Sopranos Dream Sequences Explained | Was the Last Scene a Dream? Possible Ending Explained?

[@mikem591]

That’s an amazing theory. It was like the last two seasons where a form of purgatory...filmed in an alternative universe.

[@ex_nazguul]

Great theory and one I actually haven’t heard before, really nice. Also, an additional piece of evidence you didn’t mention that adds even more to this theory- in I believe either season 2 or 3, AJ is working on a book report for school, can’t remember the name of the book. But he asked Meadow for help, and she explained that the use of the color white in the book represents death. AJ says, “but I thought black was death?” And meadow responds with “white, too..” and as you said, in the hospital we got a flash of white light which the show itself said represents death. Really well done

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you!

[@NylaVox]

Nice catch~

[@wendyforbes9849]

Great theory...ya know the show really took on a completely different mood and tone after junior shot Tony...it was like the last 2 seasons were one long scene that just was filled with a sense of dread...something just seemed off to me

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you! And yes, I totally agree

[@mikem591]

That is true. The last 2 seasons where the darkest of the series and did seem ‘off’...like it was running out of gas.

[@jergran69]

It is an interesting theory, but while the tone was different (debatable) what about the continuing 'undreamlike' narrative of the rest of the show? How can that be part of the same surreal dream?

[@zacksguitarhacks6390]

Its called synchonicity. It definitely wasnt all "a dream". Sometimes in real life we have dreams about our future or are able to connect direct moments to past dreams. Tonys dreams are connecting to events in his life that his subconscious deems as important. Sometimes the events are not the most important, and are difficult to decifer, this is the case with our lives as well. Our lives are not a movie and are not cinematic but are synchronostic and flow with reason and consequence, and the writers of the show also tried to make it believable by writing in these particulars about tonys subconscious. I agree the tone towards the end of the show does get more dark and serious but thats because of the consequences were finally building up and happening. As for the "off" feeling, well maybe because for tony he feels like his consequences are finally being revealed and its a surreal feeling. I've felt like this before in my own life.

[@DirtySouthJR]

@@jergran69 Yeah, these theories are fun to ponder however they must be believable enough. This theory simply is not. So, does that make Tony really Kevin Finnerty and all the mob stuff was fake, all in his head? Why not at this point it's perfectly fitting. You would have me believe Tony woke up from his coma, spent all that time recovering in the hospital, which was all still a dream. All the way to warring with NY through Phil taking one in the dome. All still comatose. Even though ghosts and the supernatural stuff was a staple of the show appearing sparingly throughout. Big Vag Ina appeared as a 👻 in the mirror before this "all a dream" nonsense.

[@KINGKarlemagne]

The scenes in the hospital after Junior shoots Tony are meant to show us what would happen after Tony's demise. When the screen goes black we've already seen a version of what would happen.

[@joni1405]

Crazy fact: When Tony enters the diner he is wearing *a different shirt* than he is wearing when he's sitting down at the table. This seems to indicate that it's a dream of some kind - the Tony who walks into the diner somehow changes clothes when he is sitting down. Furthermore, the shirt he is wearing while sitting at the table in the final scene is the same shirt he's wearing when Junior shoots him. It would be impossible for him to be wearing that shirt - Junior put a bullet hole through it. But if it's a dream his subconscious making him wear the same clothes as when he got shot would make sense

[@MetaCinema]

It's hard to tell if it's the same shirt, but when he's talking to Junior, the collars were gray, but when he sits down they're black. So either that's a weird continuity error or like you said, a clue that's it's a dream. The shot when Tony enters the diner and seems to look at himself is evidence enough that it's not a normal scene, that the scene is in his head, either a dream or flashback, he's dead already or as someone else said, Hell (like the Twilight Zone episode where a gangster goes to Hell and relives his death over and over)

[@AlchemicalForge91]

The van backing up makes laser target marks at his head and chest when he walks through the door. Look closely

[@clayburris2757]

So cool to bring up the best unknown american author ever! Ambrose Bierce is amazing! Several of his stories have ghosts unsure theyre dead, The Moonlit Road, Halpin Frayser, and a few more soldier tales besides Owl Creek.... Im just impressed someone is even aware of Ambroses work and connecting it to Sopranos really tickles my fancy, bring my 2 favorite creative works together...

[@MetaCinema]

It might be a fringe theory, but considering nobody knows what happened at the end, it's possible. I used to read Ambrose Bierce on Project Gutenberg, they have tons of his stories. I'll have to check those out. Thanks for watching!

