Hardcore Seinfeld fans, if I remember correctly, HATED the finale. I, on the other hand, who frequently found myself so annoyed with the characters (especially Seinfeld himself) that I rarely tuned into the show, LOVED the episode-- primarily because it sent up those very character traits that I found so loathsome.

In the case of The Sopranos, I would ask: How often does real life feature a denouement?

Chase has such a bleak view of life, part of me had expected no resolution except that, once again, Tony and his wife and kids win out and escape all punishment.

- Tony has beaten NY again and I'm sure the indictment will go away too.

- Carmela is starting to make bigger and bigger piles of cash in her real estate business, which she started by using her husband's blood money to build a house that passed inspection only because someone put on some pressure.

- A.J. has resolved his liberal angst and is once again just taking up space (cushy space, of course, thanks to mom and dad).

- And Meadow has abandoned all her fancy talk of fighting for civil rights as she sets her sights on a big-bucks jpb defending sleazebags. Maybe Tony can get offr the hook of his pending indictment by testifyng against the county commisisoner that Meadow's future husband is representing.

Here, as I understand it, are some of the sects of the Church of Tony Soprano:

* Catholic. Tony was wacked, rubbed out, snuffed like a candle, by a shot to the head, right there in front of his family. That song was his funeral dirge, the onion rings his last supper. He never saw or heard it coming, just as Bobbie predicted. That black screen was five seconds of the Big Nothing. The series ended with a shocking act of spiritual violence; the viewpoint is murdered.

* Protestant. Tony lived, to continue his hell of a life. The blackout was a ruse; or the film arbitrarily ending; or perhaps another panic attack by Tony, his years of therapy for nought. The menacing atmosphere of the diner is Tony's permanent paranoia; the life he has condemned himself to. Tony's punishment is spiritual inferno, in this life.

* Apostate. The black screen is Chase's middle finger to the legions of devoted fans who made him rich. It resolves nothing, and proves nothing, other than artistic indecision. Not Tony, but the fans were wacked.

* Mystic. The whole episode was a dream. They cite inconsistencies of setting (the made-up bed and painted wall) and weather (cold and snowy, then leaves dry enough to incinerate an SUV) and motivation (AJ shaping up, NY making truce, Harris flipping). The blackout is either Tony waking up or someone sneaking in and rubbing him out; thus there are Catholic and Protestant Mystics; and Apostates too.

It's doubtful that living is the better outcome for Tony. He faces indictment, trial, possible imprisonment, and if he beats that then years of gang warfare and family scheming, and if he beats even that then following Uncle Junior into Alzheimer's oblivion. And all the while he's paranoid, 24/7. Even a family meal at a diner is a scene of mortal terror. If that's his future, then maybe whacking him now would be a kindness. So preaches the cult of Mother Livia.

Live or dead, he's as good as dead. So long, Tony.

Seems to me that if Tony were the one killed, the camera would not have been focused on him. The camera's eye was from the perspective of those who were facing Tony.

If anyone died, it was one of Tony's family. Revenge for taking Phil down in front of his family, something to cause him infinite pain.

Plus, with Tony dead what's left for the movie? Flashbacks?

Killing one or all of Tony's family gives us a movie full of pain and retribution.

David Chase may be fond of red herrings, but the finale was set up with a pretty clear internal logic. A basic Mob rule (in ChaseWorld and PuzoLand, anyway) is that you keep families (wives, children etc) separate from hits. Phil Leotardo, the boss (however unpopular) of a NY "Five Family family", was murdered by Tony's people in front of his wife and grandchildren. From that moment on it was pure Mob logic that Tony would be hit, and hit in front of his family. As for the directorial choice to cut to silence and blackness rather than showing Carmela et al drenched in Tony's blood, that was set up very clearly, as has been noted by many others, in the conversation with Bobby several episodes prior, when Bobby speculates that being hit is like "you hear nothing and everything is suddenly black" (repeated in a flashback in case you missed it the first time). How much more spelled out do you want it? Chase's only mistake was in thinking that there is room for anything outside the completely literal-minded in TV drama.

The gangster soap opera needed one great aria. In this case it is David Chase going all "David Lynch" on us with a feast of obvio-obscure references to sustain our small talk for months to come. Then he did to that thing of his, what any of the lovable lugs he created would do, he put a bullet in its brain.

Noone has yet mentioned that when he was flipping through the juke box there was one song that appeared twice, on two different pages--Magic Man (Live). Both times it was the live version. Don't know what it means but I thought it was interesting. The lyrics are below.

Artist: Heart Lyrics

Song: Magic Man Lyrics

Cold, late night so long ago

when I was not so strong you know

A pretty man came to me

I never seen eyes so blue

You know, I could not run away it seemed

we'd seen each other in a dream

Seemed like he knew me....he looked right through me....yeah

"Come on home, girl" he said with a smile

"you don't have to love me yet, let's get high awhile

But try to understand...try to understand

Try, try, try to understand.....I'm a magic man"

Winter nights we sang in tune

Played inside the months of moon

"Never think of never..let this spell last forever"

Well, summer lover passed to fall

tried to realize it all

Mama says she's worried..growing up in a hurry

"Come on home, girl" Mama cried on the phone

"Too soon to lose my baby yet, my girl should be at home"

But try to understand....try to understand

Try, try, try to understand..he's a magic man, Mama...ah...he's a magic man

"Come on home, girl" he said with a smile

"I cast my spell of love on you, a woman from a child"

But try to understand...try to understand..

Oh...oh....try, try, try to understand....

He's a magic man....oh....he's got the magic hands

(solos) OoooOooo's over top

"Come on home, girl" he said with a smile

"You don't have to love me yet, let's get high awhile"

But try to understand....try to understand

Try, try, try to understand...he's a magic man.....yeah...oh......

I don't think Tony was whacked. I think part of the point is that sometimes the bad guy seemingly gets away with it. There is no dramatic comeuppance. But they do have to live in the world they help create by their actions. And we all experienced what hellish kind of world Tony lives in during that last five minutes.

But, if he did get whacked--what if it was Carmella? She knew where they were going and is the one who told everyone else that Holsten's is what had been decided but we didn't see anyone suggest that to her. She looked pretty disgusted with Tony at AJ's therapy session and seems pretty tired with the whole mob life thing. Roe is now a well looked after widow and is pretty much divorced from the dangers of mob life--I imagine that looks like a pretty good lifestlye to Carmella.

I don't think so, just sayin.