After claiming he crossed over to the other side and died for a moment, catching a brief glimpse of the afterlife in hell, Chris tells Tony and Paulie that Mikey Palmice was present. Chris says Palmice had a specific message for Tony and Paulie: “Three O’Clock.”Paulie laughs and wonders “Three O’Clock?” before Chris quickly changes the subject to his morphine drip.
According to the theory, this moment foreshadows Tony’s death in the final episode, “Made in America.” Although no time is shown during the infamous cut-to-black moment that shook viewers to their core in 2007, fans have noticed that the man in the Members Only Jacket, who many believe shoots Tony in the back of the head in the final shot, was situated at Tony’s “Three O’Clock.” Meaning, if the direction Tony is facing is noon, then the Members Only man is located 90 degrees to his right as he enters the bathroom in his final onscreen moment.
Since Mikey Palmice warned Tony about the significance of Three O’Clock, fans have suggested that Tony was murdered by a hired killer last seen standing at Tony’s “Three O’Clock.” While hardly definitive, the recurring hour of the day bears closer scrutiny series-wide.
Tony’s Therapy Sessions With Dr. Melfi Occurred at Three O’Clock
The psychological theme of The Sopranos relates to Tony’s tormented soul. Much of the torment relates to his overbearing mother, but also relates to his moral erosion as a mob boss and family man. The show is built around the premise that Tony requires therapy following a nervous breakdown. He meets regularly with Dr. Melfi to work out his problems, with each appointment occurring at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Beyond Chris’ warning in “From Where to Eternity,” the episode is littered with religious iconography. This connects three o’clock to Catholicism, which plays a large role in Carmela Soprano’s life. In Catholicism, three o’clock refers to the time Jesus was crucified and is often deemed “The Hour of Mercy.” Three o’clock is also known as The Witching Hour, the time at night when one’s soul is darkest and the line between life and death is the thinnest.
The implication is that after Tony was shot in the diner by Mr. Members Only from his three o’clock, Tony entered a purgatorial limbo. As one Redditor suggests:
“The Chris Hospital scene looks like just an irrelevant moment, but it’s actually one of the most important scenes in the show’s storyline history! It tells us the viewer how Tony dies, how Tony will be in Purgatory for his sins and tortured by never seeing his daughter (the thing he loved the most in life) walk into the Diner over & over again.”
Further supporting the theory is a line mentioned by Uncle Junior in Season 3, warning Tony that “these things come in threes,” addressing Jackie and Febby’s cancer-related deaths. In Season 6, Johnny Sac dies of lung cancer while in prison, proving Uncle Junior’s premonition.
Michael Impirioli Wrote From Where to Eternity & Spoke About Three O’Clock
While fan theories are fun to entertain, it’s best to leave it to the person who co-wrote and performed the scene that ignited the fan theory, to address the topic. During episode #88 of the Talking Sopranospodcast, Michael Imperioli, who played Chris Moltisanti, spoke about the significance of three o’clock.
Imperioli claims he was once visited by a middle-aged female spirit while staying at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, infamous for its ghostly hauntings. While being visited, the apparition told Imperioli that 3:00 AM is when spirits visit the living. Imperioli then included the vision in the script for “From Where to Eternity.”
This squares with the witching hour timeframe and the Biblical “Hour of Mercy” alluded to throughout the series, which many believe culminates in Tony’s death in “Made in America.” “Made in America” is also the 86th episode of The Sopranos. Of course, 86 is slang for elimination, meaning Tony was theoretically “eighty-sixed” in his final onscreen moment. That numerical clue has eluded most fans, as has the fact that Tony eats three onion rings in the diner before the show suddenly cuts to black.
Imperioli may not have confirmed that Tony dies in the final scene, but his testimony adds complexity, if not credence, to the wild “Three O’Clock” fan theory. The real question is where Tony’s tortured soul went after being shot, with many suggesting he’ll be forever trapped in purgatory for his sins.
