# The Sopranos Finale - What Happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088 "2010-03-28T05:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/41 "2010-03-30T02:08:48Z")
So much has been said about how we’re seeing things from Tony’s point of view when the screen goes black. Problem is, we’re not - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM). The bell on the door rings. Tony looks up. Black. Even if you try to make the claim someone walked in the front door and started shooting, there’s nothing from the point of view that would indicate that. The screen going black had nothing to do with the viewer seeing anything as Tony saw it. It just ended unexpectedly. Tony’s life went on. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/42 "2010-03-30T03:23:19Z")
> [@cstamets](#): > > So much has been said about how we’re seeing things from Tony’s point of view when the screen goes black. Problem is, we’re not - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM). The bell on the door rings. Tony looks up. Black. I think you may have misunderstood this (or someone misstated it to you). Several of the shots in that scene are from Tony’s POV. The argument some people make is that the shot after the last shot of Tony _should_ be from his POV according to the pattern, but instead, everything goes black. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/43 "2010-03-30T03:25:52Z")
Or in other words, that we are seeing things from his perspective but he’s gone unconscious? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/44 "2010-03-30T03:35:53Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Or in other words, that we are seeing things from his perspective but he’s gone unconscious? Yes. You can see a similar pattern of shots at the beginning of the scene. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/45 "2010-03-30T04:04:49Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Yeah, but then again those mobsters’ families weren’t standing watching as their loved ones got whacked either. Yes, but notably Phil Leotardo was shot in front of his wife earlier in the final episode (with the added unintended insult of getting his skull crushed by his own SUV…no open casket for Phil). Consider that a breach of mobster protocol and perhaps _the_ single event that led to Tony’s presumed whacking. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/46 "2010-03-30T15:10:53Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I don’t see a reasonable interpretation other than ‘Tony Was Killed’. You have a guy sitting at the bar, clearly watching Tony very carefully. Then he gets up, and walks off to the bathroom. A period of time passes, and the lights go out - instantly. The clear message is that the guy approached him from behind and shot him in the head. I imagine being shot that way would be just like that - one minute you’re living a life, watching your daughter come towards you, thinking happy thoughts, then \ and you’re gone. And you never get to find out anything ever again. Chase made the audience actually feel that. > > I thought it was a brilliant ending. One of the best ever on television. Maybe THE best. There is another interpretation for why he was watching Tony. Tony is a minor celebrity. He’s been on the news and in magazines and newspapers. The watcher may just have been trying to place his face _(Where do I remember him from?)_. After the shock of the ending, and giving it time to percolate, I thoroughly enjoy the openness, and I don’t believe Tony was whacked in the restaurant over his onion rings. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/47 "2010-03-30T15:51:40Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > I think it’s intentionally ambiguous, and I’m perfectly happy with that. I don’t know if he dies or not, and I don’t need to know. This is my view. If and when somebody, Chase or somebody with his blessing, decides to do a sequel on TV or as a movie or even a series of movies, it will be easy enough to “explain” that Tony made it out of the finale. Economics. That’s how I see it. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/48 "2010-03-30T17:40:18Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > There is another interpretation for why he was watching Tony. Tony is a minor celebrity. He’s been on the news and in magazines and newspapers. The watcher may just have been trying to place his face _(Where do I remember him from?)_. After the shock of the ending, and giving it time to percolate, I thoroughly enjoy the openness, and I don’t believe Tony was whacked in the restaurant over his onion rings. Why is this important enough to basically name an episode after the guy’s jacket, though? This was the episode titled “Members Only,” right? The title, the conversations about not seeing/hearing it coming, the whacking of Phil in front of his wife, the guy going to the bathroom behind Tony and knowing he looks away toward the door when the bell rings (since he’s been observing him) – the most direct explanation, which as far as I know Chase has always said that there’s nothing funny or terribly symbolic going on, the most direct thing that can be drawn in my opinion from the sequence of events is that Tony gets shot. We saw how many hits on this show? And most of them were people going about doing normal things and BAM! _We_ usually get to see the hitmen setting up or positioning ahead of time, which I think is what we saw with Mr. Members Only. Then usually we see the hit (or at least the direct consequences, ie a bullet-strike etc.) In this case, since it’s Tony’s show, it ended with Tony, immediately and without warning. JMHO. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/49 "2010-03-30T17:47:01Z")
