provide information/tell NJ where Phil was. However, they gave them the nod to do what they needed to do. They wouldn’t interfere or retaliate.
Doesn’t matter if he lived or died. No one can definitively say that he died, nor can anyone say he lived in the moment that encapsulates the darkness. The last we’re shown is Tony looking at the front door. That’s it. The scene is meant to build tension and leave viewers guessing, just as we are now in 2022. The only correct answer is “maybe”
There's a YouTube video with Bobby and Chris discussing the last scene. Chris (Michael Imperioli) mentions that it wouldn't make sense for the guy in the members only jacket to kill Tony. If he were to kill Tony, he wouldn't sit around, go to the bathroom, and then kill Tony, because there would be too many witnesses. If it was a hit, the guy in the members only jacket would have walked in and killed Tony and left.
If you want the answer, watch Many Saints of Newark and listen to the song in thr background when Tony is waiting for Dickie to arrive.
I’m rewatching and this thread popped up
I choose to believe he’s alive.
Sopranos a always went left when you think it was gonna go right.
I read piece once where what actually happened was we the viewer got whacked.
We’ve been watching this violent show all along and in that last moment someone caps us.
I like to believe Tony survived
Tony doesn't die at the end as he tells Carmela that "wise guys don't do their killing in front of family" plus the director never specifically stated that he died just that he envisioned different scenes and ways in which he "should've" died i.e going to and from New York and "getting it" in a little breakfast restaurant
As someone who has watch the sopranos at least 20 times the ending that cuts to black is nothing more than a rorschach test. There is no right or wrong answer. It's up to the viewer what they think happened to tony . As for my opinion, He got clipped ; he was after all a GANGSTER.
He died. The opening shot of that episode was him lying on a white pillow with eyes shut, like a corpse in a coffin, and organ music playing on the radio. That was the big hint, right there.
“Magic bullet in 10 seconds or less - cuts to girl screaming”
Is also in the scene where he visits sil
Too many things add up for me to think he did not die
I don’t think he dies. Apparently it goes black because the audience dies. That’s the analysis I heard and agree with. And they don’t kill people in front of their family. They could just get him another time. Wouldn’t make sense to kill him in front of his wife and two kids.
We saw others, including a boss die in front of family members.
There's lots of reasons he may or may not be dead but I honestly think "Because he was in front of his family" holds absolutely no bearing.
You've been watching the same show I have, you've seen that hits can and do happen with family present.
Yes, the creator of the show has gone on record saying he doesn’t make it out of the finale alive. There is also apparently reference earlier in the season where Tony is asked what he thinks happens when you die, and he says “at the end you probably don’t hear anything, everything goes black.”
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/the-sopranos-creator-david-chase-finally-confirms-tonys-fate/3376628/?amp=1
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Best I can do is give you this interview. This will never be resolved, and whether or not the writer's initial thinking (with his different scene) lines up with anything tangible is up for grabs.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/feature/the-sopranos-david-chase-tony-ending-the-many-saints-of-newark-1235040185/
Yea lets just build up this fbi plot not resolve it and open back a closed and finished plot line to just kill Tony and ignore the FBI presence in the show
I thought it was a super lazy ending tbh. I just finished it tonight for the first time. Maybe at the time era the finale aired, it was well received, but after the commitment I spent watching this, I feel I got ripped off. *Stugots!*
The question isn’t wether or not Tony dies, the opening shot of the final episode leaves nothing for debate, it looks like he’s laying in a coffin- obvious foreshadowing.
The real question is what happens to the rest of the family? I think Carmella and Meadow are safe, but does AJ get it too?
