So.. how should it have ended?

Maybe one of the most debatable events of the show was its end. I would have never ever expected such an ending and - as the Vanity Fair-Story showed - it seems that the makers of the show still feel the need to defend the very end of the series. I guess I was not the only one who stared in disbelief at the screen.. I remember I thought the TV / DVD was broken and I was furious - untill I saw the final credits appearing.

Now, if you could choose what would the 'perfect' ending for the Sopranos be like?

I'd have to really put some thought into that. But a few things that come to mind are...

1. Have the 6th and final season be 13 episodes like seasons 1-5. Enough time to finish what was set up at the end of the 5th season but not too long where there is a lot of down time and the story lines not moving forward. And then at the last minute half assing central story lines like Tony's therapy with Melfi and Chris crashing the car!

2. Without going into a lot of detail, I would have liked the series to come full circle. I mean something like the final scene being a new family of ducks showing up at the Soprano house but finding an abandoned house and empty pool - Tony's initial fears, in one way or another, coming true.

Tony gets like 300 years for RICO. The end.

I always dreamed of an ending like the one in Six Feet Under. Everything is explained, the fate of all characters was revealed. I really enjoyed that. Maybe wouldn't have been appropriate for the series, as ambiguity was one of the main themes - but I find it a little bit enervating that we have to guess what happened.

@Ivy League: Great idea with the ducks, would have loved that.
It was indeed exaggerated to speed up the story lines in the last few episodes, that was too hectic. Though those were great episodes.

Hard to argue with that likelihood, Ivan. But Carlo going into the program certainly gives you the indication that, if he wasn't killed at that restaurant, jail was an almost certainty for Tony. And no matter what happened, Tony wasn't likely to ever have peace in his life.

I actually liked the ending. Everything goes black and, for me, Tony got killed.

I agree with Ivy though: the 6th season was way too long, some story lines I really didn't care for and the pace should have been better.

The ending was fine the way it was, there's you wondering what if..

i think tony probably went to jail or at least i hope since it would be more realistic. Carlo had flipped which means Tony is dead either way

I also think, for the sake of realism, that Vincent Corleone should meet the same fate should a Godfather 4 ever be made. (Either that, or he could pull a Massino.)

All roads lead to RICO!

Perfect ending as it is. Must be a great ending if we're all still talking about it haha. But Ivy I do like the idea of the ducks. Brilliant.

I pretty much agree. I thought it ended perfectly. However, in another thread along time ago I posted an ending that did involve the ducks.

I reckon Patsy killed Tony in revenge for his brother and because of the fact he was most likely promoted to Capo a mob war over the top spot should start Patsy vs Paulie due to the fact that Patsy runs the old Soprano crew and Paulie runs the old Aprile crew in one last series where one takes the big chair