[@lukesaki1211]

@@MetaCinema Like when Ade is in France and the Gendarmerie tells Carmela to tell her "she's dead"

[@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes]

AB is a fantastic writer. I’ve read his stories but will have to revisit those you mention.

[@kyjack3721]

I think the whole show is Tony's after life. The Test Dream episode shows us that Tony is aware that hes dead with the other dead people. It's presented as a dream but it is relaying that life itself is just a dream and we are crossing from life and death so frequently we think they are separate. With this frame of mind , we could say Tony has died many times and the ending is a literal ending to a show of a life that we have watched live and die many times already like how Tony watches the history channel. I think The Test Dream episode is the key to understanding the entire series.

[@kevinmcdonald5165]

I've thought long and hard about the ending, but this theory does make a Lotta sense, can't ignore the dream sequences they do have a meaning with regards to the ending

[@brendanmuller7301]

Super late but there's another theory I read relating to Tony's death. Pretty much the entire show is his personal hell, to paraphrase what christopher said "he gets killed the same way he was in life". Tony is just reliving the last years and clear worst years of his life over and over again which is why the show starts with black and ends with a cut back to black, it's just starting over and over again. That's his hell.

[@gristlevonraben]

I don't think anyone likes that idea. Life is so weird. Oddly, the bible before Paul the Pharisee, did not contain a suffering hell. The old testament had Sheol which just meant pit. It's used to represent a pit for jail, for sewage and graves. In the new testament Jesus says your spirit, if you are too evil to help, is destroyed. Luke, Paul's assistant says a rich man suffered of thirst in death, but not flames. Hell is a very primitive idea that even our ancestors didn't have until we stole it from the Vikings.

[@brendanmuller7301]

@@gristlevonraben To say "i dont think anyone likes that idea" because you don't is odd especially when many have proposed the same or similar ideas for the show. Especially since hell very clearly exists within the shows universe.

[@jh6025]

This is incredibly well thought out and presented. Thank You!

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you, and thanks for watching

[@justincase4359]

You did a really great job with this video you should be proud

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you!

[@aeiouaeiouaeiou]

how come no one is ever talking about the fact that tony saw himself in that ending scene, he came in, looked at the bench and sam himself. and him standing/ coming into the diner and him sitting down have 2 different shirts on!

[@MetaCinema]

It's been commented on a few times here and my "Who Killed Tony Video." It's definitely a weird shot, making the scene more surreal. It may be because he is already dead and sees his past self. It's especially weird the facial expression when he sees himself, like looking back fondly about a memory.

[@aeiouaeiouaeiou]

@@MetaCinema "It may be because he is already dead and sees his past self" so hes just in a loop or what.. cant really grasp this concept. its paradox

[@MetaCinema]

@@aeiouaeiouaeiou That's one theory, similar to the Twilight Zone episode a Nice Place to Visit, a gangster learns he is in hell. Tony winning repeatedly on roulette, which would be highly unlikely in reality, is similar to the gangster winning every casino game he plays in the Twilight Zone episode.

[@seanodonohue1326]

The beauty of this show are the endless theories and possibilities. Reminds me of the ending of 2001, the interpretations are endless and fun to explore.

[@t.j.6864]

I think you did a great job with your analysis and it very well could be that the very last scene was a dream, but I think that a lot of the details of the episodes after the episode where he comes back wouldn't have simply been concocted by Tony's mind. All of the side plots (example Paulie/Vito getting the money to Carmela) started before or during Tony's dream and continued through him waking up. There's no way, in my opinion that the theory that everything after the white light is a dream. But the very last scene was somewhat surreal in its directing, as he looks towards where he sits the shot goes from a close up of him to him sitting afar. Its an odd shot that isn't seen anywhere else in the show, its somewhat jarring, and could be indicative of a dream or an imaginary state that Tony is in. Even then I dont think that the last scene is a dream, but all that happens in the last season can not just be another coma dream. One thing that can disprove this theory altogether is the continuity of the Vito subplot. Much earlier Finn finds out that Vito is gay, nobody but Finn and Meadow know about this. After the white light, Vito is found out by others in the mob, and he leaves town. Tony only then finds out that Vito is gay, I dont think that in a coma dream Tony would just come to that conclusion on his own, itd be too much of a coincidence. To write an entire season as a Tony dream state is a little bit of a stretch.

[@MetaCinema]

Thanks for the comment. It's funny, years after seeing the whole show, my memory was that much of Season 6A or the entirety of it was spent in the coma. But re-watching it it was only a couple episodes. I feel they could have done a whole season in his head. The Vito thing may well disprove my theory, unless I make it even more of a stretch to say that similar to how Pussy confessed to being a rat in a dream BEFORE Tony had hard evidence of it, Vito being gay could have come up in Tony's head, in this case as an explanation for his absence. Of course that's really stretching it though. Another note on the old man in the hospital, I wonder why they wrote that conversation in. He explains everything there is one thing: as in maybe all concocted from one thing: Tony's mind as he's dreaming it all up, including everything we the audience sees from then on? The Holsten's scene is very surreal, and I'm not sure when Tony would have had that dream, except to think it was just a continuation of the coma, but could be whenever.

[@mikem591]

@@MetaCinema That is an interesting parallel between Pussy and Vito. The idea is that Tony subconsciously picked up on the fact that Vito was gay and it would appear in his dream. I think the difference is, there were major discussions and many strong indications that Puss was working for the government. Before the dream where Puss confessed working for the government, the writing was on the wall that he was an informant and Tony was in heavy denial about it. On the other hand, there wasn't any intimations that Tony was suspicious that Vito was gay. However, ones subconscious can pick up on things and they can manifest through a dream. It is possible Tony could have subconsciously sensed Vito was gay and then had a dream about it. It would turn into this huge story in his dream state based on something he subconsciously picked up on about Vito in his waking state.

[@djfranknitty3331]

I disagree with your assertion regarding the side plots meant that there is no way that the episodes after Tony got shot by Junior could all be in Tony's head as his life flashed, (like the light kept flashing throughout the last season's episodes,) before his eyes. Tony could have imagined all of those side plots to explain, to himself, why and how things happened the way they did in the last season. For example, if someone with a black eye robs me and then runs and gets away from me before I can send him to purgatory, then, after the fact, I might imagine that the robber sustained his black eye whilst attempting to rob someone else earlier in the day. Or, I might imagine that he came home from work to find his wife in bed with another man and he got into a fight with this other man before storming out of the house to find victims to rob in order to further his addiction to crack cocaine. Either way, I will never know why the robber got his black eye, but, if I take the time to consider how, I can come up with all sorts of reasons how he got his black eye, in my head.

[@t.j.6864]

@@djfranknitty3331 Every one of Tony's dreams in the show were in first person (not shown through the camera in first person, obviously), whereas much of the last season wasnt filmed that way. To suggest that Tony imagined Vito blowing a security guard while Fin was witnessing it, and imagined himself acting startled and surprised with the crew after the story was told later in the season (while having no prior knowledge of this detailed story that actually happened) is absurd. Pre coma Tony had no idea Vito was gay, and even if he imagined it, its a massive stretch to think he conjured up a story completely in congruence with reality. I dont think theres any basis to this theory or explanation.

[@t.j.6864]

@@MetaCinema All the professor or inventor (I dont remember what his profession was) was suggesting is some sort of monistic explanation of the world. There are plenty of philosophers and religions that follow this train of thought. Read the Tao Te Ching or Schopenhauer's 'World as Will and Representation'

[@queencerseilannister3519]

Has anyone ever been able to breakdown who everyone in the restaurant could mean? Not just the Members Only guy?

[@joshapples88]

Thats a good thought.

[@jon_puhalski60]

I've had this theory for years now

[@ericdanielsbenavidez5867]

Ah, the Owl Creek episode...i bought it on v.h.s. at a flea market couple year's ago...soon as i saw it i was like this...i bet this one short movie inspired ALL my beloved show's of the 20th century onwards. And sure enough i was right when you bought it up here. It's also brought up in various other video's here also..very specal episode. I definitely think it's how Chase probably sees the series ending however he made it to end the way it did for others to interpret differently.

[@timwhite5562]

Honestly the hardest thing to square of everything presented in this video is Meadow being the voice of reason. She could only be THE voice of reason to a lunatic, and not a "he kills people" lunatic, a "he draws on the wall with his own excrement" lunatic. This girl was how many years into college, and still hasn't been able to make a decision as to whether she wants to go into law or medicine? That whole scene with Finn when he was thinking of taking a powder when he thought that his life was in danger. I think that in spite of the fact that we don't know exactly when and why they broke up, he certainly knows when the "sell by date" was stamped and it was when he found himself sucked into that level of theatrics.

[@johnnycarroll6346]

I’ve always thought that junior kills Toni in the episode “members only” because in the final scene of the show tony is wearing the same shirt he wore when junior shot him,and the heavy focus on a character we’ve never seen b4 is a tongue In cheek way of stating tony never made it past “members only”

[@OneOnOne1162]

I don't really buy this theory, but it's definitely a creative and chilling theory.

