“That Bothered Me”: Why The Sopranos Creator Was Annoyed By The Reception To The Finale

The Sopranos is widely regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, but its finale was quite divisive, and the strong reactions to it annoyed the show’s creator. In 1999, HBO became the home to the crime drama The Sopranos, created by David Chase. The Sopranos was a big hit with critics and general audiences, and received a lot of praise from beginning to end, becoming one of the most influential TV shows of all time. Because of this, The Sopranos is credited with kickstarting the Second Golden Age of Television.

The Sopranos followed Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey Mafia boss struggling with panic attacks. Tony starts seeing a psychiatrist, who encourages him to open up about the challenges in balancing his family and criminal life. Of course, The Sopranos also follows Tony’s career in the mafia quite closely, with the many dangerous scenarios he often finds himself in and the many betrayals this world brings. Tony wasn’t exactly a character to root for, and many expected him to get his comeuppance in the series finale, but The Sopranos had other plans that caused a lot of debate among viewers.

The Sopranos Creator Was Bothered By How Many People Wanted To See Tony Killed

In The End, Tony Soprano Was Still Alive

Tony Soprano isn’t the typical heroic main character in TV dramas – instead, Tony was an antihero, but he has been labeled a “likable” one. Still, likable or not, Tony committed many crimes and made very questionable decisions throughout The Sopranos, so, understandably, many viewers wanted to see Tony killed in the series’ finale – after all, that’s where his actions and the storyline of season 6 were leading to, but Chase and company decided to take the final episode on a completely different direction.

In The Sopranos’ final scene, Tony arranges a meeting with his family at a diner, where, while waiting for the rest, Tony keeps an eye on who arrives and those around him. His wife, Carmela (Edie Falco), is the first to arrive, with Tony telling her that Carlo is going to testify against him. Minutes later, their son, A.J. (Robert Iler), joins them, but the scene keeps shifting focus to some of the men sitting near the Soprano family, especially a man at the bar who keeps looking at them.

The man gets up and goes to the bathroom next to the Sopranos’ table, and two other men arrive. Last but not least, Tony and Carmela’s daughter, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), arrives. However, the scene cuts to black right when the bell rings announcing Meadow’s arrival, with Tony looking up, and that’s the final frame of The Sopranos. The show’s creator spoke with THR in 2021 and opened up about The Sopranos’ ending and the audience’s strong reactions to it, admitting he had no idea it would cause such reactions.

Chase revealed that everything that The Sopranos’ ending provoked in the audience was a surprise, but it was also “kind of incredible” to him. While Chase said that the reactions weren’t annoying, he did share that what was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony get killed. Chase couldn’t understand why people wanted to see Tony’s death on screen after being on his side for years, and that truly bothered him.

The Sopranos Ending’s Reactions Explained: How The World Reacted To The Bold Finale

The Sopranos’ Ending Was Surprising &, To Some, Disappointing

The reactions to the surprising finale of The Sopranos have gone from hilarious to serious frustration. Some viewers have admitted to thinking something had gone wrong with their TVs when the scene cut to black so suddenly, while others were confused and others were frustrated that it ended like that, either because they wanted to see Tony being killed or expected something different. The Sopranos’ finale initially got positive and mixed reactions, but with time, it has been praised for its boldness.

Of course, The Sopranos’ final scene has been endlessly debated and analyzed, with many viewers trying to find a deeper meaning to the infamous cut to black and trying to figure out if it meant that Tony indeed died that night or just that it was the end of a key chapter in his criminal life. As time has passed, The Sopranos’ ending has become one of the best TV finales of all time, but also one of the most controversial.

Why The Sopranos Finale Is Perfect (Despite How Controversial It Was)

The Sopranos Couldn’t Have Ended Any Other Way

The Sopranos‘ finale perfectly built tension with Tony being hyper-aware of his surroundings, his family arriving one by one, and Meadow struggling to park her car (as simple as it is, it added a lot to the suspense of the scene). On top of that, the way the scene was shot already answers the question of whether Tony survived or not: every time the bell rings, the camera changes to Tony’s perspective to show who’s entering the dinner. With the next shot being the cut to black instead of Meadow, it’s implied that Tony was killed that night.

The cut to black was a strong and definitive way of telling the audience that their time with Tony and his family had ended, and whatever happened next was not to be chronicled like the events that led to it. The Sopranos’ ending ultimately met its goal: to keep the audience talking about it, even years after it aired, and leave everyone wondering what happened next to Tony and his family.