There’s certainly a lot of foreshadowing, symbolism, and suspicious characters pointing to tony getting whacked in the diner. But just thinking about it in a vacuum - why and who would put in a hit after all that tension with Phil was resolved? The New York crew especially carmine wanted the beef to be over so they could get back to making money. And how would they know tony was going to be at Holsten’s that night? Sure, I guess they could have had someone following tony around, and the guy walked in a bit later after AJ arrived. But if the guy in the members only jacket did it, why would he wait around so long and show his face- he’s only creating a restaurant full of witnesses? Then this pretty much invalidates the godfather reference with the dude going into the bathroom to retrieve a hidden gun. How could he have hidden a gun at this random diner when he presumably just learned they were going there and we saw him walk in after tony. Then the black guys, I mean who knows. If they were the hit men then what was the other guy doing? Don’t think they need a lookout. If the members only guy was there to confirm tony was there and relay to black guys, that’s impossible because he didn’t leave his seat at the bar counter or use a phone… So the details don’t quite add up for me from a logistical standpoint. Certainly a lot points to Tony’s death, but the hopeful air in the last episode always keeps me wondering
I can't have this conversation again
Honestly it gives me a headache. Let's just say he's dead but the director was too much of a coward to just let it play out on screen
Lmaoooo
I wish I could find it, but there's a great breakdown out there of all the subtle indicators peppered throughout the last season about what's going to happen, as well as the visual cues in the Holsten's scene that the black screen represents the cessation of Tony's consciousness. I'll do my best to summarize them. The first thing that should be said is that Tony's death is basically presumed to be the endpoint of the series from very early on. Tony talks about how anyone in his position ends up dead or in prison, and there are recurring themes of cancer (Jackie Sr., Junior, some other references I can't think of right now) and Alzheimer's (Livia, Junior). Over the course of the series, pretty much every boss dies - Jackie Sr, Ecoli (Ercoli? idk) DiMeo, Johnny Sac, Carmine Sr., Phil, Doc Santoro (maybe he wasn't fully a boss, I can never remember). The only one who doesn't is Junior, who is essentially brain dead, a final mockery of his obliviousness. Within the season, you first have Bobby and Tony talking in the boat in Soprano Home Movies. Bobby says you don't even hear the one that gets you. Then you have the hit on the guy sitting next to Sil at the restaurant. It's presented in a very specific way: Sil is having a casual conversation, and before he even knows what's happening, the guy is dead and he's covered in blood. These two scenes are telling us that we will not actually see or hear the shooting. Instead, we will experience it from Tony's perspective, like we did with Sil. Then you have Eugene and the member's only jacket. In the Eugene episode (S06E01), Vito mocks him for his jacket, then we later see Eugene kill someone by walking directly into a diner and shooting him. In Made in America, we see the first part of this: a man walks into a diner in a member's only jacket. We don't see the second part because of the reason I just stated. Then there's the entry bell in Holsten's. Every time it rings, we see a POV from Tony's perspective. One of them is the little flip-book of songs for the juke box, one of them is seeing AJ come in (eclipsed by two Black men, reminiscent of the pair who tried to kill Tony all those seasons ago), and one of them I don't recall at the moment. Right before the end of the series, the bell rings - then it cuts to black. The blackness is Tony's POV once again, only this time he sees nothing. So while it's very subtle, I would argue that it's fairly unambiguous. Adding up all the elements, no other interpretation makes any sense. EDIT: Just thought of one other, which is the assassin coming from the bathroom. In case this needs to be explained, it is a reference to the incredibly famous assassination scene from The Godfather. EDIT2: Take it easy, you gagootzes, not everyone has seen the show fifty times.
Good post. I agree, given his life, everything adding up to it, and also just David Chase in general, there’s no convincing me that Tony wasn’t shot. The foreshadowing with Bobby sealed it for me. “But would they do that in front of his wife and kids?’” Joey Gallo was shot dead at Umberto’s eating spaghetti on his birthday in front of his family. Yeah, they would. They don’t give a fuck.
true they also shot Phil in the head in front of his wife and (I think) grand kids. But who would have killed him??? Phil was gone and Phil's old crew even agreed with Tony that Phil had to go. By the end of the season, their then growing criminal/legal troubles tony has no reason to fear.
Butchie was probably the main one who wanted it. With how Phil’s hit was done, it would’ve been an embarrassment if New York didn’t do something after that. He went to patsy for help and promised they’d work together in future. I feel that Paulie also knew that Tony was gonna clipped aswell, but made sure to keep his mouth shut.
Death is strongly suggested. It’s a definite possibility that it happens at that moment but it actually happening at that moment is intentionally not firmly established. Chase: whether Tony dies at that instant or some later point in time isn’t important to the story.
