The Sopranos star slams final scene on HBO show: ‘I was furious’
One of the main cast members of The Sopranos was unhappy with her final scene on the show.
The HBO series ended in 2007 with an ending that continues to be closely analysed to this day. It featured a seemingly normal but extremely tense restaurant scene between Tony (James Gandolfini) and his family, ending with the screen cutting to black.
Viewers were left stunned by the moment, and over the years many have assumed the stylistic decision symbolised the show’s main character being ‘beaten’. Creator David Chase has since responded to requests for clarification – and in 2020, even called it a “death scene”.
Now, weeks after Chase insisted a scene in season three could reveal the “truth” behind what really happened, Lorraine Bracco, who plays Tony’s therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, has been outspoken in her criticism of her character’s final appearance.
Melfi’s final appearance came in the penultimate episode and saw her cut ties with Tony in shockingly obvious fashion — with Bracco saying she was “not very happy” that it was the end of their relationship.
“I wasn’t very happy with the way David ended it,” she told SiriusXM’s The Spotlight With Jessica Shaw, adding: “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 just walk away?’ I said, ‘That’s not cool.’ And you know, that was it.”
While many believed Tony was dead when the screen cut to black in the final episode, Bracco was more optimistic.
Expressing hope that he survived, the Goodfellas actor said: “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 together in therapy. I can believe that.”
Bracco recently revealed in the two-part documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos that she watched the final episode live with Gandolfini, who had no idea how Chase decided to end the show.
“I was with Jim and he was like, ‘That’s it?!’ she said, adding: “He couldn’t believe it.”
Meanwhile, Drea de Matteo, who plays Adriana La Cerva, said the sudden cut to black made her think there had been a power outage, saying: “I started calling people, like, ‘Hey, did my TV just break?’”
