Hate to break this to you, but

Tony Soprano is dead.

Yes, he sleeps with the fishes.

The abrupt ending of the finale of "The Sopranos" irritated a lot of viewers. Some speculated that creator David Chase intentionally made the ending vague to leave the door open to a "Sopranos" movie down the line.

If there is a "Sopranos" movie, Tony won't be in it.

Chase, in an interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, the Voice of New Jersey, said the ending wasn't vague at all and that everything was on the screen.

First, a little background: Earlier in the season, in the episode titled "Soprano Home Movies," Bobby Bacala and Tony are out on the lake fishing, discussing how guys like them exit this world, when Bobby says, "You probably don't even hear it coming."

Tony flashed back to Bobby's line in "The Blue Comet," as he sat on the bed in the safe house.

Now, going to the last scene of the series, Tony enters the diner. The bell on the door rings. There is a brief shot of Tony. Then, the camera switches to Tony's point of view. A few moments later, after Tony selects Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" on the jukebox, the bell rings. There is a brief shot of Tony looking up and then we see Carmela entering from Tony's point of view.

A moment after that, the bell rings. Brief shot of Tony looking up, followed by A.J. and the shady-looking Members Only guy entering the diner.

The suspense builds as Meadow has trouble parking her Lexus.The Members Only guy walks to the bathroom. Meadow is heading toward the diner. The bell rings. Tony looks up. Then, black.

That black is Tony's point of view. That is the moment of his death.

There is no shining beacon on the horizon, no big house where Tony Blundetto greets Tony's spirit, nothing.

Chase's final joke isn't on the audience. It's on Tony. Despite Tony's desire to get past his mother's dysfunction, it turns out he can't escape the fact that Livia was right. It's all a big nothing.