I thought it was a great ending. The tension in the final 5min was well built up. From the playing of journey, (Notice how loud the music was in that sequence. It was pushed to the foreground.) to the different scenarios that were developed. You just felt the threat of danger at any second. You could tell Tony put that song on for Carmella. You could tell how much he loved his family. And Tony's eye were wide open just sitting there having dinner. He noticed every one that came through the dinner door. We all noticed that guy sitting at the end ou the counter, he looked like a hitman. Don't you think Tony noticed him too?!!! There was no way that dude could have made a move on Tony.
If chase had to leave an opening for a movie he did a great job of leaving it open as well as leaving the lives of the sopranos in tact. The characters live on. It is an American family (syndicate style). It is a good reflection of the american family. All our families are messed up and deal with crisis on many different levels. They are no different.
Tony in many ways was a piece of crap and deserved to die. But he also in the end was a gangster after all. he loved his children and looked after his family the only way he could as a gangster, and the whole family knew and accepted it.
the series finale was typical of any snapshot of this series. There were always things going on and questions unanswered. Why should the series end any differently than it has been for the past 8 yrs.

You have some interesting views but why exactly did you feel the need to create a brand new thread? Come on now.

I don't have any problem with leaving the show with an open end for movies. I know folks are up in arms over the finale. I was disappointed b/c, creatively, the episode just didn't do anything new. Also, it resorted to a gimmick ending, and, sorry, but that's a sad testament (sp?) to Chase's legacy. All the same, I didn't expect to see Tony get whacked. After all, the show was never about making a judgment on Tony, and I certainly didn't expect it to in the final frame. But ... come on ... a gimmick? I'd rather they gave us the traditional fade-to-black instead of a gimmick.