‘The Sopranos’ turns 20. In new book, David Chase opens up about Tony’s fate: ‘We all could be whacked in a diner’
On June 10, 2007, less than five minutes remained in the final episode of “The Sopranos.”
After eight years with Tony Soprano, his family and the Family, viewers of the landmark series sat keenly alert to the final action as Tony waited for his family at Holsten’s in Bloomfield: The bell that sounds each time someone walks through the door. Journey’s “ Don’t Stop Believin’” playing on the jukebox. The onion rings that Tony, Carmela and A.J. pop in their mouths as Meadow attempts her maddening parallel parking job outside.
Those final seconds hit Tony’s native New Jersey — and the entire viewing audience — like the Big Bang, especially when everyone realized the black screen was not, in fact, a cable outage. As the waves of shock expanded outward, “The Sopranos” was never really over. Since that Sunday night more than 11 years ago, fans and TV critics, including former Star-Ledger writers Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, have debated whether the abrupt end was an indication of Tony’s demise or something else entirely.
So when they sat down recently with series creator David Chase for a series of interviews about the show, they did not expect any monumental clarification. And yet, behold this sentence in their new book:
“I think I had that death scene around two years before the end,” Chase told them.
Yes. “Death scene.”
That was the original, earth-shaking opening line of “The Sopranos Sessions” (Abrams Press), the book from Sepinwall and Seitz released Tuesday to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the show’s debut on Jan. 10, 1999.
Chase’s explosive phrasing emerged during the sixth of eight interviews with the showrunner. The critics seemed delirious.
“My brain just blew up,” Seitz told Chase.
Alas, Chase went on to explain to Sepinwall and Seitz that he was referring to another, earlier idea for the finale. But that is not the scene he ultimately went with, so he was not, in fact, confirming Tony’s death. When Seitz, for clarity’s sake, repeated “the death scene,” Chase had a pointed reply:
“F*** you guys.”
Later, Chase got a look at an early version of the book with the “death scene” quote on the first page.
“David immediately said, ‘Please, guys. Please, don’t do this,’” Seitz tells NJ Advance Media. They rewrote the intro.
Since 2007, many have revisited, discovered and binged on the series through streaming on HBO and Amazon. “Sopranos ending explained” videos abound on YouTube. “Did Tony Soprano die?” is the most asked question about the show (apart from, say , what happened to Valery, the Russian gangster in the “Pine Barrens” episode), but Chase’s latest answer won’t bring closure if you’re looking for a simple “yes” or “no.”
