Immediately after seeing the final episode of The Sopranos, I had mixed emotions on the last scene. I think a good deal of everyone watching it was sharing these mixed emotions. I can pretty much guarantee husbands were accused of changing the channel and cable companies were being phoned with complaints thinking their cable went out on the last take. But I think Steve Van Zandt summed up the meaning of the ending best. Van Zandt, who played Silvio, told the Daily News:

"Life doesn't have tidy little endings," said Van Zandt, a member of rocker
Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. "Even some great songs just fade out like the last episode of 'The Sopranos.'"

The star of the hit HBO show, James Gandolfini also told the Daily News in Friday's edition that he had "no idea" what happened to his character after the screen blacked out.

Theories continue to swirl about Tony being shot Godfather style by one of the suspicious looking men in the restaurant. I have watched the ending twice now and listened to the Journey song "Don't Stop Believin'" all the way through. At the end, A.J. says "Remember the good times, that's what you always told us Dad."

It's truly a foreshadowing of the most likely negative events to follow in The Sopranos' lives. After Tony meets again with his lawyer, it's indicated that Tony has an 80-90% chance of going to jail. And they show you the Feds are taping his conversation about whacking Phil Leotardo. If we saw Tony or Carmella or one of their kids get shot on screen, no one would've been satisfied with that ending either. The best thing the show's creator, David Chase, could've done with this ending was stay true to the core of his show--make people think. I mean, how many other shows can you say sparked a debate as big as this one? Now that's good TV.