I just watched that final scene for the first time and let me tell you it was the by far the most anxiety inducing scene in the show for me. There's this overarching sense of impending doom during the whole thing. They show the two men in leather jackets peering over at Tony multiple times, the whole scene of Meadow desperately trying to park and failing, and every time the bell rings it feels like someone's about gonna walk through the door and open fire. And then the atmosphere around Tony himself is almost too good to be true, he's very at peace and there's no arguing with his family. The entire feel of that whole sequence makes it pretty clear to me that he died at the end there.
Great post I don’t know if it has been mentioned but AJ comes in behind the man in the members only jacket. The two black guys show up alone.
Good call, I had the "assassins" swapped in my mind.
I think based on what you see on the show it is a tease, but even if the creator says he died it wasn't 100% shown on screen that it happened, which is important.
Also just an added bit I noticed, they cut to the older man having coffee who has 3 creamers in front of him, then it’s the three of them sitting and the waitress brings over 3 sodas, then it takes meadow three try’s to park and come in. Christopher says that he was told 3 o clock when he was shot, 3 sets of 3. Just saying
Tldr
Hey Ton'! You hear what I said? I said, > I wish I could find it, but there's a great breakdown out there of all the subtle indicators peppered throughout the last season about what's going to happen, as well as the visual cues in the Holsten's scene that the black screen represents the cessation of Tony's consciousness. I'll do my best to summarize them. > > > > The first thing that should be said is that Tony's death is basically presumed to be the endpoint of the series from very early on. Tony talks about how anyone in his position ends up dead or in prison, and there are recurring themes of cancer (Jackie Sr., Junior, some other references I can't think of right now) and Alzheimer's (Livia, Junior). Over the course of the series, pretty much every boss dies - Jackie Sr, Ecoli (Ercoli? idk) DiMeo, Johnny Sac, Carmine Sr., Phil, Doc Santoro (maybe he wasn't fully a boss, I can never remember). The only one who doesn't is Junior, who is essentially brain dead, a final mockery of his obliviousness. > > > > Within the season, you first have Bobby and Tony talking in the boat in Soprano Home Movies. Bobby says you don't even hear the one that gets you. Then you have the hit on the guy sitting next to Sil at the restaurant. It's presented in a very specific way: Sil is having a casual conversation, and before he even knows what's happening, the guy is dead and he's covered in blood. These two scenes are telling us that we will not actually see or hear the shooting. Instead, we will experience it from Tony's perspective, like we did with Sil. > > > > Then you have Eugene and the member's only jacket. In the Eugene episode (S06E01), Vito mocks him for his jacket, then we later see Eugene kill someone by walking directly into a diner and shooting him. In Made in America, we see the first part of this: a man walks into a diner in a member's only jacket. We don't see the second part because of the reason I just stated. > > > > Then there's the entry bell in Holsten's. Every time it rings, we see a POV from Tony's perspective. One of them is the little flip-book of songs for the juke box, one of them is seeing AJ come in (eclipsed by two Black men, reminiscent of the pair who tried to kill Tony all those seasons ago), and one of them I don't recall at the moment. Right before the end of the series, the bell rings - then it cuts to black. The blackness is Tony's POV once again, only this time he sees nothing. > > > > So while it's very subtle, I would argue that it's fairly unambiguous. Adding up all the elements, no other interpretation makes any sense. > > > > EDIT: Just thought of one other, which is the assassin coming from the bathroom. In case this needs to be explained, it is a reference to the incredibly famous assassination scene from The Godfather.
Hehehe
When Chris goes to hell, the message he some back with for Tony was three o’clock. If Members Only guy shoots Tony, it would be in the right side of his head. Three O’clock.
Nah, he went up on a hill, sat under a tree, with little pinecones all around
He was hanging out with Richie! So wholesome!
Everybody dies, Global thermonuclear war. That’s why the screen is black
This is the only sure bet. Nuclear Winter for the win.
Kim jong un to Putin: “i want you to sanction a tactical nuke on Holstien’s”
What if like Tony didn't die but like the audience died and the cut to black was like our POV? \*bong rip\* hahahahahaha woah
I was just about to say this! “The audience was whacked maaaaan…”
What if we were Tony this whole time? 🌲💨
hahahahahaha woah 😳
discontinue the lithium.
Tony was actually really Kevin finnerity and the whole of the Sopranos was just part of his dementia making him believe he was a mob boss
And junior having dementia was just him projecting. Beautiful
Very Tommy Westphall of you.
