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‘Sopranos’ sleuths weigh in

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Times Staff Writer

The series finale of “The Sopranos” left us with a million questions zooming through our heads. Did he die? Did he go to jail? Did he live? Was that diner even in New Jersey?

The only thing that “Sopranos” fans could be sure of after the credits began to roll silently was that despite that abrupt black screen their cable didn’t go out.

But everything else is up for debate. Here is what they’re talking about on message boards around the internet:

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1. What was up with that cat?

EJ from A Nickel for the Swear Jar: There was that creepy cat that kept staring at Christopher’s picture last night. I don’t remember ever seeing a cat on the show before. I could be wrong, but if somebody has a pet, it’s always a dog. At the end, we don’t know whether Tony is alive or dead. We have way of knowing in which state he exists. So does that mean it’s Schroedinger’s Cat?

Jane posting on KnoxNews blog: I think the cat was Adriana reborn.

2. Why the super gory ending for Phil Leotardo?

Vertebrat (Television Without Pity message board): I thought the Phil scene was a nod to the people who complain when there isn’t enough violence in episodes. You want gore and violence, he’ll give you gore and violence, plus twin babies in a runaway SUV. Awesome.

4. Any secret significance in that song?

BonLou1260 (AOL Message Board): The song that he played on the juke box in the diner, Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey (which was the same song Carmella played for him when he was in a coma...Does that suggest he is now in a coma??)...

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Stugotzz (HBO Message Board): Pay attention, folks...Tony’s checking the playlist and another Journey hit is shown: “Any Way You Want It.” Chase is saying, pick the ending you want, I’ve given you a set-up that can be interpreted in a thousand ways.

Tnr_Staff (The New Republic): Some people have noticed the lyric in the last song, “Oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on...” Has anybody noticed the other line, “Working hard to get my fill”? (Which is a homonym for “Working hard to get my Phil.”)

3. Why did Tony’s lawyer keep hitting that ketchup bottle?

Hamhock96 (Television Without Pity Message Board): Anybody notice that the ketchup wouldn’t come out of the bottle? Maybe a precursor of the lack of blood in the episode.

5. Could those onion rings have been important?

BlinkGirl27 (HBO Message board): Whoever said the onion-rings were “communion” is brilliant. I had never thought of that. Did anyone see if Tony puts a whole ring in his mouth? It would speak volumes if not. Just a refresher communion is a remembrance of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his body and blood for his people. Replace Jesus with Tony.

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“This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me....My blood, which is shed for you” .... this is a stretch, but if tony did die, could this be on a symbol of “remembrance” of Tony who gave his life for his family? And more then that, he died to put food in their mouths... Just a thought

6. Why were they eating at a diner we’ve never seen before?

NYCalarco (AOL message board): Tony is observing himself in a dream... I mean, doesn’t it strike anyone else it being strange they were in a dumpy diner??? They are the rich Sopranos, they never ate in places like that...

7. What was up with the black out?

Avalys (Slashdot.org message board): It was pretty clear to me that he died. Remember the flashback in the previous episode, where Bobby says “You never even hear it when it happens, do you?” Implying everything just goes black - you’re dead before you even hear the gun being fired. Well, that’s exactly what happened.

Dray Raven (Television Without Pity message board): The most striking part of those lyrics to me is:

Oh, the movie never endsIt goes on and on and on and onI don’t think Tony died.It goes on and on and on and on, but our window into his world just shut.

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My Name is North, I am a banker (MySpace Blog): An alternative interpretation is that we the viewer got whacked in the end...

8. Is there anything else insane that Chase might have put in that only an obsessed fan might catch?

Caltron (Television Without Pity): Regarding the final scene: I’m also thinking that there must be a tie-in with that freaky David Burroughs Egyptian mythology sequence at the beginning of Season 6a. The way each of Tony’s family members came in one by one, with a bell ringing after each one reminded me of the each of the souls jumping off the sinking ship. I do remember Meadow as being the “Guardian Angel” , A.J. being the “only reliable guide through the land of the dead,” and Carmella being the “remains”. Or was she the “shadows”?

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