The SopranosEnding Explained: What Really Happened When the Screen Cut to Black — and Did Tony Actually Die?

Mar. 15, 2025

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano in ‘The Sopranos’ (2005).Photo:Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Fans are still trying to figure out what happened at the end ofThe Sopranos’ series finale.

The crime drama followed mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as he attempted to be a family man and keep his criminal life tucked away. Over its six-season run on HBO from 1999 to 2007, viewers fell in love with the high-stakes plot lines and heart-wrenching family dynamics.

During the finale episode, titled “Made in America,” Tony is having dinner atHolsten’s Dinerwith his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son A.J. (Robert Iler) while waiting for his daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). As the end of the episode nears, shady characters start to walk into the diner and Tony appears to eye someone in particular right as the screen cuts to black, ending the iconic series.

Many theories persist as to what happened,whether Tony was killedor whether the cliffhanger insinuates that the mob boss would always live with the possibility of being murdered because of his dangerous profession. Some viewers even thought their cable had cut out.

“I had no idea [the ending] would [cause] that much of an uproar,”The SopranoscreatorDavid ChasetoldThe Hollywood Reporterin 2021. “What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me … They wanted toknowthat Tony was killed.”

Chase has remained fairly ambiguous over the years as to what actually happened to his complicated lead character, telling PEOPLE in January 2024, that he really “hate[s] spoon-feeding the audience.”

Here’s everything to know aboutThe Sopranosfinale and what really happened when the series cut to black.

How didThe SopranosEnd?

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano and Robert Iler as A.J Soprano in the series finale of ‘The Sopranos’ (2007).HBO

HBO

“This simple technique, it’s always mesmerized me,” Chase said in the 2024 documentaryWise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos. “In [The Sopranos] episode, [with] everyone he goes to see, he walks into his own POV. It made me think of time, and, I guess, approaching death or approaching something. There’s something mystical about it."

Tony also helps organize a successful hit during the episode that is carried out on his rival mob boss Phil Leotardo. He then walks into Holsten’s Diner to meet Carmela before their son A.J. shows up and the three wait for Meadow.

“What you’re watching is a lot of s— going on. [Meadow’s] trying to park her car. There’s a lot of people, a lot of characters, the guy in the Members Only jacket. Other possible threats are walking in,” Chase said inWise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos.

As Tony seems to focus in on one of the potential threats, the screen dramatically cuts to black and the credits start to roll on the final episode ofThe Sopranos.

Did Tony Soprano die at the end ofThe Sopranos?

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano ‘The Sopranos’ (2005).Anthony Neste/Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Anthony Neste/Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Over 15 years after the finale episode, fans are still questioning Tony’s fate at the end ofThe Sopranos.

“Yes, I think I had that death scene around two years before the end … But we didn’t do that,” he said.

After accidentally referring to the scene at Holsten’s diner as “that death scene,” Chase further alluded to how he envisioned the final scene of the series as Tony’s death in a 2021 interview withTHR.

“The scene I had in my mind was not that scene. Nor did I think of cutting to black,” Chase toldTHRin 2021. “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.”

Perhaps the biggest indication that Tony died was in the 2024 documentaryWise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos, when Chase referenced a scene in the second episode of the third season. In the episode, A.J. and Meadow are having a seemingly innocuous conversation in which A.J. says he thought black represented death, which Chase references when saying why he chose to cut to black.

“Why cut to black?” Chase said. “There was that scene between Meadow and A.J. This is a long time back. He was doing his homework. ‘Woods on a Snowy Evening’ I think is the name of the poem … Robert Frost poem. ‘I thought black meant death’ But, see, now people will say, ‘See, he admitted, Tony died.’ ”

Chase began his next sentence with “The truth is” before the documentary cut to black just like the series finale. Audiences may never have a definitive answer, but Chase has made many indications that Tony never made it out of that diner.

Were clues about the finale foreshadowed inThe Sopranos?

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Sirico as Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri and Steve Van Zandt as Silvio Dante in ‘The Sopranos’ (2005).Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

Aside from A.J. and Meadow’s conversation about death representing black, there were other clues inThe Sopranos, including in the finale episode, that could have foreshadowed Tony’s fate. One of these clues is that Adriana La Cerva, whom Chase said was one of his beloved characters, died off-screen.

“I couldn’t bear to see Adriana get shot. I couldn’t have watched that. So, we broke the style of the show. Any other victim on that show, you saw him get hit,” Chase said inWise Guy: David Chase and Sopranos.

This is not unlike what Chase said about Tony. The show creator previously said that although he knew Tony had done horrible things, he’d grown fond of the character and was surprised fans would want to see him die on-screen.

“What was so annoying was how many people wanted toseeTony killed,” Chase toldTHR. “They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? That bothered me.”

Another clue Chase provided was the song choice. Fans ofThe Sopranoswill never forget that Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ”played in the diner as the Soprano family reunited, potentially for the last time.

“What I was thinking about was the universe goes on and on. You may not go on and on, but the universe is going to go on and on. The movie is going to keep going,” Chase said inWise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos.

What has theThe Sopranoscast said about the finale?

Cast members of ‘The Sopranos’ with their Emmy for “Outstanding Drama Series” during the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.Ethan Miller/Emmys/Getty

Ethan Miller/Emmys/Getty

The Sopranosfinale shocked not only viewers butcast memberstoo.Michael Imperioli— who played Tony’s hot-headed “nephew” Christopher Moltisanti — said he couldn’t believe the finale’s final moments.

Drea de Matteo— who played fan-favorite Adriana — was amongst the audience members who thought their cable had cut out during the episode’s closing moments.

In 2017, Falco told theTelevision Academy Foundationthat she thought her script was missing pages, before recognizing the significance of the finale’s ending.

“Then I knew in a larger part of myself that it had meaning and significance that eluded me,” she said. “I never doubted that it did have significance and meant something or was meaningful in some way because I trusted David. I know he put a lot of thought into how to end it.”

In 2019, Sigler echoed Falco’s sentiments onAndy Cohen’sWatch What Happens Live. “I think it ended perfectly,” she said. “I think that whether he died or not, people would’ve been upset or not satisfied. So I think it left it for everyone to have their own perfect ending for Tony Soprano.”

Iler said that the episode’s ambiguous nature is exactly why people are still talking about the show.

“If the last scene was just Tony getting shot in the head, that would have been it,” he toldRadio Times.comin 2017. “People would have talked about it for a month or two, and then it would have been over. But to have an open ended discussion still 10 years later, obviously what he did was genius.”

Lorraine Bracco— who played Tony’s therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi — revealed that Gandolfini himself was as shocked as those watching at home.

“I was with Jim and Jim said, ‘That’s it? That’s it?’ He couldn’t believe it,” she said inWise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos. “I think he was in shock like everybody else.”

source: people.com