Let It Go

Even though I told you all not to, everyone is obsessed with figuring out what happened at the end of the Sopranos Finale. Let me repeat, nothing happened, there is no ending, therefore there is no answer. And all the theories that people are passing around the internet, they're all possible because David Chase dropped a ton of clues, all of which could be put together to come up with different conclusions. And all the same clues are each proof of each different ending.

For instance, a popular theory is that Nikki Leotardo, Phil's nephew was the man at the bar in the diner. And the trucker was robbed by Christopher in season 2. And the two black men were sent to kill Tony earlier in the series, but shot him in the ear instead. And those Boy Scouts were the same ones who saw Bobby get killed.

Let's say all that is true, even though it isn't, does that mean one of them was going to kill Tony? Or does it mean that life goes on, but you can never escape your past, reminders are all around you?

And Bobby told Tony on the boat in the first episode of the season that at the end it all goes black. Does that mean Tony got whacked when the screen went to black? Or did we get whacked? Or was Bobby foreshadowing the ending, that the series would end with black, not Tony's life.

This is why the ending was so genius. Everything is possible. It was a commentary on life, whether it ended right there, or changed forever, or kept on going the way it was going.

For all of you who hated the ending, let's say that guy in the Members Only jacket shot Tony, and it ended right there, would you have liked that better? No ambiguity, no thought, just a gunshot wound to the head. That would have sucked. David Chase gave us a beautiful elegant ending to a beautiful elegant series. I guess the 24 fans who need shit to blow up to be entertained can't allow themselves to enjoy something so simple, but let me ask you this. Has your heart ever beaten as fast, have you ever been as nervous during an episode of 24 as you were during that last scene of the Sopranos? No, because in 24 Jack Bauer always kills the bad guy, in The Sopranos you never know what is going to happen, and that's what makes the show, and the way it ended, so great.

For more on this episode check out this interview with David Chase written by the preeminent Sopranos writer for the Star-Ledger. It's long, so if you don't want to read the whole thing skip to page 4 and read the last paragraph.