“The Untold Story: Lorraine Bracco Expresses Sadness Over Tony and Melfi’s Ending on The Sopranos” Despite the critical acclaim of HBO’s The Sopranos, there were those who were upset about some of the storytelling decisions creator David Chase and his team made. In addition to the controversial ending, some criticized the way Tony Soprano’s relationship with his longtime therapist, Jennifer Melfi, ended. Melfi’s actress Lorraine Bracco was among those unhappy. Bracco recently reaffirmed her disdain for the plot’s conclusion and revealed what she thought happened to Dr. Melfi and Tony after the finale.
Lorraine Bracco made her final appearance as Melfi on The Sopranos in the penultimate episode, “The Blue Comet.” The season saw the steadfast psychiatrist grapple with whether his antisocial personality disorder patient Tony Soprano was using his “talk therapy” as a means to further his personal relationships. After reviewing the findings of a study on the matter, Melfi cut ties with Tony once and for all during their next session. The New Jersey mafia boss was left devastated by the unexpected turn of events.
It’s clear that the late James Gandolfini’s fan-favorite character wasn’t the only one with feelings about that storytelling decision. Lorraine Bracco previously expressed her frustration with where the show took her character. She echoed those sentiments in a conversation with Sirius XM’s Jessica Shaw, which was shared on YouTube. Not only did she admit that she was “heartbroken,” the Goodfellas icon recalled the question she ultimately posed to David Chase: I was heartbroken. I wasn’t too happy with the way David ended things. I thought it was terrible and wrong. I was angry. I said to him, ‘How can you invest five years in someone’s life and then just walk away?’ I said, ‘That’s not cool.’ And you know, that was it.
Admittedly, it was a fair question for the former Rizzoli & Isles actress to ask the talented TV writer and producer, and it came from someone who didn’t mind how the Tony/Melfi relationship ended. However, some might argue that Melfi’s choice simply reflects the unpredictable and blunt nature of life at times. However, in sharing her gripes this time around, the 70-year-old actress also revealed that she’s optimistic that Soprano and his doctor will cross paths again after the events of the show’s finale: Honestly, I think they ran into each other at restaurants and things like that. I don’t know. I think part of me wants to believe that she left him for a while, and they got back together — got back into therapy. I can believe that.
Of course, that will depend on whether Tony actually survived the events of The Sopranos’ finale. It’s been long debated whether the mafioso finally met his demise after the screen went black while dining with his family at Halston’s. David Chase has offered various thoughts on the matter but has yet to provide a concrete answer. Still, there’s something sweet about the fact that the Blue Bloods alum feels so passionately about her character’s backstory and has optimistic thoughts about what might have happened to her.
You can watch Lorraine Bracco and the rest of the cast of The Sopranos by streaming all six seasons with a Max subscription. Fans can also access the prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, and the newly released documentary, Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos, with that membership.
