It was shocking and disorienting to see the screen go to black, but after a moment it made a lot of sense to me. The show ended with Tony's life going on the way it always has, with the prospect of reduced circumstances looming largely. What remains is a wearying vigilance, and a constant expectation that his time has come. He lives under a guillotine. May as well make that order of onion rings a double.

Just before the blackout, we watch Meadow prepare to walk into the diner. There's a tremendous feeling of threat -- even watching her park the car over and over, the tension was rising: Will she get shot in the head before she gets inside?

She opens the door to walk in. Tony looks up, half fearful and half expectant, because that's his life: Always wondering, Is this my moment? Will I look up to see my prize, my shining daughter? Or will my dread finally be realized?

Chase leaves him intact with his family around him, and there is satisfaction in that for Tony. But every time a door opens, he is very alone. The other shoe will drop, and he knows it could be at any moment. A special hell, just for him.

I generally agree with Ms. Havrilesky,but I do think we can't overstate that many Sopranites who saw this last gasp were disappointed its dearth of bloodletting;an unfortunate reaction nurtured through the steady diet of grand guinol

fed to us by Mr. Chase in this superb series.

The ending was brilliant. Do the Sopranos live? Do they die? Doesn't matter. To paraphrase something Carm said earlier in the season, there'll always be a piano hanging by a slim rope over their heads, but they'll carry on pretending it isn't there.

And while I'm not into gruesome brutality (I often had to cover my eyes when someone got 'whacked'), Phil's death struck me as the most hilarious update of the classic runaway baby car-riage ever!

First, one of the most unchanging rules of the entertainment world, since before the theatrical performances in ancient Greece, is: Always leave them wanting more. Chase, with his stopping instead of "ending", has done just that.

And for those who relish the end of the series, because you hated the show, the characters, and everything about anyone who ever had even the most tangential connection to any of it, will you please pull your turds back out of the punchbowl and go away? You're not demonstrating anything approaching your self-delusional "superiority" here, you're being jerks. It's a TV show, some of uys enjoyed watching it, as and people who like it, we want to discuss it. Would you like it if we came to your checkers game and kicked over the board? Some people...

As a fan from the beginning and one who grew up in North Jersey, I was pretty excited going into the last episode. I read all the articles with all the guessing. I sort of had my own but not really, I just knew for sure that Phil would get it (too extreme and emotional, those types always get it in this show) but I knew that whatever happened would have nothing to do with the predictions.

I admit I was disappointed with the ending at first, but after mulling over it for a while I realized it was the perfect ending.

Nothing happens in the end in real life either. No consequence, no great fanfare. Like Olivia said to AJ way back that "it's all a big nothing".

Existence is a Big Nothing. Even (and especially) for those that do their best to put all kinds of "meaning" into living. Good does not prevail, evil goes unpunished and is often awarded. So what. Lets just keep amusing ourselves and enjoying the freakshow.

It has always struck me as odd how many people on this forum participate in moral hand-wringing against the characters on this show, for two reasons. One, it sounds dishonest. I don't see how you can follow the series for 7 years and truly hate Tony and the rest of the gang. The genius of the show is how we come to sympathize with these people, even when, ESPECIALLY when, they commit horrible acts of violence. Tony whacks his best friend, and it's Tony we feel sorry for. He kills his close cousin, and again, we feel for the Soprano patriarch. When writers talk about hoping Tony gets killed and everyone gets their come-uppance, it's as if the writer is acting out of moral obliation to judge these characters.

The second reason is that it simply seems like these writers are missing the point. Good drama such as The Sopranos speaks to us because in the heightened, exaggerated world created by the writers and producers, we can see some of us. No, we would not act in the same way as these characters, but only because we are not part of their world. If you choose to participate by watching the show you are suspending your own real-world morality and substituting the show's. More accurately, you are really moving your moral boundries to accomodate the drama. This isn't any different than watching a prime time soap opera and anticipating who's sleeping with who this week. The question is, can you relate to Tony's emotions and his actions, given the world in which he lives? Relativism at its finest.

As for the ending, I think it was appropriate to have no ending at all. Heather's summation is right on target, although I don't begrudge Chase for his ending. Cut to black--what next? The story of Tony Soprano is not about pre-destination as many of us have wondered in these forums. As for the predictions, Chase foreshadowed all of them. My favorite was that Tony would be forced into witness protection, but that was the Goodfellas ending. Tony ending up on top was the Godfather ending. Getting whacked or ending up in prison is what usually happens to the crime boss, and may ultimately be what happens to Tony. We just won't be there to watch.