‘Sopranos’ creator David Chase defends famous finale, saying fans were bloodthirsty

NEW YORK – Just when fans had made peace with “The Sopranos” finale and moved on with their lives, David Chase has stirred things up again.\nBreaking his silence months after the HBO mob drama ended its run, he is offering a belated explanation for that blackout at the restaurant. He strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn’t get whacked moments later as he munched onion rings with his family at Holsten’s. And mostly Chase wonders why so many viewers got so worked up over the series’ non-finish.\n“There WAS a war going on that week and attempted terror attacks in London,” Chase said. “But these people were talking about onion rings.”\nThe interview, included in “‘The Sopranos’: The Complete Book,” published this week, finds Chase exasperated by viewers who were upset that Tony didn’t meet explicit doom.\nChase said the New Jersey mob boss “had been people’s alter ego. They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted ‘justice’ ...\n“The pathetic thing – to me – was how much they wanted HIS blood, after cheering him on for eight years.”\nIn the days, and even weeks, after the finale aired June 10, “Sopranos” wonks combed that episode for buried clues, concocting wild theories. (Was this some sort of “Last Supper” reimagined with Tony, wife Carmela, son A.J. and daughter Meadow?)\nChase insists that what you saw (and didn’t see) is what you get.\n“There are no esoteric clues in there. No ‘Da Vinci Code,’” he declared.\nHe said it’s “just great” if fans tried to find a deeper meaning, but “most of them, most of us, should have done this kind of thing in high school English class and didn’t.”\nHe defended the bleak, seemingly inconclusive ending as appropriate – and even a little hopeful.\nA.J. will “probably be a low-level movie producer. But he’s not going to be a killer like his father, is he? Meadow may not become a pediatrician or even a lawyer ... but she’ll learn to operate in the world in ways that Carmela never did.”