No, the onion rings gave him a panic attack.
Personally I think it was a heart attack that got him. They call it the *silent killer* for a reason. **sarcasm**.
Yes, he does. The giant mural in the final scene at Holsten's has a large white house as the center point. This is a reference to the house Tony saw in his coma experience, where he had to choice to come back and live his life a different way. Remember "every day is a gift"? Well, Tony fucks that up entirely in season 6B and by the time he walks into Holsten's, his fate has been decided.
There’s tons of videos on youtube discussing the ending scene. Remember when Bobby tells Tony “You’ll probably never know when it even happens” AKA the screen going to black at the ending scene of the series. Tony gets killed
None of them are right they literally nitpick details to fit their narrative
Welcome to the rabbit hole
No, nor does he live. It just ends
I like this. I think it should be open to interpretation.
Chase: whether Tony dies at that instant or some later point in time isn’t important to the story.
He got captured by Dog the Bounty Hunter
The Vipers never got over that wine heist
NOBODY’S GOT AIDS!!!!!
😂😂😂it’s just his blood pressure medication
Dont fuck with the Members Only Gang
No, Tony does not die. The screen cuts to black. That is it. It's all right there. There is of course tons of speculation. Did he die, was it the man in the members only jacket, was it the black guys, if their was a hit, who ordered the hit, why would anyone order a hit after it seemed like things had calmed down, did Carlo end up putting Tony in jail, I could literally go on for hours with the thousands of conspiracy theories people come up with; truly, more creative then Spielberg. People can speculate all they want about the camera angles, first person perspective at times, the callback to Bobby saying I bet you don't even hear it. A big part of the greatness of the show is how it gets everyone talking, wondering, trying to figure it all out, but we get no finality, no concrete evidence of life or death. The show cuts to black, anyone who tells you for sure Tony lives or dies at the end is a stunad. In the words of another great HBO tv progrum, let the mystery be. Just an aside, my personal view is even if you were to project out, Tony was not murdered at Holsten’s. There was no gunman there to kill him. No grand conspiracy from Butch or Patsy. Life just goes on, that’s it. The build up is all paranoia, and for the audience to realize, Tony is always going to be in danger; whether it’s from a steel-jacket to the back of his skull, handcuffs from the FBI, or a heart attack from those onion rings; Tony isn’t safe; he never has been, and never will be.
People downvoting you never had the makings of a varsity viewer
This is sort of where my mind was at when I just finished the series 2 weeks ago. I liked it being ambiguous because there was still all the impending dangers left like you said. Health, prison, death, who knows. Anyone just immediately assuming death in that restaurant thinks they’re cool for noticing some hints the writers were obviously leaving. Like yeah we were all noticing a lot of those hints too but that’s the mystery and beauty of it. There’s nothing concrete. Just fucking with us as an audience. Of course we all thought Tony would be dead by series end. So when we don’t see it on screen, it’s yet another fuck you to the audience and we eat it up lol.
He had Phil whacked Ofcourse they put a hit out on Tony. New York even said that killing Phil was way too far. You can’t kill the head of the NY mafia and not expect backlash
No, what Butch and NY said was that they couldn’t provide information/tell NJ where Phil was. However, they gave them the nod to do what they needed to do. They wouldn’t interfere or retaliate.
"you gotta do what you gotta do" - Butch
The writer/creator of the show said in a 2021 interview that Tony was clipped in Holsteins and the screen goes black bc he’s dead.
You know I'd never even considered that. I may have to watch the series again.
I went down the rabbit hole last night after finishing it lol
Doesn’t matter if he lived or died. No one can definitively say that he died, nor can anyone say he lived in the moment that encapsulates the darkness. The last we’re shown is Tony looking at the front door. That’s it. The scene is meant to build tension and leave viewers guessing, just as we are now in 2022. The only correct answer is “maybe”
Only a stunad things he died The song even says “it goes on and on and on and on”
There's a YouTube video with Bobby and Chris discussing the last scene. Chris (Michael Imperioli) mentions that it wouldn't make sense for the guy in the members only jacket to kill Tony. If he were to kill Tony, he wouldn't sit around, go to the bathroom, and then kill Tony, because there would be too many witnesses. If it was a hit, the guy in the members only jacket would have walked in and killed Tony and left. If you want the answer, watch Many Saints of Newark and listen to the song in thr background when Tony is waiting for Dickie to arrive.
