Sopranos fans rejoice: Series creator David Chase has finally revealed the motive behind one of television’s most infamous endings.
In an interview with the Directors Guild of America Quarterly, Chase delves into scene-by-scene detail of the very final, notorious sequence, where the world turns black for Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, to the soundtrack of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” While Chase doesn’t give readers much information about what actually happened plot-wise, he provides insight into the meaning behind it, saying:
I thought the ending would be somewhat jarring, sure. But not to the extent it was, and not a subject of such discussion. I really had no idea about that. I never considered the black a shot. I just thought what we see is black. The ceiling I was going for at that point, the biggest feeling I was going for, honestly, was don’t stop believing. It was very simple and much more on the nose than people think. That’s what I wanted people to believe. 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.
You can read the entire scene-by-scene breakdown, here.
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