[@formulajuan6038]

I am in absolute awe

[@goose33]

I am in awer of you

[@PGomes-wo9is]

David Chased lets the audience know when we have a dream sequence going on. usually there´s a certain element of surrealism going on in every dream sequence, definitely that is not the case in the last scene of the show. No, the last scene was not a dream sequence!

[@MetaCinema]

The intro to the scene, the way Tony looked at himself as he entered the restaurant was pretty surreal.

[@PGomes-wo9is]

@@MetaCinema I´m not a specialist, for from it actually. But the intro scene you´re talking about, is all about David Chase already setting the pattern for what would eventually happen. Meaning, we would see the final sequence/scene through Tony´s very own eyes, hence the "cut to black" scene being real , as real as it gets, as opposed to the surrealism/paranormal events that follow every dream sequence on the show. A Shot of Tony´s face - bell rings - we see what Tony´s seeing and so on...the pattern

[@fijiunlimited4503]

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.!

[@ristube3319]

I say he was shot from the 3 o’clock position, and never heard the shot. Like Bobby said, it just goes to black.

[@chrisb.7936]

What a cool theory. Love these videos.

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you

[@mikem591]

It might be cool to do an analysis of the 'Fun House' dream sequences. Not only was it revealed that Big Pussy was working for the government, but there were hints that Paulie would later betray Tony. I imagine there are a lot of little clues in that dream sequence that would play out later in the show.

[@alexanderm3504]

Hey do you have any idea were Gene put the blood stains on the map, on season 5 a episode 1? It's basically right after Gene whacks that guy in that diner. Kind of like the diner Tone got killed in the finale..

[@MetaCinema]

Interesting idea. Though NYC is not covered with the blood, the smears point down toward the city so it could be symbolic of bloodshed over the NY crew. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but never know what they throw in as Easter eggs or clues etc.

[@elcid8889]

This is very very interesting and insightful! I've always believed that the Sopranos was influenced by the movie, Jacob's Ladder. In other words; Tony Soprano was on an Astral Plane journey before he passed away! It all started right after he was shot by uncle Junior and it ended when the Grim Reaper (the guy wearing the old grey members only jacket) finally came to get him in the diner. Meadow was Tony's guardian angel who happens to get there too late in order to save Tony, once again... Anyway, pardon my ridiculous imagination.

[@MetaCinema]

That all sounds about right to me, and for anyone who hasn't seen Jacob's Ladder, it's such a great movie.

[@elcid8889]

@@MetaCinema What I love about the ending is that it's alll about interpretation! There are so many carnal, as well as spiritual assumptions! Anyway, back to my favorite Sunday hobbie-watching football. Thank you for your time.

[@evilswissy]

Jacob's ladder is an ancient mystery school teaching referring to the spine and a journey to enlightenment. for you sheeple to understand this life you must unlearn what you have been taught. you learn the truth of our true history you must

[@elcid8889]

@@evilswissy I see a lot of similarities between the two. But that's just me!

[@evilswissy]

@@elcid8889 well you are either an adept of the mystery school free masonic teachings of antiquity or you are a mindless sheeple that is comfortable being a rich psychopaths slave for the rest of your life as well as your descendants lives. or you know the secret and sold out for fortune and settle being a cowards' coward

[@jergran69]

It is an interesting theory, but what about the continuing 'undreamlike' narrative of the rest of the show? How can that be part of the same surreal dream?

[@MetaCinema]

That is a good rebuttal but one possible defense is the inclusion of the scene of the old man in the hospital explaining how everything is one, even the two boxers who appear to be separate, just like everything else we (the audience as well as Tony) see, and that's it's all one thing, possibly meaning it's all from Tony's mind, and everything that happens after is how his mind imagined it would be, including the subplots.

[@Saveyourbs]

Dope video.

[@Glory_inthe_3rd77]

Yeah that or the guy they say is the Hitman was actually a detective that was there to watch over Tony because he had decided to be part of whatever they did a good job of leaving it open just in case they made another one

[@DeAngryDan]

I like this theory, I got my doubts but I like it 👍

[@r3mdh]

I like this theory best. Thank you!

[@Quizerno]

What's the music at 3:37 ? Sounds familiar.

[@MetaCinema]

Sorry I'm not sure because it was from KZbin's audio library and I rename the files and Shazam gives no result

[@Quizerno]

@@MetaCinema No problem, thank you for your response. Great video btw.

[@robhaskins]

I really liked this theory!

