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‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What He Intended for Tony at the End

*Warning: Major spoilers ahead.*

If you haven't seen The Sopranos at this point, then stop reading right now (and stop whatever else you're doing and go play episode one).

But for fans of the series who have long been haunted by that cliffhanger series finale where we're left to wonder whether Tony Soprano has been shot dead inside a diner, it looks like we might finally be getting some answers.

The show's creator, David Chase, just revealed what he intended for Tony (played by James Gandolfini) after the screen went black. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Chase talked about the ending he originally envisioned, saying, “The scene I had in my mind was not that scene. Nor did I think of cutting to black. 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.”

Of course, that's not how things go down, and instead, Tony is seen eating onion rings with his family in a diner while Journey's “Dont Stop Believin'” plays in the background, and when someone walks through the door, the show cuts to black.

Chase was then asked when he knew he wanted this ending, to which he said, “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.” Guess it's pretty clear what happened post-blackout after all.

But Chase was surprised by fans' reactions to the ending, saying, “It was kind of incredible to me. But I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar.” When asked if it was annoying that viewers fixated on the ending, he responded, “What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me.”

He continued, “They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, ‘God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You’re a criminal after watching this sh*t for seven years.’ That bothered me, yeah.”

Wow. After all these years, we're glad we finally have some answers.

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calfee

Associate Editor, News and Entertainment

Joel is the former Associate Editor for News & Entertainment and has been reporting on all things pop culture for over 5 years. Before working at PureWow, he served as a Features Editor at ROCKET Magazine. When he's not dissecting the latest trends in entertainment (or guiding you on what to watch), he covers all the hottest red carpet looks and fashion movements. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him at an NYC concert, thrift store or LGBTQ+ bookstore happily perusing the shelves.