This email has apparently been making the rounds re: The Ending. It’s interesting if true, I tivo’d it so I’ll check later.

Like everyone else, I thought my cable went out at the worst possible moment, but know I think it was meant to express Tony’s death. The clip they played with Tony and Bobby on the fishing boat last week when Bobby was talking about when it was your time, you don’t even hear or see it coming. Therefore, the sudden blank screen was the sudden death of Tony seen through his eyes. So here is what I found out. The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn’t that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil’s brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail. So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the brothas at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?). Absolutely incredible!!!! There were three people in the restaurant who had reason to kill Tony and then it just ends. This was Chase’s way of proving that he will not escape his past. It will not go on forever despite that he would like it to “don’t stop”. Not the fans!!! Tony would like it to keep going but just as we have to say goodbye, so does he.

Update: From a reader:

Hi Jonah- That all sounds like urban (emerging) legend. The NY Times reviewer was on ESPN radio a couple hours ago and was asked about the Italian-looking guy at the counter and the 2 black guys, and if they appeared in earlier episodes. The NYT guy said no. The Italian-looking guy isn’t even an actor. He works at a restaurant in the area and the Sopranos people asked him to do the scene because he looked the part. And Tony was supposed to have killed one of the black guys who tried to kill him way back when.