[@MetaCinema]

Thanks for watching

[@CMC-lr7kq]

This sounds a lot like Jacob's Ladder.

[@MetaCinema]

I agree. Great movie, very unsettling

[@yungenoch7]

This is a amazing theory…..cause y would Tony come in the diner and c himself …that’s what is mind boggling to me #bigtony 🙏🏾

[@thetannedghost]

If u saw many saints there are 3 scenes at Holstens young Tony staring at door smoking a cig w/ Artie. Then that actor is gone or changed as Michael is playing Tony next time we see him. Then end where Michael is staring out door waiting…. Then funeral. I think chase answered the series questions about Tony in movie. Even the filming of two Tony’s in front on Holstens door is filmed very creepy like a shadow. Dickie is shown same way and he died. Watch Holstens scenes in movie. You can fast forward to them. The film was trying to cover too much material in 2 hrs.

[@williamgates2466]

Well done

[@craiganderson3919]

I actually agree with this theory. Great job and a lot of smarts and hard work!!!! Thanks

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you!

[@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes]

I’ve just started watching the show ( I know, I’m hopeless!) and the supernatural/dream/ psychological aspects of it really interest me and , I think, set it above other gangster films or shows.

[@MetaCinema]

That's exactly how I would put it! In my mind, those aspects set it above most shows in general

[@brilliantbeaches5389]

It takes a lot of inspiration from the Bible. The Second Coming, the song about the Antichrist etc.

[@32bitsamoan87]

Tony got killed by georgie the guy who used to work at the bing lmao.

[@MetaCinema]

Georgie definitely had his reasons

[@reax5526]

What's the song in the background?

[@jnicksnewstart]

This is a pretty cool theory.

[@seanbrazell6147]

It's all just so oppressivly sad watching that final scene knowing that James Gandolfini himself is dead in real life. I feel like what I always needed was for him to sit down and in some detail resolve the question. Without that ever being possible It's a psychologically suffocating watch!

[@MetaCinema]

Well said

[@louisekvernoey3888]

Yes, I he passed away pretty much in his hotel too..so sad seeing him sit in that hotel room in that episode.

[@urkersen5246]

At least Sylvio had a dream. When he was in coma. He dreamt that he became an informant and went into witness protesction in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer and started a new gang with Norwegian bikers and buerocrats.

[@AlchemicalForge91]

Fascinating

[@ShahPhilLeotardo]

When Tony’s Dreams Phil has kids who have kids.

[@michaelstclairejr1746]

That was amazing

[@DakinRinone]

Didn't the creator confirm that Tony was shot?

[@josephtalmadge3108]

That sounds great as a fiction book not a good theory

[@comedianstalkingaboutfootball]

Has the Many Saints of Newark affected your theory on this? What with you know how narrating it...

[@MetaCinema]

I don't think Many Saints of Newark affected much. I've heard the theory Uncle Sal in the prison was a kind of dream. Other than that, the theory Tony may have been dead in the last two seasons is still possible.

[@ztimbo]

You are discounting mountains of Members Only evidence.

[@MetaCinema]

In my video "Who Killed Tony" I go a lot into the Members Only jacket. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqLGnJ6Zlp56pNU In this particular theory however, all of that is in Tony's head.

[@CipherSerpico]

I agree with most of this, but I don’t think it was a “dream”. I think he was in Hell.

[@MetaCinema]

I can see that

[@CipherSerpico]

@@MetaCinema When Carlo is in the truck with Tony and Baccala, after they drop off the money Tony owes Hesh, Carlo mentions an episode of the Twilight Zone. The episode is called “A nice place to visit”; It’s about a gangster that gets shot, then wakes up, where he has magically recovered - in a new world. In this world, he meets a man that grants all of his wishes. He goes to a Casino, surrounded by beautiful women, and wins every bet he makes…. Just like Tony when he goes to Vegas, hangs out with Chris’s girl, and wins every bet. When Tony is in the Casino, he also sees a Devil on one of the slots. In the Twilight Zone episode - it is finally revealed that the guy was killed in the shootout and is in Hell.

[@MetaCinema]

@@CipherSerpico You're the second to mention that episode. Another commenter mentions it in my "Who killed Tony" video, also observing the unlikely roulette wins (a game with terrible odds). I think that plus the old man's philosophical theories explained (why even show that?), and even things like the headlights after the crash with Christopher resembling the lighthouse in the coma dream, points to the afterlife, one or the other, and for Tony we can imagine it's likely Hell.

[@petergbrooks]

Great

[@MetaCinema]

Thank you