Earlier today, Martha P. Nochimson at Vox published a piece entitled, “Did Tony die at the end of The Sopranos?” that undoubtedly caused the show’s fans to freak out. According to this profile of showrunner David Chase, the answer to this question that has been debated for seven years since the scene cut to black was very simple – “No he isn’t.” BOOM! DONE! Tony’s still out there somewhere, probably getting some lap dances at Bada Bing and doing whatever else a mobster would do seven years later.
Alas, for all of the joy, anger and arguing in the comments that simple quote caused, it seems that it wasn’t necessarily accurate, because Chase’s publicist has already issued a statement to say that his comments were “misconstrued” and Tony didn’t live at the end of the series. But he also didn’t die. Get ready to be confused and argue with your friends all over again.
“A journalist for Vox misconstrued what David Chase said in their interview. To simply quote David as saying,” Tony Soprano is not dead,” is inaccurate. There is a much larger context for that statement and as such, it is not true. As David Chase has said numerous times on the record, “Whether Tony Soprano is alive or dead is not the point.” To continue to search for this answer is fruitless. The final scene of The Sopranos raises a spiritual question that has no right or wrong answer.” (Via Vulture)
Of course, the big revelation from Nochimson’s feature was also right under a pull quote that reads: “Chase wasn’t just playing with our heads when he designed the conclusion of The Sopranos; he was part of the ongoing evolution of the American imagination.” So basically, even when it comes to Chase, it’s a matter of believing whatever the hell we want to believe. Maybe Chase thinks that the character is alive, but is he right? Hell no. I think Tony’s somewhere in the Canadian wilderness bare-knuckle boxing moose and living in a massive tree fort. I’m not going to cram that down anyone’s throat. Believe what you want.
