I think Tony got killed. After watching the ending I immediately thought of the exchange he had with Bobby about getting killed. Bobby asked Tony if he thought you saw it coming. Tony said something like everything just goes black and its over. The open endedness of it was awesome, but to me Tony got what he had coming.
it sure looks that way but chase left it out there just in case hbo or xyz offers him 200 mill in a few years to extend the series or produce the movie..
with the sopranos, i dont mind so much if there is no dramatic event to end it, some conculsion, because the sopranos has always been character and dialogue driven, not so much event-based. the best scenes in the sopranos are often conversations, not necessarily events. lost, on the other hand, would really annoy me if it ended this way, and things were not explained, because lost is completely based on the character's reactions to this crazy island with a magic smoke monster and healing abilities and everything. if that isnt explained, i feel like it was a cheap way to interest me.
Took me a while to absorb the final episode and had to watch it again to get my final thoughts. Here goes. Tony is alive and well and awaiting federal indictment. Everyone keeps bringing up the conversation on the boat between Bobby and Tony regarding how it is to die...you never see it coming it just turns black. Well, the flashback last episode after Bobby's murder I think was done to contrast what Bobby said about dying and about how he really died. Bobby saw his coming. He saw the gun, the flash, and the killer filling him full of bullets. It was anything but simply turning black. That explains the flash back Tony had. But in fairness I can understand how some can draw that conclusion. I have to say that the diner scene was the most intense 4 minutes of film I have ever seen. The mystery guy at the diner was NOT in anyway shape or form a member of the NY family who had a sit down with Tony or Nikki Leotardo. Someone already explained that the actor was a pizza shop owner in PA who got a job as an extra and has never been in any other episode. What made that scene so intense was for one the unfamiliar surrounding. Tony and his family had NEVER been there in previous episodes. Secondly, the suspicion with which Tony was looking at everyone and the feeling we all had that someone was planted there. After watching the episode a second time knowing what was going to happen. No one really looked at Tony in a threatening way. The mystery guy at the bar...if he was a hit man sent to kill Tony, would he walk in, sit at the counter, order a coffee and give time for everyone in the diner to see him, get a good make on him, stand up, go to the bathroom, come out, and THEN kill Tony. That would be a piss poor hit. Most hits happen instantly, walk in, find the mark, shoot, drop the gun, get out before anyone gets a good look at you. It was a nice homage to the Godfather to have him enter the bathroom...but would a gun really be planted in a bathroom to whack Tony at a place where he NEVER has been in the entire life of the show...not likely. It's obviuos they have been there before but we have never seen it as an audience. Which brings me to my final reason Tony is alive. He had no enemies at that time. Peace was made with NY and Phil was having his eyeballs scraped off the tires of that Ford SUV. Who would have ordered the hit. Some say Paulie. But he had just given Paulie a promotion and his own crew. Nope, if anyone was clipped it was us the audience. The show was over and as the lyrics to the journey say the Sopranos life will go on and on and on...we just won't be privy anymore to watching it happen. Loved the ending and The Sopranos will live on forever and people will speculate about their own ending. I welcome any contradictions to my points but I am one who believes that Tony is alive and well with his real family finally getting their crap together as his work family is in shambles. Sad to see only 2 guys sitting outside Satriale's. My only WTF moment is the business with the cat. Although I theorized earlier in this thread that the Feds may have flipped Christopher. How funny that a cat who catches RATS was staring at Chrissy's picture the whole time. Maybe stretching it a bit but I think its a better theory that the cat was Chrissy or Ade reincarnated!!!! I will miss this show quite a bit, but I think Chase did good to let people make their own conclusions. Maybe a cop out as a writer, but brilliant to keep people talking about the Sopranos long after the final episode.
That about sums up how I saw it. When I watched the 2nd time I didnt see anything suspicious in the last scene as compared to the 1st time. It actually summed up their family from the very beginning. I felt like Tony was surrounded by his happy wanderers and stuck out like a sore thumb. I agree parts of the scene can have multiple meanings. I thought about the 2 unidentified black males that was referenced in the show multiple times. The whole cat thing is still unclear. The cat sat by Paulie in front of the pork store after he accepted to take the doomed job. Maybe it reflected Chrissy's end or maybe it is just that beak of his.:hihi:
yes, you're correct, it was proven false. i found that out this morning. opie and anthony this morning were trying to decipher if the chime when tony looks up for the final time is in the song or if its the actual door chiming. i think it was the door, but i think it'd be neat if it was actually the song and tony was just being paranoid like he'll have to be from now on.
New scene, but was it unfamiliar? A storefront restaurant, sparsely populated, at night, with a possible hitman getting up to go to the bathroom? Was there no symbolism there to the Sollozzo hit in The Godfather?
Or...just maybe as he was looking at everything around him and realizing that he will always be looking over his shoulder and be suspicious of everything and everybody, he had another panic attack....thus the cut to black. Not as fancy as him getting popped, but a possibility should there be a movie.
Well said SJS, I pretty much agree with it all. I watched it again last night, and besides the stranger looking over at their table, there was nothing suspicious about it. Thats is pretty much what I took from it, as bigwee said, is he will always be looking over his shoulder. Now that Phil is gone, someone else will take the reins, maybe there will be peace, maybe there will be war, maybe Tony loses the next round. The cat I have no idea about. I had my theories, but with it being found at the safehouse it couldn't of been bugged, and it sitting with Paulie at the butchers threw me off. I still hate there is no closure, because who the hell knows what happened. And my favorite character (Silv) didn't have an awesome line in the final episode!
The way I see it, the guy at the counter wasnt even looking at Tony... He was looking past Tony for the bathroom... Its an old restaurant... Maybe its a one-seater and he was watching for an opening?