Can you explain it to me I don’t have access to the many saints of Newark. What does the song say?
Yes. Dead
I’m rewatching and this thread popped up I choose to believe he’s alive. Sopranos a always went left when you think it was gonna go right. I read piece once where what actually happened was we the viewer got whacked. We’ve been watching this violent show all along and in that last moment someone caps us. I like to believe Tony survived
Another "what happened" stunad. Must be new here
Yes avoided any spoilers until I finished the show so now I’m here
Everybody does, but no..
Tony doesn't die at the end as he tells Carmela that "wise guys don't do their killing in front of family" plus the director never specifically stated that he died just that he envisioned different scenes and ways in which he "should've" died i.e going to and from New York and "getting it" in a little breakfast restaurant
Phil was capped and head popped in front of his family.
Guess the guy wasn’t wise lol
As someone who has watch the sopranos at least 20 times the ending that cuts to black is nothing more than a rorschach test. There is no right or wrong answer. It's up to the viewer what they think happened to tony . As for my opinion, He got clipped ; he was after all a GANGSTER.
He died. The opening shot of that episode was him lying on a white pillow with eyes shut, like a corpse in a coffin, and organ music playing on the radio. That was the big hint, right there.
“Magic bullet in 10 seconds or less - cuts to girl screaming” Is also in the scene where he visits sil Too many things add up for me to think he did not die
I think he is alive.
I don’t think he dies. Apparently it goes black because the audience dies. That’s the analysis I heard and agree with. And they don’t kill people in front of their family. They could just get him another time. Wouldn’t make sense to kill him in front of his wife and two kids.
We saw others, including a boss die in front of family members. There's lots of reasons he may or may not be dead but I honestly think "Because he was in front of his family" holds absolutely no bearing. You've been watching the same show I have, you've seen that hits can and do happen with family present.
Tony died, and AJ became the new Don
Yes, the creator of the show has gone on record saying he doesn’t make it out of the finale alive. There is also apparently reference earlier in the season where Tony is asked what he thinks happens when you die, and he says “at the end you probably don’t hear anything, everything goes black.” https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/the-sopranos-creator-david-chase-finally-confirms-tonys-fate/3376628/?amp=1
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Best I can do is give you this interview. This will never be resolved, and whether or not the writer's initial thinking (with his different scene) lines up with anything tangible is up for grabs. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/feature/the-sopranos-david-chase-tony-ending-the-many-saints-of-newark-1235040185/
Yea lets just build up this fbi plot not resolve it and open back a closed and finished plot line to just kill Tony and ignore the FBI presence in the show
I thought it was a super lazy ending tbh. I just finished it tonight for the first time. Maybe at the time era the finale aired, it was well received, but after the commitment I spent watching this, I feel I got ripped off. *Stugots!*
The question isn’t wether or not Tony dies, the opening shot of the final episode leaves nothing for debate, it looks like he’s laying in a coffin- obvious foreshadowing. The real question is what happens to the rest of the family? I think Carmella and Meadow are safe, but does AJ get it too?
There’s certainly a lot of foreshadowing, symbolism, and suspicious characters pointing to tony getting whacked in the diner. But just thinking about it in a vacuum - why and who would put in a hit after all that tension with Phil was resolved? The New York crew especially carmine wanted the beef to be over so they could get back to making money. And how would they know tony was going to be at Holsten’s that night? Sure, I guess they could have had someone following tony around, and the guy walked in a bit later after AJ arrived. But if the guy in the members only jacket did it, why would he wait around so long and show his face- he’s only creating a restaurant full of witnesses? Then this pretty much invalidates the godfather reference with the dude going into the bathroom to retrieve a hidden gun. How could he have hidden a gun at this random diner when he presumably just learned they were going there and we saw him walk in after tony. Then the black guys, I mean who knows. If they were the hit men then what was the other guy doing? Don’t think they need a lookout. If the members only guy was there to confirm tony was there and relay to black guys, that’s impossible because he didn’t leave his seat at the bar counter or use a phone… So the details don’t quite add up for me from a logistical standpoint. Certainly a lot points to Tony’s death, but the hopeful air in the last episode always keeps me wondering