So, Is Tony Soprano Dead, or Not?

The Sopranos creator David Chase has been discussing the controversial ending to the HBO again, this time leaving more breadcrumbs to those seeking a definitive interpretation of the final scene. Chase offered a shot-by-shot walkthrough of the final sequence. 

James Gandolfini [L] and David Chase [R] working on The Sopranos

Back in August, Vox writer Martha Nochimson claimed that Chase told her that Tony wasn't dead though the show runner reacted angrily saying he had been "misconstrued" and that the quote was "inaccurate". 

In his latest comments, Chase appears to echo the famous analysis on the Master of Sopranos blog which argued that Tony is killed and that the final cut to black represents his demise.

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However, he also stresses the importance of the 'man in members only jacket', saying that Tony seeing him a point-of-view shot was a way of signifying that he life would be consumed by paranoia and that potential enemies lurked at every corner.

"Everything [in Holsten's diner] should make him feel at ease, and yet there is a slight ill at ease feeling which we bring to it because we know who he is and what he's done. And he can never be sure that any enemy is completely gone. He always has to have eyes behind his head," said Chase.

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With the members only jacket guy, Chase confirmed that he was paying tribute to the scene in The Godfather where Michael Corleone goes to the bathroom to get a gun.

"Yes, the scene in The Godfather [when Michael Corleone kills Sollozzo and McCluskey] occurred to me; it's an iconic scene," he said, "I would say that Tony checked the guy out at some level. I mean any middle-aged male that would get that close to him, I'm sure he would do some summary surveillance of. It may be very quick; his instincts are very sharp. He doesn't feel threatened by him but I'm sure he clocks that that guy's in the bathroom, and that that guy should come out. It's more like "I want to see that guy come out." This is all on a subconscious level, I'm sure."

Finally, Chase inferred that Tony's daughter, after struggling to park her car, was met with something far more horrific.

"I did want to create the idea that you would wonder if something was going to happen in there. Meadow is filled with nothing but very, very deep emotions about parking her car. But possibly a minute later, her head will be filled with emotions she could never even imagine," he said. 

More: David Chase backtracks - maybe Tony Soprano DID die in that diner