The Sopranos creator finally reveals Tony’s fate at the end of the show

Virgin Radio

5 Nov 2021, 11:33

It’s fair to say that the ending of the very last episode of The Sopranos was somewhat divisive. But now, after 14 years, fans have finally got the answer that they have been looking for, regarding what happened.

The show's creator, David Chase, has spoken about the acclaimed drama’s rather ambiguous final scene, and what it meant for protagonist Tony Soprano.

If you haven’t seen the show, firstly, what have you been doing for 14 years? And secondly, there are spoilers ahead. In the show’s finale, Tony, played by the late James Gandolfini, sits in a restaurant with his family. As Don’t Stop Believing by Journey plays in the background, Tony looks up, the screen suddenly goes black, and that’s it. The end. 

Some fans felt disappointed by the ending, which didn’t reveal Tony Soprano’s ultimate fate. It was widely assumed that, because he was in the midst of a feud with another crime organisation, there was a potential hitman in the restaurant, but no-one knew for sure. Now though, the show’s creator has given the matter some closure. 

In a previous interview, Chase called the moment a “death scene”, and in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter he said that his intention was for that Soprano to be killed in a restaurant, but that his original vision for the show’s ending was different. He said: “Because the scene I had in my mind was not that scene. Nor did I think of cutting to black.”

Explaining further, he said: “I had a scene in which Tony comes back from a meeting in New York in his car. At the beginning of every show, he came from New York into New Jersey, and the last scene could be him coming from New Jersey back into New York for a meeting at which he was going to be killed. Yeah.

“But I think I had this notion – I was driving on Ocean Park Boulevard near the airport and I saw a little restaurant. It was kind of like a shack that served breakfast. And for some reason I thought: ‘Tony should get it in a place like that.’ Why? I don’t know. That was, like, two years before.”

The show’s creator also spoke about how surprised he was at the negative reaction to the series’ final scene. He said: “I had no idea it would cause that much… I mean, I forget what was going on in Iraq or someplace; London had been bombed! Nobody was talking about that; they were talking about The Sopranos. It was kind of incredible to me. But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar. And was it annoying? What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me.”

So there you have it. At last, we conclusively know the fate of Tony Soprano.