“Members Only” was the first episode of the sixth season when Tony gets shot by Uncle Junior. Another character is wearing a Members Only jacket in that episode which someone teases them about. The finale was called “Made in America” but the suspicious guy wearing the MO jacket was named in the credits as “Man in Members Only Jacket.” A pretty precise credit for an unimportant extra, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/50 "2010-03-30T17:47:33Z")
No, Members Only is the first ep of the sixth season. The finale is called Made in America. Or, what HelloNinja said! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/51 "2010-03-30T17:49:04Z")
The episode was actually called “Made in America.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/52 "2010-03-30T17:52:27Z")
Given the way the scene plays, I have to think Tony got whacked. In particular, the bell on the cafe door ringing just at the moment of blackout, seems too much like an evocation of “the bell tolls for thee” to be an accident of editing. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/53 "2010-03-30T18:20:44Z")
When it went black I thought Direct TV lost the signal. I don’t think anyone died but I guess it’s not a surprise people think Tony got whacked. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/54 "2010-03-30T18:39:10Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Given the way the scene plays, I have to think Tony got whacked. In particular, the bell on the cafe door ringing just at the moment of blackout, seems too much like an evocation of “the bell tolls for thee” to be an accident of editing. Ooh, nice observation. That does make sense. And it does feel very Chase-esque. **Bijou** –we thought that, too. It was very, “Nooo, why now?” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/55 "2010-03-30T18:48:56Z")
Not to mention the use of the [The Browns’ “Three Bells”](http://www.lyrics007.com/The%20Browns%20Lyrics/Three%20Bells%20Lyrics.html) during two other scenes in the final season. We heard the part of the song about the first bell when Paulie beat down that Barone kid at the pier. And we heard the part of the song about the second bell when Vito checks into the motel when he decides to go on the lam. Chase used the song in two consecutive episodes and I was expecting to hear the final portion of the song (the 3rd bell) when Vito got killed. But they never used the song again. In the song, the first bell is for Little Jimmy’s birth. The second bell is for Little Jimmy’s wedding. The third bell is for Little Jimmy’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/56 "2010-03-30T18:49:06Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > But do we see that “theme” in the series? Seems to me they pretty much left the families of the mobsters alone. > > They being the other mobsters, to clarify my meaning. I thought there was an unwritten rule that they didn’t go after each other’s families (family familes, obviously they go after each other’s crime families). Would fans have been happier if Tony Soprano went out in a Tony Montana style blaze of glory? > [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > He was GGGGRRRREEEEAAAAATTTTT!!! Maybe it was the Cool-Aid man. OH YEAHH!! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/57 "2010-03-30T18:51:42Z")
I think the whole point was intentional ambiguity, which isn’t one of the options. All the “clues” that people point to in favor of a murder also support the intentional ambiguity theory. Let’s not forget that Tony also had a history of panic attack blackouts, which could also explain the sudden ending. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/58 "2010-03-30T19:03:21Z")
I voted that he died but I think that really its a quantum physics ending, based on Shroedingers cat. As in if you open the box/see the ending then the cat/he is dead but if you don’t then the cat/he is both alive and dead. Next week Darwinism and N.C.I.S. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/59 "2010-03-30T19:03:21Z")
Was the last shot of Tony’s POV or Meadow’s POV? It’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088/60 "2010-03-30T19:18:11Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Was the last shot of Tony’s POV or Meadow’s POV? It’s been a while. The last shot is of “Meadow’s” POV (tight shot of Tony’s face). Given the rhythm established in the scene, the next shot we expect to see instead of the blackout was Meadow coming through the door of the restaurant. (There’s a youtube link to the whole final scene on page 1.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sopranos-finale-what-happened/534088.md?page=4)