“The Sopranos” ending explained: Unpacking that infamous cut to black — and what really happened to Tony

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Sopranos' finale, "Made in America."

On June 10, 2007, The Sopranos went out not with a bang-bang, but with a cut to black. In that now-iconic moment, showrunner David Chase shocked millions of viewers who were used to shows ending with a definitive conclusion.

Throughout its 86-episode run, The Sopranos was a true TV phenomenon. It’s widely credited with launching the so-called Second Golden Age of Television, along the way piling up armfuls of Emmys (21), Golden Globes (five), and even Peabody Awards (two). Both Rolling Stone and TV Guide declared it the greatest TV series of all time.

Even with the show’s enduring popularity and acclaim, conversations about The Sopranos tend to revolve around how it ended… and with good reason. There’s more to “Made in America,” the series finale, than that final moment, but when considering the episode in its entirety, it’s nearly impossible not to start there — the diner, the door, the man in the “Members Only” jacket, and Tony Soprano’s (James Gandolfini) last look up.

With that in mind, Entertainment Weekly is taking a long, hard look at The Sopranos’ ending to make sense of everything that happened — especially that closing shot.

Does Tony’s decision to give information to the FBI pay off?

FBI Agent Dwight Harris (Matt Servitto), who leads the bureau’s investigation into the DiMeo crime family, crosses paths with Tony while trying to secure intel on terrorism-related organized crime. Harris intends to trade any info for future goodwill in a potential trial. Tony, meanwhile, is more concerned in the short term about what Harris might know about Phil Leotardo’s (Frank Vincent) whereabouts since Phil is in hiding and looking to have Tony taken out.

Tony meets with Harris and provides some new details he just happened to remember. It’s a nice try, but it’s no good: Harris can’t help him, leaving Tony — and everyone else — on edge. Or, as A.J. (Robert Iler) puts it, at “Def-Con 4.”

Not long after their in-person meeting, however, Tony unexpectedly gets a call from Harris, who’s come up with some information: Phil has been making calls from payphones in the Oyster Bay, Long Island area, giving Tony enough of a lead to send his guys to stake out the area and try to spot Phil mid-call.

We’ll get to the end result of that information in short order, but suffice it to say that, yes, Tony’s decision pays off in spades.

Does Tony end the war with Phil Leotardo?

It certainly isn’t looking good in the episode’s early minutes.

When we first see Phil, he’s in conversation with Butchie, a key part of his inner circle, demanding to know the latest on Tony’s movements. But calls like this one inadvertently help the FBI figure out his whereabouts. Just as unfortunately for Phil, Butchie has become disenchanted with him. Not enough to give up his boss’s specific location, mind you, but enough to meet with Tony and tell him, “You do what you gotta do.”

At first, it looks like a fool’s errand to try and figure out where Phil is making his calls, but with a little investigation, it becomes evident there aren’t that many payphones left in Oyster Bay. Phil gets spotted at a service station with his wife and grandbabies, and when he gets out of the car to make a call, he’s immediately shot in the head by Walden Belfiore, a member of the DiMeo crime family.

To add insult to injury, Phil’s wife jumps out of the car to help him, not realizing she’s left it in drive. While trying to get back inside to stop its motion, the wheels roll right over his newly ventilated head. It’s a horrifying scene, but the sudden cutaway to a bunch of teenagers witnessing the event — followed by one of them promptly vomiting on the asphalt — makes it a morbidly funny moment as well.

The war is over. R.I.P. Phil.

How does A.J.’s relationship with Rhiannon turn out?

A.J.’s gradual coming-of-age arc is on full display in the series finale. He’s complaining about political affairs, quoting Yeats, and — perhaps most importantly — starting a relationship with the gorgeous Rhiannon. She’s a junior in high school who’s done some modeling but plans on getting out of it, as she doesn’t like how she’s being exploited.

A.J. has told his parents that he and Rhiannon are “just friends,” but the next time we see them, they’re in his SUV in the middle of the woods, listening to Bob Dylan and deciding to take things to the next level. And it would’ve worked, too, if it hadn’t been for that darned catalytic converter catching fire. The car quickly goes up in flames, though the two lovebirds safely escape.

Tony and Carmela (Edie Falco) are, quite understandably, pissed about the car. A.J. shrugs it off, claiming it’s a good incentive for him to start riding the bus and do his part to help stop America’s dependence on foreign oil, a remark so laughable that even Carmela can’t keep a straight face. What A.J. initially decides to do, however, is join the Army, learn to fly helicopters, and — hand to heart — maybe end up being Donald Trump’s pilot.

