Was Tony Soprano already in Hell? (Spoilers obviously)

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I’ve read enough of these theories to say this: I didn’t read a single word in your OP

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You won’t be missed

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maybe he is waiting around until people stop talking about him again to do another reveal.

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TLDR: The final scene of The Sopranos is Tony witnessing his own death from hell. There is a subtle reference from 2001: A Space Odyssey that confirms that Tony is witnessing his own demise like Dr. Bowman in 2001 (and Dickie Moltisanti according to Christopher’s coma dream in Season 2)

My theory:

The Sopranos series finale “Made in America” has been discussed to death over the years. However there is an element to the final scene that goes completely unnoticed, to even the most in depth analysis of the final scene. Here is my theory:

Let’s rewind back to Season 2. Christopher has survived a near fatal gunshot wound. While recovering, he tells Tony & Paulie 2 specific things that tie directly into the final scene. The first is Christopher telling Tony & Paulie that he went to hell and had a message for the both of them : 3 o’clock.

The message has been figured out by most that 3:00 wasn’t to signify a time, but rather a direction. If the members only guy were to come out of the restroom and kill Tony, he would be at Tony’s 3:00, his blind spot.

However while the 3:00 prophecy has been figured out by most, there is a crucial detail hidden in editing in the final scene. Let’s look deeper.

Immediately following Tony’s final scene with Uncle Junior, he walks into Holsten’s and stares directly into the camera. We then cut to what we believe is Tony’s POV, a wide shot of Holsten’s. Except Tony is already seated at the table. This is a jarring and confusing editing trick. However this is not by accident. This choice of editing is a direct reference to the final scene in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which Dr. David Bowman has crossed over into another dimension and witnesses his own life rapidly progress until he dies and becomes the next stage of evolution. The final scene of 2001 has been parodied and referenced so many times in pop culture that it is hard not to see this jarring editing technique as an overt reference to 2001. But why.?

Let’s go back to Christopher’s coma again. Along with the 3 o’clock message, Christopher talks about meeting his father in hell, and how his father tells him that he re-lives the day he was killed over and over every day. So what does this mean?

I think that Tony is already dead walking into Holsten’s, and that the final scene of the show is Tony in hell, re living the night he was whacked over and over again. The fact that the scene references a scene from a movie in which a character has to watch his own death is pretty telling, but this isn’t the only Kubrick reference when Tony gets shot. In the season opener “Members Only”, right before Tony gets shot by Uncle Junior we see a movie playing on the TV - Paths of Glory, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The final season is bookended with Tony getting shot, and both times have a subtle Kubrick reference.

Anyway, $4 a pound.

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Paulie: You didn't go to hell. You went to purgatory, my friend.

Christopher: I forgot about purgatory.

Paulie: Purgatory--a little detour on the way to paradise.

Christopher: How long do you think we've got to stay there?

Paulie: That's different for everybody. You add up all your mortal sins and multiply that number by 50. Then you add up all your venial sins and multiply that by 25. You add that together and that's your sentence. I figure I'm gonna have to do 6,000 years before I get accepted into heaven and 6,000 years is nothin' in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It's like a couple of days here.

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