'Sopranos' star reveals James Gandolfini's 4-word reaction to show's finale

Nearly 20 years later, and the ending of “The Sopranos” is still being debated.

Creator David Chase and "Sopranos" cast members reflected on what really happened at the end of the series in “Wise Guys,” a documentary about the hit series that premiered on HBO Sept. 7.

Chase has long avoided clarifying what, exactly, happened to Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) in the show’s final moments.

But what happens on screen is this: Tony, the mob boss the series follows for seven seasons, slides into a booth with his family. Seconds later, the screen cuts to black and the song “Don’t Stop Believing” blares.

Many fans believe the ending signifies Tony dies, a theory Chase hasn’t confirmed or denied. But he does shed light on his intention in "Wise Guys" — and raise another theory.

“Why cut to black?” Chase asked rhetorically in the documentary. He brought up a Season 3, Episode 2 title called “Proshai, Livushka.”

Tony’s daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) helps her brother AJ (Robert Iler) with a homework assignment analyzing “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Poem.”

“I mean, there was that scene where Meadow and AJ — this was a long time back — he was doing his homework,” he said.

Meadow asks AJ to interpret what the field in snow means. “What does snow symbolise?” AJ, missing the point, answers, “Christmas?” Meredith says back, “Hello? Cold, endless white, endless nothing. Death!”

Chase said in the documentary “that was in (his) head” while writing the ending.  “See, now people will say, ‘Now he admitted Tony died!’”

Chase continued tantalizingly, saying, “The truth is…”

Then, the screen cut to black in a move right out of the show.

Still, despite its playful end, the documentary touched on other aspects of the ending, including the final song — a controversial choice.

When ‘The Sopranos’ creator chose the journey song, he said crew was “up in arms.” Their reaction “decided” it for him, Chase said.

“It wasn’t just to be contrary. The more I was working with it, one of the lyrics in that song is, ‘The movie never ends, it goes on and on and on,” he said, as if that led to a breakthrough. He later said, “The universe goes on and on. You may not go on and on but the universe is going to go on and on. The movie’s going to keep going.”

Chase said the ending made him think of “approaching death, or approaching something… there’s something mystical about it.”

He originally envisioned Tony driving through the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan to go to a meeting and “meet his demise there.”

“If you were in the audience you’d think, ‘I don’t think this is going to work out for him,’ but you would never know,” he said.

Instead, after passing by a diner, Chase decided a restaurant where the Soprano family went often would be more fitting. The final scene unfolds at a restaurant called Holsten's, where “tension builds,” according to Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher.

The cast members shared their reactions to the finale. Lorraine Braco, who plays Dr. Melfi, watched with the late Gandolfini and remembered his reaction.

“I was with Jim. Jim said, ‘That’s it? That’s it?’ He couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I think he was in shock like everybody else.”

“Yo, did my TV just go out?” Drea De Mateo, who played Adriana, remembered thinking. Then she realized, “This is David… he doesn’t want anyone to know what’s going on right now.”

Chase said the ending "felt right."

"It was over," he said.

But the show did return — in a way. "The Many Saints of Newark," a prequel movie, aired on Max in 2021, starring Gandolfini's son Michael Gandolfini as a young Tony.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com