The ultimate debate about TVs most famous ending.
Does Tony Live or Die at the End ofThe Sopranos?
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Alan Sepinwall:Tony Soprano is dead.
Matt Zoller Seitz:Wait, what?
Alan:Hes dead, Matt.
Matt:Well, this isnt how I thought this would go.
To quote Tony, the floor is yours, senator.
Alan:Made in America opens on Tony asleep in the safe house.
This is what I keep coming back to.
The only objectively true statement that can be made about that ending is that its ambiguous.
The final close-up of James Gandolfinis face contains no note of fear or apprehension.
Alan:I hear what youre saying.
Why is this night different from all other nights?
(Well, maybe not the scouts.)
Death is what happens, end of story, right?
We can all go home now.
Frankly, Im not even sure why were still debating this.
So absolutely, the show is putting us in a frame of mind to anticipate a death.
He couldve had a coronary or another panic attack.
We dont get to watch the show anymore.
He whacked the viewer.
Or him surviving three car wrecks, one of which fatally wounded Christopher.
This guy lives a charmed life.
Matt:The point is,The Sopranosresisted all the usual gangster movie reflexes for seven seasons.
I hate that when you ask, What happened at the end ofThe Sopranos?
and people just shrug and say, Well, he died!
A better question is, What did that ending mean?
Alan:Yeah, I would say the circumstantial evidence of death in the scene is overwhelming.
But is that enough to convict Chase for murdering his main character?
At this moment in Made in America, nobody that we know of wants Tony dead.
(For that matter, Members Only Guy could be the loved one of a Soprano victim himself.)
I vote that theres something else happening.
What does that leave us with, if that cut to black means somebody somewhere shot Tony?
What is this ending saying?
Or if we cant discern that, what is this ending trying to make us think about?
Alan:Maybe we should ask the cat.
particularly once it starts fixating on a photo of Christopher from the set ofCleaver.
Is this, the superstitious Paulie wonders, just a cat, or his late colleague returned to life?
Matt:What do you mean by that?
We dont know, and will never know.
And thus, that cat is Christopher and not Christopher at the same time.
Matt:Just like the Holstens scene.
And the matter of whether Ralphie was responsible for the fire.
By telling other people what we think happened, we are revealing ourselves.
Were admitting who we are.
Matt:Death shows the ultimate absurdity of life.
Meadow runs to the door, the bell rings, Tony looks up, and … nothin.
I think Tony died at that moment is a valid interpretation.
or Where have we been?
and Where is Tony, right now, as a person?
These are reckoning questions, and they can occur at many different points in a persons life.
Melfi steers him toward this realization throughout the series, even in the pilot.
But he always manages to avoid going there.
Alan:Okay, but then, why the cut to black?
Why the ambiguity at all?
We know what the scene means, but we dont know what happened.
Matt:An important distinction.
Alan:Tonys situation as he enters Holstens is complex however you look at it.
Paulie, long the most useless captain on the payroll, is the only major ally he has left.
So when he walks into the restaurant, judgment has already been passed, or maybe suspended.
He is either an enormous success or a pitiful failure.
Matt:Or he can be both.
Alan:The cat.
And, flipping that, what if hed whispered, Guys, Tonys alive?
Matt:If hed said, Yeah, I killed him, I wouldve been deeply disappointed in Chase.
And I think I would have been equally disappointed if hed said, Tony is alive.
A lot of characters live there and have to make peace with it.
This ending puts us in their shoes.
We make up stories to reassure ourselves that we have control over life, and we really dont.
Im reminded of that moment in D-Girl where Dr. Melfi summarizes existentialism for Tony.
I know this is a minority reaction, but I like being baffled or challenged or frustrated by art.
I like having to make a case for a particular interpretation or just throw my hands up.
Its fun for me.
Because its taking the question of whether Tony lived or died off the table.
Alan:I spent many years after the finale as a card-carrying, vocal member of Team Tony Lives.
But all that stuff exists outside the text, not in it.
And the music is continuous throughout.
So it felt better to go with Tony died.
I know now, and I dont have to worry about this anymore.
And does that matter?
Matt:You mean does it matter if Chase knows what happened?
Its also easy to see that Chase is of two minds on the last scene.
Which is perhaps something he telegraphed by bringing that cat into it.
This is an artist sorting through contradictory impulses, in hopes of reaching audiences in a deep way.
There are no cookies for figuring things out.
Does he sweat and strain rebuilding the Family after the damage Phil inflicted upon it?
Is the Daniel Baldwin script a huge hit at the start of AJs shocking career as a Hollywood tastemaker?
Does Tonys death alter the career plans of either kid?
Matt:I think its more interesting if he lives.
I think it would fit with the cycles of experience depicted in the series.
Matt:If youre lucky, youll remember the little moments, like this, that were good.
The end of season one.
So maybe hed have a relatively fine old time drifting into old age.
Now, Im Schrodingers critic: equally intrigued by the idea of Tony living and Tony dying.
That matters much more to me, ultimately, than a definitive answer.
To continue to search for this answer is fruitless.
The final scene ofThe Sopranosraises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer.
I think the most important two words in those two sentences are spiritual question.
And if we fixate on anything other than that, were missing the point.
When people ask me, Do you think Tony died?
I sometimes answer, Of course.
And then I pause and add, Sooner or later, everybody does.
Which admittedly is a dickish thing to say but you know what I mean?
That bell, to me, is a tolling bell, as in Bring out your dead.
It rings every time somebody goes through that door.
Im not saying Holstens is Heaven!
or anything like that.
Maybe the ending is saying, This guy never got it.
Are you gonna be like him?
We only have this one life, and precious little control over how long it lasts.
How do we choose to live it?
I think you and I are in agreement on the larger point of the scene, right, Matt?
Matt:What point is that?
Alan:Obviously, hes alive.
