David Chase Explains "The Sopranos" Ending

In France with his wife to "avoid all the Monday morning quarterbacking," Sopranos creator David Chase, 61, has given one interview to New Jersey's Star-Ledger about the show's finale. After this, he plans to let the work speak for itself.

"I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there," he said of the final scene. "No one was trying to be audacious, honest to God. We did what we thought we had to do. No one was trying to blow people's minds, or thinking, 'Wow, this'll (tick) them off.' People get the impression that you're trying to (mess) with them and it's not true. You're trying to entertain them.

"Anybody who wants to watch it, it's all there," said Chase, who based the series in general (and Tony's relationship with mother Livia specifically) on his North Caldwell childhood.

As for rumors that the ending was setting up a Sopranos movie? "I don't think about (a movie) much," Chase said. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it.

"I'm not being coy," he added. "If something appeared that really made a good 'Sopranos' movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we've kind of said it and done it."

As the Star-Ledger points out, a Sopranos movie at this point would seem problematic, as many of the main characters have been killed.

Meanwhile, the NYT has polled TV writers and asked what they thought of the ending.

Damon Lindelof, one of the creators of the ABC hit show "Lost," another series whose viewers have high expectations about quality, said: "I've seen every episode of the series. I thought the ending was letter-perfect."

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