This is what I thought too. The fact that the audio cut out really made the cut seem final.
But it leaves some questions - the decision of where to eat wasn’t finalized until the last minute, so how did the hitman find him (and if he was just tailing Tony then why not do it earlier, while Tony was sitting there by himself?)
According to Chase, you don’t… just… lights out. 
Perfect ending. I say one of the best endings to a drama, on one of the best dramas of all time.
He’s not leaving the ending ambiguous, only how his family is reacting right after that moment. We know the characters so well by now, I can imagine very vividly the screams of Carm… and the shock of Meadow and AJ.
Also, maybe it was Meadow coming in through the door that distracted him from keeping his eye on that mug who went in the bathroom… nice clean shot.
BOOM.
Read what **cmyk **said. Doesn’t that sound like a good interpretation of what happened?
Adrianna reincarnated?
If cmyk’s theory is correct, then I’m not pissed anymore. In fact, I love it. If it’s not, well, let’s just say there’s no way in hell I’m shelling out my money to see the Sopranos movie.
I really think you are reading too much into this.
If Chase does not make a movie, The Soprano’s will end up as much of a enigma as the Prisoner.
Jim
Maybe the hit man intentionally waited until his family was all there. After all, Phil’s family got to see him killed; this would have been payback.
The FBI guy, when he heard that Phil was whacked, seemed really, really happy, and said, “We may win this thing.” What did that mean? Did the FBI set them both up? Phil & Tony were undoubtedly both being watched. Tell Tony how to get Phil, tell Phil’s crew how to get Tony.
It sounds too spot on not to be correct. Otherwise there would be no point for that lake flash back in the last episode. It makes you think something is going to happen, then makes you think that you were wrong, only to later find out that what you thought would first happen actually happened.
It’s a weird feeling. First you’re kind of happy that Tony didn’t get killed in front of his family and then… oh fuck.
I went and rewatched those last few minutes. I really want to believe that your interpretation is correct, that Tony was killed and that’s how it ended, just for the closure. I just can’t quite see it as a definite ending. Maybe Chase will come out and say that’s what happened, which would be a cheap retcon IMO, because it’s not really clear. I think we’re not supposed to know. We’re supposed to wonder, to argue about it, to be left in perpetual doubt.
It’s kind of deconstructivist, actually. The text ends at the moment the screen goes black. What happens after that… doesn’t exist. Is Tony dead? Or is his show just over? In a sense, he’s forever stuck without an ending, and I’m sticking to that interpretation even if Chase says he’s dead. If he was killed, it occurred in that null space after the end of the show and in that sense, never happened.
[/philosophical treatise… though a Sopranos movie would totally debunk the “Tony’s dead” theory, no?]
Somewhere, out there, the writer of the last episode of “St. Elsewhere” manages to smile…
Well given the clues from previous episodes, the symbology with the titles of each show (Chris’ death was called “Kennedy and Heidi” the name of the two girls who caused the accident; Bobby’s death = “The Blue Comet” name of the model train he was buying; and Made in America = the trucker in the diner was wearing a USA cap), and the the history of whack jobs of the show in general, this seems the most obvious conclusion. Chase wouldn’t water down the most successful run of his career by spoon-feeding us Tony’s death. What a perfect note to end it on… how Tony would have perceived it.
I know it wasn’t the same pulsing light that we saw while Tony was in his coma, but: when he was outside, just before Carm came out to tell him the dinner arrangements, the camera cut to the sun for a few moments. I had an “uh oh” right then.
Are you fucking kidding me?
1999 to 2007 I’ve watched this show. I can appreciate how hard it must be for Chase to come up with a series end that is different and in character with the show but I call shennaganins.
I didn’t expect a godfather type every enemy dies bloodbath. I was even ready for half of the plotlines to be left unresolved but this was bullshit. I wanted some sort of denouement.
You know that ending left me so “WHAT THE FUCK?!” that I think that yea, Tony is dead.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that is one of the best death scenes ever portrayed on film. It really captures it.
How much more of a denouement is needed then that of Tony’s death? Did we really want to see the aftermath and reactions of his slaughter in front of his family?
EDIT: And if it went to black like it did, but with the obligatory “BOOM” that would have cinched it… it really would have been trite and cliche. Trust me, it’s better this way.
Here’s another thing – the cat staring at Christophuh’s photo, even after they moved it. Could there have been an FBI bug planted in the picture (or its frame) that the cat sensed somehow? Would a bug give off a sound that is out of the range of human hearing, but not a cat’s? Paulie didn’t like the cat – said they’re always snitches. And bad luck. Tony pooh-poohed the idea: “Probably hears a rat in the wall.”
OOOh. nice. Christopher happened to be wearing headphones in that shot, too.
I thought he said “jinxes”, but that just goes along with the bad luck thing.
No, what would have been nice was knowing that he was dead. You’re making an assumption that he is, but there isn’t any evidence, just tension and build-up. We see no gun, we hear no shot, we just don’t know. We’re not supposed to know. In a sense, you’ve made up an ending for Chase. He didn’t have to do anything, just cut to a blank screen. Now everyone will rush in with their ideas for what the blank screen means because we can’t tolerate that level of ambiguity. It doesn’t mean anything. There isn’t anything after that. It’s just… over.
The rest is silence.
I tend to dispute the Tony being killed angle. Leaving everything go on fits the Chase motif better. I don’t have a cite, but I remember an interview with one of the writers who was questioned about the Czech hitman in the Pine Barrens. He said that you’d probably never hear of him again because Chase drops storylines because that’s real life. We don’t get tidy endings and denouments.
All the speculation is probably what he wanted anyhow…to make things murky and unclear. Which is why, now, after some consideration, I like the ending. Yeah, I was mighty pissed at the abrupt cut to black, but it make sense in the context of the whole series.
I’m still hoping that the movie is a prequel. I’d love to see Junior and Sonny Boy doing their thing. I really doubt that Gandolfini wants to play Tony anymore, judging from the interviews.