This will mean nothing to those of you who were not obsessed Sopranos fans, but for me it was mind blowing. All those guys in the diner during the final scene last night? Not just random extras. From the comments on Jonathan Storm’s review of the series finale:
Tony DID get whacked. The only question is by who. Remember first Tony’s comments earlier this season about getting whacked (which were also replayed either last week or the week before). Tony said something to the effect of “you don’t see it coming, you don’t feel nothing, everything just fades to black”. That was your ending.
As for the who, take note of the credits for the folks in the restaurant at the end. The guy at the counter that goes to the bathroom is Nikki Leotardo, phil’s nephew. The black men are the same ones that shot Tony in season two, but only clipped his ear. Oddly, the boyscouts were in the store last week when Bobby got it, so they are going to have some issues, but my money says it wasn’t the boy scouts.
My money says that based on the title, “Made in America”, it was the trucker with the hat that read “USA”. The same trucker who was the brother of the trucker that Christopher robbed and killed in season two…he was the guy that had to identify the body. It’s all in the credits.
I don’t agree with the conclusion (that Tony necessarily got whacked). I just love that David Chase included all of those obscure characters in the final scene. I will probably have more to say about the finale later, since I can’t stop thinking about it. I know that reviews of the finale are mixed, but I loved it. If you like things wrapped up in a neat little bow, stick to made-for-TV movies.
Update: Further research seems to reveal that the comment quoted above is all wrong. The people in the diner are not who the commenter claimed they were, just regular old extras. Forget I said anything. (The Becks County Courier Times has an article on the man who played the mystery man in the diner.)