Theories About Tony's Death in The Sopranos

Introduction

Even though it has been 17 years since the conclusion of The Sopranos, television audiences continue to discuss and debate Tony Soprano’s fate and potential death in the series finale. One of the best and most influential television series of all time, The Sopranos represented the starting point of the Golden Age of television and stood as a testament to the quality of HBO’s programming. With such a committed and interested audience as The Sopranos had amassed, there are, of course, many theories about how Tony met his end following the infamous cut to black ending of The Sopranos.

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano looks up in the final seconds of The Sopranos series finale

In The Sopranos final scene, there are several different customers in the diner who could all potentially be planning to assassinate Tony. While some characters like the guy in the “Members Only” jacket look menacing, others appear more benign. However, it leads to the question of who had a motive to kill Tony and if a hit on his life could be coming from inside his own crew, members of his family, or his past bad deeds finally catching up with him. Whatever the truth genuinely was, there were plenty of theories that could explain Tony’s death.

The man with the members only jacket sits at the bar in The Sopranos

The Guy In The Members Only Jacket

The most common theory about The Sopranos finale relates to the guy in the “Member’s Only” jacket nervously sitting at the counter. It makes sense to assume he would assassinate Tony Soprano, as, if he served no purpose, there was no reason to give him so much screen time. The “Member’s Only” logo took on extra meaning due to its association with Eugene Pontecorvo, who killed himself after both Tony and the FBI refused to let him retire in Florida. This common theory suggested that the guy in the “Members Only” jacket would assassinate Tony as revenge for Tony’s part in the tragic end of Eugune’s life.

The guy in the “Members Only” jacket who walked into the diner in the final scene appeared to be acting nervous and then walked into the men’s room bathroom less than one minute before the credits cut to black. This moment could be seen as a homage to the famous scene in The Godfather where Michael Corleone retrieves a gun planted in the bathroom to assassinate rival mobsters Sollozzo and McCluskey. This connection has led many viewers to believe that the guy in the ”Members Only” jacket had a similar intention to kill Tony.

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather

Paulie Walnuts Put A Hit On Tony

Mobster Paulie “Walnuts' Gualtieri had a complex relationship with his boss Tony Soprano throughout The Sopranos run, and if Tony’s presumed death in the show’s final scene came from inside his crew, then Paulie would be a prime suspect. A Reddit theory suggested Paulie had a motive to put a hit on Tony as over the years his loyalty became less secure as he was continually passed over. Paulie was also strangely close with the New York mobsters and there was a chance he was persuaded to join a rival gang. While Paulie did stay loyal throughout The Sopranos there were a few hints he could be turned against Tony.

Tony Sirico as Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos