Six Writers Imagine The Sopranos Conclusion -- New York Magazine

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And the Sopranos Lived ____ Ever After

Arrivederci, Mrs. Soprano
By Kate Atkinson

Adriana’s body is found. By some twist of fate, it is Christopher who is going to go down for the crime, not Silvio, who actually shot her. The FBI decide they have enough of a case against Tony to indict him. Tony tells Carmela the details of his secret bank accounts. Jump forward to the trial. The prosecutor’s closing statement is intercut with scenes of Carmela’s departure. We see Carmela packing, locking the door of her beloved house, climbing in a cab, and looking through the window at the house with tears running down her cheeks. I would like to see Carmela doing the opening-credits run on the New Jersey Turnpike in reverse. She’s going to Newark.

As the jury troops back into court, Carmela is checking in at the airport. The judge asks the foreman if the jury has reached a verdict. Cut to Tony’s face, James Gandolfini acting with his doing-nothing-but-doing-everything face. Cut away to Carmela again just as the foreman opens his mouth to announce the verdict.

Jump forward a day. Carmela’s sitting at a café somewhere warm and obviously foreign. A waiter comes up to her and, in Italian, asks what he can get her. She replies in self-conscious Italian, aware she’s a foreigner. The charming waiter asks if she’s American. A whole mix of emotions on her face: nervousness, fear, but a kind of optimism as well. Finally, she smiles and says, “Yes, I’m American.”

Emily Nussbaum is an editor at New York Magazine. Lisa Scottoline is the author of twelve best-selling crime novels. David Benioff wrote the screenplay for 25th Hour. Kate Atkinson wrote the novel Case Histories. Max Allan Collins is the author of the graphic novel The Road to Perdition. John Falk is the author of Hello to All That: A Memoir of War, Zoloft, and Peace.