To paraphrase Denny Green, the finale was who I thought it was. The ambivalence that David Chase had always showed for Tony’s behavior pretty well meant we’d never see a true climax to the series. Tony wasn’t going to pay for his sins, at least in a conventional sense; or rise above them and renounce the Life. Nor was he going to be made a hero and eclipse the five families to become the godfather of the east coast. Tony was going to continue on as is, dealing with a dysfunctional family, trying to hold onto his grip over his organization as his closest allies die; and battling his tendency to act like Livia. For all the money and power and moments of pure evil; Tony has to live his life like the rest of us.
Except at the end Chase weaseled out on that. The cold close was a choose your own adventure ending allowing the viewer to imagine if any of the perceived threats we saw were real. Its been said that Tony was killed at that moment, because as Bobby told him on the lake in the season opener “you never see it coming.” Others believe Tony and the family enjoy their meal and live their lives as before. Either theory is completely reasonable given the way the show ended.
As usual the writing and acting were superb, there may never be a better collection of character actors again on TV; but the failure of Chase to commit to the idea that Tony existence is his punishment will eat at me as I view this episode. To leave open the possibility of Tony being killed is to let Tony off the hook for his misdeeds; a long life of the constant pressures of being boss of a family where Paulie and Patsy are his number 2 and 3 men is his punishment, this is his purgatory.
