Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Truth About the Rumors Concerning the Sopranos Finale

By Kristin Veitch Jun 12, 2007 9:12 PMTags
The SopranosCraig Blankenhorn/HBO

If you've been anywhere on the Internet since Sunday night's series finale of The Sopranos, you're probably aware that the opaque ending has everyone talking. And some of those talkers are just plain full of it. I've been forwarded one particular analysis of the final scene a number of times, and since I was both fascinated and kinda confused, I asked a Home Box Officer to help solve the mystery...

Chances are, you may have received this same email in your inbox. But if not, I reproduce it here for your sleuthing pleasure:

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.

Yeesh, right? We haven't read anything that convoluted and all-encompassing since we spent an afternoon cruising conspiracy-theory Websites.

Well, not so fast. It's all lies and misinformation, according to Tobe Becker, an official licensed-and-bonded rep for the show, who tells us:

I honestly think this e-mail is some sort of a prank because it has spread so far and wide and is absolutely not founded on any factual information.  There is no character named Nikki Leotardo in the finale episode–that is a fact–I do not understand why the person who wrote that e-mail states otherwise. The other "facts" are also incorrect–the trucker, the boy scouts, the two African-Americans who came into the diner (we KNOW that is false, because when the attempt was made on Tony Soprano’s life, one of those guys was killed in the shootout) So you can dismiss the entire e-mail...

There you have it, folks. The first proof ever that there are factual inaccuracies on the Web and/or crazy people talking out of their butts. (Okay, maybe not the first proof, since I have been implicated in at least half of the first 2,323 factual inaccuracies on the Internet, but hey, I've never been convicted. At least according to Wikipedia.)

And now that you can put your minds to rest about Nikki Leotardo, you may carry on with your carryin' on! And remember, don't stop believin'...

—Additional reporting by Jennifer Godwin