19. Tony Soprano's "Demise" (The Sopranos - Season 6, Episode 21 )
The Moment: In the final shot of the final Sopranos episode, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) hears the door to the restaurant open, and looks up, just before director David Chase shockingly cuts the series to black forever. Why It Had To Be Paused: It's easily one of the most divisive and controversial endings to any TV show in history, leaving viewers in the lurch as to Tony Soprano's fate. As such, after viewers realised their cable boxes hadn't imploded at the crucial moment, it was natural that audiences wanted to comb over Tony's last screen moments to try and find a clue about whether he lived or died. Though the final shot ultimately provides no real insight into that fact (though clues are embedded throughout the last season), the sheer iconography of the image cannot be denied, and that such an abrupt, seemingly incomplete image of one of TV's finest-drawn characters would be our final glimpse of him was something many struggled accept.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
