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ABC News, Directors Guild of America Quarterly

‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase (Finally) Explains What Message He Wanted the Audience to Come Away With After the Finale of the Series. And He Never Expected the Show’s Ending to Become One of the Most Controversial in TV History

Apr 15, 2015  •  Post A Comment

Writing in the current Directors Guild of America Quarterly, David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos,” spoke about the controversial series finale, reports ABC News.

According to the story, Chase said, “I thought the possibility would go through a lot of people’s minds or maybe everybody’s mind that he was killed. He might have gotten shot three years ago in that situation. But he didn’t. Whether this is the end here, or not, it’s going to come at some point for the rest of us. Hopefully we’re not going to get shot by some rival gang mob or anything like that. I’m not saying that [happened]. But obviously he stood more of a chance of getting shot by a rival gang mob than you or I do because he put himself in that situation. All I know is the end is coming for all of us.”

Chase added, “”It was very simple and much more on the nose than people think … . That life ends and death comes, but don’t stop believing. There are attachments we make in life, even though it’s all going to come to an end, that are worth so much, and we’re so lucky to have been able to experience them. Life is short. Either it ends here for Tony or some other time. But in spite of that, it’s really worth it. So don’t stop believing.”

To read Chase’s analysis of “The Sopranos'” finale in the Directors Guild Quarterly, please click here.

As for the famous last shot, where the screen goes to black, Chase said: “I never considered the black a shot. I just thought what we see is black.”

“The Sopranos” ended its run on HBO eight years ago, in 2007, and Chase said he was surprised people were still trying to analyze the last episode of the series.

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4 Comments

  1. Taking nothing away from his tremendous work on The Sopranos, David Chase’s explanation of his intent for the final episode sounds like he was a victim of hubris. Why would he expect the audience to interpret that final scene through any lens other than Tony’s criminal life? “Life ends and death comes but don’t stop believing?” Believing in what? Murder and extortion? We’re not talking The West Wing here.

    By contrast, last night’s final episode of JUSTIFIED fully respected the characters and the audience alike. It was an imaginative and deeply satisfying conclusion that did also did justice to its source — Elmore Leonard, whose short story inspired the series.

    • Hear, hear! Thankfully, I never got into The Sopranos, so I avoided the privilege of getting slapped in the face by the ending. That was just the laziest, most disrespectful and pretentious ending ever. Calling it controversial, as the media has, is being too kind.

  2. It occurs to me now that maybe Mr. Chase did not actually have any ending in mind. It’s beginning to appear as though he simply stopped writing one day and left it there.

  3. The ending to Justified was as good as the show. One of the best written in television history. From the always great dialog to the plot twists.

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