Mom and Dad don’t approve, and they tell him so, although A.J. immediately reminds them that Tony tried to send him to military school years earlier. In an effort to steer him in a different direction, Tony tells A.J. he can get him an entry-level gig on a new film, which would — at least in theory — put him in a position to open a club in the future. Tony tells his son to run the idea by Rhiannon and see what she thinks.

Does Rhiannon approve? Her official answer is no, but we later see them get cozy in front of the TV at Casa de Soprano, so we can reasonably assume she’ll make peace with it.

Where does Meadow’s future path seem to be taking her?

In her initial appearances in the finale, it’s clear Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is on the fringes of the family and growing increasingly impatient with her dad’s temper. (After all, you don’t snap at the boss of New Jersey and call him “Mr. Fat Mouth” unless you’re truly on your last nerve.)

The next time we see her, she’s waiting for her now-fiancé, Patrick Parisi. When he arrives, he reveals that she’ll likely land a job at a law firm that pays six figures. Tony breaks out in a big grin when he hears the news, even if he still wishes she’d followed her original plan to be a pediatrician. It’s clear they’re on good terms during their last lunch together, which is the best you can hope for with a father-daughter relationship.

How does Tony’s relationship with Uncle Junior conclude?

Junior (Dominic Chianese) is not in great shape when the finale rolls around.

While some fans remained convinced that he was just faking his senility and would wrest power back from the family at some point, those viewers were just kidding themselves. That much is evident when Janice (Aida Turturro) visits and informs the sad, toothless old man that Bobby (Steve Schirripa) is dead. Junior doesn’t even blink.

At this point in the episode, Tony knows he’ll soon step away from the family business out of necessity. Otherwise, he’s destined to be indicted, and he’d likely end up dead before he could be forced to testify. Thus, he ventures to the nursing facility Junior now calls home, relishing the opportunity to have at least one more visit. He quickly realizes, however, that Junior doesn’t have the slightest idea who he is.

Tony tries his best to get through to his uncle, but Junior doesn’t even remember his kid brother Johnny, let alone that he and his brother ran North Jersey, as Tony imparts. All Junior can say in response is, “That’s nice.” Tony storms out, shaken at the deteriorated state of his one-time rival (and one-time hero).

What happens in the final scene of The Sopranos?

The Soprano family plans to meet for a bite at a local diner. Tony arrives first, grabs a table, flips through the jukebox, and settles on the song that’s now forever associated with the series’ final moments: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” 

Carmela arrives and talks business with Tony, including his sigh-inducing acknowledgment that Carlo (Arthur J. Nascarella), one of his lieutenants, is going to testify in a case building against the family.

It’s clear Tony is on edge, his eyes darting toward the door whenever he hears the bell go “ding” as someone enters. A.J. shows up, and as the drinks arrive, we see Meadow struggling to park her car outside. You can imagine the anxiety this parallel parking job caused viewers, many of whom assumed a hit on Tony was about to go down.

Boosting that theory was the presence of a gentleman in a “Members Only” jacket who gets a conspicuous amount of screen time. The scene gives us glimpses of other diners, too — a couple on a date, a table full of scouts, a guy in a “USA” trucker hat, a pair of twentysomething men taking a look at the dessert window.

Carmela asks A.J. how his job is going. He grouses about the tedium of his work before sharing a sincere moment of reflection with his dad about a fleeting piece of advice, long forgotten: “Focus on the good times.”

At this point, the man in the “Members Only” jacket gets up, walking past the Soprano family’s booth on the way to the restroom. As Tony, Carmela, and A.J. dive into onion rings, Meadow finally parks and hurries across the street, heading for the door. As we hear the door go “ding” again, Tony looks up, the screen cuts to black, and the Journey comes to an end.

Does Tony die at the end of The Sopranos?

David Chase said it best: “Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point.” Then again, Chase has said a lot of things over the years.

In his first interview after the series finale aired, Chase told Alan Sepinwall, then of the Star-Ledger, “I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. No one was trying to be audacious. We did what we thought we had to do. No one was trying to blow people's minds, or thinking, ‘Wow, this'll piss them off.’ People get the impression that you're trying to f--- with them and it's not true.”

Years later in 2021, Chase admitted to The Hollywood Reporter, “I had no idea it would cause that much… of an uproar. What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me. They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know?”

Many took certain comments Chase made in the interview as confirmation that Tony was, indeed, killed, but Chase pushed back on that interpretation, reportedly offering a sarcastic rejoinder: “Everybody who believes I said Tony is dead in a Hollywood Reporter article: works for me. Now you’ll stop f---ing asking me.”

So there’s your answer… maybe. That’s the great and terrible thing about an open-ended finale: It can mean anything. If you think Tony survived, don’t stop believing…

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