Letters to the Editor
-
Dispelling some rumors, creating others.
Okay, I like a good mystery, so I thought I'd follow one of the leads posted here (and before you go all "get a life" on me, this took roughly ten minutes worth of re-watching the final scene and credits and doing a few imdb and google searches). The "members only" guy in the diner is played by some regular fella named Paolo Colandrea, a dude who owns a pizza place in PA. He did not, as has been rumored, appear in an earlier episode as Phil Leotardo's nephew. He did not, as far as I can tell, appear in any other episode of the series at all. He is identified in the credits only as the man in the member's only jacket.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06092007-1360360.html
However, there's still some intrigue to be squeezed out of this. The first episode of the season (I mean way back, the first half of this season) is called "Member's Only." Also, the actor has dropped a few minor hints. See this article:
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=114&sid=1164709
The actor may just be playing himself up here, but he does say that his character is important and that there is in fact an answer about whether or not Tony was killed in the diner. Take that as you will.
My partner and I watched the last minute of the final scene frame by frame, however, and there wasn't a single shadow changing on the table nor an ominous reflection in the metal mini-jukebox to indicate the approach of a gunman. My partner is an armchair detective. :)
I still love the ending no matter whether there is an answer or not. I just felt like looking in to this puzzle, if only for the sake of contributing to the urban legend bonanza that will undoubtedly develop due to this scene.

